Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Building so many homes ‘a disaster’
gwarren@thekmgroup.co.uk Plans for thousands of homes in Sturry and Broad Oak could create a “humanitarian disaster”, claims a former chief solicitor of the city council.
Philip Wilson-Sharp, who was a senior officer with the authority between 1989 and 2001, fears proposals earmarked in the controversial draft Local Plan could lead to water shortages and overwhelm sewers.
He also questions just how “affordable” the new homes will be when houses in the Canterbury area sell for nearly 10 times average earnings.
Mr Wilson-Sharp lives in Fordwich, where the town council also has concerns about water supplies and drainage if proposals for 1,000 homes in the area and a further 800 at Hersden go ahead. The retired civil servant said: “I began to be really concerned when I learned developers were already lined up for Sturry, Broad Oak and Hersden. Why, when the plan is for 2015-2031?
“The developers of the Sturry land say they will not be increasing the sewerage capacity. Residents will recall the sewage flooding out into Brooklands Close in 2000-2001 and were delighted that Southern Water was going to put in a holding tank. But that was not designed for all these extra houses.
“If Canterbury and the other East Kent authorities plan to increase the population by 100,000 or so between them, where is the water coming from?
“Broad Oak reservoir was first proposed in 1967, but there is no means of filling it when river flows are low.
“Even now, the current population has been asked to go easy on water use.
“It looks as if the planners are going to create a humanitarian disaster. If the development is to take place quickly, I would expect to see realistic plans under way now to provide water.”
Mr Wilson-Sharp says affordable housing was always regarded as about three times average earnings, but Canterbury’s house prices are 9.5 times the typical income.
He said: “That figure is getting worse as the Chancellor’s Help to Buy schemes stoke prices up. I can understand developers wanting to build while the taxpayer guarantees the borrowings