Message from Save Our Heathlands re Consultation on Local Plan

Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) has launched their three week consultation on their Local Plan Review - Preferred Approaches. This includes their preferred spatial strategy for future development for the period 2022-2037.

As part of this preferred spatial strategy, policy 4a proposes a new garden settlement at Lenham, despite SOHL repeatedly telling them that their proposals are unsustainable, undeliverable and unviable.

MBC believe they can deliver phase 1 of their plans by 2037 (within the period of this proposed new strategy). This would see the first 1,600 of the total 5,000 homes built. This is despite them:

owning none of the land and having no agreements in place from landowners
having no solution to deal with the transport issues of how new residents would get to the settlement. The existing A20 would be insufficient and the only way to sort it would be a new motorway junction or dualling the A20 which they have been told is undeliverable
making no provision for new facilities such as a new secondary school or even a new doctors' surgery despite having 10,000+ additional residents
ignoring the rural setting and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that Lenham sits within
avoiding key constraints such as the safeguarded mineral sites, water treatment works, and archaeological significance.

We need as many people as possible to respond to the consultation with their objections, to demonstrate the weight of public opinion against this scheme.

How do I respond?
Given the inconvenient timing of this consultation so close to Christmas, we have attempted to make it as easy as possible for you to submit your objection.