Response to Planning Application - 18/500097?FULL land at the rear of Little Willows

43 Members of the public attending the Council's Planning Committee held on the 1st February 2018. There were a number of requests that the Council place their response on the web site due to the level of public interest. The response is to be found below:

"The Boughton Malherbe Parish Council has not yet been invited to comment upon this application, but it has been brought to our attention by a very concerned parishioner who has land adjacent to this site. As a result, we had a meeting to discuss the BMPC response and such is the concern that it was attended by 45 members of the Public. It was noted during the Public session that no parishioner had received notification of the Planning application which is another major concern.

Little Willows land borders our Parish and we would request that the following be taken into account when considering this application.

The settled communities of Ulcombe and Boughton Malherbe are the nearest to this site and are already dominated by nearby Gypsy and Traveller sites, all or parts of which are the subject of retrospective applications, refusals, appeals, and a High Court Injunction. Examples are The Meadows and Acers Place in Lenham Road, and part of Petsfield in Eastwood Road within Boughton Malherbe.

In addition, there is a reference in the “Design and access” letter to the holding of Horse Fairs twice a year. It should be noted that in a small rural village with narrow country lanes, the site is not suitable for this type of activity.

There are many more Gypsy and Traveller sites in the locality, mainly within Ulcombe and Headcorn parishes, and Lenham Road now has the appearance of a caravan and mobile homes ribbon development from The Meadows to Headcorn village.

To date none of the disputed sites have been given full planning consent and, as this application is for four families and eight caravans, it adds to the already overloaded essential local services, especially Ulcombe Primary School where there is a predominance of Gypsy and Traveller children.

The above circumstances are the reason for the local settled community being fearful of the social impact now that it is overshadowed and dominated by the Gypsy and Traveller communities that continue to expand within the area without effective restraint. Approval of this application would add to that dominance.

Support for our claim of unacceptable dominance comes from two previously dismissed linked appeals related to plots 1 – 5 and 6 – 10 at The Meadows. These are APP/U2235/A/13/198352 and APP/U2235/A/13/219345. The inspector quoted as a reason for dismissal “Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (PPTS). Gypsy sites in rural areas should respect the scale of, and should not dominate, the nearest settled community.” In his opinion The Meadows clearly dominates Ulcombe and/or Grafty Green.

The inspector for the two appeals mentioned above also concluded in his dismissal that the harm to the character and appearance of the countryside weighs conclusively against granting a permanent permission. In our opinion the same applies to the application site. .

The application site is not hidden from public view, it will be seen from Eastwood Road, and footpaths KH328 and KH329.

Approval of this application would cause harm to the character and appearance of the countryside and add to the acknowledged harm created by other sites such as The Meadows in the surrounding area, which is designated a Special Landscape Area.

There is no provision for Gypsy and Traveller sites in this locality within the approved Borough Wide Local Plan. (GT1) Approval of this application, either permanent or temporary, would be contrary to the Local Plan.

The MBC is required to demonstrate a minimum 5 year supply of Gypsy and Traveller sites within the approved Borough Wide Plan. There can be no justification for approving this application on the grounds that MBC needs to achieve its required number of Gypsy and Traveller sites, because the MBC has currently demonstrated a 5.3 years supply.

Approval of this application would be contrary to NPPF Part 11 guidance, and the PPTS, together with policies SP17 and DM16, amended to DM15 in the approved Maidstone Borough Wide Local Plan.

For the above reasons the Boughton Malherbe Parish Council respectfully requests that this application be refused and, should the case officer decide to approve, that it be referred to the Planning Committee. "