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downsmail.co.uk Local Plan vote to go ahead


COUNCILLORS will be free to vote on the adoption of Maidstone’s controversial and politically sensitive Local Plan later thismonth after the government decided not to intervene.


Maidstone's full council had been


due to take the long-awaited deci- sion on whether to adopt the bor- ough’s 15-year development plan at itsmeeting on September 29. In- stead, councillors received an email from borough council chief execu- tive Alison Broom and Liberal De- mocrat council leader Fran Wilson saying the decision had been post- poned until October 25. They said postponing the crucial


vote would give Sajid Javid, secre- tary of state for communities, time to determine whether or not to call in the Local Plan.He decided not to make an intervention. But Tory councillor Matt


Boughton –member for Fant – says although councillors received the cancellaton notice within the re- quired notice period, he thinks the decision to postpone the decision on the Local Planwaswrong. He said: “I know there will be


colleagues in the Conservative Party who won’t agree with me, but it’s my personal view that the meeting should have gone ahead and the vote taken. Thiswould pro- vide certainty for residents and


CllrMatt Boughton


have sent a clear signal to the sec- retary of state as to the council’s viewon its plan.” He says there is uncertainty and


the threat of even more houses being built in the area, as the gov- ernment looks to increase its house building plans – estimated to add 38% more homes to Maidstone's Local Plan, if approved. Cllr Boughton said: “It’smy view


Cllr Clive English


thatwe should be looking to adopt our Local Plan as soon as possible before there is more pressure for evenmore houses in the borough.” Cllr Clive English had delayed


his holiday to Brittany to attend the meeting, but was happy with the decision to postpone it. He said: “I think it was prudent


to postpone the meeting rather than waste everyone’s time voting


on something before the secretary of state has had time to respond.” Mr Javid became involved in the


approval process after being asked to call in the Local Plan by MP HelenWhatelywhowas concerned the Local Plan fails to address the ability of the area's roads and infra- structure to cope with 17,000 new homes. She highlighted other wor- ries including the impact on areas of beauty across the region, in par- ticular Leeds Castle. Therewas a danger - under pres-


ent rules - that without an “emerg- ing” Local Plan, Maidstone could have been leftwithout planning au- thority and open to speculative ap- plications. Worse still, there could have been a case for the borough to accept thousands of additional homes over and above the 17,000 in the proposal. Some have privately called Mrs


Whately’s judgement into question. One Tory insider said: “There is a golden rule in politics that MPs shouldn’t get too involved in plan- ningmatters. “She didn’t see the dangers in going to theminister.Case closed.”


MPs express disappointment atminister’s reply at call-in MrsWhately said: “Ever since


MAIDSTONE MPs Helen Whately andHelenGrant asked the secretary of state, Sajid Javid, to look at the Local Plan to prevent the Woodcut Farm de- velopment atM20 junction 8, ad- dress road issues and protect local landmarks like Leeds Cas- tle.


Mr Javid responded: “I note


(on Woodcut Farm) that the de- tailed matters such as landscap- ing, the siting, scale and design of buildingswould remain to be determined and that the existing


application is only for outline permission. I will have the op- portunity to consider further re- quests to intervene in this planning application prior to its determination having regard to our policy on call-in.” ButMr Javid agreedwith both


MPs on the importance of in- vestment in the local transport network, saying: “It is vital that infrastructure is brought for- ward alongside the new homes we need to support the develop- ment.”


I was elected, I have spoken out against development at Junction 8 and pushed for newhousing to be supported by appropriate in- frastructure. “Asking the secretary of state


to look into the Local Plan was my last chance to have a say and I’m glad that I took it. I am dis- appointed that he has not inter- vened to prevent development at Junction 8, but I remain adamant that any future building here must be at a size and design that


will not harm Leeds Castle. Work on reviewing the local plan will begin as soon as it is adopted and I will continue to push for Leeds castle to be pro- tected and for the road network to be improved.” Mrs Grant said: “I’m disap-


pointed the secretary of state was not bolder in his response but there are positives from his various remarks, such as confir- mation air qualitymust be an ac- tive consideration in any future planning applications...”


£2.5m for pothole repairs is simply ‘not enough’ -UKIP


ANOTHER £2.5million will be spent filling pot- holes on Kent’s roads before Christmas, accord- ing to Kent County Council. Theworkwill be carried out inOctober andNo-


vember if the weather remains good. Patching, costing £2.7m, has already been


done on Kent’s 5,000-mile road network since April. But one borough councillor,who says the roads


are a “dangerous disgrace”, says four times that amountmust be spent to bring the highways up to a safe standard. KCC is keen to point out that its pothole repairs


are not just temporary fixes. The work is being carried out by local contrac-


tors for a faster response, including Dukes in Malling and Maidstone; SCG Kent in Sevenoaks and TunbridgeWells and Amey LG in Swale.


4 Maidstone November 2017 Matthew Balfour, KCC’s cabinet member for


highways, said: “We do a quality, first time fix, and do not expect to be back out again fixing the same pothole.” Cllr Eddie Powell, a regular critic of the stan-


dards of local roads, said: “The roads in this area are a dangerous disgrace. I’d urge anyone read-


ing this to simply have a look next time they are driving and they’ll soon realise the state the roads are in. “KCC say they have got £2.5mbut, in reality, it


will need to bemore like £10m. That is the scale of the probleminmy view. “Apart fromanything else, dangerous potholes


create dangers for drivers. Blow outs caused by potholes are potentially fatal – so what price on a driver’s life? “With the amount of housing planned in


Maidstone, around Tonbridge and Malling as well as Sevenoaks and the whole of the M20 corridor, there are going to bemore cars on the roads than ever. “KCC needs to look to where they can find the


money needed to do the job because this is the new normal.”


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