Protecting our Countryside from Development

Liberal Democrats voted against the controversial Local Plan for housing that the Conservatives pushed through to adoption just before the last MBC Elections. We voted against the plan because it chose to build on some very sensitive locations but also because we knew it might fall apart very quickly after adoption. Now it has begun to do so, and the Conservatives are clearly looking to avoid taking the blame.

Sadly, Conservatives have placed most of the development in a small number of highly controversial, major sites. These not only take much longer to deliver than smaller more dispersed sites, but face the risk not being delivered at all. Included are the Invicta Barracks which the MoD have given no assurances that they will vacate, Heathlands, where major national level infrastructure, beyond the control of the borough, is required ahead of development and Lidsing, a sensitive and highly controversial allocated site at the edge of the borough.

As a result, the council now faces the risk of losing its 5-year housing supply not being able to deliver houses quickly enough to meet government targets. This will lead to more sites being required to meet the shortfall in housing delivery

As we have learned from experience, it will certainly make it harder to turn down development, where applications refused by Maidstone have been approved at appeal by the government to compensate for the lack of 5-year housing supply (the so-called “Developer’s Charter”) 

We are trying to mitigate this damage inflicted on us by the last Conservative administration by bringing forward new policies to protect the Landscape and our Green spaces which is now at heightened risk, including a major initiative to protect the Greensand Ridge to the South of the Town.