Council Meeting Part 2 – Wednesday 20 March 2024
We can continue for the am y I’ve got got about four or five on the list but I think list that you’ve got is before we have the Amendments just for the amendment just for those May we’re ready to start again uh everybody sitting in their seats right um Council councelor Jeffrey you’ve
Spoken councelor Harper um in terms of the amendment Mr Mayor I would I think um reluctantly urge colleagues to vote against it I think the impact in reality if we defer to after the election is that the local plan May well not then be in place for a
Considerable period of time and I would have thought we might as well just make the decision tonight either to accept the local plan or to reject the local local plan but deferring and then making that decision to me doesn’t achieve anything sorry councelor English there may be some Merit in a
Deferral but not for the reason stated um I believe that uh there are some issues that could do with some further consideration by this Council including recent ones raised by Kent County Council my colleague councelor Harwood has been considering what we feel as a group would be valid reasons for a deferral
But that you can’t amend an amendment so we will have return to that should this amendment fall we do not believe I do not believe and my group do not believe that the reason stated of the deferral is sound this is not a similar situation to the Constitutional review you um and
Decisions on planning issues should be made at whatever the time on planning grounds and we will if this amendment Falls return to some planning reasons why a deferral maybe appropriate and we would like to move another amendment to that point thank thank you Council English councelor
Cooper thank you very much Mr Mayor um I do agree with part of what councelor English has said this is not some vote about the standing orders which we as councilors use um within our government structure this is a series of policies and a spatial strategy which affect
Members of the borrow where their houses are placed where their employment is placed there is a huge danger regardless of the reasons for uh prevaricating and delaying when we adopt not least because some of the evidence expires at the end of this month and a huge wealth of
Reasons which I have expressed early which exposes to risk therefore I would urge all members of council to reject this amendment for a deferral and hopefully move to the ultimate vote which is on the local plan thank you thank you councelor Mumford I wasn’t going to speak tonight cuz this is my last
Meeting I’ve attended every briefing on the local plan I have read that document that sat in front of councelor cleton many times I am not standing and somebody is suggesting that a new member to this council could make such a decision better than me um I spent 10
Years on the planning committee the best people to make this decision is the administration and the members now cuz we have been involved in the development of the plan and something like two months and understanding the plan and all of the uh planning legislation that
Goes with it is ridiculous in my mind I will be voting against the amendment councelor Howard thank you Mr Mayor I I think the just pulling off the inevitable vote is not acceptable nor sound however if we were considering a deferral I think it would be a much shorter deferral to properly
Digest the Ken County Council letter which I actually think is very important the letter dated of the 20th of March there are some very significant issues contained therein which go to the heart of whether this plan delivers infrastructure as and indeed is sound and that is my one concern where a
Deferral for a shorter period may be necessary so if there were any advice as to whether that is the appropriate Way Forward I I think we do need to hear it because this is a statutary consult te which at the 11th Hour has raised some some fairly significant structural concerns conerns thank
You thank you councel Howard sorry were you were you asking for advice at all no okay can can we yeah excuse me Mr Mayor I did put my hand up earlier and I did wave around I thought SE soun yeah I’ll take councelor Sams as he did have his hand
Up thank you Mr Mayor um I note the comments from John Brit asking for a pause and this is really what this is about the local plan is a crucial document that will shape the future development and infrastructure for the Barrow for many years is imperative that
Such a significant decision is made by a council that fully represents the will and interest of the electorate therefore counselors from Parish councils respectfully requested deferment to allow the newly elected burrow counselors to make a decision in the time and in proportionate way the new Council will be elected for a 4-year
Term will then have the opportunity to contribute to this important process having regard for the long-term consequences of any decision made a deferment would allow other organizations like Parish Council to have time for their Council to be constituted after the election period and able to respond uh with properly set
S sorted out committee structures this approach would give confidence to Residents that their elected representatives are demonstrating a commitment to democratic principles ensuring that voices of residents are fully heard and respected in that decision-making process otherwise it may be viewed as an opportunity to use the election period as a device for pre
Preventing or constraining the Deb Democratic process the for council’s information the chief executive has a copy of a letter from Harin Paris Council which Mir would have just said finally read the 30th of March it is our understanding that these are run-of-the-mill documents that will be refreshed anyway and by no means deal
Breakers at this time thank you thank you uh C councelor Janetta Samson please thank you I I feel that deferment seems to be a reasonable Fair ask such a massive decision needs to be taken by those who will be managing the plan it surely
Can’t be right for us 55 none of us who are guaranteed election Victory and some who are not standing to make this consequential decision for all residents of our Barrow the local plan must be done thoroughly and carefully and it’s too far too important to be rushed the inspector’s report could have been
Produced a week later and the new Council would have picked it up we have a new system of a whole Council election all 49 members will be elected for 4 years why are we denying them a vote on this plan and finally the elephant in the room as to councelor how has already
Mentioned that kcc’s letter last night and the uh follow-up one today referred to a cabinet but not seen at that point mentions concerns amongst other matters with lack of secondary education provision paragraph six the local plan does not adequately secure sufficient School places paragraph three significant highways concerns at lding
Refunding and at heathlands leaving them with no sustainable transport options particularly in the early phases please think very carefully KCC has stated paragraph four it asks the cabinet do not accept the local plan their last paragraph says we therefore ask that the local plan is not adopted and that
Further discussions take place to ensure that the issues that they’ve raised are adequately addressed thank you thank you um Janet Sams um can we move to the vote sorry okay Roger okay thank you um councilor Cooper was partially correct in when he said this is a serious policy decision um and and
That is is the fundamental reason I’d like this deferral asking this Council um outgoing councilors all of us um to make a decision on the next Council um delivery and and and and and ensuring that they have to um put up with a decision we’ve made tonight um feels
Fundamentally wrong um as I said we do have precedence on this um very recently um in in response to councel Harwood um who I think is probably going to suggest a shorter defer I mean that puts us straight into the middle of of election period and and and
Doesn’t feel um particularly helpful um I think let’s get it get the election out of the way get the new councilors in so that they can make that decision for us thank you I think now it is time to go to the vote so can we um can we get ourselves ready for
That right those in favor of the amendment can you raise your hands put your hands down and those against any exensions the amendment is fallen so sorry yeah yes if okay so there 52 members in the room uh the vote for was 11 the vote against 32 abstentions
Nine okay right now we’re going to the um substantive motion substantive motion go aist I have a list counselor English that’s fine it may or may not be worth doing but I do think that it is important with the local plan that due process is properly followed and given
That the County Council has raised in my opinion significant issues will be it at a very late stage in the process and it would have been helpful if they had submitted it earlier that we should not be making this decision before we have had a proper chance to
Cons fully consider and address the issues raised by the County Council in their letter and therefore a deferral of two to three weeks or longer if that’s what it takes to address these issues um should be considered and I have to say that that is not that’s not because of I
Have any preference for new members or old members taking this decision this is because I believe it is right to address the planning concerns of a major stakeholder in this process and it’s as simple as that right so that was do you yeah do you wish to speak councelor
Harwood thank thank you Mr May there is hopefully no downside to this if we have a short deferral perhaps that it will need to come back to this chamber by perhaps the 18th of April it gives an opportunity to have the discussion with Kent County Council and because these are
Fundamental transport education and the other issues contained therein there is no down side there is no penalty from leaving this for two three weeks to have that discussion and conv ation it just means that we are going in to a vote on this vitally important local plan review
With our eyes open and we were told by the leader of the council by the cabinet member and others that this is all about infrastructure well this 11th Hour letter is genuinely all about infrastructure and and I’m I’m not attempt to to be political in any way I
Just think we do need to have that conversation with Casey c c and we do need to have it within and we need to have it in quick time I see no reason why we could not put a guillotin on of perhaps 18th of April to to allow that
Discussion but we are in danger potentially of agreeing an unsound plan if key infrastructure is a big gap so I I just hope that um members will accept that Amendment thank you can you speak on that on the amendment suggestion thank you very much Mr Mayor
Um I see no reason for a week long or or any length of deferral um we have had several years to BU out these issues um the plan has been inspected by an independent inspector um who has found our uses cooperate to be um legally compliant the
Issues which are raised in the letter which we first received at very short notice yesterday before our cabinet meeting and the follow-up letter supplementary letter if you will which was received again at very short notice before this evening’s meeting raised no new points I’m quite sure that all
Members in this room have read the inspector’s report um upon which we are speaking this evening and we’ll will see that all of the points raised in the letter from Simon Jones have been rehearsed by the inspector and his views have been given on the importance um of finding resolution
Absolutely and we do need to continue working with Kent County Council I have no doubt but I see no benefit in either not adopting the plan or delaying the plan for a further amount of time and I do not see Mr Mayor what we could achieve in the next seven days or so
That has not been achieved over the last six years thank you sorry Council Burton sorry thank you Mr Mayor I’m going to try and not repeat what councelor Cooper has said but let me say to you what do you think we’ve been doing for the last four or five years in preparing this
Plan right and let me tell you I have firsthand sat in and had the duty to cooperate meetings with County there is absolutely nothing new in their letters there is nothing in these letters that the inspector has not addressed in fact I think he gave them short shrift at the inquiry for dragging
St he said it was late to bring it to the inquiry at 3 minutes to 5 on the evening that we’re making a decision come on the we have spent ages talking to them the kind of let me tell you the kind of conversation that we take you
Need a school not a school for the new development that is in this plan a school for the demand that is contained in the extand plan we have found you a sight it’s the wrong shape that’s the kind of thing we’ve been up against it’s the wrong shape it may not be absolutely
Ideal but it’s available it’s deliverable and they haven’t come up with anything better we have worked really really hard to get cooperation there is nothing new and let me take this opportunity to say councelor Mumford absolutely correct if you think if this spilled over into a new electri new Municipal year if you
Think that someone who has not been a counselor before will hit the road running with this I think it takes four years to learn how to be a counselor it takes more than five years in my view to actually produce a draft local plan you’ll be in a cycle of it
Takes longer to produce than anybody’s elected for we actually have in front of us a plan that is sound delaying it will achieve nothing we’ve had all those conversations the inspector’s gone over it not once but twice he extended consultations he looked at it again he had extra work on the highway
Issues it’s a black and white decision take it or leave it and I will say if you leave it it will be at the Peril of Maidstone councelor ceter please thank you Mr Mayor I wasn’t actually going to get up and speak tonight on this but I want to concur
With councelor Harwood on this and let’s be honest none of us should be throwing stuff around about late submission to documents because I understand one of the reasons there was a delay is because we as a council put late submissions into the planning inspector I’ve I’ve been a counselor for two years so
According to people what’s just being said I really know nothing about planning so I shouldn’t really have a comment right I also don’t respond well to threats you can name me all you want I haven’t got a problem with that so I’m coming from this from an open debate
Here these are significant issues and unlike the planning inspector I lived on in Victor Park Barracks so I know exactly what is possible there and what isn’t I don’t think having a short deferment I don’t like getting documents late minute I really don’t they’ve raised significant points I think we’ve
Been very generous we’ve allowed people from Med way to speak tonight but on the basis of this we will be voting for a short deferment to go through again everything I’m not making no decisions on the hoop with late presented documents but to be quite honest we do
This all the time here as well present documents last minute.com so I think it’s a bit rich I’m not flavor of the month cave CC I never have been I don’t think you are either councelor Harvard uh based on our employment there but they raise significant points that we
Need time to study so our group will be voting for The deferment thank you councilor Kens thank you Mr may you forgot about me now obviously um I’ve gone through all of these documents and Light reading didn’t take long but what I um what I did notice is the word
Again and I always bang on about it affordable housing the housing we’ve got at the moment is not affordable affordable housing is social housing because what happens the developers will get part buy part rent and a a majority of the people that need housing in social housing can’t get a mortgage
Because they’re either homeless or just had a small family and their credit rating is through the floor so why does it say affordable housing we should have amended that a long time ago and put social housing by a RP a registered provider it’s our local plan it could
Have been done and you know I bang on about this every time I speak in the chamber about affordable housing affordable housing is social housing not part rent part buy that’s how they circumvent building affordable housing building houses that are really not affordable thank you cancel English mon sorry Mount councel I’m
Looking at k cve um councelor monford sorry as I said earlier I promised my wife I would not put myself through the stress of speaking tonight but I will be corrected if I’m wrong but we spent five years Consulting with people and KCC have been fully involved with that we
Went through a public examination where KCC have put their cases forward and we’ve finally thrown it to an inspector who’s found the plan sound this last minute objection being put into ourselves should have been put into to the inspector which I’m sure it probably was it should have been part of all the
Consultations which I’m sure it probably was and the other thing that is in my mind as these applications because there will be planning app ation come forward KCC will be a statutory consulty and if they have problems with them they will object to them and those objections will be listened
To and so therefore that’s all I’ve got to say you can only consult with people and you can only argue your case so many times the inspector’s found it sound no other hands out there councelor Jo you Mr Mayor um when it comes to planning you all know I don’t very often
Stand up and speak but I’m sitting here tonight and we’ve had two apologies but we have a full counsel I’ve been a counselor for 30 years so I’m used to paper reading but when that pile was delivered to my my house it was put on the shelf and it’s
Not something you you can just sit and read when you haven’t had any background knowledge if you can then you’re a lot clever than me um I believ with this local plan we were working together together both sides and as a team all I
Can say is if we leave it a week or I don’t know three weeks after the elections or whatever can you guarantee which I’m sure you can’t that we’re going to have a full chamber again people have commitments that they cannot get out of so I’m sorry I for once
Talking and listening but I think I know where I’m going to stand tonight with this I think we we don’t have an awful lot of options other than to put our trust in working together which I thought we’ve been doing and moving this forward thank you thank you councelor Joy now we have
Clive English to sum up please I think those of us including you Mr Mayor who have looked at planning applications that are put in after local plans are determined knows exactly how much you can do after a local plan policy has been determined look at church loan it is
Not going to work to say leave it to the planning application stage the County Council is a statutory consult their views I don’t often agree with the County Council I don’t necessarily agree with they said on this but I think it is a duty that we have to
Listen to them and to take the time to consider it I have to say that I will be addressing some of these issues of consultation and and buying from the public later in the debate but I have to say I think it’s surprising that we would dismiss the
Views of a of a major statutory consult te on whether the deliverability of key issues is is robust because that is key to whether we have a local plan if we adopt a local plan and it all falls apart within six months and it proves to be under deliverable we’re no better off
Than we were are without a local plan in fact we might even be worse off so for the sake of three weeks I really do think we should actually take our time and not rush to judgment how many people have even managed to read the complete
Documents in the five days since we got them I have but only I’m the speed reader so I think we should take some time and I really hope you will support this amendment because it is not partisan it is concerned with making sure we’ve follow due process thank you councelor
English uh Mr May thank you um I just want to be absolutely sure because when you put the amendment forward councelor English and counselor Harvard um it was said quite quickly so could we just be absolutely sure what the amendment is and this is what I think I have
Heard that the council should defer making the decision a date was mentioned by one of you and I think that was the 18th of April okay so I think what you’re suggesting is that the um recommendation one in the um recommendations moved by councelor Cooper should be
Amended in that way okay right I just wanted to make sure everybody will be clear on what the amendment is so it is to defer decision until the 18th of April okay sorry Mr May through you to the chief executive and and you are framing in that the the parameters of the defal
The deferral is to properly understand the letter from KCC dated the 20th of March and to discuss said letter with colleagues at Ken County Council and and at least start to put in train the the resolutions required to ensure the plan is sound and goes forward in a sound manner thank you
We’re going to move to the vote um this is on the amendment okay those four thank you those against 32 are there any ex abstentions none no so the amendment falls on that basis thank you uh just for clarity the votes for the Amendment with 20 and against 32 that’s right right
Okay right yeah is it possible we can be quiet can can we move on please right we’re back to uh back to square one as they say on on this one but um so we’ve got councelor Jeffrey spoken councelor Harper spoken Ah that’s it right so you’ve got them as English
Harwood kimet Clark and Harper in that order please we’re back on the main debate now right I’ve been around as some people may have noticed quite a long time in although not quite as long as Council of Harwood in in this Council I’ve seen a lot of planning applications and I’ve
Seen a a lot of local plans I’ve even written large parts of many of them I’ve never seen a local plan so odd when we strategic planning in 2017 I m I can understand why some people would want to repeat the process spent a total of 28 hours comparing allocated sites against
Allocated sites it was a exhausting and exhaustive process but at least sites were measured against each other and compared in detail things came in things came out things were amended with this local plan review there was precisely one discussion at committee on an allocated site that was
Beacon Park in Cox and it happened because it was late so I do dissent from The View that this plan has been widely discussed I do disent from The View that the issues have been resolved at the inquiry I believe there are fundamental problems with this plan and those plans
Are not necessarily about where the allocations are but they are about whether those allocations can in practice be delivered we’ve had a lot of statements about any plan is better than no plan sounds a bit reminiscent of project fear and the brexit referendum to me but
There we go um the the fact of the matter is that a local plan is only as good as its deliverability we all know and this was mentioned by quite a few people when we’re looking at the Town Center plan that putting the quter of housing in the
Town center but is proposed is going to be very difficult we know about the site specific questions about deliverability at invictor Barracks we know about the questions at L sing we know about the question that heands I I’m not saying that these issues cannot be resolved I am saying at
The moment I think there’s a very very good chance that if this local plan is adopted now it will unravel very very quickly and whoever’s in charge next year will find that we in fact do have a mess and it’s a worse mess because we would have actually recommended a lot of
Sites won’t have delivered on them so we end up having we sort both the approved sites and additional ones coming forward and we end up with double jeffardy so think very seriously whether voting for a plan that will unravel in weeks is going to work Howard thank you Mr Mayor I colleagues
Will be aware I know a little bit about local plans I chaired the planning policy and Ops Group which delivered the 1993 local plan a first local plan I chaed the um the local plans Group which helped deliver the 2000 local plan and I think those local plans were delivered
With genuine consensus they were changed right through to the last four council meeting as my colleague Council English has stated we we have seen none of that through this process indeed I think it’s fair to say this is the most party political of local plans that I have
Ever experienced and I think therein lies some of the challenges and the problems that we are currently facing because there has been a head in the sand approach and a lack of scrutiny to the problems that have been raised by by colleagues in this chamber and indeed by the hearing
Inspector we we know there are big issues I mean if I if I you know just site them for invictor Barracks the idea that 1,300 units and a through school can be delivered on a site which is around 2third um UK biodiversity action plan priority habitat is is just laughable I
Mean we talked about the through school absolutely fundamental the school the the proposed site is a is a quarry with a wood in it I mean it’s just not going to happen we we absolutely need to understand and get to the bottom of these issues in terms of the the very
Big sites at lding and heathlands that there are still significant question marks over deliverability and over viability in terms of infrastructure which we have just not addressed appropriately and if we agree a plan which is so significantly FL which is so structurally unsound the big problem we
Face is that it unravels over time and puts us in the situation of not having an Upstate plan because we won’t be able to deliver on the numbers and that’s what it’s all about it’s all about fiveyear um delivery uh so I really do think it will be far far better that we
Delayed looked at the constraints and then we can make an appropriate decision which will be a plan that we can hopefully all unite around and which will not fall apart in our hands and l lead us into a position of of being with an inadequate plan with
With um without a five-year land Supply it it’s as simple as that thank you Council kimmons going floppy um thank you Mr Mayor I was uh not going to speak again but I after you was uh after we were speaking about the transportation issues I thought I’ll just have a look the Ling
One and I noticed on there that you can get a bus to lordswood into Hempstead meway towns Boxley brother and a potential diversion through the site yet they’re mstone people so why is they’re not a bust of Mone I’ve I’ve looked through lots and lots of other bits on here and the
Transportation part of it I’m really concerned about um and at uh B parish council meeting this week councelor John LLY talking about the um Cy local plan said it was a dog’s breakfast I think we’ve got the main meal there Council Clark thank you chair um I’m going to
Follow up with this infrastructure on the local plan we had our original local plan that was adopted in 2017 that came with mitigation for transport we called it the integrated transport strategy and we came up with a number of Junctions that needed to be improved we went to the government we actually collected
14.8 million pound which is actually sitting around to be spent we’ve also collected money from developers along the Langley along the Sutton road in the Langley Park area um to to reconfigure The Junction at Wallace Avenue Willington Street we we we moved from that plan to our local Plan update we
Not delivered anything the only thing that’s been delivered is Armstrong Road in my area and that’s something that I’d been lobbying for for many years even at the time when I was a county counselor that’s the only thing that’s been delivered and what’s actually happened
Is they’ve taken a cut and paste of our infrastructure plan from the local plan and they’ve said you know what we haven’t got any new ideas we just cut and pce them into the local Plan update they’ve not been delivered we just make this our new transport plan when you
Look at documents that went out from the the inspector wanted our infrastructure uh delivery plan to go out to consultation it went out to consultation in February or it ended in February in that document we talk about ambitious plans for infrastructure 14 33.4 million pound at the wheat sheef junction1
Million pound at the swan Junction we already know from The Joint transport board meetings that KCC are not going to go ahead with those plans they’re already promoting a due minimum at the week shift Junction and they’ve already cancelled the 1 million so why is Maidstone putting forward an
Infrastructure delivery plan to go alongside of this housing with schemes for transport that are never going to happen and then they know that not going to happen I find that very very disheartening when I when I looked at that I actually thought you you could read this you could drive a coach and
Horses through what’s going on with the way this sort of holds order um but but you couldn’t drive a coach and horses because they would get stuck around about the Lewis chip shop on their way up towards the a274 corridor or the a229 and it that may be one of the most sub
That may be one of the most sustainable transport options that we may have but unfortunately with the congestion that we’re suffering through total lack of infrastructure delivery don’t believe it but don’t believe the word of of this being delivered alongside the housing the housing is coming we’re just going
To see more of the same as far as as far as this that transport delivery PL going to be Council Harper um thank you mayor I’ve just got a few comments I’d like to make on this I’ve been involved as a counselor and leader of two groups and I only bet met
Beaten or equaled by our Deputy Mayor with this local plan since I came on back in 2014 in all this time on the old plan and the current plan I thought we had had when this current update was being looked at its fundamental Point cross party working and and consensus
Uh up to 2021 we did have a hung Council so we couldn’t have made the progress to get to this point if we hadn’t have had a collegate approach because no party had the votes to uh to push anything through on their own um the old plan adopted a dispersal approach to
Development when we started work on the update can’t remember now something like 28 178 we had a whole Council series of workshops where all of counselors are invited to understand what was the impact of that and to think about learning lessons and as a result of that
We decided we would go for a concentrated approach um I personally think we can see the um downside of the previous approach by the ribbon developments which have gone on along Suson Road and around Hermitage Lane and the implications of those indeed where I live in Oakwood Road over the last seven
Years I’ve seen the countryside gradually received in um but thankfully for people living around where I am we still have fan Farm which does bring it closer and it has been a point where it hasn’t changed with my colleague Patrick we believe that going forward Beyond
This local plan that what you need to do as a n a national level is to bring in New Towns like were brought in in the uh 40s and 50s place is the size of cruy harow basilon because that’s the only way you cope with the level of development needed in a long-term
Sustainable plan but we’re not there yet we’ve got the current the current plan I think it’s definitely not ideal I think there are some things I would like to talk to whatever Administration is heing in May about things such as hmos and we we we you all know my views on hmos and
The issues there which are linked to parking standards however you know that can be done after the election I think what we do need to do tonight is to move forward as a counselor for fan and West fan I know from my residence there concerns on
Sites such as f farm and Aster of hea which my colleague presented a petition to the cabinet about last night this plan helps us protect those sites at least as I always say to residents for five years so I would you know I note the concern of residents of lding and
Heands I’m not about any heart I know any development anywhere is going to be pretty awful but I would just urge people to make a decision tonight either vote for or against thank you councelor Jones Thank you Mr Mayor um as chair of breous Parish Council I formed the
Against liing Committee in December 20120 um and it was at the meeting of a red house Parish Council that the promoter um came to our um meeting and told us of his plans for 2,000 houses on our doorstep bradar Parish Council had heard nothing from Maidstone Bar Council
Or our then Ward counselors although much of the development Falls within Boxley Parish it has been me a resident Sue Harwood and bredhurst Parish Council who has led the fight to save our area from being completely destroyed litsen is a hamlet of just 13 houses and
Bradhurst has just over 200 if this plan goes ahead and is adopted it will be catastrophic for the whole area and will affect everyone’s lives in lordswood wers Slade Boxley Village not to mention the devastating effect it will have on Medway residents it will concentrate huge volumes of traffic across the north of
The bar which are already crippled by high levels of traffic the scare tactics and threats of what will happen if we dare to vote against um is is just ridiculous residents we’ve already got a local plan and residents and sick and tired of the congestion that we already have and I don’t see
That a new local plan will make any difference the inspector found the local plan sound but only if hundreds of modifications um are implemented and virtually um well many of them um are just not achievable as um uh councelor English said What will what situation
Will be we be in if we have a plan that we approve tonight that isn’t deliverable we we will be in a worse situation this current LPR is not sound as it stands it’s not got the back end of Medway or KCC and the Stark revelations in kcc’s letter which I
Obtained this morning um just speaks for itself unlike my f fellow Ward member councilor Bryant who asks purely for mitigation measures I urge all members to vote against this I’m not in the business of looking at mitigation we do not want this development in lding full stop thank you as counselor
Tomson thank you um heathlands may have been born on the back of a packet years ago but it is carefully orchestrated by a few select councilors to make it happen the plan started with the then committee structure we had councelors on committees that were so interl PNR and SPI that councilors
Didn’t even know what they could talk about councilors were often confused local plan side or the master developer side became interwoven and even officers forgot at the April 20 meeting one counselor stated we seem to be making this up on the floor well wasn’t that
The truth so can I highlight a couple of other on Liners in September 2019 this Council chamber councelor Gart stated rather underwhelmed with only 5,000 houses for heathlands these figures are not ambitious enough let’s build it bigger Council springy in July 21 stated the a20 is a very dangerous road we
Cannot have this number of houses on that road without the motorway Junction surprise surprise particularly tonight we try to drive here the relationship with homes England was demonstrated by accounts as absolute relief for somewhere to hang their heatand hat on homes England arrival gave CED confidence someone was in charge someone
Knew what they were talking about this wasn’t the case and we have heard reports and how this organizations has led communities down and we share a skeptical view of homes England which we had from the beginning the process has been awful for residents can I pay tribute to the communities of lenam
Lenon Parish Council and soul for being here again tonight their huge efforts all voluntary at Great cost themselves to quote what we hear repeated ad nauseum a bad plan is is a better than no plan I’m sorry a bad plan is what it is a bad plan and what does a bad plan
Look like it looks like gridlock people are stand still in their cars people late to work late for Hospital appointments late to school demonstrated by so many cases within the adjacent to this borrow it is a disaster and the garden developments of heathland and Ling demonstrate this car car dependent
Monstrosities building on valuable productive agricultural land I know that the group opposite have no regard for our special spes like Oakwood and both Heath heathland and Ling reflect that position it’s very sad we’ve reached this point to some residents it feels like they are they are saying Ling well
That’s will be medway’s problem after all and lenon well Lennon’s right over there the plan will deliver chaos so much chaos we will have to reject it and even KCC responding to NBC say we need to kick it out so counselors For Heaven’s Sake let’s kick it out okay councelor
Thompson thank you Mr Mayor um I take councilor’s comments uh opposite um very seriously um so you’ll forgive me if I um take a different approach um Lewis Carroll um made some very sage and relevant remarks when he took us with Alice through a Looking Glass um Humpty Dumpty um a costs Al
And says um words can mean whatever I want them to mean uh and I I’m learning at spee that the words duty to cooperate and soundness have particular meanings Humpty Dumpty points out to Alice that he wants words to mean whatever it is that he wants them to be and that is the
End of the argument um what I have leared uh Mr Mayor is that duty to cooperate is not a reciprocal Arrangement um what the inspector has I understand um stated is that m and bur Council as we have been uh described to from parties opposite have set out to um
Ask various Partners uh to cooperate with them we’ve had re rehears this evening that we see in our um uh Lobby messages uh those speeches that we’ve heard from um esteemed visitors this evening that those um invitations have all too often not been reciprocated so that the inspector States according to
The criteria that he is set as Government inspector uh that there has been demonstration of Duties to cooperate must be um properly understood um and not in Humpty dumpty’s favor secondly the word sound um I understand um mostly means to do with the financial basis on which the developers produce
Enough money uh and uh demonstrate um uh through their own management of the schemes that houses are built um but not necessarily that infrastructure is delivered so the use of the words duty to cooperate and soundness must be understood to only mean the things uh that those parties want to
Mean to use another example which six impossible things it is that we wish to uh imagine and believe before breakfast we’re being asked that to believe that there will be link roads and restrained connections through Boxley dley and bread Hurst uh on merely 70 million pounds of
Investment that there can be roads to drive to Medway on which buses can travel through a ransom strip that there can be massive housing increases and the last green lung of farmlands and Community Green Space at Capstone Valley will be preserved that there will be an achievement of biodiversity net gain and
A growth in the financial economy that the sustainability uh designed dpd is optional and yet is imperative these um impossibilities Mr Mayor mean that this plan is not sound and we should therefore be um realizing that we need to put this to Residents and seek their approval of this plan I
Have had no lobbying from supporters uh amongst residents Mr May which I think speaks volumes thank you thank you sorry oh Janetta Sams sorry thank you Mr Mayor I was just going to uh talk on one aspect really about not we mustn’t fail to grasp the impact on the a20 and the
Impact upon those communities along the stretch of the road voting Yes means greater impact on those already overburdened roads rural Lanes will be devastated pothole ridden roads and burges ruin through oversized Vehicles trying to negotiate L lanes unsuitable for that you for that use anyone traveling through holling Bor
Village at busy times Witnesses the V Village the the vehicle negotiating tight narrow rows creating havoc on the rows and it’s this is happening now and we’re talking about another 5,000 on that road on Sunday I don’t know whether any people were out at Sunday’s sort of
Lunchtime there was a hold up at holling Bor round about because of a short Motorway closure it called a massive SN snar up right through midstone what’s going to happen with the another 5,000 more homes on the a20 and then there’s Brock exactly the same today lenam Harriet shim absolutely gridlocked we
Have an overburdened overcrowded Road Network and businesses using the a20 will be severely impacted no amount of tinkering with the road Network as suggested within the plan will handle the enormous increase in capacity I would ask members who want to push this plan through to think of the residents
And think what gridlock looks like I hear as loads of people have said a bad plan is better than Mo no plan well how does supporting a disastrous plan support your residents we need to go into this with our eyes open about the consequences for the whole burrow the whole of Maidstone
And the people of Maidstone going to need to get to work get to appointments get to the hospital will be sitting in their cars going nowhere and just sort of as my final uh stop on the KCC letter they call the whole plan into question without and obviously without the delay which we’re
Now not going to have to discuss with them if you vote Yes you are voting for houses houses with insufficient School places and unsustainable transport Council B thank you Mr Mayor um I think we got to take stock now I really do you know I
Could talk about why is this plan a bit different I mean Council Harwood raised a valid point but I think the fiveyear guillotine the hamster wheel that we’re now on makes plan making very very different um when it needed to be resourced more fully and I pleaded that
We did that um the administration at the time uh took a budget in a different direction but let let’s put all of that to one side let’s take stock of where we are what I’m hearing is there are some people that really just don’t want this plan and and whe they they’re saying
Well let’s leave it a few weeks and you cannot change it now it’s locked by the in Spector it’s take it or leave it if you want to tweak it you got to go back to Reg 18s and reg 19s and have a new public examination that will take
Years it will take years but let’s suppose you there’s a brand new Administration in May and they can find a super duper way of accelerating that well they can do what’s called early review you don’t have to wait five years you can crack on and review it but what
I think you really need to balance is we we’re hearing this if you have this plan you’re going to get the sites in the plan and the sites you don’t want well actually you’ve got a plan that says the sites you don’t want don’t happen but what I guarantee is if you
Have no plan you will absolutely definitely definitely definitely get all the sites that you don’t want and all the sites were in the plan and just about any other bit of scrapp of ground that a developer might opportunistically push forwards that’s what will happen I mean I think we heard some reference to
Medway earlier Medway haven’t got a plan they’re losing appeals on that border that development is happening that’s just a little taster but supposing we reject this plan that’s going to be an early application and you got no tools to to push back with you’ll have no upto-date policies to work with
A planning committee uh councelor kimman spoke actually very well at the pack beating where he said it horrifies me to think that we’re going to be at planning with no upto-date plan how are we going to cope so what I’m really trying to say here is is there are those that are
Saying don’t adopt it and I’m saying you’ve got absolutely nothing to lose because if you don’t like it you do an early review and change it but take every good bit every policy every net gain that you can from what this presents and use it to the best way we
Can but if you don’t like it do an early review we really really really need to adopt this plan take it or leave it thank you very much coun Cooper to sum up excuse me thank you very much Mr uh and I will sum up briefly I don’t think there is an
Awful lot that I can say that hasn’t been raised I haven’t said already all I will say is that infrastructure is clearly an issue for councilors in this chamber and it is a huge issue for me without a plan we’ll get less of it not more we’ll get less we’ll be reliant
On section 106 we’ll we will be reliant on infrastructure Partners who often don’t deliver but in this plan there are some ways around that there was a cross party consensus early on and I think there has been a cross party consensus going forwards throughout this plan and I’m pleased
With that and I hope there will be tonight we have heard some spectacular um offers mentioned this evening and I would like to make a quote or to read a quote something which I don’t usually do and it’s from a chat called David Spencer who has examined this plan and
He writes in paragraph 391 I conclude that the duty to cooperate has been met and that the and that with the recommended main modifications set out in the appendix the mstone local plan review satisfied the requirements refer to in section 20 of the 2004 act and is
Sound therefore Mr Mayor I would urge members to do what I believe is right for our burrow this evening to get planned development to use the town planning principles at our disposal to get policies on the books here and protect our borrow I would urge all members to
Vote in favor thank you very much yeah thank you very much councelor Cooper now we’re going to go to the vote which is a named vote thank you I can see Council Webb that you’re you look confused um I think because we’ve had the um the seconder
And the summing up we will be moving to the vote it’s a name vote as was uh was requested right at the beginning of the debate okay I think we’ve moved to the point where we’re now going to take the vote so please can you very clearly um
Answer when I call your name either for against or abstain councelor Bartlet for councelor Blackmore for councelor Burton for councelor Canon for councelor Clark against councelor ceter against councelor coats for councelor conard against councelor cook four councelor Cooper four councelor Cox for councelor Eagle against councelor English against councelor forecast for councelor Fort
For councelor garton for councelor GU four councelor grig for councelor Harper for councelor Harwood against councel Hasty thank you I think that was for y councelor hinder against councelor Jeffrey against I’m sorry councelor holes for councelor Jones against councelor joy for councelor kimmons against councelor nbor four councelor McKenna four councelor Mortimer
Against councelor Mumford for councelor nari against councelor Newton for councelor parit Roode councelor Perry for councelor Reed for councelor Ron for councelor Robertson against councelor Rose against councilor round for councelor Russell for councelor J Sams councelor T Sams councelor Spooner for councelor springett councelor M Thompson against councelor S Thompson against councelor trinsky
For councelor web counselor willby against councelor D Wilkinson against and councelor J Wilkinson against thank you members we’ll just tot up those numbers for you members if I might ask you just to be quiet for a moment I’m sure you were totting it up as you went along but just to confirm
The votes for 31 and against 21 and therefore the recommendations are approved thank you than good evening uh members the meeting is now closed thank You e for