News | Local Plan


downsmail.co.uk Call for rethink on housing


THE vote to adopt Maidstone’s Local Plan has been postponed afterMPHelenWhately invited the secretary of state to “call in” the borough council’s controversial 15-year housing strategy. Mrs Whately wrote to communi-


ties secretary Sajid Javid with con- cerns about the Local Plan because she fears Leeds Castle and villages may be adversely affected. Maidstone Borough Council’s Liberal Democrat leader, FranWil- son, and chief executive Alison Broom decided to postpone voting on the Local Plan as it stands while Mr Javid deliberates on Mrs Whately’s request. Mr Javid, separately, announced Maidstone may have to take 40% more homes than the council says it needs in the Local Plan to cope with demand. The Local Plan already proposes


17,000 new homes and has been pronounced “sound” by a govern- ment inspector. That number could increase to more than 24,000. Mrs Whately is concerned the


plan will harm attractions like Leeds Castle and leave villages such as Headcorn, Lenham and Harriet- sham swamped by new housing. And she has reflected the widely-


held belief that Maidstone’s clogged up roads will not cope with the extra traffic. However, the council’s manage- ment remains “confident” the Local


Plan will go through, according to a statement. In her letter to Mr Javid, Mrs Whately, who has received the sup- port of her fellowMPHelen Grant, wrote: “The specific issue is the in- clusion in the plan of an industrial employment site at Woodcut Farm, a rural location near to junction 8 of the M20, and on the approach to the castle…Developing this site would have far-reaching ramifica- tions for the countryside and her- itage assets.” The Woodcut Farm industrial


warehousing development – needed to satisfy the plan’s em- ployment creation – has inched closer to reality after the borough council’s strategic planning, sus- tainability and transport committee voted to recommend the Local Plan.


However, the council’s own planning team – which whole- heartedly supported Woodcut Farm – must now fight an appeal by the developers to the borough’s planning committee’s decision to reject it. Mrs Whately is worried the Local Plan does not include suffi- cient investment in roads. She said: “Many thousands of


MP Helen Whately has asked Secretary of State Sajid Javid to look again at housing targets in the Local Plan for the borough


houses are being built in this area, without meaningful development of roads (or any alternative to car transport) – when congestion is al- ready affecting the ability of resi- dents to travel to and from work or access services in and around Maidstone. “I strongly question whether


these locations can be deemed sustainable for this level of hous- ing.”


Maidstone borough councillor


Clive English, Liberal Democrat chairman of the planning commit- tee, warned Mrs Whately that her appeal toMr Javidwas "high risk". He added: "Calling in the Local Plan will not necessarily mean there will be a reduction in hous- ing numbers – it could go the other way. It would be good if the secre- tary of state did reduce the num- bers, but this rarely happens. “It's a bit of a high risk strat-


egy." Delay in adopting Local Plan could mean more homes


THE statement released by Maidstone Borough Council states: “Maidstone Borough Council’s leader and chief exec- utive met on Tuesday, Septem- ber 19, with Faversham and Mid Kent MP Helen Whately to dis- cuss the borough’s Local Plan. Chief executive Alison Broom


and Cllr FranWilson are keen to work together with Mrs


Whately following her letter to Sajid Javid, the Secretary of Stare for Communities and Local Government, asking for him to delay the formal adop- tion of the plan.” In a joint statement, Cllr Wil-


son and Alison Broom said:“We remain confident that our local plan can and will be adopted. “It has already been through a


Plan a ‘recipe’ for misery


CONSERVATIVE county councillor Gary Cooke said: “I have always thought the Local Plan does not deal with traffic congestion in some of the most already con- gested parts of the county town. “I was not surprised that Maid-


stone Borough Council believes there are no grounds for it to be called in by the secretary of state. “I would have hoped that the


CCCbCC CCCCLGllor Gary Cooke is looking for plans to relieve conges- tion on local roads


4


Local Plan contained a transport strategy to make a Leeds –Langley relief road a reality. All I see is a plan that piles on more and more misery to the existing residents who have to put up with congested roads.”


Maidstone Weald October 2017


public examination by a govern- ment inspector. Yesterday's meeting with Mrs Whately en- abled us to discuss her con- cerns and clarify certain issues such as the investment ear- marked for infrastructure and building on an area of out- standing natural beauty (AONB) land. “Our full council meeting is


being postponed whilstwewait for a response from the Secre- tary of State. However, we have to be mindful that the govern- ment is consulting on a stan- dardised methodology for calculating housing need and if our Local Plan is not adopted, from April 2018, the housing tar- get for Maidstone will signifi- cantly increase.”


Tories ‘play party politics’ inbidfor council control


UKIP borough councillor Eddie Powell (pctured) senses a political scrap between the ruling Liberal Democrats and the Tories. With 18 borough coun-


cil seats up for grabs at elections in May next year, voters will have the chance to boot out the in- cumbents with the ex- change of just a few seats. The Lib Dems (22 seats)


are in an agreement with the small cluster of inde- pendents (four seats). The Tories have 23 members, Ukip four and Labour two. Traffic congestion


caused by increased housing num- bers and inadequate roads is likely to be top of the Tory leaflets. Privately, we under-


stand that Lib Dems are increasingly concerned they will be victims of the Local Plan’s political fall-out. Cllr Powell said: “It is


very, very political and there is a huge amount of jockeying going on. This is all about the To-


ries trying to get hold of the council again. But, I’ll tell you something, people are getting fed up with it.”


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