Kitewood divides young and old

Hmmm... separating the under-60s and over-60s... do I detect an attempt to 'divide and rule'?

Developers pushing for a £240 million housing scheme on the outskirts of Herne Bay claim people over the age of 60 do not want it to happen. In a report compiled on public opinion, Kitewood Estates says there is opposition from “those more senior residents who would prefer to retain the existing status quo".

The firm adds “those who appeared to be aged over 60 were more likely to be opposed to the scheme”, but claims a “broad support” overall, particularly from people with young families.

The comments are made in a report put together after two days of public consultation about the plans, which include 1,375 homes, a primary school and shopping centre in Hillborough. The phased development would start at the end of next year and continue until 2026.

More than 400 people are thought to have attended the exhibitions at Reculver Primary School in August and September, with 183 filling out questionnaires. Of those who responded, 36% are said to be in favour of the scheme, with 62% opposed and just 2% undecided.

Kitewood claims all 47 online replies were in support of the proposal. Only 60% of objectors explain why they are against the plans, with Kitewood accusing the others of “expressing a blanket opposition to the development”.

Among the concerns raised are traffic congestion, the need  for another secondary school, and the loss of green space. Other replies push for new medical and dental facilities, an improved bus service and even a new railway station.

But Kitewood accuses locals of failing to grasp the road improvements proposed and how they would ease traffic density concerns. It also says people have confused the scheme with other unrelated developments in the area.

Despite the majority of responses opposing the plans, Kitewood describes those who did not as a “very high” percentage, claiming an “organised anti-development faction often represents no more than a minority voice”. It adds:

“There is broad support for the scheme and understandable opposition from those more senior residents who would prefer to retain the existing status quo. It is important for Kitewood to enhance its plan and incorporate the proposals made by local residents and to address the important issues they have raised. Most importantly, it is essential that Kitewood is able to communicate the beneficial impact and long-term planning gains the scheme will deliver for the community.”

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Campaigner questions result

Speaking on behalf of the Save Hillborough campaign, leader Laura Calder questioned the results. She said:

"Only 13% of the paper replies to the consultation were in favour, but 100% of the email replies were in favour, which looks a bit odd. Even if you include all of the favourable email replies, over 60% were not in favour of the scheme, but Kitewood describes this as ‘broad support’.

It is very disappointing that they should go to all the trouble of this big PR exercise. and then ignore the voices that they don't want to hear. Let’s hope that our councillors pay more attention to us than the developers have."

Hillborough: front page HB Gazette

Only one way we can win

Rallying call against plan for 1,375 homes

More than 100 residents flocked to a meeting on Monday night to discuss plans for up to 1,375 homes in Hillborough. It was the second public meeting about the controversial £240 million housing scheme put forward by Kitewood Estates.

Hillborough: front page HB Times

Developer Mike Dolan boycotted a meeting in the Kings Hall on Monday night after a behind-the-scenes spat with protesters. He had been prepared to face the wrath of objectors to his company’s plans to build 1,000 new homes at Hillborough - but when campaign boss Laura Calder refused to show him her presentation in advance, he quit.

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HB Times 24th Nov 2011

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