Declares that Maidstone Borough Council is proposing to build over 2,000 houses, named Lidsing Garden Village, on farmland at Lidsing, a small hamlet of 13 houses near Hempstead, Lordswood and Bredhurst; further that there has been very little community engagement on the proposed development, with many local residents finding out via social media; further that the area is accessed by country roads which would be completely grid-locked by the development if it went ahead; further that the only road improvement proposed to support the additional traffic—an additional 4,000 cars or 10,000 extra car journeys every day—is a spur road to the M2 motorway which will destroy an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; and further that health services locally are already over-stretched and will not cope with the needs of potentially 8,000 extra residents.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to encourage Maidstone Borough Council to consider the concerns of petitioners and cancel plans to develop Lidsing Garden Village.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Tracey Crouch, Official Report, 29 March 2022; Vol. 711, c. 794.]
[P002726]
Observations from the Minister for Housing (Stuart Andrew):
The Department cannot comment on details of a specific Local Plan due to the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in the planning system.
I note that the Maidstone Borough Council Local Plan Review has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for examination. The Planning Inspectorate plays an important role in examining plans impartially and publicly to ensure that they are legally compliant and sound.
Each Local Planning Authority must prepare a Statement of Community Involvement, setting out a local council’s policy for involving communities in the preparation and revision of Local Plans. Conformity with its own Statement of Community Involvement is tested at examination.
The Inspector will consider all the comments made on the plan during the public consultations, including in relation to the proposed Lidsing Garden Village. Anyone who has submitted a representation during the consultation on the draft plan can make a request to be heard by the Inspector during the examination. Following the examination hearings, the Inspector may recommend modifications to the submitted plan which they consider are necessary for the plan to be considered sound.
As the Inspector is yet to decide whether or not this Plan is sound, I do not consider it appropriate to intervene at this time; however the Secretary of State does retain the power to intervene up to adoption or withdrawal of the plan.