The Times newspaper has an interesting report on the Lilybrook Development in Pegwell (below).
I know the local Tories are desperate to blame government policy for garden grabbing, but the truth is somewhat more complicated as the article points out. We do need more housing, there is only so much purely brown field land available. Thanet Tories have been in charge of the Local Development Plan for several years now but have not tackled the issue. THere is no policy locally because of this.
A case of hypocrisy?
"Garden-grabbing has become a major policy issue in areas where homeowners are particularly susceptible to approaches. Last month a Private Members’ Bill by the Labour MP Andrew Dismore was the latest of at least four Bills in recent years aimed at banning the practice — none of the Bills have become law. The lure of cash on offer from opportunistic developers is dividing local communities — some neighbours are accepting the money, some aren’t and do not want their neighbours to either.
Related Links
What the main political parties say about housing policy
The effect of this is clear in Pegwell, near Ramsgate, Kent, where Thanet District Council identified the extensive gardens of two houses as a potential two acre-plus development site. Current policies allow land agents to approach owners of properties near designated development land asking if they would be interested in selling. The result in Kent was that four householders expressed an interest, leading to suggestions that up to 40 houses might be built on the combined site, and a row that set neighbour against neighbour.
David Pownceby, the developer of the scheme in Pegwell, is dismayed by the label of garden-grabber. He was under the impression that the local council wanted to provide higher density housing on every site to meet targets. However, proposals for high-density housing schemes are now being rejected by elected council members. His company, Lilybrook Developments, bought the designated housing site, then faced a protracted dispute about what sort of housing would be suitable.
His latest scheme, which is subject to consideration. comprises 14 three-storey £450,000 houses — a far cry from the council’s idea of providing a mixed development that would include affordable homes and far fewer than the 40 originally planned. “We were told we couldn’t go below 40 houses, then it was 30 houses, then we settled on 26, nine of them as affordable homes. Now we’re down to 14, none of them designated as low-cost,” he says. “It is an example of how planning policies need a complete overhaul.”
Simon Thomas, senior planning officer for Thanet District Council, says that the council was under pressure to identify development land: “According to the government plan, there is a requirement for 7,500 additional homes in Thanet.” However, councils are also obliged to ensure that new developments are not so dense that they are considered over-crowded. Guidelines state that builders should aim for 30 dwellings per hectare. Marion Pearce, a local resident, has led a ferocious campaign against the Lilybrook development. “These were lovely gardens, sacred little spaces that have been lost for ever,” she says. “Even now, I wouldn’t be surprised if these 14 three-storey units turn into flats.”
The Government maintains that most new developments are on former industrial sites. However, the Communities and Local Government department has embarked on an investigation to find out how much development on land that was formerly gardens is being approved.
Garden Grabbers?? Surely it is the greedy home-owners selling to developers at inflated prices that are the ones to be looked down on. Neighbours often get their heads together and approach a developer but it is always the developer that gets blamed as being the greedy one. "
Prolific burglar jailed
45 minutes ago
