Good evening,
The Borough Council’s new Local Plan allocates Bassetts Farm for development along with the now built Gibbet Lane site and at Brenchley Road, which has outline planning permission.
The new Local Plan is not yet “made”, and will be subject to further consultation.
These three allocated developments amount to an increase in the village population of about 50%.
The Council has told the Local Plan Examiner that developments in Horsmonden “are expected to be in the later part of the plan period” which runs until 2038. This is clearly not the case.
The Council’s Infrastructure Development Plan recognises that additional school and medical facilities are required along with the allocated developments.
We are all deeply concerned that there is no up-to-date, funded infrastructure plan for the village to support the allocated developments. Any further development of scale in the village so early in the plan period would, at best, be premature.
Bassetts Farm is a tranquil rolling orchard at the eastern gateway to the village and is very visible from afar, including from the AONB. It is bounded by well used footpaths and mature woodland, and is home to sensitive biodiversity. At night, the sky is as dark as a national park. All of this is covered by policies in our Neighbourhood Plan.
National Planning policy requires developments to be socially sustainable as well as economically and environmentally. But no proper consideration has been given to the impact on the village community, nor its safety.
A recent Parish Council traffic survey showed that over 2,500 vehicles exceed the speed limit everyday as they pass the site entrance on Goudhurst Road.
Over one thousand more vehicles per day would use the site access, with most of them passing through the village crossroads. This would materially impact road safety.
The only way to properly address all these concerns is by permanently limiting the number of houses that can be built on Bassetts Farm well to below 140.
Horsmonden would still be making a substantial contribution to Borough housing needs. The highly sensitive landscape would be better preserved, and traffic increases would be less.
Thank you.
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