Local Plan: discussion in Canterbury

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) has met with pressure groups ahead of the publication of the Canterbury City Local Plan today (20th June).

On Monday, the CPRE were joined by members of the South Canterbury Alliance, North Canterbury Forum and the Canterbury Society, and discussed how all parties will launch their campaign against development of housing projects across the Canterbury districts outlined in the plan.

There are a proposed 15,600 new homes in the plan, at a rate of 780 every year. Brian Lloyd, senior planner for CPRE Protect Kent said:

"Local communities throughout the district are, understandably, extremely concerned about the damage that these large and unsustainable sites will cause to the character and quality of their local areas, and CPRE shares those concerns."

HB Times 20th Jun 2013

Local Plan: Parish pledges to halt Strode in its stride

Parish councillors have vowed to stop a massive housing development they fear would link Herne to Herne Bay.

Members of Herne and Broomfield Parish Council are working with charity CPRE Protect Kent to find reasons to stop 1,000 homes being built at Strode Farm owned by Hollamby Estates, of which parish councillor Andrew Brealy is a director.

Mr Brealy left the room when the issue was discussed at a meeting on Thursday, but chairman Tony Day said the charity's advice was to focus on highways issues.

The development, included in Canterbury City Council's draft Local Plan, would involve upgrades to Bullockstone Road to turn it into a "relief road". But Councillor Day said they did not go far enough. He said:

"The road will end up more or less as it is. It is totally inadequate. It is less adequate than the current route through the village. People from all the new developments will all want to go to Canterbury and will be going through our village or a relief road. All these developments should hinge on the proper infrastructure being in place."

The parish council plans to hire an independent expert - part funded by CPRE Protect Kent - to examine the highways issues but members said it was crucial residents also got involved. Councillor Ann Blatherwick said:

"We need to find out why we are not being considered separately to Herne Bay and why we are not mentioned as a village. We are a separate community. But we are just lumped in together and that explains why they are trying to join us up."

Members also discussed the loss of agricultural land, and the lack of school places. County councillor Alan Marsh said:

"We would need new schools, two primary and two secondary, to deal with the numbers of children. There isn't money for one school, let alone four."

The parish council won the backing of city councillor Peter Vickery-Jones, who stressed he had not been part of the Local Plan steering group that put the proposals together. He said:

"It is about time Canterbury picked up where it should. There has been huge resistance to South Canterbury but it is right it should be developed there."

But he cited the need for an alternative option, and suggested Thanington near Canterbury.

Village Hall plans on display

Plans for a new village hall for Herne will go on display next month. Herne and Broomfield Parish Council members have asked flve developers to provide drawings and costs for a new building in St Martin's View, next to the School Lane car park.

Villagers will be asked to choose their favourite and fill in a questionnaire before councillors decide how to proceed.

At a meeting of the parish council on Thursday, clerk Monica Blyth said developers would be at a public exhibition on Friday, July 12th from 1 to 7pm to answer any questions and results of the consultation would be considered by the hall committee.

Cllr Tracey Jones said it was important the consultation was as wide as possible, with an exhibition at the weekend as well as during the week. Councillors agreed to investigate other dates the material could be on display and to print extra leaflets and posters to distribute via schools and shops.

HB Times 20th Jun 2013

Local Plan: Parish Council oppose Strode Farm plans

Parish councillors are set to outline their opposition to the Local Plan tonight (13th June 2013) as the public consultation on proposals for 3,000 homes in Herne Bay begins. Herne and Broomfield parish council is expected to focus its arguments against plans for 800 houses at Strode Farm.

Although it has expressed disapproval for a 400-home development at Herne Bay Golf Club, councillors are expected to say they will accept the scheme as a compromise. They are calling on residents to write to the city council in opposition to the inclusion of Strode Farm on the draft Local Plan.

The document outlines housing strategy for the Canterbury district until 2031, proposing 15,600 homes for the area overall. Parish council spokesperson
Monica Blyth said:

"The big thing for us is to get out the importance of people responding to the consultation. It carries more weight if several individuals respond rather than getting a petition together. We are going to have to accept some development and of the two proposed developments in the area, we do not want Strode Farm.

Residents want to keep that buffer and the lesser of the two evils is the golf club. It is not such a big development and will have less impact. A development at Strode Farm would have a tremendous impact on the parish."

The parish council is in discussion with the Campaign to Protect Rural England about putting together an environmental challenge to the plans.

Ms Blyth added:

"Canterbury City Council don't appreciate Herne and Broomfield are villages and not part of Herne Bay. Herne was here first and long-established before Herne Bay arrived. This amount of properties will be huge and add 50% to what we have already."

HB Gazette 13th Jun 2013

Local Plan: CPRE don't like it much

Proposals put builders first, not people

CPRE Protect Kent are extremely worried about the innumerable negative impacts that the current draft local plan may have. We are particularly concerned that the plan has no mechanism in place either to defend or to enhance what is left of Canterbury's cultural and historic character.

Instead, problems will inevitably arise from the proposals to build too many houses in and around the city, which will in turn increase the traffic and air pollution problems.

Barrie Gore, Canterbury district chairman of CPRE Protect Kent

CPRE Protect Kent does not see any local evidential need for such a large number of new houses, and the thrust for such development seems to be led by Government, the city council and large scale developers rather than local people's desires for the area. We are also extremely concerned that the plan shows a lack of emphasis on design of new property.

As an incredibly historic area, with major landmarks such as the Cathedral we find it very sad to think of Canterbury's heritage being diluted by these plans.

CPRE Protect Kent, together with many other local amenity bodies, was involved in the production of The Residents' Vision of Canterbury, published by the Canterbury Society. There is little or nothing in the Local Plan which picks up the themes and suggestions from the Vision.

CPRE Protect Kent is also extremely concerned that the plan does not deal adequately with the influence exerted upon the city by the universities and colleges. In at least one other city the local authority imposes a limit on student numbers, yet in Canterbury we have seen large, sometimes out of scale and unattractive, new student blocks built on prime residential sites originally designated for private and also affordable housing.

The CPRE Protect Kent Canterbury Committee will be making all these points, and more, in its discussions with the Council and in its response to the draft Plan.
 
HB Times 6th Jun 2013

Local Plan: Target of 3,000 homes is "over-ambitious"

Almost 3,000 homes, two new schools and a sports hub have been earmarked for Herne Bay in a controversial council document.

The huge developments on four sites in the town were included in the draft Local Plan. It means applications for massive housing estates in Herne, Hillborough, Greenhill and on the former golf club site are almost certain to get the go-ahead.

The document’s release has sparked fears too many homes are being built in Herne Bay, with the town earmarked for half of the district's eight major development sites before 2031.

Environmental groups say the focus is too much on meeting economic targets, rather than considering the environment and people's wellbeing.

Sir Roger Gale MP

MP Sir Roger Gale says he would oppose plans if they were for "little boxes" rather than homes with gardens. He said:

"My overriding concern would be in terms of density of the development, the number of houses being proposed and the transport infrastructure. This is not a local MP saying ‘over my dead body’. It is a question of saying this has got to be right and done in the right order.

I would have been surprised if Herne Bay was not chosen as a large site to meet the district's housing needs. There is a need for housing and, over the last 15 years or so, far too few homes have been built nationally. But I don't want to see the totality of Herne Bay's environment demolished to accommodate the city district's housing needs. The pain has gotta be shared"

Under the plans, 1,000 homes would be built at Hillborough, 300 at Strode Farm, 600 at Greenhill, 400 at Herne Bay Golf Club and 190 on land at Bullockstone Road.

Planning permission for 50 homes on the site at Greenbill has already been submitted by Hollamby Estates, which is also behind plans for Strode Farm. Sir Roger added:

"There is a vast difference between 50 and 600 homes. We need to talk about that and gather soundings of local opinion to reach an acceptable compromise. We need the right kind of housing and that means family homes with gardens. Given the figures before us, I am concerned about the density. The demand is for three to five-bedroom housing. It is a question of making the right kind of provision. It sounds to me like there will be lots of little boxes and if that is so then I would have to oppose it."

Director of the Kent branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England Dr Hilary Newport added:

"The infra-structure constraints are always a concern. We are concerned about the level of housing growth across the board. It is based on over-ambitious growth targets. It does not take into account proper sustainability. This is too much to do with the growth of the economy, rather than the environment and people's well-being."

Canterbury City Council leader John Gilbey has rejected suggestions the authority could opt for fewer homes. He said:

"We have no choice. If we put in for 500 homes a year, it will not get past the first stage of the planning inspection and will be bounced straight back, just wasting money. We need a plan, otherwise it will be a free-for-all for developers and we will lose appeals."

HB Gazette 9th May 2013

Kitewood Hillborough Extension: expert opinions

Those nice people at Protect Kent have given us the benefit of their wisdom...

---

Stand against the new homes

In a time of climate change and food security issues one has to wonder what kind of organisation would submit a proposal to build 700 houses on grade 2 agricultural land. Yet this is exactly what a developer is planning to do on a 77-hectare site at Hillborough, just outside Reculver (“Developer's anger over MP's criticism" Times, September 15).

The developer has had the site included in Canterbury Clty Council's Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessments and is now attempting to push it quietly into the district's Local Plan.

Once included in the Local Plan, the chances are heavily in favour of planning permission being granted. There are many reasons to fight this development. As mentioned it will take place on agricultural land which will be a valuable resource in the future.

Equally as important is the lack of current infrastructure and the fact that detailed plans on how services such as schools, hospitals and the police will expand has yet to be addressed. The inadequate sewage infrastructure is likely to be costly and difficult to upgrade and the transport infrastructure would need to be radically altered to deal with the increase in traffic that 700 new homes would create.

It is incredibly worrying that in times of rising food prices and a growing UK population we would even consider building on grade 2 agricultural land. If we are to develop Kent in a truly sustainable way then these proposals must immediately be ruled out.

We held an excellent and well-attended public meeting on September 26 to discuss the issue with residents who were unanimous in their opposition to the development and showed real passion for the protection of their beautiful countryside.

Jamie Weir (CPRE Protect Kent), Ashford Road, Charing: HB Times 6th Oct 2011

===

Farming land should be safe from development

Plans have been published by builders to cover 77 hectares of Grade two agricultural land at Hillborough with residential development over the next 15 years.

The land has been continuously farmed for very many years. The builders have already persuaded the city council to include the land for potential housing in the draft Local Development Framework. As everyone is aware, the price of our food, the most basic necessity of all, has greatly increased over the last two years, mainly due to over-reliance on imported food, and lack of support for the retention of valuable agricultural land, to provide food security for Kent and the UK now and in the future, when the cost of imported food will rise still higher and our population increases.

PROTECT KENT has been urging local authorities to refuse planning applications for development of agricultural land in order that Kent can produce more local food, both to its own, and to national, advantage.

Kent used to be known as the Garden of England, but this already misleading description will be further diminished if the city council’s suggested use of farmland for development goes ahead. There seems to be a general consensus that we should be consuming as much home-produced food as we can, but at the rate our farmland is being diverted into the pockets of developers, this ambition will not be realised.

We held a recent meeting for the residents of Hillborough and Heme Bay. Not one person who attended was in favour of any development of the land, nor could anyone see a reason to build houses save for speculation.

It will now be many months before the council produces an amended local plan, but hopefully, although the consultation period has passed, it will still be possible for comments to be considered.

We ask that everyone with an interest in retaining our vital farmland should write to the council and ask that the plan should state that there will be a presumption against all proposals for development of agricultural land involving changes of use.

Barrie Gore, chairman Canterbury district, PROTECT KENT (CPRE Kent), Ashford Road, Charing. HB Gazette 6th Oct 2011

---

Visit www.SaveHillborough.info for more

Reforms to the Planning System

Our beloved Government is thinking of changing the Planning System. By and large property developers love the proposals, and groups like the Campaign to Protect Rural England and the National Trust are against them. That tells me a lot.

The National Trust have an online petition and plenty of background information, posters etc. so pop over and have a look.

For decades England's planning system has protected much loved places from harmful development – and steered development to the places where it's needed. If you care about preserving the places important to you, make your voice heard before October 12th.

Click here to find out more.