Core Strategy housing sites proposed
PRIVATE landowners in Maidstone have come forward with 160 sites they are will- ing to sell for housing and business devel- opment. But only five offers have come forward
for gypsy and traveller sites, leaving the council with a shortfall of land for the 183 pitches it is obliged to provide. The borough’s growing population means the council has to find land for around 4,500 new homes between 2011 and 2031 to meet its target of 14,800 addi- tional dwellings. An initial appeal for sites has brought a
flurry of interest from the rural areas, rang- ing from Lidsing and Bredhurst in the north to Staplehurst and Marden in the south and Lenham in the east. However, the biggest concentration re-
mains to the south east of the town centre, where a new 5,000-home “garden suburb development” is threatening to absorb Otham. A public meeting to discuss the proposal
from Golding Homeswas due to take place as the Downs Mail went to press, with speakers from KCC, Maidstone Borough Council and the Campaign for the Protec- tion of Rural England (CPRE). Maidstone council leader Chris Garland stressed that the call for sites was only the first stage in a lengthy process which would check the suitability, availability and achievability of each site, taking into account policy and physical constraints, such as the environment, landscape and heritage, highways and accessibility, flood risk, tree preservation orders and wildlife. He said: “The council must give equal consideration to every site or risk judicial review and financial penalties. He assured: “Everyone will have a chance to get involved. The council wants residents and others to get involved in the debate about where new growth should take place and the future shape of the bor- ough.” Cllr Stephen Paine, cabinet member for
Key sites for consideration Bridge Nursery, London Road; Land east and west of Hermitage Lane; Land at Oakapple Lane, Barming; Hoppersfield, Tonbridge Road; Land at Farleigh Lane and Gatland Lane
Land to the rear of Kent Police HQ, Sutton Road Langley Park
planning, transport and development, re- vealed that between 80 and 90%of the sug- gested sites were green field, as a result of the council doing a good job of developing its brown field sites in the past. “This is what we expected,” he said, “as
most of our brown field sites have already been allocated.” Although the council says it is impossi-
ble to assess net migration, as this would depend on the nation’s prosperity in the coming 10 years, research had shown the council needed to provide a further 14,800 homes by 2031.
Delay ‘could mean free-for-all’
MAIDSTONE can expect a whole flurry of applications coming forward – such as the one for Otham and Lang- ley – until it gets its Core Strategy in place, according to the Council for the Protection of Rural England. Delays in finalising the strategy
mean Maidstone – along with half the other councils around the country – could be exposed to a planning free- for-all, the CPRE has warned. While other local districts such as Ashford, Tonbridge & Malling and TunbridgeWells have an adopted local plan, these too could be open to chal- lenge if they do not comply with the Government’s National Planning Pol- icy Framework, implemented in March last year. The CPRE and its local arm, Protect
Kent, fear that the lack of local plan- ning guidelines could have damaging consequences for the countryside and they are calling on the Government to extend the period to allow local plans to be put in place. Without it, there could be a rash of widespread, poorly-planned develop- ment, they warn. The deadline for local plans is March 27 this year and the CPRE has
32 Town
been calling for a one-year extension to allow councils enough time to en- sure their plans conform. Jamie Weir, from Protect Kent (pic- tured), said: “It can hardly be a coinci- dence that in recent weeks we have seen a rash of speculative proposals for large- scale housing come forward, on sites which have never been part of a properly tested, democratic planning process, such as the one in Otham. “Unless a local plan is in place which specifically precludes develop- ment in a particular location, it seems that this may be the start of a planning free-for-all that leaves local planning authorities powerless to direct the de- velopment that they need to the loca- tions where it will do least harm.” The situation in Kent and Medway closely reflects the national position; just over half of Kent’s districts do not have an up-do date local plan and are therefore vulnerable to challenge. These include Maidstone, Canter- bury, Gravesham, Swale and Medway.
Council leader Chris Garland, right,
discusses the housing proposals with Cllr Stephen Paine (left) and head of planning Rob
Jarman
Coventry is the latest city to have its core strategy thrown out by the Government be- cause of failure to make sufficient housing provision. Given an option of a “garden suburb” or dispersed plots of development, Cllr Gar- land said: “The council policy is still for dispersed distribution. However, that was based on the statistics from three to four years ago. Now we know we have to find 14,800 new homes, we need to test the vi- ability of all the sites before reaching a de- cision.” Cllr Paine revealed the councilwas plan-
ning to reduce the amount of housing which needed to be affordable in new town centre development from the recom- mended 40% to just 15%. He said: “We have had very few offers
of sites in the town centre and one of the reasons is the requirement to provide 40% at an affordable rent. “We would like to see this dropped to
15%, although it will remain at 40% in the rural areas, for rental or shared own- ership.
Better transport strategy ‘vital’
AN integrated transport strategy was crucial to the future of Maidstone, council leader Chris Garland revealed. Refusing to be drawn on whether or not a
new “garden suburb” could subsidise a Leeds- Langley bypass, Cllr Garland said: “We need to re-educate our residents and get them to use public transport in preference to their private cars.
“That might mean closing our present park
and ride sites and opening up others; it might mean encouraging more cycle use.” Cllr Garland said if all the developer contri- butions from the additional homes were to be ploughed into funding a new bypass, it would still fall £30m short of the estimated £70m + which is needed to build it. He said the council would have to decide whether to go for an urban extension or dis- persal strategy – putting more homes into vil- lages which had railway stations, for example, where the residents could help keep a rail service alive and support the infrastructure, rather than vice-versa. With the current park and ride service cost-
ing the council £500,000 a year and its con- tract due to expire in 2014, the council will be looking to find a more profitable solution to moving residents around the town.
You can e-mail the Downs Mail —
info@downsmail.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48