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News Villagers protest over housing


VILLAGERS from Headcorn took their protest against new housing to the top when they stormed Maidstone Council. A petition containing 500 names


was presented to the council on be- half of residents against “irresponsi- ble building and urbanisation”. Signatories accused the council of “ignoring local voters and contra- dicting the neighbourhood plan, ig- noring the inadequate road infrastructure and road capacity, ig- noring the impact of traffic on vil-


FEARS that further housing could be earmarked for Headcorn have been prompted by the clearance of trees in a field off Lenham Road. Locals saw two men trimming


back trees and hedgerows in the field where villagerAndrewHesel- wood later walked his dog. He de- scribed “a massive unattended fire” with children throwing sticks at it. As all the trees are protected by


tree preservation orders, imposed in 2011, he reported the activity to Maidstone Council and called the fire brigade. He believes surveyors have been looking at the site.


lage life and residents’ safety, ignor- ing inadequate sewer capacity, ig- noring flood risk, ignoring that the school is oversubscribed and pro- moting destruction of village life.” About 150 residents from Head-


corn and Lenham, which had its ownpetition of 1,500 names, packed the council chamber, after a heated protest outside the Town Hall. The council received 2,000 re- sponses to its public consultation on the draft local plan and hopes to put its final draft out in February.


Tree-clearing sparks new fears


Although Headcorn has been earmarked by the council for sig- nificant new housing in the years up to 2031, the site has not previ- ously been included in any plans.  Some residents have received a flyer from DHA planning about the housing next to Oak Farm Gardens, off Lenham Road. In a bid to allay community concerns, the agent says the number of houses in a forthcoming planning application will be reduced from 53 to 48. A pumping station and underground water storage would be added to minimise the risk of flooding.


Cllr David Burton said the council


had not singled out any one place, as others faced an equal expansion. He said: “We are listening, but at the moment, the developers have the upper hand.” Residents across the borough are incensed that the council has ear- marked 18,600 new homes between 2011 and 2031 in its draft local plan to meet assessed housing need. CllrDanDaley said Allingtonwas


an example of a former country ward thatwas now an urbanward –


SIRHugh Robertson,MPfor Faver- sham and Mid Kent, says Maid- stone Council needs to “go back to basics” to assess its housing need. The MP, who covers parts of Maidstone and Swale, said the two local authorities had approached the issue in very differentways. While communities secretary


Eric Pickles has said it is up to local councils to determine their own housing numbers, based on the 2012 National Planning Policy Framework, Maidstone had gone for a “huge” number in comparison with Swale, whose target of 13,500


going from 300 residents in 1900 to a potential 14,000 in 2026. Cllr Christine Edwards-Daem,


who represents Park Wood on the council but lives in Headcorn said: “We need more affordable housing. But I see profiteering and landown- ers making money.” Lib Dem leader Cllr FranWilson


said: “If we do not get off our bot- toms andmove forward ...we have a developers’ free-for-all – and that is the situation we are in at the mo- ment.”


Target figure too high, saysMP


homes between 2006-2031 he de- scribed as “tiny”. He said: “Swale has gone for a


tiny number which they are confi- dent they can defend. We need to ask why there are such huge dis- crepancies and give our local coun- cillors support to help them to obtain a realistic housing number.” Given that the average house


would contain two adults and two children, 18,600 new homes would create a new settlement 80% the size of Maidstone town. He said: “These are vast numbers and the infrastructure simply cannot cope.”


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