Officials are recommending councillors approve the next stage of a 675-home estate in Kent, despite concern from neighbours about the welfare of badgers.

Swale Borough Council’s planning committee will consider granting full consent for 160 more houses at the Applegate Park development near Sittingbourne on Thursday.

Council officers recommend they approve the scheme with a condition requiring an updated badger survey of the site after objections from campaign groups.

Developer Barratt Redrow said in a response to campaigners the “impact on badgers was assessed on a site wide basis” at an earlier planning stage and conditions require regular badger surveys and protections.

Kent County Council’s ecology report found there were no badger setts on the site but it was possible one could be established or “commuting/foraging” could occur in the area, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The ecology team said houses at the new development should have badger-proof fencing and acknowledged “badger-friendly planting is proposed, which is likely to benefit the population”.

The Planning Inspectorate granted consent for 80 homes at the site, on Wises Lane in Borden, and outline permission for 595 more, as well as a primary school and commercial space, in 2021.

Since then, full permission has been granted for roads, earthworks for the school, pitches for Sittingbourne Rugby Club and another 209 houses.