I am very sorry to report that there has recently been a significant change to the housing allocations proposed for the emerging new Swale Borough Local Plan. This new plan for housing in the borough was proposed by council members from wards to the West of the borough, who also carried the vote to bring it forward to the next stage of the plan process.
This new allocation proposes that a very large site is built to the East of Faversham, significantly increasing the number of houses allocated for our area in the previous draft Swale Borough Local Plan and means that we will have a large majority of the additional housing in our part of the borough, well over the 45.5% previously proposed.
This level of growth around our small market town and surrounding villages is inappropriate and unsustainable, but communities are being pitted against each other as we all feel the effects of housing growth on inadequate infrastructure.
These proposals will need full council approval, and will still need to be developed with actual sites, rather than the broad direction of travel proposed by this decision, and they will go out for public consultation. I will argue strongly that this level of development will result in unacceptable harm to the scale and character of Faversham, a small market town, and to the rural villages and countryside that surrounds it.
The housing targets are handed down from central government, and may increase with the change of administration. They simply cannot be accommodated within the borough if we give proper protection to “Best and Most Versatile” agricultural land, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and avoid building on land subject to flooding. I have helped put these points into a robust response from Swale Borough Council to the recent consultation on the proposed changes to the National Planning and Policy framework, which governs the plan making process.
Please look out for and take the opportunity to comment on the proposed new Local Plan when it goes out for public consultation and, in the meantime, email me if you have any comments or questions about these proposals.
Alastair Gould
Swale Borough Councillor for Boughton & Courtenay
Email: alastairgould@swale.gov.uk