Council unhappy at plan to grow housing by 20%
MAIDSTONE Council has criticised the Government for suggesting that itmay have to increase the number of houses it provides by one-fifth. Officers and councillors from all sides
lined up to denounce the Government’s Draft National Planning Policy Frame- work. Chief among their criticisms was a pro-
posed “20% contingency” in housing that all councils would be obliged to meet. De- velopment control manager Rob Jarman re- sponded: “This, in effect, increases the total
THE Mote Cricket Club hon- oured its captain Tom Harvey at the annual dinner with an award for being top run scorer (856) and fourth top wicket taker (28) in the Premier Divi- sion of the highly-competitive Kent League. Tom (pictured) received the
award from clubmemberMatt Coles, who established himself as a fast bowler/batsman in the Kent County Championship
number of housing units by 20%, but such totals have been the subject of years of con- sultation and planning.” The document also calls for informality in decision making: “Any guidance needed to support the new framework should be light- touch and could be provided by organisa- tions outside Government.” Mr Jarman, who labelled the framework
“not fit for purpose”, argued strongly against this approach: “Light-touch is a vague term but, moreover, non-government organisations tend to act as pressure groups.
the tops
by Dennis Fowle
side by the end of the season.
Despite Tom’s success the
team ended an ‘unlucky’ sea- sonnexttobottom andwere relegated. But the four team
ALAN Bishop hasmade a further attempt at gain- ing consent to convert an agricultural building in Hunton into a live/work unit. In August last year, Mr Bishop, who runs Bishop Consultancy, was refused planning per- mission relating to Beast House,West Street, after planning officers argued that he had not provided evidence of amarketing exercise or evidence that every attempt had been made to get commercial premises elsewhere. The planning committee thus voted for refusal
Tom’s “The good point about Government pol-
icy is that it is, in essence, neutral. “Development management is dominated
by appeals and judicial reviews; it is, in ef- fect, quasi-legal and therefore national Gov- ernment policy needs to be clear and robust, and so an element of detail is required.” This officer stance was broadly supported
by the Lib Dems, while council leader Chris Garland (Tory) felt the document “drives a horse and cart through what we are trying to do with the Local Development Frame- work,” which is currently being produced
captains all spoke enthusiasti- cally of the emergence from the colts of talented young players and confidence the top team would soon bounce back. There was praise too for ded-
icated fourth team captain Dave Damen who said he was handing over after seven years leading a side with many young players. There were 37 different players last season with nine new colts.
Second attempt to turn barn into live/work unit
as development in the countryside is contrary to policy. Mr Bishop says the “fundamentals” of his fresh application are “largely the same”, but has now submitted a viability assessment to the council. He added in a letter to development control manager Rob Jarman: “It is noted that the council has recently approved five live/work units in the American Oast at Tutsham Hall, West Farleigh. This decision acknowledges the up-to-date policy support for such a use in rural areas.”
by the borough. Consultees have until Octo-
ber 17 to provide feedback on the draft framework.
Fence movement
‘unacceptable’ JASON Avards was forbid- den from relocating a garden fence in Melrose Close, Loose.
Maidstone Council felt the
fence’s height and position- ing would “unacceptably en- close the existing open area of land, resulting in the loss of previously approved soft landscaping“.
Linton fencing PERMISSION was granted to erect 2.4m-high acoustic fencing and replacement gates at a residential home in Hill Place, Linton Hill, Linton.
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