By Cllr Mike Eddy, Deal Town Council, Walmer Council
For those following Dover District Council’s Planning Committee decisions, a brief article in the latest Private Eye (no. 1554 for 20 August to 2 September, page 15) will make interesting reading.
The bulk of the article concerns planning applications made by Gladmans in Wiltshire and nearby Thanet. Gladmans was the company that put in two planning applications to Dover District Council for 80 houses off the Dover Road in Walmer and for 100 houses at Cross Road in Deal.
Both sites sit on top of the aquifer and so will interfere with local water supply and surface water run-off. The Cross Road site, which was given approval on the casting vote of the chairman of the Planning Committee meeting, is accessed by two single-track country lanes (Ellen’s Road and Cross Road) – expect chaos if these houses are ever built.
At the end of the article is a brief post-script, which quotes Daniel Gladman’s comments in a high court case five years ago. Apparently he said:
“We ... target local authorities whose planning is in ... disarray and vulnerable to quick application for a suitable site.”
In disarray and vulnerable? Dover?