East Malling and Larkfield Parish Council
Local Plan. We have heard from the borough council that two inspectors have been appointed to consider the draft Local Plan. Publication of all the representations made in the last stage before Christmas is awaited. Mean- while, the borough council has yet to decide the planning applications submitted to build houses on part of Eden Farm, West Malling, adjacent to Warren Wood, East Malling, and off Wateringbury Road, next to the former Heath Farm site, where the old farm buildings were replaced by dwellings some years ago.
The parish council has objected to all three applications as they are coun- tryside sites on the existing Local Plan and not included as housing sites on the submitted draft plan, where they are shown as within the proposal to extend the green belt.
Changes to refuse collections. The
new contractor, Urbaser, has now taken over the refuse collections but changes that will include the collec- tion of more doorstep items will not come into effect until 30th September. There will be a charge introduced for collecting garden waste of £40 per year. However, people who sign up for this between May 7 and August 2 can opt to have the fee fixed for £35 per year for two years.
This change is because there is no legal duty to collect garden waste, so in common with many councils across England the borough is introducing the charge.
Flooding issues. KCC has cleaned out the gullies, roadside drains and pipes at the New Road/A20 junction. The parish council continues to press for work to address the flooding after heavy rain which takes place at the A20/Lunsford Lane/Winterfield Lane
and in New Road near its junction with Chapman Way. Some work has been carried out at this last junction, but more is required.
Jane A Plain Lane. This is the old name on some maps of the footpath leading up from Well Street to Warren Wood, East Malling, and now into Kings Hill. The parish council has been in touch with KCC to make sure this path is fully taken into account if the site at the southern end is developed by Liberty. It wishes to ensure the path is kept open with a reasonable width as a through route path.
New Road/A20 yellow box. Follow- ing the yellow box at the New Hythe Lane/A20 junction the parish council has supported a yellow box at this junction. It is understood it will be laid once the current work updating the traffic lights is completed.
West Malling Parish Council Report
Bellway application for 80 houses on Lavenders Road, Swan Street and Station Approach. The parish council is opposing this development. The sole access is shown as Swan Street. The council will submit objections based on the environmental damage to the rural setting of West Malling and its station; environmental damage to the setting and site of St Mary’s Abbey, an Ancient Scheduled Monument, including removal of protected trees for the new access; damage to the peace and tranquillity of the Abbey required for the work of the nuns and people on retreat; and the damaging effect of the traffic on the safety and congestion levels in Swan Street, and on Lavenders Road and Water Lane as designated Quiet Lanes. Following the borough council’s loss of the appeal on the London Road site, councillors felt they should to engage private plan- ning experts, in partnership with East Malling and Larkfield Parish Council, to put the strongest possible case for refusal on the Lavenders Road site. We understand the application may be de- cided in March or April. The borough council has, in the meantime, agreed
to the Parish Council’s request to place protective Tree Preservation Orders on a total of 124 trees in Lavenders Road, Swan Street and Station Approach to Eden Farm Lane.
Car park proposal opposite More Park School, Lucks Hill. This application was deferred by the borough council for a site meeting requested by the parish council. This was to allow councillors to observe the restricted sight lines of accesses onto this stretch of Lucks Hill.
Bus consultation on the future of the 58. The parish council opposes the with- drawal of the bus to Maidstone Hospital. Whilst agreeing that the service could terminate there, saving 20 minutes on the journey time, the council believes a bus service connecting the surrounding villages with the hospital is the result of having built the hospital in a site without transport links from the Malling villages. It would also provide a valuable point of transfer onto to the shuttle bus services to Pembury Hospital, Tunbridge Wells.
2019 -20 Budget The parish coun- cil agreed to set a budget increase
of 2% on a Band D property. Addi- tional money has been set aside for security fencing at the village hall to prevent traveller occupation of the site, upgraded street lights, and for the clerk’s enrolment on a formal course of accreditation.
Library consultation The parish council has expressed its strong oppo- sition to the loss of significant hours of opening from West Malling Library. Councillors felt that since the library was accommodated in a very restrict- ed building space, it was unable to offer registration and other services as larger libraries did, and so suffered in the county council’s ranking. Nev- ertheless, many surrounding villages have no library and visitors attend the library when travelling to West Malling shops, so the loss of hours would have an effect on the total market town ‘offer’, and on the via- bility of the existing retail provision. A formal consultation, including discus- sions on the phasing of the reduced opening hours and how volunteers might be used to supplement perma- nent staff, will begin in March.
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