Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘No avenue’ to reduce housing plan for district
Target remains despite government leniency
Huge housebuilding targets for the district will not be cut back, despite new government policy proposing local authorities should have more flexibility in setting their own numbers. Council leader Ben Fitter-harding says there is “no avenue” for reducing the 17,000 new homes recommended in the area’s draft Local Plan.
He has been urged by the Canterbury Society to stall the process of the controversial plan, for which a public consultation ended last Monday.
The group’s intervention followed a recent statement by the Minister of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities,
Michael Gove.
He says fixed future housing targets should not be forced on local authorities by central government, and councils should be given “some flexibility to reflect local circumstances” and make their decisions based on what is best for their districts and residents.
The minister is now proposing changes to the National Planning Policy Framework to reflect the change in policy and will be starting a consultation. Society chairman Prof Richard Scase had hoped the council would seize the opportunity to cut back on its own housing targets.
“The proposed housing numbers, effectively doubling the population of Canterbury, in the draft Local Plan will seriously damage the quality of Canterbury as a small Cathedral city, set in a green envelope of attractive countryside,” he says. “In the society’s opinion, the Gove statement compels Canterbury City Council to have a serious re-think about its planning
priorities, as is happening with other local authorities.” But Cllr Fitter-harding says there is no legitimate scope at this late stage in the delivery of the plan to make any changes. “We were very keen to see if there were any avenues we could explore to reduce the numbers in light of Mr Gove’s statement but unfortunately there is no opportunity for us,” he said. “Under the government methodology, we still have a minimum annual housing number of 1,250 homes to deliver in the new plan, which is up from 800 a
year in the previous plan. “We have questioned it but been told by the government that unless there are overwhelming reasons why we can’t deliver that number, then we must. “A compelling reason for not meeting that target might, for example, be that there is no green space and just a very limited number of brownfield sites. “But what we have is a very different situation. We did a ‘call for sites’ and we have landowners who have come forward with potential sites which are not protected to meet the numbers the
government has asked for. “So we don’t have a case that we can’t deliver the numbers. We tried but were told if the land is not protected, there is no avenue to claim that now.
“But what we are looking to do with many of the sites is to permanently protect the open space so there can be no infilling in the future.
“I will continue to lobby to reduce the allocation for Canterbury but what’s really important is that we plan for the number we have to, otherwise we don’t get to control our development.”