Sir Roger Gale says: Bridge, then houses.

Herne Bay MP Sir Roger Gale says a proposed development in Hillborough should not go ahead until Blacksole Bridge has been built.

He has called for a trade to be made for the site near Altira Park, which has been earmarked for 1,000 homes. He says developer Kitewood Estates should build Blacksole Bridge in exchange for approval of its plans.

A long-running stand-off has halted development at Altira Park because of a clause the council included in the initial contract with Kitewood. It said it would not have to build Blacksole Bridge until 17,000 sq metres of its business park had been developed.

Sir Roger said:

"I am not averse to sensible plans for properties but my absolute priority is Blacksole Bridge. If Altira have a determination to acquire land and build houses, we should not be interested unless they build the bridge. I know the city council, in its infinite wisdom, put in a condition that they would not have to build the bridge until they have built on a certain amount of land. Now they want something else. If they want that, then they should build the bridge."

However, Sir Roger qualified this by saying he felt 1,000 homes would be too many for Hillborough. He said:

"I think the density would be too high. I am not prepared to see the city district housing needs and problems dumped on Herne Bay."

The Kitewood Group director Mike Dolan said:

"I think it would be premature for me to comment in any detail on the draft Local Plan because at present it is just a draft. It has to go before the Overview and Scrutiny committees and the Executive of the council before being published. It is quite possible that changes will be made as part of that process so I believe the appropriate time for me to comment is when the actual outcome is known. Suffice to say that we are greatly encouraged the land has been recognised as suitable and appropriate for development."

The Details

A new primary school would be part of a 1,000 home development at Hillborough. It would also include a community hub, doctor's surgery and local shops. The development would be accessed on a link road to the Thanet Way, via Altira Park.

Some smaller parts of the development would be accessed from Sweechbridge Road. These would benefit from a new slip road to the westbound carriageway of the Thanet way at the Heart-in-Hand junction. Developers would also have to contribute towards the cost of a Herne relief road at Strode Farm.

HB Gazette 9th May 2013

King's Hall meeting report

About 150 people went to the King's Hall on Monday evening for the "Save Hillborough" campaign meeting.

The recent proposal from developers Kitewood for over 1,000 new homes north of the Thanet Way on the eastern boundary of Herne Bay has worried many residents.

One of the main concerns voiced at the meeting was that the already over-stretched local infrastructure - sewage, transport, education, health and so on - simply wouldn't be able to cope.

Laura Calder of the Save Hillborough group said,

"The proposal is basically flawed, in the same way that other recent housing developments have been flawed. Key services will not be in place at the start of the development and is not clear who will build them or when."

"There are local residents at this meeting who get sewage backing up in their downstairs toilets. We need to get the sewage pipes sorted out, and upgrade the sewage treatment plant, before we even think about adding more houses."

Herne Bay resident Dick Eburne pointed out that the development affected the whole town:

"Another 1,000 homes means more people taking the train to work. The station car park is half the size it used to be, so where are they going to park?"

Local resident and meeting organiser John Moore said,

"The Council are revising the Local Plan, which decides which land can be developed. The key to this is 'people power' - we need to lobby our councillors every week, or even every day, to keep this land off the Local Plan.

"If it stays off the Local Plan, we're pretty safe. If not, we'll have to face one planning application after another."

Dick Eburne wasn't convinced that the Local Plan was the main issue:

"It's just a weapon that the Council can use to refuse developers what they want. The real threat comes from central government, who are re-writing the rules and tying the Council's hands."

Barrie Gore of CPRE Protect Kent said that the Government wanted to build its way out of recession, although Protect Kent disagreed strongly with this solution:

"However, if new houses are to be built, then whatever number of houses the Council comes up with in the Local Plan, they should be split into small groups and allotted to various villages throughout the District."

Everyone welcomed the news from Kitewood's Mike Dolan, who had written to Laura Calder saying,

"As a demonstration of goodwill to the local community we have recently taken the initiative to engage with officers of both Canterbury City Council and Kent County Council, with a view to exploring ways in which the works that need to be carried out to the Margate Road bridge can be brought forward before they are required under existing planning obligations."

This was taken as a welcome sign that Kitewood had responded to local residents’ concerns, although it’s unclear what style of bridge is being suggested.

Seems that not everyone enjoyed the meeting, then...

"We even had to ask who speaker at meeting was"

The meeting in the Beltinge village hall was by far the worst meeting, public or private, that I have ever attended (Villagers Vow To Fight £240m Housing Plan, Heme Bay Gazette, October 20). After an almost unending speech stressing that this meeting was non-political, 20 minutes in, my colleague was forced to ask for details of who was addressing us. The speaker, speaking from the body of the hall, was unknown to us.

Later a vote was sought without a clear mandate on whether we were voting in favour or against the proposed development. This possibly brought about the soundbites that “no means no” and “...we have to fight this lock, stock and two smoking barrels”.

During the meeting, we felt Michael Britton failed to accept all offers of help which included details of traffic flow etc across Blacksole Farm bridge and an offer of free leaflet printing. He failed to arrange a PA system or display equipment for what appeared to be a well-crafted report by Laura Calder and continuously talked over her report.

With his lack of leadership, we wondered if he was a Trojan horse for the developers as it seemed by the time they submit their planning application we will be at such a severe disadvantage, the proposal will be passed with no credible opposition.

There is an urgent need to mobilise all of villages in the area and exploit the required talents of the residents to make an effective cohesive force to oppose this application or we will be detrimentally affected.

Rohan Deane, Selbey Close, Beltinge

HB Gazette letters 27th Oct 2011

Gale's View

The proposed development of Hillborough is highly contentious. Nobody would deny the likelihood of a need for more family housing to serve the interests of the growing population of Herne Bay. Balancing that need with the protection of the townscape and the rural environment is going to require, however, a very great deal of thought and care and I do not personally believe that the present aspirant developer, Kitewood, has to date applied anything like sufficient diligence to their proposition.

I note that in response to my observation that the outline plan offered to the people of the town for 'consultation' recently was "a mess" Kitewood have suggested that they did not, for example, claim that they would "build a new primary school". Unfortunately not only I but local councillors were standing silently and listening when Kitewood's spokesman said precisely that!

The developer is seeking to give the impression that a great and philanthropic gesture will be made and that, additionally, the much needed Blacksole footbridge will emerge from this scheme.

In answer to questions it has become apparent that at the time of the public exhibition Kitewood had not even consulted with Kent County Council, as the education authority, over the need for a new primary school and was only "in the process of negation" to acquire land, from Network Rail, that they do not own and without which the footbridge cannot be built.

Setting aside the fact that the "gift" of a small parcel of land and some cash under a Section 106 agreement does not constitute "building a new primary school", local residents are acutely aware that the real need to the East of Herne Bay is for a new secondary school to obviate the requirement for all of those families living in Reculver, Beltinge, Broomfield and even much of the town centre to send their children past their "local" school and off to Whitstable, Canterbury or even Faversham and Thanet to be educated. Secondary Schools, of course, with their demand for playing fields, take up a lot more land and, incidentally, preserve a lot more green open space than primary schools. I would hope very much that the City's planners will bear this very much in mind when considering any application for the development of this area and will, in the light of the provisions of the Localism Bill, ensure that their local plan clearly reflects this need while that opportunity still exists.

There is, then, the suggestion that "hundreds" of jobs will be created and, finally, that a new supermarket will serve the needs of what will amount, embracing belting and Reculver, to a new village.

Altira Park shows no sign, at present, of attracting the job-creating industrial and commercial investment that was indicated when that consent was granted and, indeed, were it otherwise then the Blacksole footbridge would, by now, have been built under the terms of that permission. Where, therefore, all of this new employment-generating interest that is going to provide the work for the families resident in New Hillborough is to materialise from it is hard to see. And I think it is fair to say that we now have sufficient evidence to know the likely effect, upon local small village shops and even upon the Town centre, of new supermarkets.

No responsible Member of Parliament should seek to preserve his or her constituency in aspic and I do not seek to do so. That we will need new family homes and new opportunities for employment for the young people of The Bay is a given. I believe, though, that we are entitled to demand that the scale and infrastructure needed to support any new development is subject to meticulous care and to the greatest possible scrutiny before any plans are passed.

I would like to think that if Kitewood wish to win the hearts and minds and support of the people that I represent then they will take a deep breath, return, literally, to the drawing board and come forward with a proposition that demonstrates both that they intend to first meet their existing commitments and to then show a proper respect for and understanding of the area in which they wish to build.

Kitewood Hillborough Extension

The 190 acre, £240m scheme is planned in three phases.

Phase 1

• Would use the land which lies to south of the railway line and north of the Thanet Way, all of which is controlled by Kitewood.  The land adjoins Altira Business Park at Bogshole Lane, and is crossed by the un-made Maystreet Road which goes over the railway line at Maystreet Bridge.
• Phase 1 land covers 25.5 hectares (63.3 acres):
  • 6 hectares (15 acres) of the land for employment use as an extension to Altira Business Park, providing 300 new jobs.
  • 12.5 hectares (31 acres) for 375 houses.
  • 7 hectares (17.3 acres) for landscaping and public open space.
• Will include a footbridge over the Blacksole Bridge railway crossing, and a new link road between Altira Business Park and Sweechbridge Road which will enable access to the Thanet Way at both the Margate Road and the Heart in Hand Road junctions.
• Planning application in early 2012 - if it's successful, work could begin as early as the end of 2012, and finish in 2016.
• Kitewood say: "It will cost in the order of £60 million - an enormous vote of confidence in Herne Bay".

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Phase 2

• Would use land which lies to the north of the railway line and extends to the existing commercial and residential areas of Hillborough, all of which is controlled by Kitewood.
• Phase 2 land covers 27.4 hectares (67.7 acres):
  • 4 hectares (10 acres) of the highest area of land to the west of the site would be used for a new primary school (to be donated to CCC) and a shopping centre.
  • 16 hectares (39.5 acres) for up to 500 houses.
  • 7.4 hectares (18.3 acres) for wildlife habitats and parkland.
• Realignment of Sweechbridge Road to the north of the railway to improve the existing dangerous layout.
• Preservation of the historical pedestrian and cycle links via Maystreet Bridge.
• Design of a traffic system to discourage non-local traffic from passing through Hillborough.
• Kitewood anticipate Phase 2 happening between 2016 and 2026.

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Phase 3

• Would use land lying to the west of phase two and north of the railway line.
• Development of this land would require an additional bridge over the railway because the Maystreet and Sweechbridge Bridges wouldn't be sufficient.
• Approximately 16 hectares (39.5 acres) could be developed to provide an additional 500 houses if the need exists.
• 7.7 hectares (19 acres) would form an extension to the central park on the higher ground in the middle of the scheme.
• The two wooded areas on the northern part of the site would be retained for landscaping and wildlife purposes.
• The central part of this land would be landscaped and planted with trees.
• Pedestrian and cycle links and possibly a bus link would also be provided to Osborne Gardens, Churchill Avenue and Highfield Avenue, enabling residents of Beltinge to access the site whilst preventing traffic from entering Beltinge.
• It is not anticipated that Phase 3 would start before 2026.

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If you have any comments on this proposal, you can add them below, or you can visit www.hillboroughextension.com, or contact your councillors or MP.