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Boughton Monchelsea COVID-19 support network

Please get in touch if you need our help

For further info and links click on the 'COVID-19 support' tab above

Boughton Monchelsea Volunteers has been set up by the Parish Council to provide support during the COVID-19 crisis to those people within the parish who are self-isolating as a result of symptoms, age or health condition. We have now extended this help to NHS workers and carers too.

Back in March, we delivered flyers to every household in the parish, giving information to residents on how we can help and how to get in touch. This information went out again in our April / May newsletter.

If you are being supported already by Boughton Monchelsea Helping Hands then please don't worry, this will continue and there is no need to contact us unless you need any further help. 

We are aware that many of you who are or will be self-isolating as a result of symptoms or being 'at risk' due to age or health conditions would under normal circumstances be leading fully independent lives.

If you are self-isolating then you have to protect yourself and others by staying at home for the relevant period of time but we're here to assist in any way we can. We can help with things like picking up shopping and urgent supplies but whatever your need is just get in touch. This is not just for the elderly, it's for every one of us here in Boughton Monchelsea.

Please contact your local Volunteer Coordinator if you need any help at all, we will be happy to assist. 

Contact details for all the Coordinators are shown below. If you are unable to get hold of your co-ordinator then please contact Cllr Steve Munford on 01622 741310.

Boughton Monchelsea Neighbourhood Plan

We are delighted that Maidstone Borough Council is now preparing a formal consultation on the Neighbourhood Plan. This is planned to take place between Friday 14th August and 5pm Monday 28th September 2020, and all the comments submitted will be considered by an independent Examiner. You can find out more about this process below.

You can see all the documents we have submitted below, and here is a brief explanation of each.  

Neighbourhood Plan draft March 2020  – this sets out planning policies which, if we are successful in the independent Examination and subsequent referendum, will be used by MBC to help make planning decisions in the parish.

Consultation Statement  and Appendices 2019 – this describes all the community consultation the Parish Council have carried out on the Plan as it was drafted, and how your comments have shaped its contents.   

Basic Conditions Statement  2020 -  a Neighbourhood Plan  has to meet various legal requirements, known as the “Basic Conditions”.  This document explains how the Plan complies.  It also lists all the publicly available sources of information used to help develop the Plan.  

Environmental Statement 2019 – this is another legal requirement, and it explains why key national bodies consider that the Plan does not require a Strategic Environmental Assessment or a Habitats Regulation Assessment.

We have also submitted key pieces of information and reports which were compiled specifically for Boughton Monchelsea to help us develop the Plan:

Colvin and Moggridge, Boughton Monchelsea Landscape Management and Masterplan 2018 – this report was prepared by landscape architects to help the Parish Council understand, maintain and improve the landscape of the parish in partnership with landowners.  

Colvin and Moggridge, Boughton Monchelsea Priority Local Landscape 2019 – this report identifies an area of high quality landscape which is proposed for protection in the Neighbourhood Plan

Boughton Monchelsea Housing Needs Survey 2018, Action for Rural Communities Kent – this report supports the Plan’s policies on housing

A folder of additional parish-specific Evidence on Flood Risk, MBC Housing Register and Housing Density – these are shorter documents which support the Plan’s policies on locally important topics   

What Happens Next?

The Parish Council is working with Maidstone Borough Council to appoint an independent Examiner who will review the plan and all the comments made during the forthcoming consultation, and issue a final report.

Any final changes to the plan will then be made and MBC will organise a local referendum in the parish. National regulations resulting from COVID-19 mean that this will not be before May 2021. 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 2021 and will continue to keep you updated on progress.

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

Update on local needs affordable housing at Lyewood

We are pleased to let you know that the first of the local needs affordable homes at Lyewood will be ready for occupation very soon. There are 34 affordable homes in total, 24 of these are rented for which you need to be registered on Maidstone Borough Council’s housing list (eligibility criteria applies). 5 of the homes are shared ownership and the remaining 5 are shared equity.

We have passed on all the register of interest forms we have received and the housing association, Town & Country Housing Group www.tchg.org.uk have advised that they will soon be in touch with all those who have expressed an interest in the shared ownership homes.

We are advised that the first of the affordable rented homes will be ready to bid on via the Kent Homechoice website in the coming days. If you are registered on MBC’s housing list and fit the local needs criteria we suggest you keep a close eye on the site www.kenthomechoice.org.uk so you are ready to bid as soon as the properties ‘go live’.  Please note that the Parish Council has no more involvement in this process so if you have any queries regarding your eligibility or the process itself you must contact Maidstone Borough Council’s housing officer for further advice www.maidstone.gov.uk

We are advised that the first homes ready will be as follows :

Rented – 5 homes initially, 3 no. 2 bed semi-detached and 2 no. 1 bed maisonettes (1 ground floor, 1 first floor)

Shared ownership – 3 homes initially, 2 no. 3 beds and 1 no. 2 bed

If you are interested in the shared equity properties please contact Crest Nicholson directly via the Lyewood sales office.