Otterpool Park (Garden Village) Expression of Interest submitted by SDC.

EXCLUSIVE

Shepway District Council submitted their bid for an expression of interest in a Garden Village on Friday 17th June 2016. A senior salaried SDC employee let this slip in a conversation our public face had with them.

So what does this mean? Well the criteria are as follows:

1 – proposals must be for a new settlement of 1,500 – 10,000 homes.

With the acreage roughly around a 707 hectares = (approx) 1750 acres . 30% has to be green space, so that leaves 1325 acres.  85 hectares or roughly 210 acres will be given over to an light industrial park, so that leaves 1115 acres. Meaning that between 450ha  for new housing, infrastructure, schools, shops, etc and green infrastructure. At densities similar to those planned for NW Bicester which is probably what DCLG is looking for, that would give you 6500 homes. (these are estimates only).

If SDC want to squeeze 12,000 homes in, there will have to be more land grab or a lot less green than they are thinking.

2 – . The garden village must be a new discrete settlement, and not an extension of an existing town or village. This does not exclude proposals where there are already a few existing homes.

3 – To support wider housing and growth ambitions, expressions of interest must be led by local authorities. We also welcome expressions of interest which include support from private sector developers and/or landowners.

So the Reuben brothers land (Folkestone Racecourse) can and will be included.

4 – They should also set how the local community is being, or will be, engaged at an early stage, and strategies for community involvement to help ensure local support.

So far the local community has not be engaged one iota. And Cllrs Carey & Hollingsbee  continue to evade talking to their community.

5 – High quality starter homes, to be offered at least a 20% discount for young first-time buyers, have a place within well-designed new communities. Like other major developments, it is our intention for new garden villages to be subject to our new statutory requirement in the Housing and Planning Bill, and provide a proportion of starter homes as part of their section 106 agreements.

Now we know SDC have possibly creamed of the fat regarding their s106 with Sainsbury’s in Hythe. Will they possibly do the same with the s106 agreement for the garden village? We’ll leave you to decide that.

6 – Starter Homes Fund: there is an opportunity to access funding for more starter homes from our £2.3 billion funding for starter homes if the additional starter homes are built out by 2020.

Now do remember people only 12 garden villages are to be excepted. So SDC could receive (using the average) £191,666,666.

7 – Expressions of interest must be submitted by 31 July 2016 through the Homes and Communities Agency at garden.villages@hca.gsi.gov.uk. The HCA, both through their operating area network and ATLAS, is available to provide support in developing expression of interest.

All information comes from the following two documents:

1 – Locally-led_garden_villages__towns_and_cities

2 – Garden Village Guidance

If you wish to communicate your displeasure to the Secretary of State for the Dept of Communities and Local Government (DCLG),  Greg Clark you can do so by contacting him via his email address

greg.clark.mp@parliament.uk

House of Commons
Westminster
London
SW1A 0AA

By telephone:

01892 519 854

At the DCLG  FORMS

greg.clark@communities.gsi.gov.uk

By post:

Department for Communities & Local Government
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

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