The following speakers addressed the Committee; Mrs Sue Harwood, Ms Helen Baker; Against Lidsing Garden Development, Mr Steve Heeley; Save Our Heathlands; Councillor Jones; Chairman of Bredhurst Parish Council and Councillor Coulling; Vice-Chairman of Maidstone KALC.

The Interim Local Plan Review Director introduced the item by reiterating the timeline of events up until the Regulation 19 ‘draft for submission’ documents stage of the Local Plan Review (LPR). Having an adopted Local Plan (LP) would enable the Council to properly defend appeals and the refusal of planning consents and to ensure that any development within the borough was suitable, having considered any mitigating measures required to the benefit of local communities.

To ensure that the 5-year housing land supply was maintained, the spatial strategy within the Regulation 19 documents focused on a continued dispersal strategy with two Garden Community proposals to deliver a high volume of units towards the end of the plan period.

The Lidsing Garden Community proposal would deliver 1200 units in the current plan period and 700 in the next period, alongside further infrastructure including a new country park and a connection to junction 4 of the M2. The Heathlands Garden Community Proposal would deliver 1500 units in the current plan period and 3500 in the next period, alongside further infrastructure including a country park, a new railway station and two connections to the A20. Both proposals would provide significant employment opportunities.

The Strategic Planning Manager noted that in December 2020 a public consultation on the Regulation 18 Preferred Approaches and Sustainability Appraisal had taken place, with over 3000 responses received. Further work had been undertaken on the evidence base and documents associated with the LPR, to produce the Regulation 19 ‘draft for submission’ documents. The sites included within the documents had undergone a series of rigorous assessments including sustainability appraisals, transport modelling and viability assessments. The various spatial and non-spatial topic papers were outlined.

In response to the concerns raised by the public speakers and visiting members, the Interim Local Plan Review Director explained that the Duty to Cooperate (DtC) requirement did not require all parties to agree, but to demonstrate that the duty had been undertaken. The Invicta Barracks site proposal had been included within the all-plan viability assessment. Proposed SPDs on the Garden Community proposals would include greater detail on the proposal and associated infrastructure, with the work undertaken with the site promoters and cost consultants noted. High-level legal advice had been sought on two occasions on the process used to assess the Garden Community sites. The promoter of the Heathlands Garden Community had confirmed that conversations with Network Rail were ongoing following the latter’s receipt of a business case. The LPA was not aware of any fraudulent or police investigations in relation to any of the proposed sites within the Regulation 19 ‘draft for submission’ documents.

The Strategic Planning Manager confirmed that the Council had been in contact with the environment agency in relation to water quality and reiterated the purpose of the proposed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76