Agenda item

1.  That the Officer responses to the representations received during the public consultation on the draft Maidstone Borough Local Plan 2014 (Regulation 18 consultation) for policy SP5(6) Landscapes of Local Value, as set out in Appendix B of the report dated 18 August 2015, be approved.

2.  That the amendments to the draft policy SP5(6) and the supporting text for Landscapes of Local Value, as set out under Section 4 of the report dated 18 August 2015 “Preferred Option”, be approved for further public consultation (Regulation 18 consultation).

3.  That the Greensand Ridge, Len Valley and Medway Valley areas as identified on the Landscapes of Local Value Map in Appendix C of the report dated 18 August 2015 be approved for further public consultation (Regulation 18 consultation).

4.  That the area shown as the Loose Valley, on the Landscapes of Local Value map in Appendix C of the report dated 18 August 2015, be extended to include the two fields off Cripple Street, Loose on the grounds that their location and high quality form an integral part of the topography of the Loose Valley.

5.  That further work be undertaken on the setting of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), shown on the Landscapes of Local Value map in Appendix C of the report dated 18 August 2015, in particular in relation to the inclusion of the Lenham Vale, Court Lodge Road Harrietsham, Land North of Cuckoo Wood, Sandling Lane Maidstone and fields at Barty Farm, north of Barty House Bearsted.

6.  That a re-examination of the area of the Low Weald, excluding SSSIs, be carried out to establish if areas within the Low Weald should be included in the Landscapes of Local Value policy.

The Chairman returned to the meeting and took the Chair at 8.59pm.

The Committee was referred to the urgent update for this item which included five items of correspondence from various interested parties.

The Committee was reminded that the supplementary report in the agenda papers took account of the report presented to them at their meeting of 14 July 2015 on Landscapes of Local Value. This had been deferred for further consideration, with specific regard to the Low Weald.  The Committee was also provided with a larger scale map as requested.

Concern was raised regarding the omission of the Low Weald area from the map showing the proposed areas of Landscapes of Local Value.  Members felt that the Low Weald area could score as high as other areas shown on the map using the criteria shown in the report.  The Committee was informed that the methodology used demonstrated this was not the case, however it was possible there were small pockets of the Low Weald that could score higher. It was also explained that if areas already protected through other means were included in this policy it would have to be justified why these areas needed extra protection and was likely to weaken the case at the inspection stage of the Local Plan.

Further concern was raised regarding the omission of two fields on Cripple Street, Loose from the Loose Valley area and it was agreed these should be included.

The Committee queried why the Len Valley extended further than the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which did not include Harrietsham and Lenham and asked that further work be carried out on these areas.

RESOLVED:

1.  That the Officer responses to the representations received during the public consultation on the draft Maidstone Borough Local Plan 2014 (Regulation 18 consultation) for policy SP5(6) Landscapes of Local Value, as set out in Appendix B of the report dated 18 August 2015, be approved.

Voting:

For:  9

2.  That the amendments to the draft policy SP5(6) and the supporting text for Landscapes of Local Value, as set out under Section 4 of the report dated 18 August 2015 “Preferred Option”, be approved for further public consultation (Regulation 18 consultation).

Voting:

For:  9

3.  That the Greensand Ridge, Len Valley and Medway Valley areas as identified on the Landscapes of Local Value Map in Appendix C of the report dated 18 August 2015 be approved for further public consultation (Regulation 18 consultation).

Voting:

For:  9

4.  That the area shown as the Loose Valley, on the Landscapes of Local Value map in Appendix C of the report dated 18 August 2015, be extended to include the two fields off Cripple Street, Loose on the grounds that their location and high quality form an integral part of the topography of the Loose Valley.

Voting:

For:  8  Against:  0  Abstain:  1

5.  That further work be undertaken on the setting of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), shown on the Landscapes of Local Value map in Appendix C of the report dated 18 August 2015, in particular in relation to the inclusion of the Lenham Vale, Court Lodge Road Harrietsham, Land North of Cuckoo Wood, Sandling Lane Maidstone and fields at Barty Farm, north of Barty House Bearsted.

Voting:

For:  6  Against:  0  Abstain:  3

6.  That a re-examination of the area of the Low Weald, excluding SSSIs, be carried out to establish if areas within the Low Weald should be included in the Landscapes of Local Value policy.

Voting:

For:  7  Against:  0  Abstain:  2