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Boughton Monchelsea Neighbourhood Plan

Update October 2020

The Boughton Monchelsea Neighbourhood Plan has now reached the stage of formal Examination.

The recent consultation carried out by Maidstone Borough Council under national regulations closed on 28th September, and all the representations received have been sent to the independent Examiner, Mr Derek Stebbing.  

Mr Stebbing, who was appointed by Maidstone Borough Council with the agreement of Boughton Monchelsea Parish Council, is an experienced planner and neighbourhood plan Examiner.  He will consider all the representations made during the recent consultation, and check that the Boughton Monchelsea Neighbourhood Plan complies with all legal requirements.  He will then report to Maidstone Borough Council. We have received an initial procedural letter from the Examiner which you can find below.

You can see all the representations made at

https://localplan.maidstone.gov.uk/home/neighbourhood-planning/boughton-monchelsea-neighbourhood-plan-regulation-16-consultation-august-2020  

You can see all the documents which the Parish Council 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 by landscape architects 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?

Once the Examiner has reported to Maidstone Borough Council, 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

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.

Update on local needs affordable housing at Lyewood - October 2020

Please note that the housing association, Town & Country Group have now purchased more homes at Lyewood therefore there are now 15 shared ownership homes on the development. 2 of these are occupied, 6 are under offer but 5 no. 3 bedroom properties have just been released for sale and the remaining 2 homes (1 x 2 bed and 1 x 3 bed) will be released in October 2021.

Sandersons estate agents are handling the sale of these homes on behalf of the housing association. You can contact Sandersons directly on 01634 707070.

There are also 5 shared equity homes available now which are being sold directly by the developer, Crest Nicholson. Please visit the sales office on Green Lane for further details.

Priority for both the shared ownership and shared equity homes is for those people with a local connection to Boughton Monchelsea. If the homes cannot be filled this way then the net will be cast wider to those with a connection to Chart Sutton, Linton and Loose.

If you are interested in buying one of these homes then don’t miss out - please get in touch with Sandersons (shared ownership) or Crest Nicholson (shared equity).

Further information on the shared equity and shared ownership schemes can be found on the help to buy website www.helptobuy.gov.uk

There are also 24 affordable rented properties on the Lyewood development. You will need to be registered on Maidstone Borough Council’s housing list for one of these homes (eligibility criteria applies). If you are registered and fit the local connection criteria we suggest you keep a close eye on the Kent Homechoice website www.kenthomechoice.org.uk so you are ready to bid as soon as properties ‘go live’.  Please note that the Parish Council's only involvement in the process is confirming the local connection criteria therefore once you have returned your register of interest form to us you will need to contact Maidstone Borough Council’s housing officer for any further advice www.maidstone.gov.uk