Development of High Halstow
Coming Forward.
Developers are stepping up efforts to bring forward development in High Halstow ahead of the Local plan and our Neighbourhood plan.
Esquire Estates has now presented proposals to The Neighbourhood Plan Committee for 30 new homes at Sharnal Street. Although we like the design we have serious concerns about sustainability and reliance on the emerging Local Plan and HIF.
Redrow is beginning to engage with Medway Council ahead of an application for around 760 homes on the land East of the village between Christmas Lane and Britannia Road.
Medway Council have been given a target from Government to build 38,000 new homes by 2039. Medway Council are planning to build around 12,500 of these new homes on the Hoo Peninsula in Hoo and High Halstow.
However, It is not a done deal!
The new homes cannot be built unless they are sustainable, and that means: Sustainable road access, sustainable public transport and sustainable ecology. Medway Council plan to do this with the help of the Housing Infrastructure Fund HIF. The fund (£170M) will have to bring forward that sustainability by 2024 before new home can be built.
We do not believe the proposals are sustainable.
- We do not believe they have done it correctly!
- We do not believe that any assessment has been carried out to assess the effect of 12,500 homes on our Peninsula’s internationally protected ecology.
- We do not believe the proposals take an account of the Paris Accord on Climate Change.
- We do believe that Medway Plans for the Hoo Peninsula are ignoring The National Planning Policy Framework.
How has Development benefited the Peninsula.
In the meantime, because Medway have failed to produce a Local Plan there is no longer any specified allocation of building land. This leaves us vulnerable to developers.
During the past two decades we are at a loss to name any net gain in amenity or sustainability that new development has provided. In fact, all we have gained is the loss of our much loved and used Deangate Ridge golf course.
Commitment.
The Parish Councils of High Halstow and Hoo are united in their attempt to curtail the development of the Hoo Peninsula and ensure that whatever development is brought forward is the very best it can be and provides real sustainability.
We have been delighted with the response you have already made to our call to action and are encouraged by the response to that call from our MP Kelly Tolhurst.
Keeping up the pressure.
We must keep up the pressure though and ask you to write again to Kelly Tolhurst, to Medway Council and/or to our Ward Councillors. For more information and ideas for your letters please see other pages for our letter of objection to the Sharnal Street proposals and letter to our MP Kelly Tolhurst. Further material and question are in the article in last month’s High Halstow Times.
Please comment to proposed developments by:
- Writing to Dave Harris, Head of Planning at Medway Council or email Dave.Harris@Medway.gov.uk
- Writing to Kelly Tolhurst, MP for Medway or email Kelly.Tolhurst.mp@parliament.uk; and/or
- To make comments or objections on planning application go to www.HighHalstow-pc.gov.uk click on the Planning Tracker tab
Concerning the proposed Esquire development of 30 houses at Sharnal street. Ref no. MC/20/1237.We are somewhat surprised the application is for 30 houses as an Esquire rep. told us there would be approx 20 houses. There is no sustainable road access to this site. The 30 houses equates to approx 60 vehicles, roughly 120 vehicular movements per day onto the extremly busy main A228 continuously used by industrial traffic. This creates the potential for a major probably fatal accident.
A development of this size at this location is totally unsustainable.