Boughton Monchelsea Parish Council
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Boughton Monchelsea Goes Wild!
After the joys and excesses of Christmas there’s a perfect opportunity coming up to get some exercise in the fresh air and address the most serious problem we face at the same time. Boughton Monchelsea Parish Council has now declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency. One major way to address both these issues is to plant trees and provide good habitat for wild creatures while soaking up carbon from the atmosphere. Trees also help with air pollution and prevention of floods while making the world more beautiful. We will be planting 500 native trees at Filmer’s Farm at the junction of Salts Lane and Hubbards Lane on Saturday 25th January – do come and join us! This is part of a much wider scheme for sustainable land management and protection of the parish from excessive development managed by Boughton Monchelsea Amenity Trust. The site is made available by kind permission of Alan Firmin Ltd and is situated in the parish of Loose so we are joining with Loose Parish Council to ensure we get all those trees planted.
For more information and to register as a Friend of Boughton Monchelsea Amenity Trust please contact the parish clerk on [email protected] or 01622 744969
Update on Maidstone Borough Council’s Call for Sites
There is a lot of concern and misunderstanding relating to Maidstone Borough Council’s latest Call for Sites. The following information will be of interest.
The Call for Sites is a process whereby MBC ask for land to be nominated that could be suitable for future housing, employment, retail, leisure, infrastructure and Gypsy & Traveller development for the forthcoming Local Plan Review. This is a normal process in the production of a Local Plan.
Having an up to date Local Plan is key to keeping local control over new development. Without an up to date Local Plan in place, it is highly likely that planning applications will be approved on appeal by the Government’s Planning Inspectorate for developments which MBC considers are inappropriate. Additionally, if MBC does not make progress with its Local Plan Review, the Government could decide to take over its plan-making powers and prepare the Local Plan itself.
The latest sites have been put forward by landowners and/or prospective developers to MBC as part of its Local Plan review process. At the point of release (4 November 2019) no decisions have been taken on these sites. Not all sites will be needed for the Local Plan review and many will be deemed unsuitable.
Will all sites be delivered? No. The sites that have been submitted are an expression of interest by the landowner or developer with, currently, no input from Maidstone Borough Council. It provides the council with a long list of potential sites from which to choose. The land that has been submitted is very much more land than will be needed for the circa 1,236 new homes/year which the Government says need to be built in our borough from 2022, an increase from circa 800, which the Local Plan Review needs to plan for. These figures are calculated by MBC using central Government methodology which dictates that 300,000 new homes must be delivered each year throughout the country.
MBC will now assess the suitability of each site. This work will feed into their Local Plan Review, which will be subject to future public consultations and an independent examination by an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State.
Further information is available as follows :
Borough wide map :
https://www.maidstone.gov.uk/__data/assets/image/0019/316342/Map-of-All-Sites1.jpg
Detailed site by site information :
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uCH4Q8tjIZpNECOItl7bkPAB5C5L5ZCF
It must be stressed that :
- no decisions on any sites have been made by MBC
- there are many more sites than required
- many will be deemed to be unsuitable
- many of the sites are re-submissions of those that were unsuccessful on the previous call for sites
Boughton Monchelsea Neighbourhood Plan
Over the last few years local people have been helping shape the future of the parish through the development of a Neighbourhood Plan for Boughton Monchelsea.
A formal consultation on the Neighbourhood Plan (which includes a landscape masterplan and management plan) took place between April and June 2019 and the plan has been amended as a result of comments made. Further progress will be made in line with national regulations and the next step is submission to MBC. They will check the document for compliance and then arrange and carry out a further formal consultation. An independent Examiner will then be appointed who will review the documents and issue a final report. Any final changes to the plan will then be made and MBC will organise a referendum. A simple majority in favour would mean that the plan is adopted and becomes part of the development plan used by MBC to make planning decisions. We are working towards formal adoption of the plan in 2020 and will continue to keep you updated on progress
You can view the draft neighbourhood plan below.
On behalf of the Parish Council I would like to thank you for your input to date and hope we can rely on your continued support in getting our Neighbourhood Plan adopted, thus allowing us to properly influence and manage any future development in our parish.
Cllr Doug Smith
Chairman of Boughton Monchelsea Parish Council Planning Committee
Boughton Monchelsea comprises two wards, north and south. South ward consists of the village and outlying rural areas, including the hamlets of Wierton, The Quarries, Marlpit, Cock Street and Rabbits Cross. North ward comprises the newer developments off Brishing Lane and the new housing site at Langley Park.
Boughton Monchelsea Parish Council is the first tier of local government, with 15 Councillors. 11 of the members serve south ward and 4 serve the north. We meet every other month, usually at 7pm on the first Tuesday of the relevant month. We also hold regular Planning Committee meetings. Both Council and planning meetings are open to the public and press.
The Parish Council represents the local community, delivers services to meet local needs and aspires to improve quality of life for all our parishioners.
