I am writing to say that I fully support the draft Local Plan as it affects Wittersham. HOU2 will continue to allow for affordable housing for local people with a genuine connection with the village and also specialist housing for the elderly. Open market housing is not wanted in Wittersham. The draft Local Plan has done an excellent job in protecting this beautiful part of the High Weald AONB for future generations to enjoy. Well done Ashford !

The attached document outlines our concerns in Part 1, Section 4 that our Parishioners have found it extremely difficult to comment on the Plan. Thus we consider that question 4 is flawed as we do not have professional legal or planning knowledge. Part l also looks at the policies which we consider are UNSOUND. Part two of the attached document places objections to two sites in Kingsnorth Parish, S3 Court Lodge (page 50) and S4 Land north of Steeds Lane and Magpie Hall Road (page 55) which we c

We agree with the inclusion of a policy which supports local needs housing and which recognises when an element of market housing may be required. In some cases, local communities may wish to bring forward residential development in conjunction with a community facility as a form of enabling development. Such proposals will require an element of market housing in order to pay for upfront costs (including land acquisition, build costs, and professional fees) and to secure the ongoing maintenance

I have today just seen the Wittersham Parish Council's response to the Council to the Local Plan. I would like to point out that the parish council has no mandate for taking this action which in fact seems to be asking for development of a sort that most people in Wittersham have already said is not required or desired. The village was given no opportunity to give their own view to the Parish Council, no public meeting was organised and no publicity or literature put out so that residents could

* Policy HOU2 – This states: It is expected that all local needs/ specialist housing schemes will be delivered without the need for any cross market subsidy. Where this is not the case a proposal will need to be supported by robust and transparent viability evidence that will be independently verified by the Council. Should a viability case be proven, the Council will accept an enabling amount of starter homes and /or custom build/ self-build plots as a means of providing the necessary subsi

P. 168. POLICY HOU2. Regarding Local Needs Housing we recommend that the Borough continues to allow provision for this type of development and that the allowance of windfall sites in villages does not result in the exclusion of suitable sites for Local Needs Housing

HOU2 Local Needs/specialist housing p171 The Council support proposals to bring forward housing for "specialist housing "especially smaller housing to allow for "down-sizing". Considered Sound

Policy HOU2 – Local Needs /Specialist Housing CPRE Kent broadly supports this policy. There are some concerns, however, with the criteria listed in the policy. It is inappropriate to discuss landscape impact, and amenity of neighbours in isolation, since this infers that other interests, set out in policies in this plan are less relevant. The criteria should be amended as follows: (a) The local need for affordable housing, or requirement for specialist housing, is clearly evidenced; (b) The s

HOU3 Comment Policy HOU3 has a list of criteria which may cause uncertainty about the application of other local plan policies. The plan should be read as a whole, and the detailed criteria in the policy omit equally important issues such as protected species, air quality, flood risk etc. Instead of listing constraints the policy should proactively encourage residential development in urban areas where land or buildings are no longer required for (or allocated for) non-residential uses. It coul

We are pleased to note the support for local needs and specialist housing, as expressed in HOU2. Newenden hopes to be able to contribute some local needs housing within the foreseeable future, and we look forward to working with you on this. We note your restrictions on cross-market subsidy for affordable housing but would remark that, in the current financial climate, it may be impossible for Housing Associations and other providers to create local needs housing without such subsidies.