Consultations in the SouthEast arouse passion…….is there a simple answer?

We are probably all aware that councils are legally obliged by law to prepare a regular Local Plan to address housing needs and planning in their area. MOST councils do this reasonably well, and are under way for the current round. However, as we speak there are several councils that have not yet started on their plans.

So, as a resident living near Westerham in Kent ( and 100 metres from Surrey border council Tandridge ), just a mile from the southern M25, I’ve been fortunate to be a consultee for both Sevenoaks and Tandridge offerings. Generally, they appear to me as pretty competent consultations, offering local stakeholders many options for participation.

As ever, trying to strike the balance between the local need for more housing and associated infrastructure and resident’s concerns about traffic and environmental impact is proving a challenge. The recent Government Consultation on NPPF addresses this in some detail and asked for responses. TCI of course responded as part of our brief.

You can see from the ‘Keep Westerham Green Residents Group’ flyer, the proposals for my local area, 800m from my front door closest point, have aroused protests not often seen in leafy Kent villages! The villagers group ‘are preparing for a battle of Churchilllian proportions’. They highlight the fact that the local landowner ( the family have lived here since 1721! ) is an Old Etonian!  Uh?

Henry Warde cites his ‘Which Way Westerham’ scheme as a way to transform the town, including building a much needed bypass road to stop lorries and through traffic going through the narrow town streets. The town is three miles from Chartwell, Churchill’s wartime home. This villagers group say they will fight him “on the green” – and will be deploying Churchill’s bulldog spirit in the process.”Like Churchill – we will not bend – we are not daunted by the size of the opposition,” said chairman of the Keep Westerham Green Residents Group, Jenny Cowan’.

Is part of the issue here that, as with many developments and infrastructure changes, the time rich, comfortably off ‘Nimbys’ can afford to protest vociferously, but the potentially hard to reach ‘hardworking families’ do not get their voices heard? Would they have produced a leaflet and a website protest group? Perhaps some further research is required which would benefit all consultations – finding the optimum way to reach a fully representative group of consultees. We’ve earmarked this one for the future……

The master plan that goes with the Warde proposals is only part of the consideration for Sevenoaks council, and like any other will be evaluated as part of the overall plan in any area that is dominated by Green Belt and AONB land.

I think the point here is that the urgings of a small group of local residents (a selection on the Green shown above)  always have to be balanced against ‘the wider good’. Currently I’m neither for nor against the initial plan and while I will take up the invitation to take part in the consultation by writing to Richard Morris, I will give him my balanced view. Yes, undoubtedly the plan, were it to be implemented, would have an impact on local roads and that will affect journeys and parking for us going about our business and leisure activities. However, if in the longer term it improves the Westerham environment and facilities for the population as a whole then I’m imagining I would be in favour. Preventing change has never been a brilliant idea, especially if you have the chance to participate in, and benefit from, that change.

As my local  plan is constructed, perhaps a rather more significant and controversial consultation is taking place. Central Government has launched a consultation on introducing ‘Permitted development rights for non-hydraulic shale gas exploration’. Yes, they mean fracking! Looking at the consultation document – and the Institute WILL be responding before the October close date – it sits alongside the recent consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), to which we also responded.

More on this to come from us at TCI……..enjoy the rest of Summer!

Article written by TCI Director and Founder, Howard Kendall