Sadly this planning application was never going to produce a clear cut outcome for our village as it was widely known that the applicant would have gone to appeal had permission been refused.
Our past experience of contentious planning applications going to appeal is that this process does not always produce the right decision as far as our village is concerned and may have resulted in a permission being granted with NO planning conditions attached. The planning process only allows a right of appeal for the applicant.
Although we are extremely disappointed with this outcome we note that the written decision now issued by Gravesham Borough Council advises that further consultation with Higham Parish Council is to take place and that permission has been granted subject to “planning conditions and informatives” being applied.
Your Parish Council will keep you updated regarding progress with this issue on both our website and Facebook pages but we understand that this process could take quite some time.
Linda Carnall, Clerk to Higham Parish Council
Please find below a copy of Higham Parish Council’s objection letter relating to the Nuralite Development within Shone and Higham parishes.
Councillor David Martin, Higham Parish Council
Higham Parish Council
Why are they proposing to build so many new houses in Higham?
GBC CLAIM TO HAVE RUN OUT OF LAND, WHICH IS NOT GREEN BELT, AND/OR EXISTING
SITES IN GRAVESEND AND NORTHFLEET ARE DIFFICULT TO DEVELOP
How many additional homes do these proposals suggest for Higham?
1,810
What are the Parish Council doing about the proposal to build 1810
houses in the village?
THE PARISH COUNCIL WILL BE OBJECTING TO THE PROPOSALS.
How do I object to the Local Plan?
All of the information including a standard response that you can print, copy and sign as well as all of the details on how to submit your response can be found on our website in our ‘Gravesham Local Plan News and Info’ section here:
Higham Parish Council – Gravesham Local Plan News & Info
How will the roads, schools and doctors cope with the extra
people, cars etc?
THEY CANNOT, NOR CAN THE SEWERS AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE
Where do I find the details of these proposals?
THE PROPOSALS ARE ONLY AVAILABLE ON-LINE AT
Gravesham Local Plan Proposals and Documentation – Gravesham Borough Council
OR BY VISITING THE CIVIC CENTRE AND READING THEM THERE.
Which parts of the village are supposed to be developed – where
are the new houses going to be built?
MAINLY BY FILLING IN BETWEEN THE THREE CRUTCHES, STROOD AND HIGHAM (CHAPTER FARM) BUT ALSO 40 HOUSES AT WALMERS AVENUE, 250 HOUSES BY FILLING IN
BETWEEN SCHOOL LANE AND TAYLORS LANE, 85 HOUSES BY BUILDING ON THE
RECREATION GROUND AND THE FIELD TO THE NORTH OF IT, 40 HOUSES BY
BUILDING ON BUCKLANDFARM YARD AND ADJOINING FIELD IN CHALK
ROAD, AND 10 HOUSES ON THE NARROWEST PART OF CANAL ROAD.
How do Gravesham Borough Council justify these sites?
GRAVESHAM ARE PROPOSING THAT HIGHAM AND LOWER HIGHAM BECOME ONE SETTLEMENT AND THEN THEY CAN DEVELOP THE FIELDS WHICH SEPARATE THESE PARTS OF THE VILLAGE.
THERE IS NO APPARENT JUSTIFICATION FOR THE CHAPTER FARM PROPOSALS (SEE ALSO http://www.savechapter.co.uk/_
My neighbour doesn’t have a computer and can’t get to the library ow is she supposed to respond to the consultation?
GRAVESHAM ARE USING THE PANDEMIC TO MAKE IT VERY DIFFICULT FOR
PEOPLE TO ACCESS THE CONSULTATION. WRITE TO YOUR BOROUGH COUNCILLORS
AND GRAVESHAM’S CHIEF EXECUTIVE COMPLAINING
Who decided how many new homes are needed and how do they
calculate the number?
GRAVESHAM ARE USING 2014 PROJECTIONS FROM THE GOVERNMENT WHICH OVERESTIMATED POPULATION GROWTH IN GRAVESHAM. THEY
HAVE NOT USED THE LOWER 2019 PROJECTIONS
Have things like the Co-vid Pandemic (e.g., changes in shopping habits and working from home) been taken into account when developing a
Local Plan?
NO
IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION WHICH IS NOT ANSWERED HERE PLEASE EMAIL IT TO
and we will do our best to answer.Higham Parish Council
Following the Regulation 18 (Stage 1) Consultation in 2018, Gravesham Borough Council (GBC) have considered the representations received and gathered additional information to inform the amount of housing, employment and retail development needed in the Borough to 2036.
GBC are seeking views on these issues and the options for determining where future development could take place to meet identified needs. GBC are also seeking views on the sites that it is proposed to allocate for housing and employment in addition to those already allocated in the Local Plan Core Strategy, and the updated policies in the Development Management Policies Document.
Gravesham Borough Council (GBC) is in the process of reviewing this document which guides housing and employment development in the whole Borough. It therefore has a potential impact for all of us living and working in Higham. As part of the Review GBC are required to consult with residents and other key individuals and organisations. One of its key assumptions is that by 2036, there will be a need for an extra 10,480 houses although the population of the Borough is only expected to increase from 106,900 to 109,500 in the same period – this is effectively 3 houses per new resident!
Where can I find details of the Consultation and associated plans and documents
A large number of documents, site plans showing potential development areas, draft policies that deal with issues arising from planning applications are available on the Borough Council website
https://localplan.gravesham.gov.uk/consult.ti/REG18S2/consultationHome
As we understand it paper copies of the documents are not available, but residents can access them online or can visit the Civic Centre in Gravesend. If you, or someone you know, cannot access via either of these methods you may like to write to the Chief Planning Officer and Chief Executive and say that GBC has a legal duty to provide the information in a manner/format in which you can use it.
Local Plan – Promoted Sites for Development in Higham
Here is a quick reference list of the promoted sites for development that can accompany the pdf document above:
HIGHAM
TOTAL 1770 houses
HIGHAM/ SHORNE
TOTAL 40 houses
What are Higham Parish Council doing about the Consultation?
A number of potential sites in Higham have been identified for potential development and the Parish Council are working hard to look at the implications IF any of these sites were to be developed. Please remember, that these sites have only been identified as potential development sites. Gravesham Borough Council have, at this early stage, only been asked to put consider and forward sites in their Borough that have the potential for development.
More Information
For more information on the campaign named ‘Stop the Greenbelt Grab’ that has been organised by Gravesham Campaign for Rural England (CPRE), you can visit their website at
https://www.cpregravesham.org/
The website provides all of the details on how to help, donate and receive regular updates on how the campaign is progressing. Higham Parish Council also urge our parishioners to share this website too.
Thank your for your continued support.
Higham Parish Council
Over the last several months, Higham Parish Council has been working alongside Kent County Council (KCC) to jointly deliver a scheme on the main bus route in Higham on Gravesend Road at the Forge Lane Bus stop (Medway bound). Through the village precept, Higham Parish Council and the residents of Higham, funded 50% of this landmark project for Kent. The remainder was funded by grant donations from KCC.
The existing tired-looking shelter (see below) is to be replaced with a new one and work has started already. As well as providing bus users somewhere to sit and shelter form the elements, the roof of the shelter will be covered with sedum and wildflower that can attract bees and other species of pollinators to help with the plight of pollinators across the country.
The bus shelter plans form part of a KCC’s Plan Bee action plan which is actively seeking to reverse the “serious” decline of pollinators in the UK, including bees, moths and butterflies.
As you can see, work started at the end of November and is almost complete…
The Parish Council can’t wait for the new shelter to come into operation where it will not only benefit our parishioners, but also benefit important pollinators too.
Thank you for your continued support.
Higham Parish Council
“Following my email last week about the withdrawal of our Development Consent Order application, we’ve now had further dialogue with the Planning Inspectorate about their expectations around our application.
The fundamentals of the Lower Thames Crossing, including its objectives and location, will remain the same but we will further develop some technical information related to some elements of the scheme before we resubmit our application next year.
The feedback from the Planning Inspectorate includes requests for:
The Planning Inspectorate has also shared some feedback from Local Authorities on our approach to consultation.
We’ve held a record-breaking programme of consultation, the most comprehensive ever undertaken for a UK road project with almost 300 days spent in consultation and nearly 90,000 responses received. We provided a significant level of detail on all aspects of the project in a wide range of formats to aid peoples understanding of our proposals.
We will consider this feedback carefully as we refine key areas of our submission ahead of resubmitting our application for a Development Consent Order.
For a project of the size and complexity of the Lower Thames Crossing, it is reasonable for the Planning Inspectorate to ask for further information, and we are doing everything we can to resubmit our application at the earliest opportunity. “
Highways England must now revisit their planning application and revisit these areas before the new application can be submitted. At this stage Higham Parish Council are not aware of the timetable for this, but we will, as ever, keep you posted on our FB page and website.
In the meantime, you may wish to take a look at the following websites
The Department of Transport recently opened a consultation seeking the UK’s views on proposed changes to The Highway Code to improve safety for vulnerable road users, particularly the groups of:
The main alterations to the code that were being proposed were:
Higham Parish Council urged parishioners to have their say in this consultation as cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders are well represented in the area and particularly as the activities mentioned are very popular in and around our village.
The consultation closed at
The Government are now in the process of analysing national feedback. Visit the Gov.uk page below again soon to download the outcome to this public feedback.
Higham Parish Council