Dover Local Plan – implications
Current status of the Local Plan as regard to St Margarets
updated 8th Dec 22
Estimated number of dwellings – 96 – reduced from 150
- SAP38 – Land adjacent to Reach Road bordering Reach Court Farm and rear of properties on RomanWay(STM003) – 40 dwellings
- SAP39 – Land to the west of Townsend Farm Road (STM007& STM008) – 36 dwellings
- SAP40 – Land at New Townsend Farm, Station Road (STM006) – 10 dwellings
- SAP40 – Land located between Salisbury Road and The Droveway (STM010) – 10 dwellings
or click here for link to whole 339 page document
click here for original HELAA report on our website.
Next Steps:
DDC has opened a consultation on 21st Oct 22 and they need to receive your comment no later than 5pm on the 9th December 2022 You can view and comment by clicking on the link below
https://dover-consult.objective.co.uk/kse/event/37116
DDC suggest you read the Guidance Note on Legal complicance, soundness and the Duty to Co-Oporate prior to making an comment.
Your Parish Council response is here It is based on planning material considerations hence it is rather dry. We also agree that the DDC consultation tool is appalling difficult to use – Good Luck.
DDC are also consulting on the following supporting / evidence base documents:
- The Sustainability Appraisal of the Reg 19 Local Plan
- Habitats Regulation Assessment of the Reg 19 Local Plan
- Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) 2022
We are aware of one community group who are fighting STM010 and we can put you in touch with their campaign. They are meeting at First Light this evening Thurs 8th at 6.30pm
Your Parish Council are looking at commissioning a new Housing survey to ascertain what housing is required in the village.
Our advice to those considering objecting is here.
It is open to residents to make any comments on these proposals you feel strongly about but it is likely they will be more effective if they concentrate on “material planning considerations”. In this context the main planning consideration is that all proposed sites are in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Since St Margaret’s is surrounded by the AONB it is inevitable that any new housing outside the confines will encroach in that area. National and Local planning policies allow for some development in an AONB but only in exceptional circumstances and only if prescribed conditions are met. Chief among these is that any development proposal must mitigate against any harm to the landscape. Objections which indicate how difficult it is to provide mitigation measures and how harm might result would likely carry more weight than simple expressions of opposition. There are also conditions which require new development to blend well with the existing settlement and to avoid any loss of biodiversity and these might also be effective grounds for objection.
It is common for objections to be made to the adverse effect significant housing development will have on the road network and anticipated increase in traffic but the experience of the Parish Council is that these concerns are rarely given much weight by planning officers, no matter how valid they are. Furthermore it is always the case that objections to housing developments are weighed against the public interest which in this case is the national need for more housing. Any objections will need to demonstrate how “ conserving and enhancing the landscape and scenic beauty of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty” (Dover Policy SP4) should take precedence over the specific quantities of housing proposed in SAP38, SAP39 and SAP40.
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