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New village | downsmail.co.uk Lib Dems back village plan


THE Lib Dem group says a new village of more than 2,000 homes near Lenham could help meet the demand for housing in Maidstone.


Cllr Tony Harwood, the group’s deputy leader and planning spokesman, believes a large new self-contained village would be a better alternative than Maidstone Council’s approach of increasing the size of urban areas and villages. However, his group’s leader Fran


Wilson seemed reluctant to endorse the idea, insisting such a develop- ment would only be a “last resort”, with the LibDemscontinuing to pri- oritise brownfield, town and urban sites for new homes. The Lib Dems – the largest group


in opposition to the Conservative- led minority administration – will continue to demand a much lower figure than the present target in the draft local plan of 18,600 homes be- tween 2011 and 2031. Cllr Harwood told the Downs


Mail: “I personally andmygroup as a whole have long supported the principle of a new village on ‘arable prairie’ to the east of Lenham, south of the A20.


Lib Dem Cllr Tony Harwood and leader Fran Wilson have spoken out on the plan for a new village near Lenham


“This would reduce the need for unsustainable urbanisation of green spaces within and surrounding Maidstone’s villages and suburbs and help preserve quality of life and our beleaguered wildlife.” CllrHarwoodhas earmarked land


near Lenham Heath and close to the border of Ashford borough for the new settlement. He believes it could be as large as Lenham, which has a population of almost 3,500, and a


community infrastructure levy could fund a railway station be- tween Lenham and Charing. This would protect other parts of


the borough including Lenham vil- lage , which would be expanded by 1,750 homes if the draft local plan comes to fruition. Headded: “Our urban settlements


– whether villages or the town – are having every green space filled in. “If Maidstone town and borough


Scheme could put support at risk Comment By Stephen Eighteen, Editor


LIB Dem leader Fran Wilson was un- derstandably reluctant to whole- heartedly back her deputy Tony Harwood’s idea for a new village south-east of Lenham. While the concept is broadly in line


with Lib Dem policy, electorally Cllr Harwood is playing a dangerous game. Were it not for Ukip’s four council-


lors snubbing the Conservative group’s invitation to form a coalition after last May’s local elections left Maidstone Council with no overall


control, the Lib Dems’ decision-mak- ing powers in 2014-15 would have been severely limited. The Lib Dems havemade the most


of the Conservative group’s minority administration by wresting control of the planning committee and forcing through a vote to replace the cabinet system with committees across the board fromMay this year. These feats have only been


achieved through cordiality with other parties, particularly Ukip, whose leader Eddie Powell represents Harri- etsham and Lenham. Acornerstone of Ukip’s local policy


is to preserve all greenfield sites so Cllr Powellwas horrifiedby Cllr Harwood’s ambition for a village on his patch. With local elections looming in


May, Cllr Wilson knows her party’s leverage on the council is dependent not only on strong relationships within her own group but most likely with those of minority parties aswell. Cllr Harwood’s outspokenness in


this paper is said to have caused a stir in his own party and may also have created a division with those the Lib Demsmay rely on comeMay. The local elections just got more in-


teresting. Heritage ‘would be destroyed’


CLLR Eddie Powell (Ukip), who represents Harrietsham and Lenham on Maidstone Council, was against the plan. He said: “A village of this sort


would totally destroy the heritage of Lenham and Charing: two beau- tiful villages in an area of out- standing natural beauty. “Lenham is already under pres-


sure to deliver housing that could potentially see its population tre- ble. Comments like this do not help a fragile situation such as this. “My more cynical side suggests


that the Liberal Democrat party has nothing to lose by suggesting an area to build where they don’t intend standing, which would of


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course deflect from Maidstone where they have a parliamentary candidate.”


Maidstone South February 2015 Cllr Annabelle Blackmore, the


leader of Maidstone Council, said: “Presently no land has come for- ward for a self-contained village in the location of Lenham Heath. “The draft local plan already in-


cludes 245 new homes and a broad allocation of 1,500 homes in and around Lenham from 2026, if the homes are still required. “It is unlikely that 2,000 houses


in a self-contained settlement would pay for all the necessary services and facilities needed for a new community, let alone a rail- way station. The council chose a sustainable dispersed strategy making full use of and improving existing services and facilities.


is going to retain its character we need to think outside the box and the only thing would be to build a new settlement.” Cllr Harwood says the homes


would be built on “unattractive agri- cultural land” mainly used for graz- ing and cereal production. “If you look east along the A20


and towards Lenham Heath there is a lot of land between the A20 and M20. There are few hedges and trees in these arable fields. It would create a third village along the A20 next to Harrietsham and Lenham. “Currently the plan is to almost double the size of villages such as Marden, Headcorn and Staplehurst, as well as making it hellish along Loose Road and Sutton Road. “But the road and rail infrastruc-


ture that can bear extra traffic is along the A20 corridor, especially along the eastern end.” Apotential stumbling block in Cllr Harwood’s idea is that the land north of the proposed new village is part of the protected Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, where a large development might set a dangerous precedent.


Vision for


the future HOWMaidstone should move forward, according to Cllr Tony Harwood: The 18,600 figure in the draft local plan is a result of success in developing brownfield land a decade ago and should be re- duced by at least a third.  Policies are needed to pro- tect countryside in the Low Weald (near Headcorn, Staple- hurst and Marden) and Green- sand Ridge (near Boughton Malherbe, Ulcombe, Sutton Valence, Linton, Hunton and Yalding).  The Sutton Road corridor is unsuitable for large housing developments because the road network cannot cope.  Infrastructure schemes such as the south-east link road and Maidstone Gateway HS1 rail- way station should be rejected because they would create more pressure for new hous- ing.  The Detling Aerodrome es- tate could be a high-tech in- dustrial park, but is too far from a railway station to re- alise KCC leader Paul Carter’s vision for it to become a large new housing estate.


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