The Conservative Group on Canterbury City Council does not support the Draft Local Plan as it stands on the grounds that it is not fit for purpose.
1/ We call for the Council to challenge housing numbers and to make a case for exceptional circumstances under the National Planning Policy Framework.
2/ We call on the Council to make available the Jacobs transport model for the new proposed bus-first policy as without this it is impossible for anyone in the district to have a reasoned opinion on how it will work or affect travelling.
The basis for calculating housing is based on ONS2014 and that is now long out of date and more recent population data should be considered. We should be building housing for local needs that is affordable and creates communities. Over-development means we are creating dormitory bolt-on housing schemes with insufficient infrastructure that relies on workers travelling west to the Medway towns or London for work.
The Council has paid lip service to creating a true garden village but should take on board the findings of Lord Matthew Taylor’s 2015 report and think strategically. Likewise, while we welcome the proposed brownfield housing scheme in Wincheap to provide a much-needed additional 1,000 new homes, we believe this plan could have gone much further and been a far more ambitious scheme.
We acknowledge that the Local Plan is one of the most, if not the most, serious policy documents that we as elected district councillors enact. We are setting the future plan for housing development and other vital infrastructure within our district and are responsible for reflecting the views of residents on how they wish to see the place that they call home develop and be a place where they, their friends and family can prosper and thrive.
It is therefore imperative that the Council takes every option open to it to ensure that residents are listened to, and that any decision is made in the best interests of everyone who lives, works or studies in the district.
We are proud that the Local Plan still contains many of the policies that the Conservative administration in 2019-2023 worked hard to achieve in terms of delivering better outcomes for biodiversity, heritage, the design plan, housing density and climate change mitigation. However, we believe that there are too many conflicts in this Local Plan that counter the good work that the Council and councillors have been doing to improve biodiversity, support our precious open spaces and countryside, and to make the provision of cheaper and renewable energy options available to all. We believe that the Local Plan should be strengthened to ensure that solar on new house builds along with other energy efficient heating schemes should be mandatory on all new housing developments.
We also believe that the Council is too focused on promoting developers rather than listening to community voices and is not acting accordingly to ensure that development is in keeping with local needs.
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