Gravesham district launches website in response to Green Belt threat

STOP THE GREEN BELT GRAB!
The message from the Gravesham CPRE committee could not be clearer as it launches a website in the battle to save the district’s Green Belt.
Urging people to get involved, the website warns us:
“Our beautiful fields could be turned into housing estates under proposals by Gravesham Borough Council.
“Across Gravesham a staggering 3,790 houses are proposed which would swallow up 21 areas of precious Green Belt. These include:

• 1,705 houses in Meopham and Sole Street across NINE green sites
• 1,810 houses in Higham across SEVEN green sites
• 275 houses in Istead Rise across FIVE green sites

“These proposed homes are set to house an extra 9,000 people in this borough alone.
“WE MUST OBJECT TO THESE PROPOSALS NOW”
It continues: “Gravesham Borough Council claims these extra 3,790 homes are needed to house a population that’s expected to burgeon over the next few years. However, the projected figures they base this on are highly debatable.
“There are also several brownfield sites in the borough that could be developed, saving our farmland and open spaces from destruction.
“Even though we are in lockdown and in the middle of a global pandemic, Gravesham Borough Council are continuing with this consultation. Even though many in the rural area are not online.
“This consultation is threatening the fabric of our villages and way of life. We are already set to lose so much to the Lower Thames Crossing. We need to draw the line NOW!”
Regulation 18 (Stage 2) consultation on the Local Plan closes at 5pm on December 31, 2020.
That might sound a little jargon-heavy and potentially complex, but the process is important and the Gravesham CPRE website will help you contribute to it… and indeed the future of the district.
It really isn’t that daunting – and you don’t need to respond to every element of the consultation – so do please spend just a little time to make your views known if you cherish the countryside of north-west Kent.

For more on this story, see here

Monday, November 30, 2020     

• A number of important documents have yet to emerge. For example, a rigorous transport plan and a finalised air-quality assessment. The latter is critical given that allocations at Teynham will feed extra traffic into AQMAs.
• There seems to be no coherent plan for infrastructure delivery – a key component of the plan given the allocations being proposed near the already crowded Junction 7.
• There seems to have been little or no cooperation with neighbouring boroughs or even parish councils within Swale itself.

The removal of a second consultation might have been understandable if this final version of the plan were similar to that being talked about at the beginning of the consultation process. It is, however, radically different in the following ways:

• There has been a major shift in the balance of housing allocations, away from the west of the borough over to the east, especially around the historic town of Faversham. This is a move that raises many concerns.
• A new large allocation, with accompanying A2 bypass, has appeared around Teynham and Lynsted, to which we are objecting.
• Housing allocations in the AONB around Neames Forstal that were judged “unsuitable” by the council’s own officers have now appeared as part of the housing numbers.
• Most of the housing allocations being proposed are on greenfield sites, many of them on Grade 1 agricultural land – a point to which we are strongly objecting.

Concerns about the rush to submit the plan

The haste with which the plan is being prepared is especially worrying given the concentration of housing in Faversham. If the town is to take a large amount of new housing, it is imperative that the policies concerning the area are carefully worked out to preserve, as far as possible, the unique nature of the town. The rush to submit the plan is likely to prove detrimental.

As Swale does not have a five-year land housing supply, it is open to speculative development proposals, many of which would run counter to the ideas contained in the current plan. Some are already appearing. This is a common situation, and one that, doubtless, is a reason behind Swale’s haste.

Our overriding fear, however, is that this emphasis on haste is ultimately going to prove counterproductive. This is because it is our view that the plan, in its current form, is unlikely to pass independent examination. We are urging Swale to listen to and act upon the comments being made about the plan and to return the plan to the council with appropriate modifications before submitting it to the Secretary of State.

Essentially, this means treating the current consultation not as the final one but as the ‘lost’ second consultation.

The consultation ends on Friday 30 April and we strongly urge residents to make their opinions known if they have not already done so.

Further information

• Read more on the Swale Local Plan
• Read CPRE Kent’s detailed comments on the plan
• View the council’s consultation document