East February 2014

downsmail.co.uk

News Planning ‘worst state sincewar’ THE planning system has “been undone”, according to a prominent Lib Dem councillor.

Cllr Tony Harwood, deputy chairman of the opposition group and spokesperson for the Lib Dems on the planning committee, says the Government is at fault for large areas of open countryside being sacrificed for new housing. Greenfield sites near villages like Marden and Headcorn are in the process of becoming housing es- tates, with more schemes proposed. Previous planning policies suc- ceeded in preventing such devel- opment, but government directives

in recent years require councils to produce a five-year land supply for new homes if their core strategy is not up to date.

Cllr Tony Harwood

Maidstone has neither, with some delays arising from the Government re- jecting other councils’ core strategies for having a hous- ing target that is

too low and forcing a rethink on the target for the borough. Maidstone Council is likely to

settle on a figure of between 17,100 and 19,600 homes until 2031, which isway above the 11,080 target until 2026 earmarked in the South East Plan five years ago. Cllr Harwood said: “More than 40% of local coun- cils in England and Wales don’t have a five-year land supply and local plan. “It is almost commercially im- possible to produce a five-year land

supply. We are in the worst situa- tion since the war in terms of there being a laissez-faire approach to planning, with no control. The planning system has been undone – it is as simple as that.” The situation is unlikely to change until the council finally im- plements its Core Strategy, which has been earmarked for summer 2015. However, the higher housing target means more land will have to be allocated for housing, possi- bly adding yet more delay.

‘Garden village’may be needed to meet homes target

THE “Golding Garden Village” in south east Maidstone could be back on the cards as the council faces up to providing a further 19,600 homes in the borough by 2031. Golding Homes unveiled a pro-

posal a year ago for a 5,000-home garden suburb between theA20 and A274,west of the B2163 Leeds-Lan- gley road, east of Otham Road, and south-west of Junction 8 of the M20. The 163-hectare scheme, which cov- ers 90% of the parish of Otham, is considered a possible solution to the problem of spiralling housing tar-

gets. Planning scrutiny committee chairman Cllr Steve McLoughlin said he did not feel sufficiently qual- ified to agree to the figures put be- fore members, but was happy to accept the officers’ recommenda- tions as correct. Although the council has an as-

sessed “need” of 19,600 homes – about 980 new houses a year – offi- cers have identified the potential to provide only 17,100. But chief planning officer Rob Jar-

man said the council’s core strategy was a “living document” andwould

be under constant evaluation. He said statistics revealed the need for more homes for the elderly, while the boroughwas still proving popu- lar with young people and couples priced out of places like Sevenoaks and TunbridgeWells. Maidstone has researched its housing need in conjunction with Ashford and Tonbridge & Malling councils to strengthen its “robust- ness” butMrJarman said therewere arguments for seeking mitigation. These included not building on the flood plain around places like

Yalding and Marden and the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natu- ral Beauty. He said the council would be able to argue that parts of the Medway, Len and Loose valleys should be protected. Population growth in the borough

from 2001 to 2011 had been under- recorded, members were told, al- though there had been lower net migration than anticipated. Results of the council’s recent ‘call for sites’ were due to be unveiled but a fur- ther call for siteswas likely after the February meeting of the full council.

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