This neighbourhood, which covers parts of Gravesend and Northfleet, is a mixed residential/industrial use area, which is home to the Springhead Enterprise Park. It is particularly well-connected due to the nearby Ebbsfleet International station, with trains taking around half an hour to St Pancras International. And what’s more, if you fancied visiting the continent, it’s also possible to hop on board the Eurostar to Paris from this very station! Housing here, ranges from post-war terraced and semi-detached housing, to a number of new builds, offering the most up-to-date fittings. Residents have all of their basic needs met with local shops and amenities; however, with its close proximity to the town centre of Gravesend, many residents choose to wonder that little bit further in order to get access to a wider range of establishments.

A particularly prominent feature of this neighbourhood, situated to the south of this area, is the A2, or Watling Street. The current road follows a similar route to that of an ancient Celtic trackway, and it was an important route associated with the Romans in linking London with Canterbury; the first road was paved as early as AD 50! By the 17th century, the road began to wear, and many of the sections were turned into turnpike roads, including the section from Gravesend to Rochester in 1712. Much of the initial road still remains today, and has been turned into a footpath and cycle path for local people to enjoy.

Despite the main industry of this area being chalk, there is also a large paper mill that was built in 1923 – it is here where all of the Andrex toilet tissues are produced.

One of the downsides of this neighbourhood is that due to the industrial nature of the landscape, with a large number of chalk and clay mines, there is not much greenery nearby. Despite this, there are several parks in the surrounding neighbourhoods, including Gravesend, which residents are happy to visit.

The major changes taking place in this neighbourhood and its vicinity are the ongoing developments that underpin the creation of the new garden town of Ebbsfleet Valley. Ebbsfleet Garden City, the first of its kind in a hundred years, will be a new community of over 15,000 homes (30% of the homes will be affordable housing) and public facilities, which promises to vastly boost local employment and the economy, with an estimated 32,000 new jobs created for residents by 2035. While the project is still young and only a few homes and spaces have been developed, it’s set to reshape the area in the next decade. As part of this plan, the development will include family homes, apartments, a promenade, a playground for children, spaces for retail, opportunities for community amenities, and a primary school. The development is set to be angled towards a more affordable market, with a special consideration for first-time buyers, and those on average salaries.