Local, National and International Tonbridge Castle
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All the news that matters
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Wednesday August 2 | 2017
INSIDE
Catch me if you can…
EXTRA SERVINGS
Demand for foodbank soaring latest figures reveal Page 5
PROMISING START
Angels men and women look good in friendlies Page 62
ON YOUR MARKS: Dozens of children gather at Tonbridge Farm Sportsground for the town’s first junior parkrun. The event welcomes people of all abilities to improve their fitness. Full story on page 2.
Mixed reaction to house building plan
MODERN CAVEMEN Couple suggest going back to our dietary roots Page 42
Consultation on 13,920 new homes in the borough draws some concern By Murray Jones
murray@timesoftonbridge.co.uk THE borough council’s strategy for developing new housing has been met with a mixed response from more than a thousand residents, with the number one priority emerging as avoiding too densely populated neighbourhoods. As part of its ‘Local Plan’ Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council have drawn up preliminary plans for 13,920 new homes to be built by 2031. Crucially, the borough council is searching for suitable land for construction. Once known sites and areas that already have planning permissions are excluded, the authority needs to find land for approximately 6,000 homes. To put that figure in context, the whole of King’s
Hill is roughly half that (3,000 homes). An area between the A21 bypass and Haysden Country Park as well as green space surrounding Longmead Stadium have been earmarked as suitable sites for development.
‘The supply of housing across the country, particularly in the South-East, is not keeping up with need’ The former, which sits on the edge of Brook Street and Upper Haysden Lane, has an estimated capacity of 650 new homes – based on the council’s 30 dwellings per hectare measure. Also earmarked are large areas on the east bank of the
Medway and Aylesford Quarry, south Aylesford and Ditton, Broadwater Farm, Borough Green and Platt. In total the consultation received 1,117 responses, with 39 per cent disagreeing with the proposed strategy. Residents offered 50 alternative sites for development. The consultation asked residents what they felt their number one priority was with regard to development. Of the 325 responses to this question, 43 per cent chose ‘controlling housing densities’. But it appears councillors will have to balance that with a strong desire for ‘publicly accessible open space’ and ‘affordable housing’, as these were the next two primary concerns. As the Local Plan document outlines: “The supply of housing across the country, particularly in the South-East,
Continued on page 2
FIGHT THE FLIGHT
Residents blighted by airport noise demand action Page 6