68 Homes South of View Rd

This application has now approved by Medway Council at their Planning Committee on the 27th July. Concerns from Natural England, the Parish Council and local residents appear to have been discounted. It was passed by one vote, even the Planning Chair voted against.

The committee have the opportunity to refuse (but then the developer can appeal to a Planning Inspector), defer for further discussion or approve with suggested s106 payments or modified,

This site is to the west, east and south of the proposed 50 retirement homes that has been re-submitted with a modified scheme of 2.5 Storey housing blocks (MC/22/1713). 

The Medway Strood Rural Councillors and the Parish Council have indicated their continued opposition this scheme, but it was approved and has now started the build (April 2024) - an access for the construction traffic (only) has been created on the B2000 Town Road.

A planning application for the development of 68 Residential Properties on the south-side of View Road (currently mainly orchard) has been received by Medway Council. This follows some local pre-planning consultation with local residents and the Parish Council before the planning application was submitted and the plans were available. Details can be seen at :-

https://publicaccess1.medway.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=QUFVT0KNGZD00

This is an application by Esquire Development who are currently completing the development opposite the Cliffe Woods Recreation Ground on Town Road. It is a FULL application, so if approved, subject to planning conditions being met, it could start.

This is a site that is 'outside the village boundary' in the 2003 Medway Local Plan and would not normally be considered for development, but as there is no up to date Local Plan that allocates enough housing to meet the standard formula allocation for the area,  village boundaries have little weight. Even where housing is allocated, the rate of build does not meet the Government's target either and additional sites may need to be allocated. Sites are assessed on sustainable development principles.

The details will be investigated over the coming few weeks and there are likely to be further updates on the webpage as this progresses. There are a number of issues that arise from this proposal and we will have to see if there is any attempt to mitigate them.