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Dover District Council Cabinet submit representations to the Thanet Local Plan Consultations.

Neil Jordan

At today’s Dover District Council Cabinet Meeting, the Cabinet voted unanimously to accept the Officer’s recommendations to submit the following representations to Thanet District Council, in connection with the Thanet Local Plan. This includes reference to Manston and policy SP05.

The consultation closed last Friday, 17th March 2017.

“Cabinet agree that the following representations to the Proposed Revisions to the draft Thanet District Council (TDC) Local Plan (Preferred Options) are sent to Thanet District Council:

1) Evidence from DDC’s Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) has concluded that Dover District is best placed in a Shepway and Dover Housing Market Area (HMA) rather than a Thanet, Canterbury and Dover HMA which has been identified in Thanet District Council’s SHMA. DDC therefore object to Dover District’s identification in a Thanet HMA.

2) In future DDC would encourage TDC to make a more positive effort in collaborating with DDC at an early stage under the Duty to Co-operate (DTC) on the future of Manston Airport and other cross boundary strategic issues and that TDC instigate these DTC meetings from here on where there is a cross boundary issue that arises from within TDC.

3) Until the Development Consent Order process has been concluded (presently at pre-application stage), DDC’s resolution towards the retention of Manston as an operational airport is maintained and an objection is made to Policy SP05 for the redevelopment of the former Manston airport site for mixed use development.

4) DDC objects to Policy SP05 as no justification, as part of the Local Plan-making process, has been given to the need for 85,000sqm of employment and leisure floorspace and its potential impact on Dover District has not therefore been properly assessed.

5) Policy SP05 should be amended to clearly specify the amount of retail/leisure floorspace for the District centre and TDC undertake an impact assessment in order that the effect on town centres in Dover District can be evaluated.

6) DDC objects to Policy SP05 on that the grounds that no Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment has accompanied the Local Plan which clearly demonstrates how the redevelopment of the Manston airport will protect key vantage points from within Dover District.

7) DDC support the revised location of the Thanet Parkway Station (Policy SP39) and welcome the provision of journey time reductions from Ashford through to Thanet.

8) DDC has ongoing concerns associated with the performance and serviceability at Brenley Corner. DDC seeks assurance from TDC over the suitability of the junction to serve all of the growth that has been identified in the Thanet District Council Local Plan while sustaining the strategic demands at the junction particularly in circumstances where the Lower Thames Crossing comes forward within the Plan period.”

http://moderngov.dover.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=121&MId=2640

You can watch the section of the meeting here:

Thanks to David Stevens​ for relaying the news from the meeting and for the video above.

Main image: By O1ive at en.wikipedia [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons