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Lorry park should be “temporary”

Posted 13th Jul 16, filed under Blog, Campaigns, Transport

We were dismayed last week at the Government’s decision to go ahead with a 3,600 space lorry park in Stanford – on an area of countryside the size of Disneyland.

Even the House of Commons Transport Select Committee had said the need had not been sufficiently proven and neither had it been demonstrated that this was the right solution. Chairman of the select committee Louise Ellman called the decision to go ahead “disappointing”.

Stanford site, photo Pete Maddox

There is no doubt that a solution to the misery of Operation Stack is needed, but we, like the Transport Select Committee members, believe the reflex response of a single large lorry park to corral all the HGVs delayed in crossing the channel is not the right solution. We maintain that a better solution would be the active management of the HGVs that are caught up in delays.

Photo by Hilary Newport

Fleet management logistics, electronic communications and vehicle trackers are already in use, and it would be a simple step to require the drivers of HGVs to abide by the instructions of fleet managers who could direct them to dispersed holding areas along their route, calling them forward at a rate which would guarantee their unimpeded passage across the channel. It would have the benefit of not concentrating slow-moving and stationary HGVs in a single location, and would support the delivery of commercial truck stop spaces to help ease the burden of illegal ‘fly parking’ of HGVs on Kent’s roadsides and lay-bys. It would also require a smaller outlay than the £250 Million earmarked for this project, which works out at £70,000 per parking space.

Photo, kentonline

Governments, of course, have a duty to ensure that public money is spent effectively, and that investment will actually deliver the benefits it is supposed to. The proposals for this lorry park have been developed entirely in the absence of any exploration of less expensive and – importantly – less damaging alternatives. This is not a responsible use of public funds, nor a responsible thing to do to the people of Stanford.

If, as looks likely, the lorry park does go ahead regardless, we are calling on the Government to ensure it is classified as “temporary” – particularly as in planning terms it is being rushed through as an emergency measure.

Political situations and trends change – last year’s acute circumstances of strikes and blockades at Calais coupled with security infringements at the Channel Tunnel, could disappear if France changes its industrial relations and if there are changes in civil war situations and regimes in the rest of the world. We just do not know what the need or situation will be in ten or even five years’ time.

Up until last year it was usually only extreme weather that prompted the need for Operation Stack. We cannot predict future need which is why the lorry park must be treated as temporary. If it is proven years from now to be an empty white elephant that does not solve a problem, the countryside can be restored rather than developed further with housing or factories.

July 12th 2016

We need affordable rural homes

Posted 12th Jul 16, filed under Campaigns, Housing numbers

This week is #RuralHousingWeek and we have been considering some of the issues and challenges rural communities face when it comes to housing.

Photo, Hastoe

We firmly believe that genuinely affordable housing is the bedrock of a thriving, living countryside,

but we are troubled by the fact that house prices are seven times average earnings in rural areas,

compared with 5.9 times in urban areas.

In fact in Sevenoaks average house prices are 10.5 times average salary and in Tunbridge Wells 10.3 times.

Agricultural and other rural workers’ annual earnings are far lower (average £19,700 compared with £26,900 urban) which makes it even more difficult for people to live in the villages where they grew up or where they work.

CPRE is calling for:

Local communities should be empowered through neighbourhood planning while housing policy should be “rural proofed” to deliver what the countryside needs: high-quality, affordable housing.
The government must ensure rural areas, including areas of natural beauty and national parks, are exempt from the forced sale of council homes.
Empower small and medium-sized enterprise builders with local knowledge to provide affordable homes in rural areas.
The Government must focus on the delivery of the right housing in the right places.

Great weekend at Kent County Show

Posted 11th Jul 16, filed under Events

We had a great weekend meeting supporters and new people at the Kent County Show. We discussed our latest campaigns with HRH the Duke of Kent and were joined on our stand by our new vice president Helen Whately MP.

Thank you to all our volunteers who helped out. We recruited 18 new members which is great news for the charity.

HRH Duke of Kent visits our stand

Hilary Newport, Helen Whately MP, Richard Knox Johnston and Christine Drury

Dismay at lorry park decision

Posted 28th Jun 16, filed under Blog, Transport

We are dismayed that the Government has today (July 6th) announced that the £250m lorry park the size of Disneyland will go ahead in the Kent countryside at Stanford. The Government is to start construction at the Stanford west site which will open next year.

We have argued that this is not the right solution and we need to look at the whole transport strategy, not least for the devastating effects of air pollution on the crowded and congested south east. This is a costly sticking plaster – £250m is almost the entire UK cycling budget.

It is galling that the Transport Select Committee listened to our arguments and agreed that the case had not yet been made to build this “gargantuan” concrete lorry park and other options should be considered, including a network of smaller lorry parks. Those committee findings seem to have been completely ignored.

Last week Hilary Newport set out her thoughts on the major transport problems facing Kent and called for pause for thought – what follows is her her blog. Continue reading →

Otterpool Park – the wrong location and concern about water shortages

Posted 27th Jun 16, filed under Environment, News

We have written to Greg Clark MP, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to express our concerns for the proposed garden town of 10,000 homes in Shepway, Otterpool Park. The following extract from Hilary Newport’s letter sums up our concerns:

“While we entirely support the principles of high quality, sustainable design and place-making, we strongly disagree that this is the right location for a garden city of this scale. The existing pressures for development in this area are extreme, not least with the region being categorised by the Environment Agency as being under ‘severe water stress’, and we question the wisdom of drawing even more housing in to a county and a region which is already struggling to accommodate the housing targets being generated in local plans.

Everything in this view would be urbanised

“In its submission draft of the Shepway Core Strategy (January 2012), the District Council included a policy which outlined its ambitions for 800+ homes on the former Folkestone Racecourse, immediately adjacent to the land acquired by the District Council for its proposed Otterpool Park. At examination, the inspector comprehensively rejected this policy as unsound, being neither justified nor necessary to meet housing targets. A further policy outlined the concept of a ‘Strategic Corridor’, covering the area proposed for Otterpool Park as well as the urban areas of Hythe and Folkestone, for mixed use development in furtherance of the Council’s growth agenda. This policy too was rejected by the inspector as unsound. Since the adoption of the Shepway Core Strategy (November 2013) it is difficult to see what has changed to suggest that the plans for Otterpool Park are now either sustainable or necessary. I hope that your department will take these issues into account in considering Shepway’s submission.”

June 27th 2016

Why we should buy locally produced food

Posted 20th Jun 16, filed under Blog

By Vicky Ellis

In these busy days we can easily be forgiven for a mad ‘one dash does it all’ to our nearest supermarket. However are we in danger of losing more than just local shops and producers? Are we really looking at the bigger picture as we desperately make a grab for that last bag of Spanish apples on the shelf? Who cares it’s just an apple after all – or is it?

Buying locally produced produce is so much more than just buying British. Local produce not only tastes great but helps the environment and the local economy, it can be exciting, invigorating, sociable, mentally stimulating and satisfying.

Potato crop, photo by Vicky Ellis

So let’s take stock for one moment and think, if we buy the first apple/tomato/lettuce that we pick up what are we actually buying into?

Local food is fresher, it hasn’t travelled thousands of miles from the Outer Hebrides for example (I exaggerate to prove a point). It’s more than likely been grown 10-30 miles away, and you may be buying straight from the farm that produced it. Therefore this produce has probably been harvested in the last 24 hours rather than over a week ago and kept refrigerated for all that time journeying by rail, road, sea or air, further refrigerated storage and finally road again to arrive at the supermarkets.

Photo by Vicky Ellis

Eating fruit and veg in season means you appreciate that cauliflower, potato or sweetcorn all the more. The current http://buylevitra.net June Kent crops of asparagus and strawberries and cherries are delicious. Buying foods grown or produced close to home ensures you will be less likely to be contributing to rainforests being cleared to graze cattle for instance. As importantly it helps to maintain farm land and green spaces near to where you live. If the local farmers are unable to keep their farms viable then they may decide to sell up and it’s highly likely land will be bought by developers.

Faversham farmers’ market, photos Vicky Ellis

Knowing where your food comes from and how it’s produced makes your meals more personal, the challenge of using seasonal fruit and veg in your recipes leads to more interesting mealtimes and buying locally keeps money spent local – supporting restaurants that use local produce, farmers markets and local cooperatives ensuring profits benefit producers rather than the big business supermarkets.

For some, buying local can be an extremely social exercise, the sellers and producers end up on a first name basis and give a more personal service such as putting by that favourite variety of tomato for you.

So it’s not just an apple after all – it’s helping to preserve our way of life, the countryside we all love, that apple is contributing to supporting our local economy and even meeting likeminded people.

To find a farmers market near you http://www.kfma.org.uk/MarketCalendar.asp to look for artisan producers and bespoke gifts http://www.producedinkent.co.uk/ for recipes using seasonal veg http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/seasons

June 20th 2016

Night blight and dark skies – new maps launched

Posted 13th Jun 16, filed under Environment, News

The most detailed ever satellite maps of England’s light pollution and dark skies, released today (13^th June) by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), have shown that Thanet Earth is the second worst light polluter in the country, only second to Tata Steel in Rotherham. [1].

Night sky over Thanet, photo by Kimberley Eve

Overall, Kent is the 29^th darkest county of 41. The maps, produced using satellite images captured at 1.30 am throughout September 2015, show that within Kent, Ashford has the darkest skies, 68^th of 326 districts. Ashford Borough Council adopted a specific Dark Skies Policy in 2014 to raise awareness about ways we can minimise light pollution and to raise the profile of dark skies as an environmental asset we are increasingly at threat of losing. [2]

Dartford has Kent’s lightest skies, 260th of the 326 districts, of course this area has major transport networks, including the Dartford Crossing.

Thanet is 241^st in the rankings, with 34% of its skies in the lightest categories. Thanet Earth pledged to improve its greenhouse blinds in 2013, yet the light emitted is still severe. [3] [4] Its maximum brightness value is 584.98nanowatts/cm²*sr, brighter than anywhere else in the South East, including London.

Thanet Earth, photos by Craig Solly

The research comes at a time of increasing awareness of the harmful effects light pollution can have on the health of people and wildlife. That these skies were monitored at 1.30am illustrates just how long into the night England’s lighting spills.

The new maps were produced by Land Use Consultants from data gathered by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in America. The NOAA satellite captured visible and infrared imagery to determine the levels of light spilling up into British skies. CPRE is sending lesson plans to primary schools in order to promote the enjoyment of dark skies.

We are calling on the county’s local authorities to use these maps to identify areas with severe light pollution and target action to reduce it, as well as identifying existing dark skies that need protecting.

Stars by Tone Netone

Starry night by Ethan Sztular

CPRE Kent recommends that:

Local authorities follow Ashford’s lead and develop policies to reduce light pollution in their emerging local plans.
The councils use CPRE’s maps to inform decisions on local planning applications and identify individual facilities that should be asked to dim or switch off unnecessary lights.
Local businesses review their current lighting and future development plans to save money by dimming or switching off light to reduce pollution as well as meet their promises over reducing existing pollution (e.g. Thanet Earth).

Hilary Newport, director of CPRE Kent said: “Our view of the stars is obscured by artificial light. Many children may not have seen the Milky Way, our own galaxy, due to the veil of light that spreads across their night skies. It is known that dark skies are beneficial to our wellbeing. Light pollution can disturb our sleep, prevent our enjoyment of the countryside and affect wildlife, by interrupting natural rhythms including migration, reproduction and feeding patterns.
“Councils can reduce light levels through better planning, and with investment in the right street lighting that is used only where and when it is needed.
“Our Night Blight maps also show where people can expect to find a truly dark, starry sky and we hope they will go out and enjoy the wonder of the stars.”

Summary of Kent districts (this information and more is available via the maps):

District	Ranking out of 329	% in three darkest sky categories, less than 1 NanoWatts / cm2 / sr
Ashford	68	85
Tunbridge Wells	72	76
Shepway	99	74
Sevenoaks	101	47
Dover	106	66
Canterbury	112	78
Maidstone	116	55
Swale	137	47
Tonbridge and Malling	156	32
Medway	196	12
Gravesham	202	0.3
Thanet	241	8
Dartford	260	0

Notes:

[1] CPRE’s interactive maps can be accessed at http://nightblight.cpre.org.uk

Light pollution is a generic term referring to excess artificial light that shines where it is neither wanted nor needed. In broad terms, there are three types of light pollution:

skyglow – the pink or orange glow we see for miles around towns and cities, spreading deep into the countryside, caused by a scattering of artificial light by airborne dust and water droplets
glare – the uncomfortable brightness of a light source
light intrusion – light spilling beyond the boundary of the property on which a light is located, sometimes shining through windows and curtains

[2] http://www.ashford.gov.uk/dark-skies-spd-2014

[3] http://www.thanetearth.com/faqs-growing-using-light.html

[4] http://www.thanetgazette.co.uk/skies-Birchington-going-green/story-20253506-detail/story.html

June 13th 2016

Public support for plastic bag charge increases

Posted 7th Jun 16, filed under Environment, News

it’s great news that plastic bag usage has slumped by around 80% – the UK’s largest retailer Tesco said in December that the number of bags had been slashed by 78% since the 5p charge was introduced, while at Morrisons, plastic bag consumption was down 80% across its stores. The Government is now collecting full usage statistics so the full picture should be clear soon.

Meanwhile, a poll partly-commissioned by CPRE has revealed increased public support for the bag charge in England [1]. The poll for the Break the Bag Habit (BTBH) coalition found that 70% of English respondents now find it reasonable to charge 5p for all carrier bags – an 8% increase in support in the eight months since the English charge came into force [2]. The increase was particularly marked amongst younger people, where support has jumped 10% [3].

Despite this encouraging news, the poll indicated that more people find the current charge confusing than not. The charge, introduced on 5 October 2015, does not apply to businesses of fewer than 250 employees, paper bags or franchises such as Subway. Answering the ICM survey, 42% of respondents found it confusing that only some shops charged for bags.

Samantha Harding, http://alwaysvaltrexonline.com spokesperson for the Break the Bag Habit coalition, said:

“People are clearly confused by the current scope of the charge. A universal scheme that applies to all bags and all retailers will eliminate confusion, boost public support, and most importantly reduce bag usage and litter.

“With a frankly ridiculous £1 billion litter bill, England is lagging behind the other home nations. Now that the scheme has been successfully launched, the Government should review the exemptions and introduce a universal charge.”

Photo: Earth Policy Institute

[1] The 2016 poll was conducted by ICM on 11th of May 2016. ICM interviewed a random sample of 2000 GB adults, including 1742 in England, aged 18+ online. The results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Further information is available at www.icmresearch.co.uk.

[2] The Break the Bag Habit coalition consists of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Greener Upon Thames, Keep Britain Tidy, Surfers Against Sewage and Thames21. The coalition has long worked towards the introduction of a carrier bag charge scheme in England.

[3] Survey respondents aged 18-24.

June 7th 2016

Meet Margaret, one of our volunteers

Posted 6th Jun 16, filed under Blog

Celebrating her 85th birthday today (6th June), Margaret Micklewright has been a volunteer with CPRE Kent since around 1999.

She volunteered to help members meet each other socially and started a varied and imaginative programme of outings. She has run well over 100 different trips to places as varied as Chartham Paper Mill, Saltwood castle, the EU headquarters in Brussels, Tenterden Vineyard and Dungeness Power Station.

Margaret’s personal favourite outing was a visit to the sewers beneath Brighton – stretching a quarter of a mile underneath the sea below the pier and viewing brickwork untouched since 1860. She remembers the group emerging from the tunnels in their hard hats into a nearby park to the surprise of passers-by.

Her career is a varied one including time working for a consultant anaesthetist on drug trials, admin work for Ted Heath and exporting spares for textile machinery all over the world. A lifelong http://phentermine-med.com countryside and heritage champion, she volunteered for the National Trust for 12 years before coming to the CPRE Kent in 1999.

Margaret also volunteers at the College of Arms where she is secratary to the Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary. Always busy, she says she will not slow down until she’s at least 100.

“Margaret really is an inspiration to us,” said CPRE Kent Chairman Christine Drury. “She is a great example of someone whose volunteering really enriches the charity. We can concentrate on our campaigning work and Margaret adds to the social and fun side which members enjoy so much.”

Margaret has many more outings planned – find out more here and see her full programme here. She gains her inspiration from chatting to people and word of mouth. Plus she organises the annual Christmas lunch – held in January each year.

Help CPRE Kent in volunteers’ week June 1-12 – it’s fun!

Posted 1st Jun 16, filed under Blog, Events

By Tessa Woodward, CPRE Kent Membership Volunteer

CPRE Kent does fantastic work in our county to protect the countryside as well as campaign against aircraft noise, light pollution, environmental and transport concerns. We also promote tranquillity and a thriving rural sector with affordable housing and support for farming.

With more members and more volunteers we could do much more! So we are launching a volunteer and member drive. Will you help us?

Lots of people volunteer
After reading a piece in a magazine called ‘Country Living’ a while back, about people volunteering as helpers for riding for the disabled, as mountain rescuers, conservationists, and staff at bird observatories, I was reminded of how very many people volunteer with charities. Charitable associations as varied as hospices, prisons, brownie and cub-scout troupes depend on the goodwill, time and energy of volunteers. And many of us have benefited at some time or other in our turn from a helping hand offered by a neighbour or work colleague when children have needed picking up or lawns mown at fraught times!

Why volunteer?
So, why do people give of their time and energy for no pay? Partly out of an instinct for community no doubt, but also because we learn things, get the chance to do something interesting, enjoy the company, and find it meaningful! In one survey I saw it was even suggested that people who volunteered actually felt healthier and more cheerful as a result of volunteering!

Photos by Vicky Ellis

So, how do you start?
How do people become volunteers? Nine times out of ten people say it is “Because I was asked!” In other words it is not really ‘volunteering’ but rather ‘being invited to volunteer’. Please now consider yourself invited!

What do volunteers need?
Based on my own experience, I’d say important ingredients are: feeling good about a cause or an issue, being clear about what the task is, having a bit of time to contribute to it, having a skill or being prepared to learn a skill, having what a friend of mine calls team mindedness, that is, the willingness to work as a member of a team and, finally, a sense of responsibility about what we have promised to do.

Our stand at the Kent County Show 2015

What can make the experience rewarding from the volunteer’s point of view?
A sense of achievement, a bit of acknowledgement or recognition in the form of, say, a ’thank you’ from a team leader, the reward of belonging to a good team where you have a bit of fun, humour and celebration sometimes, personal and professional development gained from meeting new people and ideas and improving skills and a sense of meaning and purpose as you contribute your energy to protecting the English countryside. We promise to do our bit to make sure that our side of all this happens!

So how can I get started?
If you are interested in what you have read thus far and, like us, are passionate about the English countryside, why not get in touch with us? We are looking for volunteers who have a little time or lots of time!

Photos by Vicky Ellis

Examples of volunteer opportunities/things we need help with
Events
help by coming along and staffing a CPRE stall at a local event such as the Kent Show, vintage fairs, village fetes, farmers’ markets
help our office to organise an event such as a garden party, an awards event or a photographic competition
organise a litter pick in your area, take photos and send them in
start a community herb/wild flower garden, take photos and tell us all about it!
become our events co-ordinator
Membership
become a CPRE Kent member
buy gift CPRE memberships for friends and family for Christmas, birthdays, and thank you presents
help in the Charing office to follow up on contacts made at local events
Writing and communications
write a blog post for us on an aspect of the Kent countryside
do an email interview on ‘Why I became a CPRE member’, ‘Why I volunteer for CPRE’ or ‘Why I have decided to leave a legacy to CPRE’
contact your local newsletter or parish magazine and ask if we can write an article about CPRE, free, for its pages
Outreach
drop off issues of our periodical ‘Kent Voice’ and CPRE leaflets around your village/area
contact your Parish Council about it becoming an institutional member of CPRE
go into your local school and run one of our ‘Across the Generations’ projects for CPRE
send us the name of possible corporate sponsors you know
send us the name of any celebrity you know and would be willing to approach on our behalf
help us to join in with other conservation charities such as The Kent Wildlife Trust, or The Woodland Trust in their tree planting project
become our Outreach Volunteer
Donations
offer a prize for a CPRE raffle, quiz or awards ceremony
offer a donation once or regularly
tell us if you have special skills in e.g. photography, video editing, responding to planning applications, writing grant applications, competition judging
help protect the English countryside in future by offering us a legacy

Interested in these or other ideas? If so, come and join us! It’s fun!.
CPRE Kent is waiting to welcome you!
Contact Vicky Ellis on 01233 714540 or vicky.ellis@cprekent.org.uk

Great news – we have been granted leave to appeal on Farthingloe

Posted 10th May 16, filed under Campaigns, News, Planning

CPRE Kent has been granted leave to appeal against the judicial review judgement in our fight to save the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at Farthingloe near Dover.

Farthingloe view from Western Heights, photo CPRE

An appeal court judge has said that our arguments over mitigation to the AONB “raise an arguable point which has real prospects of success.”

CPRE Kent Chairman Christine Drury said: “This is great news – we have been determined to save this beautiful area of countryside. The harm to the AONB cannot be justified and we are heartened that the judge has agreed to our appeal on this important point.”

We argued that the judicial review judge had been wrong to conclude that the application to build 521 houses and a 90 home retirement village at Farthingloe complied with planning law (paragraph 116 of the National Planning Policy framework (NPPF)).

Dover District Council planning officers had criticised the density and layout of the scheme and recognised that it would have significant adverse impact on the AONB. Councillors ignored this advice and agreed to the proposals without any mitigation measures.

CPRE Kent, Natural England, the Kent Downs AONB Unit and the National Trust all opposed the decision and it is astounding that the case was not called in by the Secretary of State despite the strongest recommendations from his advisors.

Christine Drury added: “We will never give up on our countryside. I would like to thank everyone who continues to support us in this important battle. It is absolutely central to our cause that we fight to protect beautiful, protected, unspoilt areas of countryside for future generations.”

We will now prepare for the Court of Appeal hearing which could be some months away.

Read more on the background to this here, here, here and here.

May 10th 2016.

Good news – 67 homes on inappropriate site appeal dismissed

Posted 10th May 16, filed under News, Planning

A planning inspector has dismissed an appeal by a developer wanting to build 67 homes on the former Norton Ash Garden Centre near Faversham.

We had objected to the plans because the site is unsustainable with no community facilities. All travel would be by car. The inspector agreed that “it amounts to the creation of a suburban housing estate in a rural location with few facilities”. He said “the proposal is not in a sustainable location and does not represent development in the right place”.

Photo, Vicky Ellis

The inspector also agreed that the development is in fundamental conflict with Swale’s development plan because the site is within countryside outside of any settlement.

CPRE Planner Jillian Barr said: “We were pleased that the inspector took notice of Swale’s emerging local plan and attached weight to its settlement strategy. We hope the council will take this decision into account when considering other speculative development proposals.”

May 10th 2016

Planning reforms 2016 – write to your MP

Posted 27th Apr 16, filed under Campaigns, Planning

Urgent call for your support. Please write to your MP now about changes to national planning policy which the Government is expected to publish in June.

Lenham sunset, photo by Simon Oliver

Getting the right homes in the right places
We are calling for changes that will ensure the right housing is built in the right places, and prevent unnecessary loss of countryside:

Developers should be tasked with building the developments on permissions they already have, before trying to grab more greenfield land.
Councils should be empowered to prioritise the use of brownfield sites and restrict competing greenfield development, especially when this would further protect the Green Belt.
The Government should abandon proposals to relax Green Belt policy and instead make clearer that unnecessary or major losses of Green Belt should be avoided.
Councils should be able to set housebuilding targets that are based on a realistic assessment of what is likely to actually be delivered.

We have prepared a letter which you can send to your local MP. If you have the time to personalise it, it will be even more effective. Go straight to the letter and take action by clicking here.

For a detailed look at Planning reforms 2016: What’s the problem? click here.

Lavender at Castle Farm, Lullingstone, photo by Glen Humble

April 27th 2016.

How can they harm our landscape and heritage?

Posted 26th Apr 16, filed under Blog, Historic Buildings

By Rose Lister
When driving down the A2070 on the Eastern edge of Ashford you may notice the startling juxtaposition of industrial and retail buildings on the one side and a beautiful rural landscape on the other. You may be saddened to discover that this rural idyll presided over by the stunning Grade I listed St Mary’s church has been earmarked for employment development.

St Mary’s Church, Sevington, photo The Village Alliance

‘Surely not!’ I hear you cry. ‘The rural church is set in rural surroundings, how can they be so harmful to our built and landscaped heritage?’ Unfortunately they can -the details can be found in the U19 policy and on the Ashford Borough Council’s (ABC) planning website. Our job is to ensure that everything that can be done to limit the harmful impacts of the site on the countryside and everything contained within it (man-made or living) is done. The current masterplan is a dull and uninspiring creation that has not currently been accepted by ABC. The little detail the masterplan has includes seven units of varying size, from large to massive, with suggested landscaping, new road links and parking. I shall be honest, these buildings are not to my taste. Their size, scale and suggested building material are unsustainable and harmful to the historic and living landscape, and that’s even before we consider the transport issues.

Continue reading →

Housing and Planning Bill – some good news

Posted 25th Apr 16, filed under News, Planning

Housing and Planning Bill – Affordable rural homes

Due to the low number of affordable homes and the high cost of property in rural areas, CPRE has been vigorously campaigning to protect affordable housing for those on lower incomes in the countryside.

The Housing and Planning Bill reached report stage in the House of Lords last Monday (11 April). Lords debated amendments concerning affordable rural housing, namely: excluding ‘starter homes’ from rural exception sites; excluding rural areas from the forced sale of council homes; and excluding rural areas from the extension of the right-to-buy from rural areas.

After lengthy discussions and valuable contributions from a number of Lords, including Lord Best and Lord Cameron of Dillington, we are pleased to report that the Government conceded that new approaches are required on both exception sites and council homes in rural areas to protect affordable housing provision in rural areas. The Government will disclose its proposed amendments along these lines at the bill’s Third Reading next week.

The Government’s willingness to negotiate these terms is very welcome, and we look forward to seeing the detail put forward.

Housing and Planning Bill – Neighbourhood right of appeal

CPRE has long campaigned for the Government to introduce a limited neighbourhood right of appeal. This would enable local communities to appeal against approved but speculative planning applications where they conflicted with a made or well-advanced neighbourhood plan.

On Wednesday 20 April Baroness Parminter (Lib Dem) spoke forcefully when proposing that this instrument be introduced to the Housing and Planning Bill. Baroness Parminter argued that an amendment introducing a neighbourhood right of appeal would ensure that it was easier to build consensus in local communities behind the development we need.

Kent aerial photo by Vicky Ellis

Despite the efforts of Government to oppose the amendment, Lords from across the House spoke in support and the amendment was subsequently passed by 251 contents to 194 not-contents. With Civic Voice and the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), we must thank many peers, including Lords Best, Taylor, Kennedy and Marlesford, for their support.

Even though the Government was defeated, the amendment is very likely to be debated and opposed when the Bill goes back to the Commons. As a number of Conservative MPs have supported the right of appeal in the past, including Nick Herbert and Sir Oliver Heald QC, we look forward to the next parliamentary discussions on this matter.

April 25th 2016