Our country needs to build more houses. The Government have given targets to the Counties and reinforced this with measures to ensure that planning permissions are granted and houses are built.
In Gillingham, we have to accept 2200 new houses – that’s about a 40% increase in the size of our town population. Most of that is accounted for by the Southern Extension for which the roads have been built but little actual house building has taken place.
That’s the problem – if you don’t build enough houses, developers can apply for planning permission wherever they like and that’s exactly what they are doing – land to the north of Common Mead Lane (80 houses) and the caravan site opposite Thorngrove (4 luxury houses) have already been approved.
These are in addition to the 2200 houses agreed, so we could easily end up with 3000 new houses or more resulting in the boundaries of the town stretching out into the countryside.
Sometimes ‘sweeteners’ are offered, like the second field behind the Mellowes offered to the Town as a public space. But the actual deal agreed between County and the developers does not achieve this. So this field is also at risk.
Objecting to these planning applications is quite simple for individuals but just how much effect does this really have? Our Town Council largely reject the applications and also make objections but even this does not stop Dorset Council approving them. Lobbying our local Councillors is difficult because it has to be done with a Town Council officer present – you cannot just write to them, email them or telephone them, because they nearly all serve on planning committees and it is perceived that we would have undue influence over them just by stating our opinions! Crazy!
So Gillingham Deserves Better has been formed to spearhead our objections, to raise money to employ legal Counsel to represent our views and check agreements made between the County and developers and to press for changes, along with many other bodies in the Counties, to get Government to change the rules so that the unintended consequence of ribbon development and over-development are brought to an end.
We will also fight to ensure our collective voices are heard when permissions have been granted, to ensure the layout of such developments impacts on the existing community as little as possible.
We all need to stand firm together in our opposition to these continual planning applications to build on, and concrete over, almost every green field and space surrounding this once-charming old town. If this level of development is allowed to continue, it won't be long before Gillingham is turned into one giant urban sprawl, with little or no infrastructure to support such a significant increase in the number of inhabitants and cars.
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