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Swale's Local Plan is not legally compliant and should be withdrawn, say lawyers acting for a parish council.
Law firm Knights of Tunbridge Wells was instructed by Lynsted with Kingsdown parish councillors late on Tuesday night to write to Swale council objecting to the “Teynham Area of Opportunity” which would create at least 1,100 more homes plus a bypass on prime agricultural land in Lynsted.
The move comes after others complained that leaving comments about the Local Plan - which closes for consultation this Friday - is fraught with difficulty.
Knights says the plan has not been subject to a "legally compliant sustainability appraisal" and has not been correctly consulted. Lynsted parish council is calling on Swale, which covers Sittingbourne, Faversham and the Isle of Sheppey, to withdraw the plan now.
Villagers have set up their own website to help people submit comments on the plan at www.STOP-TAO.com.
The website says Swale council "buried these proposals in bureaucratic jargon and dysfunctional website pages, breaking their promises to us for meaningful consultation. We have been presented with no justification or analysis to support the Teynham Area of Opportunity.”
Chairman Julien Speed said: “A key element to a ‘sound’ plan is that it takes into account reasonable alternatives. The Swale Local Plan is not justified because the Teynham ‘opportunity’ has not been assessed against alternative schemes. It has been pre-determined by Swale council and then post-rationalised by the promise of some future masterplan.
“There has been no traffic or air-quality modelling and no assessment of the impact on the landscape or local bio-diversity.”
Businesswoman Charlotte White from Sittingbourne described submitting comments as an "impossible task." She said: "I am an educated company director and am exceedingly computer literate. I cannot imagine how anyone who is not, would even know where to begin with this disastrous technological nightmare. It glitches, freezes then kicks you out."
Residents have until 5pm this Friday to express their views. They can email comments to Lpcomments@swale.gov.uk
A Swale council spokesman said yesterday: “We haven’t received the letter from Lynsted parish council or their solicitors yet. Once we have, we can respond.”
Swale council has been dogged by problems with its consultation and had to extend it by six weeks in February after complaints from the Conservative opposition.
This week Helen Whately, Conservative MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, told Swale council it was "not too late" to rethink its Local Plan. She said: “This plan could have been so much better if Swale council had taken the time to consult people properly and given more thought to what infrastructure we need.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by the response to my survey on the Plan. Well over 1,000 people have taken part and it’s clear there is a huge amount of frustration and sadness at what is being proposed. It’s so important that enormous changes on this scale are consulted on thoroughly so this can be a plan the whole community can support.”
Of 1,055 people surveyed, 91% were opposed to the proposals with less than 4% saying they were in favour of the Local Plan.
She added: "It’s not too late for Swale to rethink these plans and give people a Local Plan that will make life better not worse.
“I have serious concerns about plans for large developments to the East of Faversham. This hinges on funding for upgrading Brenley Corner, which has not yet been confirmed. This junction is a nightmare at the best of times and if these plans go ahead it could be permanently gridlocked."
For more details about Swale council's Local Plan click here. To enter the Local Plan portal to comment on it, click here.
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