Residents have branded a decision to green-light plans for a 78-home estate “ridiculous” - amid fears Herne Bay will be flooded with new developments.
Authority officials say the scheme “would not have an adverse impact on the living conditions of neighbouring properties”. But local Billie Moore is concerned the town’s infrastructure will be put under strain by it and the 1,000 other homes earmarked for land nearby.
“It’s unbelievable,” she said.“Herne Bay has grown a lot already, but there are no more schools, doctors, dentists.” Labelling the decision shocking, resident Nicky Biggs predicts “we do not have the infrastructure to cope with these additional houses”.
The same situation is replicated everywhere - houses and flats crammed onto every available space, and no uplift in the infrastructure needed to support such a massive influx...
And it shows no sign of stopping:
Stonebond also wants to build 160 properties on a 14-acre field called Northwood, while 572 will eventually be erected on Redrow’s former golf course development. And 800 more will be sited at Strode Farm.
How can this possibly be sustainable? What's the point in continual housebuilding with no thought to what will sustain this population growth? Has no-one ever played 'Sim City'?
Bosses from Stonebond insist they are “meeting the authority’s expectations” on contributions to infrastructure in the wider area. And city council officers stress Kent County Council has requested “financial contributions towards secondary education, community learning, youth service, libraries and social care” in the town.
'Financial contributions' won't make schools and hospitals bigger and able to cope with demand, will they? What does the council say?
Responding to concerns surrounding the project, a spokesman for Stonebond said: “We engaged with local stakeholders and the community throughout the planning process, addressing specific concerns they had,” a spokesman said. “As a result of those conversations, we’re improving the existing pedestrian walking route along Bullockstone Road.
“Additionally, sustainable drainage measures will be used to mitigate any potential increase of flood risk.”
*sighs*
Makes me wonder. If schools and hospitals were not entirely state owned, but private, would it be financially worthwhile for the developetrs to build more of them to accompany these developements?
ReplyDeleteThere is a large new housing development on the outskirts of Beverley. Close by there is already a small retail park with a 24 hour Morrisons with filling station, a Lidl supermarket, Costa Coffee etc.
DeleteHerne Bay has a population of 39000. 78 new houses is hardly going to overload the place, now is it?
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the figures, Britain's population has actually declined since the 50's. 'All' the supposed 'increase' is due to massive immigration (there has been an actual 'real' small decrease over the last 20 years even 'with' immigration, and with the ageing demographic that trend will soon increase 'alarmingly').
ReplyDeleteSo? Why the 'need' for all these tiny, identical, card-board construction, always-but-always-built-on-greenfield-sites (usually prime farming land, or with predictably hilarious results on flood-planes, whilst ignoring regenerating the millions of dilapidated properties and former industrial areas), etc.?
Money, or more specifically, graft! You think China's "empty cities" are unique? It's a Ponzi scheme scam, and one of the guaranteed methods any/all 'authorities' use to feather their nests.
I wonder how much the Councillors and board members received in brown-paper envelopes under the table.
[I do so 'love' the PC use of "stakeholder", in reality "everyone who'll be able to milk the system, 'except' the people who it will actually affect". Every 'official' who uses the term should automatically receive a "piano-wire severance package" in my humble opinion].
I live in Selsey on the South Coast. We are facing exactly the same problems. A new development is nearly completed, despite the protests of almost everyone in the village. Our single secondary school is over-filled with pupils already, our medical centre is operating at full stretch (and they continue to give great service). There's just one 'B' road connecting us to anywhere else and it is operating at maximum capacity. Work opportunities in the village are limited so most people are going to want to drive into Chichester or even further to find work. It's a catastrophe waiting to happen.
ReplyDeleteThere was a golden opprtunity in Tunbridge Wells, when the A21 was eventually upgraded from a complete disaster to a busy but manageable road.
ReplyDeleteThe area around the link to the industrial area needed hundreds of acres of farmland, and with the half-decent location to all connecting roads, there would have been a perfect area for a new village/small town, with it's own infrastructure, schools etc.
But this is Tunbridge Wells, wher they prefer to let developers stuff all the surrounding villages with unwanted extra housing, while the non-view from the A21 goes un-noticed.
This reminds me of the song 'Little boxes on the hillside' for the simple reason the number of houses in the space means they are truly little boxes - who would want to live in such a place? Maybe the idea is to provide the houses to the boat loads of illegal invader 'migrants' that will live at the expense of the British tax payer - after all a little box is better than a mud hut.
ReplyDelete"...would it be financially worthwhile for the developetrs to build more of them to accompany these developements?"
ReplyDeleteProbably!
"Herne Bay has a population of 39000. 78 new houses is hardly going to overload the place, now is it?"
You think it's going to stop at 78..?
" It's a Ponzi scheme scam, and one of the guaranteed methods any/all 'authorities' use to feather their nests."
Spot on!
"It's a catastrophe waiting to happen."
It's no longer waiting, it's already here!
"But this is Tunbridge Wells, wher they prefer to let developers stuff all the surrounding villages with unwanted extra housing, while the non-view from the A21 goes un-noticed."
We're going to need that farmland, though...
"This reminds me of the song 'Little boxes on the hillside' for the simple reason the number of houses in the space means they are truly little boxes..."
All made out of ticky-tacky...