Local Plan: Tories and opposition split over proposals

Canterbury City Council's blueprint for the district has already created a split between the Tory majority and opposition members. Each Conservative on the ruling executive insists he or she will listen to public opinion and allow it to shape Canterbury's future.

Cllr Peter Lee

The council will use its forthcoming issue of its District Life magazine to outline the Local Plan and tell people how they can comment on it. Cllr Peter Lee, the council's finance supremo, says much of the proposed house-building is geared towards retaining talented and employable people. He said:

"We are not going to be able to do that  unless we build affordable homes for them to live in."

Cllr Terry Westgate

Cllr Terry Westgate, who represents St Stephen's ward, said:

"I've lived in Canterbury for 38 years and I'm passionate about the city. I want people to support what is good in this plan and tell us what they think is wrong with it."

Cllr Peter Vickery-Jones

Cllr Peter Vickery-Jones, the council's member for transport, warned objectors to the draft plan to be measured in their criticism:

"It's no good screaming and shouting and being abusive to councillors - that will not help. I am heartened to hear what people have to say. It's clear they are passionate about the district."

Cllr Alan Baldock

Northgate Labour councillor Alan Baldock urged the executive to act on the views put forward in the coming consultation. He said:

"It [the draft plan] lacks one vital ingredient - the wisdom of local people whose feet are firmly on the ground with a stake in their district, every day of every year. But the truth is that this executive no longer has the trust of the people of this district. They no longer believe that their comments will be listened to or answered."

Cllr Nick Eden-Green

Lib Dem Nick Eden-Green described the plan as "fatally flawed" adding:

"Suffice it to say that there is much in it that is excellent, but I disagree with its conclusions on housing numbers and their locations."

HB Gazette 6th Jun 2013

Local Plan: money to flow out of Herne Bay

Hundreds of homes at Herne Bay are needed to pay for improvements to roads across the district, councillors have revealed.

As the area's draft local plan was discussed in public for the first time on Monday, officials said the developments at Altira Park, Strode Farm and the former golf club, as well as near Briary School, in Greenhill would bring in vital cash to pay for a new crossing at Sturry.

Relief route

Developers would also be asked to fund a "relief route" for Herne - but opponents said it did not go far enough and a bypass was needed. Canterbury City Council's head of regeneration Ian Brown said:

"We are trying to build communities, not just individual housing estates. The Herne Bay sites will provide a new regenerative beginning for the town, a new focus and will contribute to new transport infrastructure. In part that will help to fund routes through and the Sturry bypass."

The plan includes proposals for 1,000 houses at the Altira park, together with a new doctor's surgery and community facilities.

The developers would have to pay for new links to the Thanet Way, work to discourage motorists from using Heart-In-Hand Road and make a contribution to a relief route at Herne and the Sturry crossing.

The golf club scheme - of 400 homes, business units, convenience stores and a sports hub, plus care home and doctor's surgery - would also bring in money for the Herne relief route and Sturry crossing, as well as a new footpath to the Strode Farm development. That site will have 800 homes, business units, shops, a new parish hall and cash for the crossing and relief road.

The final contribution is from 600 homes near Briary School, in Greenhill, along with allotments, and community facilities.

But town stalwart Dick Eburne said the plan to improve Bullockstone Road as the relief route did not go far enough. He raised concerns about transport, and said the public transport system would need significant investment in order to meet the target of more people choosing to travel sustainably within three years. He said Herne needed a bypass and Bullockstone Road was not suitable, and that through traffic on the A28 should be diverted.

Members of the council's overview committee supported more development at Herne Bay rather than Canterbury, where plans for 4,000 homes south of the city, near Nackington Road, were criticised. Lib Dem councillor Nick Eden-Green said:

"Put houses where we need economic development, Herne Bay and Hersden, not south Canterbury."

Studies commissioned by the council suggested most people preferred more developments at Herne Bay then larger villages, then Whitstable, with Canterbury last on the list. [This is a lie - click here to see the truth.]  But 70% of people did not support building on green-field sites.

Planned development at Hersden and Broad Oak would also bring in funding for the road network. Lib Dem leader councillor Alex Perkins said:

"Whether we need this local plan is another matter. I would like to refer it back to the local plan steering group."

His proposal was not supported by the committee, nor was one by Labour's Alan Baldock for an extended consultation period.

Consultation is expected to start in June for eight weeks and the plan is due to be revised by councillors in December, with a public inquiry due to take place next summer before the document is finalised.

HB Times 16th May 2013

Deferral on Kingsmead land decision

Excellent news - Kingsmead has won a brief reprieve, thanks to the sheer number of written objections, and the huge support for the online petition.

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Discussion by Executive members of council proposals to appropriate land at Kingsmead for planning purposes has been deferred until the meeting on Thursday 21 June.

Originally the Executive was due to consider the plan at its meeting on 31st May.

However, the council received 246 comments during the appropriation public consultation, many of them containing detailed information. Therefore, the council has decided to defer a decision to allow for full analysis of all the issues raised. Council Leader Cllr John Gilbey said:

“This is an issue that has caused concern locally. We do not want to make a rushed decision and miss something important, so deferring for a meeting will mean we can give this full consideration.”

Additionally, the e-petition created on the council website by local people who oppose appropriation of the land has now passed 1,500 names. Reaching this figure automatically triggers a discussion at the council’s Overview Committee, and this has been scheduled for Wednesday 13 June.

The initiator of the petition will be allowed to ask a number of questions in advance, and the background to the issue and answers to the questions will be provided in a report that councillors will then discuss. Arrangements for this are being put in place at the moment.

CCC 28th May 2012

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Schoolchildren Orla Lineham Fox and Timmy Pettman took on the might of the city council in a battle to save their playing field. The pupils from St Stephen's Junior School stood in front of the Canterbury Area Members Panel on last Monday night at the city's Guildhall in a last-ditch bid to save Kingsmead Field from being used for housing. Orla, 10, told the meeting:

"It's not just for me and my friends but for all the people of the area who live and breathe better because there is a lovely empty green field nearby."

Timmy, 11, added:

"Often in the evenings, I go to the field and play football with my dad and brother. It's very easy to stay indoors and watch TV or play computer games. Please leave our field alone."

Labour councillor Alan Baldock (Northgate Ward) said:

"The passion of the campaigners is phenomenal. It shows they really care and have realised the council has been a little bit sneaky. They have inspired these two children to become involved in local politics. If we lose this space, how can we trust a judgment made in similar circumstances again?"

Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Alex Perkins Tweeted the following day:

"Very impressed by the two brilliant young people who so professionally addressed Canterbury Council last night."

At the stormy meeting, residents accused the council of not consulting them – but council chief executive Colin Carmichael said consultation was carried out in 2004 when a primary school was planned for the site. The plans fell through when Kent County Council pulled out of the scheme and the land was earmarked for housing instead. He insisted that the decision had already been made by the council's executive but the move had to be rubber-stamped at the end of this month.

Residents have organised an e-petition – which has already attracted 1,603 signatures – on the council's own website. The petition closes Friday 25th May but has already been signed by enough people to force a debate by the council's overview committee. The 16 city and county councillors voted unanimously to send the plans to the committee for debate, effectively delaying the scheme.

County councillor Graham Gibbens (Canterbury City North East) demanded a fresh consultation to include health and traffic implications after GP Dr David Pratt from St Stephen's warned that more houses would lead to more traffic pollution. 

Liberal Democrat councillor Ida Linfield challenged the council's decision to reclassify the area as "development land" when it was originally classed as recreational land under the Local Government Act. She said that selling the site to Berkeley Homes in 2006 could have breached the act and suggested that there could be a case for a judicial review.

Mr Carmichael said a report would be prepared for the overview committee on Wednesday, June 13. After the meeting campaigner Sian Pettman said:

"The resounding 'no' vote to residential development from Canterbury's own councillors will place a huge pressure on the executive to respond to public opinion and rethink plans for Kingsmead."

The council has been sent 246 letters of objection, a written petition of more than 650 signatures and the e-petition.

thisiskent 26th May 2012