Mark Reckless on Lodge Hill? You tell me!?

Too busy talking about Europe? Where does our MP stand?

Despite looking for an hour today I could not find a statement from our Member of Parliament on whether he agrees with the construction of Lodge Hill; over forests and green space on the Peninsula.

Plenty of moaning about the Eurozone which seems to be a bit of a hobby horse...

It is almost as if, perish the thought, he does not want to talk about it.

So what is Lodge Hill?

In May 2008, Land Securities was selected as Land Sale Delivery Partner by Defence Infrastucture Organisation and tasked with realising the site's redevelopment potential; to bring forward a new mixed-use development north of the A228. The Lodge Hill site has the potential to create in the region of 4,500 - 5,000 new homes, together with community facilities and new employment opportunities over the next 15 - 20 years.

Medway Conservatives are backing the destruction of our Green spaces and to bulldoze over landscape on Chattenden.

Medway Conservatives are supporting the destruction of green land for housing. Does our MP?

It is time Tories told us where they stood. Do they reject it or do they, like they have voted in the Council, support the destruction of local heritage?

Strood Autumn Ward Communication

StroodAutumnA4

Strood Labour leaflet which should be going through doorsteps shortly for Councillor Stephen Hubbard and Cllr Isaac Igwe.

Labour: Delivering in our communities

Tory Allotment Tax

The Tory hatred of anything green isnt just in the Planning law which they are deliberely watering down to make development easier.

It isnt even in the London Conservative plan to bulldoze over the Peninsula and put a slab of concrete over our beautiful landscape.

Labour Councillor, Isaac Igwe in Strood has expressed major concerns at the manner in which these taxes are being increased; with little or no consultation with the huge number of people who enjoy using their allotments.

It also includes huge increases in taxes on allotment holders. The hard men and women who strive and struggle to till the ground.

2006 cost

2011 cost

Taxing our allotment holders; poor show...

Protecting our Greenspaces

Myself with Friends of Horsted Valley Campaigners

Planning Proposal Graphic (Click to enlarge)

The Luton & Wayfield Labour team is very worried about the proposed development of the Daisy Banks and the manner in which land is being transferred from the Banks to Luton Primary School, to facilitate an NHS facility which is poorly situated within a dense urban area with poor vehicular access.

The application is that part of Daisy Banks, just as you enter the Valley from Pheasant Road will see 2,500 square meters of the Local Wildlife Site to off set the lose of Luton School playing fields for vehicular access to another development on adjacent undeveloped land (proposed NHS facility) on the other side of the playing fields. The area will be cleared and a 2 meter fence erected.

This will block off existing pathway. The planning statement accompanying the application, agues that it will not in fact ential the lost of open space or impact upon the character of the local landscape. However, in view that the change use is in fact to allow further development, which includes construction of an access road and development of undeveloped land, it in fact mean that a significant area of open space will be lost. It also ignores the significant lost of wildlife habitat which is not compatible with it use as a playing field. Lastly, the planning statement completely ignores that is the primary gateway to the valley and has been used by the public for well over 20 years.

We are working with the Friends of Horsted Valley and local residents to oppose this planning application

Have you or somebody you know been walking Daisy Banks, entering via Pheasant Road for more than 20 years?

Would your be prepared to make a statement to that effect? Please contact the Vice Chairman at andrew401968@yahoo.co.uk

If you wish to make a submission concerning application MC/11/2345, you can do so via Medway Council planning porta, link above or by writing to: Development Control, Medway Council, Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TR, quoting the reference number MC/11/2345.

Tories plan Greenbelt bulldoze

Looks like former River ward Councillor - and now Sefton Central Labour MP, Bill Esterson - has been in the press defending our Green belts from Conservatives and there developer friends.

Bill Esterson MP is supporting a huge number of residents in rural Medway and beyond who are outraged that the Tories are proposing to bulldoze our green areas

In Medway, we are seeing the developers and their Tory chums threatening to bulldoze over parts of the Peninsula / Strood Rural ward with a plan for 5,000 properties planned for Medway. Yet as this blog has discovered hardly any residents are aware of the Lodge Hill development.

The Tories are about to waterdown the planning regime in what would make the Prescott changes to planning look like small beer.

For decades our planning system has protected much loved places from harmful development. The Government's reforms turn this on its head, using it as a tool primarily to promote economic growth instead.

We believe in growth – but not at all costs. Planning for people combines long-term growth with other important things like local character and space to breathe, tranquillity and beauty. We need a system that serves all our interests, from commerce to communities.

The Government’s reforms fail this test- they need to stop and think again.

The Government’s planning reforms could lead to unchecked and damaging development in the undesignated countryside on a scale not seen since the 1930s.

New plans published by the Government contain a core presumption that the default answer to development will be ‘yes’.

This blog is deeply concerned that the Government’s proposals allow financial considerations to dominate, which could result in a green-light for poor quality or development in the wrong place, threatening the local places valued by you, while failing to deliver wider benefits to your community.

Send a message to the Tories in Government that planning is for people not for profit. Sign the petition.

Lodge Hill, whats that?

Regeneration is a word that can be seen on billboards across Medway. It is supposed to be a byword for what was supposed to have happened over the last decade, but with delays caused by Tory tardiness over planning, coupled with the downturn in property market post 2008, has failed to materialise.

One project which is raising a few heart beats on the Peninsula and Strood is the Lodge Hill development.

A development which is being persued at pace by the Conservatives in Gun Wharf.

In case you were not aware, and I certainly wasnt prior to becoming a Councillor, Lodge Hill is a multi-million new town development that is being planned for a huge site encompasing Chattenden and the Lodge Hill Valley.

It is something you should have on your radar

Comprised of 5,000 new homes it will be situated between Strood and the Peninsula villages and will see huge swathes of land given over for residential usage.

On door knocking in Wainscott over the weekend I was surprised to find that not a single resident I spoke with knew about the proposed new town on their doorstep. It seems Tory communication in these parts has been utterly lacklustre at best; I wonder why...

Regeneration only works when you take communities with you; this project has the air of secrecy about it because of its scale. But it is because of its scale that the public need to be aware of exactly what is happening. And quite frankly, they are not...

For more information on the proposal please visit the Council website or the Developers website or indeed the Facebook page which shows current views of fields that will be built over.