‘More time, please, to sort housing response’
Council votes to give itself longer to go through feedback
A council has given itself more time to chew over proposals to develop huge swathes of rural land in Maidstone after being inundated with feedback from the public.
Maidstone has been running its Call for Sites exercise - part of its Local Plan review. The process involves collating suggestions on which parcels of land could be developed.
From the full list, the town hall will then select the options it thinks will best meet the requirements of the review. However, the sheer number of sites put forward, as well as more than 550 responses received during the first stage of its public consultation, means officers are asking for more time to consider the submissions. Philip Coyne, the council’s interim director for the Local Plan Review said: “The Local Plan is pivotal to Maidstone’s ongoing ambitions to attract investment in jobs, housing and other facilities, during the next 15 years. The level of response to Call for Sites is very encouraging. However, this does mean the council now has more technical work to do in appraising all of the submissions fully and ensuring we take forward proposals which will provide jobs, housing and community growth at the appropriate time, in the most suitable locations and in the most sustainable manner.” Councillors were briefed at a meeting to discuss the second stage of the consultation, which will happen later this year. Mr Coyne added: “This new timetable enables us to work with investors and developers to deliver growth more quickly and with greater certainty when the plan is adopted, which will be critical to ensure we meet the increased housing target set by government and that we maintain control of where new development takes place.”