News | Housing
downsmail.co.uk Colour-coded housing plots
DETAILS of hundreds of sites that could be used for housebuilding have been published by Ton- bridge and Malling Council as it seeks to identify suitable areas for development to include in its local plan. The list, which marks an early
stage in the process, is the outcome of the call for sites last September when developers and landowners were invited to suggest locations for housing, employment and other uses.
Each of the 262 sites has been eval-
uated by the borough council’s plan- ning officers, following government guidelines. The council has placed plots into one of three categories, shown as either red, green or amber. Red denotes that the site is techni-
cally unsuitable, while amber indi- cates that it is potentially suitable but undeliverable, perhaps because of land ownership or infrastructure is- sues. Green suggests a site accords well with national policies and is de- liverable. If all the green and amber sites
were eventually approved they could yield 20,000 homes.However, Cllr Howard Rogers, cabinet mem- ber for strategic planning, stressed that the “interim sites assessment” was not an indication or guarantee
that sites would be included in the local plan. He said: “Sites having potential at
this stage will be subject to public consultation and will be considered in more detail later in the process, when planning merit can be ap- plied.” The green and amber listings in-
clude the number ofnewhomes that each site could theoretically provide. However, the council said itwas im- portant to recognise that this was a broad figure only and the actual yieldwas likely to be lower. Sites graded green or amber,
range from East Malling Research with an assessed 5,400newhomes to a small plot of land off Cobdown Close, Ditton, with an estimated nine units.
The council has an assessed need
of 13,400 homes to be built in the plan period of 2011 to 2031, but the borough has enjoyed a healthy hous- ing supply with planning permis- sions granted or in the pipeline or sites already in the previous local plan. These leave the council having to plan for 6,723 units. Council leader Cllr Nicolas Heslop (below) said it was probable that fewer than half the listed sites would be needed. Having so manywould provide the opportunity to pick the best. The proposed sites in the interim assess-
ment will continue to be tested until major public consultation, called Is-
“People will be rightly concerned that this could be a lead-up to an enormous loss of
local countryside” David
Thornewell, chairman, East Malling and Larkfield Parish Council
sues and Options, takes place in Sep- tember, and there could be some re- finement before then. Cllr Rogers said: “Issues and Op-
tions will look at how we meet fu- ture needs and help us to identify sites that are likely to come forward in the Local Plan, along with those that will not. This will be an impor- tant opportunity for local residents and communities to comment.” Information on the call for sites, in- cluding a colour-co-ordinated map, is on the council’s website at
www.tmbc.gov.uk/callforsites.
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