News | Local plan
downsmail.co.uk MPcalls for rethink on findings
MP Helen Whately has written to the planning inspector Robert Mellor urging him to reconsider findings of the Local Plan inquiry contained in his interim report. Mrs Whately remains concerned
the Woodcut Farm at M20 junction 8 is still under consideration for de- velopment into industrial units, de- spite being thrown out by Maidstone Borough Council’s own planning committee. Those misgivings are shared by
local representatives, including the chief executive of Leeds Castle. Mrs Whately – pictured here at
the Local Plan inquiry – cautiously welcomed Mr Mellor’s recommen- dation to reduce the number of new houses for Lenham by 500 and that the village’s residents should be able to decide on development sites through the neighbourhood plan process. But she remains “frustrated by
the failure to take into account the concerns of residents in other vil- lages around Maidstone – and in the town itself – about the level of development and its impact”. The member for Faversham and Mid Kent said: “I appreciate that
tion increases. “While I know more housing is needed, the pace of development should be scaled back to bring the borough more into line with other areas, and particularly to enable in- frastructure improvements to catch up with population growth.” In her letter to Mr Mellor, she
writes: “Iamalso disappointed that Woodcut Farm remains under con- sideration as a site suitable for of- fice development. “Woodcut Farm has previously
MP Helen Whately
the housing number has fallen, but I am disappointed to see such a small reduction. “Pressing ahead with so much
development without properly ad- dressing the infrastructure deficit cannot be right. This will only in- crease the frustration of residents seeing their quality of life affected year on year, as traffic and conges-
been refused planning permission because of the impact on the land- scape. “The site is detached from the built-up area, so employees would likely access it by car, adding to congestion and air quality issues. “In addition, any industrial de-
velopment there would blight the approach to Leeds Castle, a na- tional heritage asset attracting half a million visitors a year. “I would like to see in your final
report a much greater emphasis on the need to seek alternatives to this site for employment uses.” Before Christmas, Leeds Castle
chief executive Sir David Steel said of the Woodcut Farm proposals: “Whilewe support any commercial activity which promotes employ- ment and economic benefit in the area,we are not convinced that de- velopment at junction eight will bring the benefits necessary to out- weigh the detrimental effects on the local community, the environment and the wider tourism industry to justify such development.” Leeds village’s borough council-
lor Gill Fort said: “After Kent Inter- national Gateway (KIG) was seen off, this is just KIG2 on a smaller scale, but I do not believe it is ap- propriate for the area. “We can’t imagine that there
would not be a traffic impact on Leeds village and the surrounding villages which they simply cannot take.”
Factors affecting numbers
THE Local Plan inspector considered areas of outstanding natural beauty, flood risks and transport in his deliberations on whether to reduce housing numbers. This was one argu-
ment put forward by Maidstone and the Weald MP Helen Grant in her submission to the recent inquiry. Mr Mellor stated that
Public meetings called
THE Local Plan, housing numbers, traffic congestion and the need for a relief road to connect south Maid- stone and the M20 will be discussed at two public meetings. Hosted by county councillor Gary Cooke, they will be held on Febru- ary 24 and March 3. Cllr Cooke is certain that the issue
of heavy traffic and Maidstone Bor- ough Council’s home-building pro- gramme will feature high on the list of residents’ concerns. The meeting on February 24 takes
place at Otham Church and the one on March 3 is at Christ Church in Wallis Avenue, Park Wood. Both start at 6.30pm. The cost of a relief road is thought to be between £35m to £50m. There are currently three possible options on the table for considera- tion by the all-party Joint Trans- portation Board (JTB). All start near Leeds Castle and emerge on the
4 Maidstone February 2017
A274 near Langley. Cllr Cooke said that the interim
report from the Local Plan inspec- tor Robert Mellor – which suggests a reduction of 900 planned houses in Maidstone from a total of more than 18,000 – as “incredibly disap- pointing”. He added: “The interim report is
full of inconsistencies and I amvery concerned that the inspector has not taken on board the evidence from MPs, local parish councils and the highways authorities. I am now talking to the officers here at county hall and to other members to see if, collectively, anything can be done.” In his report, Mr Mellor said a re-
lief road would be subject to the “significant challenge” of funding and while it would reduce traffic flows, it could not be included until very late in the Local Plan period. The full findings are to be pub- lished later this year.
in Maidstone, the brown- field land available for redevelopment falls well short of the assessed housing needs. He said while the town’s external growthwas paused for several years in
the early part of this century, that cannot be sustained if it is to make an ap- propriate contribution to housing needs. He states: “They (the constraints) do not preclude all housing develop-
ment or create a fixed capacity for the borough. “Rather it is necessary to assess locations individually and to apply judg-
ments as to the impact of development and whether any significant ad- verse impacts can be adequately mitigated.”
Yalding site is ‘put on hold’
THE Sygenta site at Yalding is one site the Local Plan inspector has rec- ommended should not go ahead. The parish council has indicated it
would be unwise to designate the area for anything while there are flooding issues to be resolved. Local people are said to be de- lighted that the inspector took on board their view. Yalding borough councillor David
Burton, the council’s planning chief, was pleased overall with the interim report. He said that when calculating housing needs, a number of matters were considered, including housing prices and delivery rates. Cllr Burton said the authority is
now much closer to adopting the Local Plan and is looking forward to receiving the inspector’s final report.
To view the inspector’s interim finding, click onto
http://tinyurl.com/glh5pu
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