Planning Inspectors held 20 days of public examination hearing on our Dover district Local Plan between 14 Nov and 13 Dec 2023. The Local Plan will shape what is built where, and what is protected where, in specific planning applications for many years to come.
Our spokesperson Sarah Waite-Gleave was allocated opportunities to speak up for a better Local Plan on 12 of the 20 days of the 2023 public hearings.
Why?
- Because your Dover and Deal Green party worked hard during Dover District Council (DDC) consultations in 2021 and 2022 to meet and listen to the concerns of people in Dover district.
- Because your Dover and Deal Green Party team submitted 25 pages worth of suggestions on improvements needed in December 2022.
During the 2023 public hearings our spokesperson, Sarah, met many of the residents and parish and town council representatives who were also speaking up for their neighbourhoods and for a better Local Plan. She witnessed well-paid barristers, King's Counsels, representing DDC planning dept and early Whitfield developers, Halsbury Homes. They were going head to head for hours, debating whether agreements made before the 2022 consultation about developer contributions for the improvements needed at the roundabouts on the A2 should be respected, or whether a new Whitfield developer, Persimmon, should be allowed to persuade DDC to reshape policies to improve their profit margins.
Christine Oliver, the prospective parliamentary Green Party candidate in Dover and Deal commented; 'I'm proud of the work our team does on planning issues. As citizens we can work to change a planning system we are unhappy with. The Green Party works with others to get a more proportional voting system, a government less subject to the demands of the property development or fossil fuel lobbies. We need governments and local authorities better able to meet the needs of people suffering from the homelessness crisis, or fuel poverty or the climate and nature crises'.
More information on the DDC Local Plan is available in a series of 3 articles in Kent & Surrey bylines. https://kentandsurreybylines.co.uk/business/planning-housing/a-planning-system-that-is-failing-kent/
