SDC’s Places and Policies Local Plan: Preferred Options.

SDC wish to consult with you, the people of Shepway about building 2500 new homes across 56 sites and developing 13 Hectres (32 Acres) for employment. The consultation is open from 7th October until 18th November 2016. It DOES NOT include the Otterpool Development.

SDC’s Places and Policies Local Plan: Preferred Options is 45Mb, and 445 pages long. It must be read in conjunction with the 2006 Local Plan and the more recent 2013 Local Plan. Furthermore, you’ll also have to read the policies themselves. That people is a lot of information to read and digest.

The consultation on the Places and Policies Local Plan: Preferred Options refers to the whole of the district of Shepway. The plan features 56 sites across the district that could provide 2,500 much needed new homes( will they all be affordable for local people?) and over 13 hectares of land for offices and other work spaces.

You the voters of Shepway, will be able to raise questions leave your comments and hopefully affect/change the policy.  the plan. You can do this by attending the meetings in the following locations which will all be held between 3pm – 8pm

Date	Location
Tuesday 11 October	Hythe Town Hall
Wednesday 12 October	Lydd Town Hall
Thursday 13 October	Sellindge Village Hall
Thursday 20 October	New Romney Assembly Rooms
Tuesday 25 October	Hawkinge Community Centre
Thursday 27 October	Folkestone Academy

The “folk theory of democracy” – the idea that citizens make coherent and intelligible policy decisions, on which elected officials, local, county, national then act – bears no relationship to how democracy really works. Or could ever work.

Voters, can’t possibly live up to these expectations. How many of you will read all 3 documents plus the policies?  Most are too busy with jobs and families and troubles of your own. When we do have time off, not many of us choose to spend it sifting competing claims about the Places and Policies Local Plan (445 pages) or the fiscal implications of quantitative easing.

The idea that Shepway Conservatives are guided by policy decisions made by voters is a myth; in reality, the party makes the policies and we fall into line. To minimise cognitive dissonance – the gulf between what we perceive and what we believe – we either adjust our views to those of our favoured party or avoid discovering what the party really stands for. This is how you end up voting against their interests.

So you have been given the appearance of choice here to affect Policy.  The Local Plan Policy is the second most important document SDC produce. The Core Stategy is the most imporatnt.

“Planning affects all of us in some way,” says Cllr John Collier (Con) the Cllr responsible for consultation “whether it’s improving our local high street, providing a new park for our children to play in or making sure our neighbour’s extension is a suitable size” or taking a “donation” from a developer, he forgot to add.

So, people if you do not put in your tuppence worth, then you’ll end up with something, you may not want.

We have produced a pdf ( below) which you can download – for you the people of Shepway to use, regarding Planning Applications and what to consider if you are going to object. It does not constitute legal advice.

the-objectors-guide-to-the-planning-galaxy-1

Good Luck and please, please, please do try to make it along to one of the meetings, if you have the time.

Shepwayvox

(PS we have been on holiday, hence the lack of posts)