News | Maidstone development
downsmail.co.uk 1,300 more homes on the A274
Three large housing developments are set to proceed at Langley, despite reservations about the effect another 1,300 homes will have on the area.
Two of the plans were passed on
July 14, while another, subject to ap- peal to the secretary of state, was also given approval status. Before the meeting, Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) came in for criticism over its alleged attempt to get planning approval on matters in the borough’s local plan whichwere yet to be considered by a govern- ment inspector. Ukip councillor Eddie Powell, a member of the planning committee and opponent of the schemes, said: “I realise there has to be some de- velopment, but this is not the place.” Cllr Paul Aplin, of Otham Parish Council, claimed putting the scheme through a planning com- mittee before the government in- spectionmight be interpreted as “a cynical move”. He warned if the housing schemes do go forward, the Sutton Rd and surrounding roads will be gridlocked at peak times. Traffic is already backing up to
Sutton Valence, said Cllr Paulina Stockell, and Horseshoe Lane at Langley is barely two metres wide and unable to copewith extra vehi- cles.
The council argued the houses
were part of a wider house-building programme in line with govern- ment policy. It had commissioned itsowntraffic consultants, whosaid local junctions were over-capacity, but claimed measures proposed by
2 1 3
Housing allocation Local shops Open space Urban boundary Economic development
4
5
1 Imperial Park 2 North of BicknorWood 3 Bicknor Farm 4 Langley Park 5 South of Sutton Road
the developers would mitigate this. Whenthe council’s planning com-
mittee reconvened on July 14, its members approved the three appli- cations, totalling more than 1,300 houses on sites off the A274. They relate to land at Bicknor
Farm for 270 homes and for more than 1,000 houses on land south of Sutton Road and an area north of Bicknor Road. The Bicknor Farm land is already under appeal to the secretary of state but the planning committee voted to approve it any- way.
An HGV struggles to get through Leeds village Schools are welcome, but roads vital too
ON A cold Thursday night in Febru- ary, hundreds of people, some with placards, turned up to a publicmeet- ing in Maidstone. They were there to express their
views on the future of housing and development in our area, and few subjects stir up stronger feelings. As an MP, it’s one of the things I
get contacted about most. I get calls from families who desperately need a home, letters from people who’ve lived in a rural village all their lives and worry that it could be changed beyond recognition, and emails from parents whose children haven’t got into nearby schools. Maidstone Borough Council (MBC),
which plans 18,500 homes, is caught between the pressure to meet the
22 Maidstone East August 2016
Comment by Helen Whately, MP Faversham and Mid Kent
government’s agenda and local housing need, and the concerns of residents worried about fields being built over, traffic queues, GP appoint- ments and school places. The total number of homes being planned is extraordinarily high, and it doesn’t make sense to press on without material investment in the road network. I’m glad there’s a primary school opening this autumn for Langley, and another one planned to serve
Bearsted from September 2018. To- gether, these should bring school journeys back to sensible distances. Development proposals for Sutton
Road also included funding towards a GP surgery. However, the plans for road improvements strike me as in- sufficient. Of course, it’s a good thing for people to use buses and bicycles, but there are lots of situations where that simply isn’t possible and car journeys will be necessary. Helen Grant, MP for Maidstone
and TheWeald, and I recently wrote to MBC asking them to include a re- view point in the local plan to re- assess the traffic impact of development. Kent County Council is getting on with work on a potential Leeds-Lan-
gley relief road. This has been talked about for about 30 years, but there comes a point where talkwill have to turn into action. What difference might Brexit
make? With the likely slow-down in immigration, will we see a reduced demand for housing? There’s specu- lation about a slow-down in house- building in any event. When parliament returns, Iwill ask whether such factors should be taken into account in Maidstone’s local plan, which will be examined this au- tumn. I suspect the pressure will be to
carry on regardless, but my view is that it’s important to get this right. Once you’ve built on a green field, you’ll never get that field back again.
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