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downsmail.co.uk 15,000-home city ‘just theory’
GOLDING Homes has assured residents that an ambitious plan to create a 15,000-home garden city in south-east Maidstone is merely “theoretical”.
A 152-page document by Chris Blundell, director of development at the housing association, claims a large development expanding Otham to the east, Langley to the north and Leeds to thewest would help meet the demand for new homes in the borough. The project, Charthills Green,
was shortlisted for the industry- recognised Wolfson Economics Prize 2014 and is an extension of a proposal first aired in 2013 by Golding Homes and met with much criticism at a public meeting, to build a 5,000-home garden sub- urb in the Otham area. The detailed document earned
Mr Blundell a £10,000 prize and praise from judges. However, a spokesman for Golding Homes told the Downs Mail: “Itwas a the- oretical plan for the Wolfson prize and not part of a formal submission for Maidstone Council’s local plan. “At no point are we proposing
15,000 homes. This is some work that Chris has produced that is a larger version of the 5,000-home scheme that we submitted for the local plan. “He sees it as a viable alternative
to piecemeal development, but it is up to the borough council to decide how it develops the local plan. Maidstone Council has seen the document but only as an idea.” The Charthills Green scheme
would urbanise greenfield land north of Sutton Road, east of New Road and Otham Street, both sides of Avery Lane and west of Back Street in Leeds. The document states the homes
would help fund a Leeds-Langley bypass and a railway station – Maidstone Gateway – on the HS1 line near M20 J8, with services to London St Pancras taking 30 min- utes. The settlement would include a
secondary school, three primary schools, retail facilities, an enter- prise hub, health centre and com- munity centre. Mr Blundell writes: “The city will comprise three closely-intercon- nected settlements, each sub-di- vided into a number of walkable suburbs of approximately 1,500 homes which will, wherever possi- ble, be moulded to the original pat- tern of fields so that the tall shelter hedges can be retained. “A 20-year development period
would encourage the creation of a training academy for both modern construction and traditional craft skills and support a significantly higher level of self-build homes.
“Land acquisition would where possible be by agreement, with compensation at a multiple of agri- cultural value, plus recovery of fixed costs of plant and equipment on the land. “Garden cities will only come
forward if supported by local com- munities. Support is best demon- strated by a local referendum of the whole of the community. “There would be a generous compensation scheme for affected residents and businesses, including monetary compensation for those most closely affected and a wider element of compensation in the form of enhanced local amenities to benefit the wider community.”
Chris Blundell Idea is ludicrous, say residents
RESIDENTS have rejected the idea for a new garden city, saying even the suggestion of 15,000 new homes in this area is intolerable. Cllr Cheryl Taylor Maggio, chairman of Langley Parish Coun- cil, said: “The community met in 2013 and voiced its rejection to the Golding Homes building pro- posal for 5,000 affordable homes on an unsustainable site, which would join the historic rural vil- lages of Otham, Leeds and Lang- ley to urban Maidstone. “The county council also protested, as did the CPRE. Now this number has grown to 15,000, in theory of course, or so they say! “Relying on the building of a parkway station (highly improba- ble within the next 20 years, given the cost) to build a massive social housing estate on Maidstone's valuable agricultural land shows this project in its true colours – a London dormitory for its over- spill, with no inherent and or-
ganic growth for Maidstone. “Away from the theory, there would be an actual need for more public services and infrastructure which could not be funded by this development alone. “If this man had won a prize for proposing a new community on an accessible, sustainable, brown- field site I would take my hat off to him. But he has proposed tak- ing a beautiful, inhabited area of the Garden of England with jaw- dropping views and destroying its communities. “Maidstone borough has
evolved organically over the years. This proposal is the very antithesis of that culture and shows a disregard for communi- ties within established settle- ments. Such concentrated development will affect the river catchment and groundwater sup- plies, not to mention our creaking sewerage system, roads, hospitals and emergency services. Frankly,
the proposition is ludicrous." Eileen Riden, of SuttonValence,
said: “The compensation he talks about would cost more than the Leeds/Langley bypass. The 40,000 people from the ‘city’ will all come down the Sutton Road to visit Maidstone and when they get to the Wheatsheaf junction will sit in the traffic and wonder who designed their city. I wonder how the Charthills Golf Club feels about this city named after it?”
Annabelle Blackmore, leader of Maidstone Council, said: “The original proposal from Golding Homes was for 4,500 homes. Al- though there is some appetite na- tionally for garden homes developments, this proposal has not passed the relevant tests nor does it have wholesale approval. “The borough council rejected
the proposal because it is contrary to our strategy and there is no committed road scheme.”
Retirement homes plan for vacant bowling alley
A PLAN has been submitted to turn the empty bowling alley inMaidstone into retirement homes. Churchill Retirement Living says,
subject to planning approval for the King Street site – owned by Maid- stone Council – the block of 53 one- and two-bedroom flats could be ready by May 2016. It has submitted a computer-gen-
erated image (pictured) of how the retirement homes could look. The developer says the emptyAMF Bowling Alley is unsightly and has been a target for vandals. It says the flats would significantly improve the
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appearance of the area and be a cat- alyst for further investment in the town.
Andrew Burgess, Churchill’s plan- ning director, says the development
Maidstone Town February 2015
would help bridge themassive gap in private sheltered housing for the eld- erly in Maidstone. He anticipates the number of people aged 75 and older will more than double in the area by
2037. If built, the self-contained flats
would share an owners’ lounge, guest suite, 24-hour careline and land- scaped grounds.
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