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Draft local plan is not compliant, says society
THE Bearsted and Thurnham Society has reiterated its opposition to Maidstone’s draft local plan.
The detailed response will go to a Powerboat
win for Ben POWERBOAT racer Ben Jelf (pic- tured) has received the RYA East- ern Regional Youth Champion Award at Alexandra Palace. The 15-year-old Swadelands School pupil, from Ulcombe, was nominated for the award following another successful season that saw him claim his 10th and 11th con- secutive British titles in 2015 in the powerboat and sprint GP RYA GT30 championships, leaving him unbeaten in the category. Ben’s nomination also recognised the support he offered his team-mates during the season. Ben, who is sponsored by Peters
&May Racing is a third-generation powerboat driver and has been competing for five years. He also acts as a member of the pit crew for his dad Colin. Colin said: “For Ben to have been nominated for the RYA Regional Youth Championship awards is a great honour, but for him to have won it for the second year running against the calibre of youngsters that the awards attract is a phe- nomenal achievement and I could- n’t be prouder.” On winning the award, Ben said:
“To have been nominated for the award is an honour in itself but to have actually been chosen to win it from such a high standard of peo- ple is fantastic.”
Jazz for church
JAZZ fans are invited to a night of their favourite music in the stun- ning surroundings of Boxley Church. A music night featuring Dr Jazz
– an ensemble that can trace its roots back to the ‘50s – will perform on Saturday May 7, along with singer Lynn Falvey. The evening is a Friends of Box-
ley Church production, starting at 7.30pm, with proceeds going to the maintenance of St Mary and All Saints’ church. Tickets, including a first drink
and nibbles, are £8 for adults and £2 for children. Call Gill on 01622 630231 or Jackie on 01622 677121.
38 Maidstone East April 2016
government planning
inspector.The society says the plan is not compli- ant as it has failed to use a credible evidence base to determine its hous- ing projections of 18,560 homes be- tween 2011 and 2031. “The council’s projections are
based on a massive ‘spike’ in house building five to 15 years ago when an unprecedented and unrepeatable amount of brownfield land was de- veloped for housing,” said a spokesman. “A simple extrapolation of these unrepresentative building rates has been used to devise housing projec- tions which are excessive, unjustified and which have given rise to new housing allocations on unsustain- able and inappropriate sites.” The society is vehemently op-
posed to any industrial development nearM20Junction 8 andclaims there is no evidence to suggest that any meaningful cross consultation has taken place with the surrounding planning authorities of Medway, Ashford, Tonbridge and Malling. “The society considers that the
plan is not sound and not consistent with the National Planning Policy
THE scale of development in the Maidstone Local Plan has been condemned by CPRE Kent. The countryside campaigning charity has said it is concerned about the proposed 18,560 new homes in the absence of “sound supporting evidence”. It is also concerned that land
near J8 of the M20 remains allo- cated for employment. Responding to the local plan pre- submission document, the group also expressed concern that the draft Integrated Transport Plan has not been agreed with KCC or the Maidstone Joint Transportation
Framework because it has not been positively prepared or based on ob- jectively assessed housing require- ments; its excessive housing projections and its employment allo- cation at junction 8 cannot be justi- fied; and, most particularly, it is not effective or deliverable because key infrastructure providers, principally Kent County Council (highways, transport, education, social services), indicate that essential physical and social infrastructure cannot be pro- vided to serve the high rates of growth envisaged in the Plan. The so-called ‘Integrated Transport Pol- icy’ isNOTsupported by KCC.” The society points out that the
draft plan fails to maintain a local landscape protection policy to pro- tect the setting of the Kent Downs AONB, which has been in existence since the early 1970s. “It is totally unacceptable to not maintain such an essential local landscape protection policy which, in protecting the setting of the na- tionally designated Kent Downs AONB, has vitally underpinned very important recent planning de- cisions in the local area by the Secre- tary of State, by an Inspector and by
Board, while the cost of providing much of the necessary supporting infrastructure is unknown. CPRE Kent is concerned that most of the pro- posed housing – 84% – is allo- cated on green- field land, which will not encour- age the develop-
ment of brownfield land. It argues the scale of residential
development in villages and rural settings is disproportionate to their size, and is unlikely to promote
Superstore part of homes plan RESIDENTS in south Maidstone are to get a new superstore as part of the 600-home scheme at Langley Park. Supermarket giant Aldi hopes to open a 1,254sqm store towards the
end of 2017, creating 40 jobs. The park will also feature a Toby Carvery and several smaller retail
units, ranging in size from 72sqm to 400sqm. Aldi’s Maidstone store inWell Road opened in 2011.A second store is
due to open off Hermitage Lane at Aylesford later this year. Aspokesperson for the company said: “Now that planning consent has
been granted at Langley Park,we are working with the developer on the construction plans. We look forward to making it easy for residents to shop and save closer to home.”
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the High Court.” The society says major changes
need to bemadeto the draft before it can be considered sound. The spokesman said: “We consider that the housing figures must be reduced to reflect realistic and accurate pro- jections and to a level commensurate with the infrastructure that can real- istically be provided; that a local landscape protection policy must be re-instated to protect the setting of the Kent Downs AONB; and that Junction 8 must be deleted as an em- ployment allocation.”
Comments
THE inspector, appointed by local government secretary Greg Clark, will decide if the local plan is legally compliant, sound and complies with the duty of Maid- stone Council to co-operate with adjoining planning authorities. All comments will be consid-
ered and the most important is- sues raised will be considered at a local plan hearing, chaired by the inspector in Maidstone.
Countryside group adds its concerns
sustainable journeys. Chairman of the CPRE Kent Maidstone Committee Gary Thomas (pictured left) said: “This local plan would cause enormous traffic problems and a strain on school, health and travel facilities. “The number of new homes is unrealistic and unsustainable. There will be a loss of greenfield land.”
Public consultation on the plan
has now closed. The response will be discussed by the council in April and the plan revised if neces- sary before being submitted to the Secretary of State.
Kims award
KIMS Hospital in Maidstone has been voted The Most Prom- ising New Business in Kent by Kent Invicta Chamber of Com- merce. The successwas announced at
the Chambers’ 2016 Business Awards at Cathedral Lodge, Canterbury. Nurses Claire Tra- verse and Sue Robins were joined by patient advisors Les- ley Hickman and Judith Kendall to collect the award.
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