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Our campaign is hotting up again...
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Dear residents
We hope you are keeping well and have had an enjoyable summer.
Here at SOHL, we have been working quietly behind the scenes. There has been a lull in activity with the usual political summer recess and Maidstone Council's break in council business. This has given us some time to pause, reflect on our achievements and put together the next phase of our battle plan.
Below you'll find an update on the latest Heathlands plans (or lack of) and the skulduggery being adopted by our own borough council to try and ram this pet-project through.
We are now entering one of the most critical stages of the Maidstone Local Plan Review process. We can not over-emphasise enough the importance of ensuring Lenham's residents stand united and with a loud voice.
We now need everyone to put the gloves back on as we ramp up the fight over the autumn against Maidstone Borough Council and their plan to concrete over our beautiful countryside.
Despite what some may say, concerted action and opposition does work! You don't have to look too far beyond our part of Kent to see borough council local plans falling at every hurdle. Sevenoaks, Tonbridge & Malling and most recently Swale are all being sent back to the drawing board for ill-thought through plan-making and bad planning decisions.
Don't let Maidstone Borough Council get away with turning Lenham into the dumping ground for all their housing problems.
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PR Company: what do you do when the going gets tough? You hire a 'crisis communications and lobbying' Public Relations company.
Just before the summer we learnt that Maidstone Borough Council had hired Fabrick Communications Agency to help them convince us that building 5,000 homes while simultaneously destroying our countryside and our community is a good thing. Whatsmore, they have used £24,000 of our money for their services.
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At this stage we're unsure exactly what crisis comms they undertaking but we do know that they've been skulking around our website, social media pages and even have been spotted out pounding the Lenham Heath country roads and fields to see exactly what they are dealing with. Please be mindful when talking to 'visitors' of our village. We have received various reports of third parties undertaking studies, surveys and reconnaissance missions on behalf of MBC. It is shameful they have resorted to this.
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Heathlands Masterplan: we've been lobbying for over 6 months to get sight of the Council's new masterplan for Heathlands.
After the dismal failure of the last masterplan in July 2020, MBC has been at pains to stop the next iteration being published for scrutiny. SOHL has repeatedly made formal requests both through our lawyers and directly to councillors to share the new red line with affected residents but we've been refused each and every time.
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The Council were originally due to publish the new red line on 31st March 2021 but had second thoughts and instead decided to keep the masterplan in 'draft' form to allow the use of a crafty exemption in the Freedom of Information Act to withhold documents that remain in the course of completion. We've formally complained to the Information Commissioner but these cases take months to investigate; a fact MBC know full well.
We are therefore expecting the next masterplan to be made available as part of the broader evidence base of the Local Plan which should be made public at the end of this month.
In the meantime, the latest progress report to the Policy & Resources Committee tomorrow night (15th September) can be viewed here. Most important though is what it doesn't say. After over 2 years' work on this project they still have no landowners signed up, no developer, no infrastructure secured (motorway junction, railway station, water treatment works upgrade, or secondary school) and no mitigation strategy for the nutrient neutrality issue in relation to the River Stour.
As soon as MBC decide to publish the new masterplan, we will be sure to share it with you.
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Local Plan Review - Regulation 19 consultation: the Council's Strategic Planning & Infrastructure Committee are due to debate the draft new Local Plan on the 4th October ahead of taking a decision whether to recommend it to Full Council for public consultation. It is a public meeting and you can view the live webcast here.
Following approval, we expect the public consultation to begin towards the end of October. It is likely to be a 6 week consultation and we will contact you nearer the time to help you have your say.
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Watch our recent fundraising video with lyrics and vocals kindly done by local Lenham music artist, Shannon Sims. Thank you to everyone who has donated to date to our Leave Our Village Alone! campaign.
As our campaign hots up again, any donations you can make to cover our ongoing marketing, legal and professional service fees would be gratefully received.
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15th September: MBC Policy & Resources Committee Meeting
Agenda item 15 - Heathlands update
Watch the live council meeting here.
4th October: MBC Strategic Planning & Infrastructure Committee Meeting
Debate of MBC's Draft Local Plan & evidence base
Watch the live council meeting here.
6th October: MBC Full Council Meeting
Approval of draft Local Plan for public consultation
Watch the live council meeting here.
Late October: Regulation 19 Consultation of draft Local Plan
Your chance to have your say on the latest proposals.
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This is your opportunity to get involved. For SOHL to really up the stakes in our fight against MBC we need all hands on deck. It doesn't matter how much time you have - we're sure there'll be something for you to do.
If you think you could spare some time to help us on our campaign please do get in touch!
We are particularly looking for people who can help us with our social media channels, graphic designers for social media content, planners, legal professionals, environmental specialists, researchers and fundraisers to name but a few.
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Keep up to date through our new Whatsapp Group
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We want to bring more regular updates to you particularly over the next few months. We are also well aware of prying eyes on a lot of the communications we do.
We've therefore set up a private WhatsApp group for supporters and residents where we'll share things as they happen as well as being able to be more open with what is going on in a secure environment. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have.
If you'd like to join the group please email us here.
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