The Kent Structure Plan Review is now out for consultation. Its housing provision does not appear to be delivering the Government's housing growth objectives set out in the Communities Plan.
At a seminar hosted by the planning consultancy Barton Willmore on planning in the Thames Gateway, the Kent County Planning Officer gave a presentation about the review Kent Structure Plan which is currently out for consultation until 11th November 2003.
In the presentation he highlighted that, over the 20 year period 2001-2021 the Structure Plan makes provision for some 116,100 new dwellings to be built in the Kent & Medway area.
Kent contains two of the four growth areas identified in the Government's Communities Plan of February 2003 - Ashford and a major part of the Thames Gateway. The Communities Plan indicated that these four growth areas (the other two being Cambridge/Stansted and Milton Keynes/South Midlands) should deliver 200,000 new dwellings over and above what is planned for in existing regional planning guidance by 2031.
Kent's housing provision of 116,100, despite containing two of the growth areas and despite a shortfall in housing completions of 15% against the previous housing requirement, is only 2,000 dwellings over what was already required in existing regional planning guidance at the time the Communities Plan was published.
HBF is extremely concerned that this level of housing provision in Kent (and a similar situation developing in the Buckinghamshire Structure Plan which is also currently out for consultation) will not deliver the Government's housing growth objectives for the south-east set out in the Communities Plan.
HBF will be making the necessary representations on these two review Structure Plans and will be lobbying Government for further clarification and strong leadership on this matter. In Kent, a group of HBF members will be meeting to agree a common industry response to this serious issue.
Any Members interested in being part of that group or anyone requiring further information should contact HBF regional planner for the southern region Pete Errington on 023 8067 1030 or at pete.errington@hbf.co.uk