I am deeply worried about the impact the Government’s proposed reforms to the planning system would have on our community.
With this in mind, last week I held meetings with elected representatives and senior officers from both Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Maidstone Borough Council to gain a greater and more granular understanding of the impact the proposals would have on our area. Following these meetings, I have particular concerns about the damage the increased housing numbers could do to our area and the impact that changes could have both upon the completion of the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Local Plan and progress with Maidstone Borough Council’s Local Plan Review.
I have therefore now arranged for a group of ten Kent MPs to write to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government expressing our serious concern with the proposed reforms to the planning system. I have attached the letter for your information. As you will read, in our letter we have asked the Government to look again at their plans to increase the number of houses that must be planned for in our part of Kent and asked to meet with the Secretary of State at his earliest convenience to discuss this matter in more detail. I know that other MPs in other parts on the country are doing something similar and so I am hopeful this may persuade the Government to alter their proposals.
