Love Warns of Back Garden Mini-Estate Threat in Shepway
Cllr Rory Love (Conservative, Harvey West ward) has warned of a new threat to both urban and rural environments throughout Shepway. Speaking at Folkestone’s Annual Town Meeting last Thursday, he said that as Shepway’s prosperity grows, and as the District’s towns and villages become more attractive to investors and developers, there is a stronger need than ever to guard against inappropriate and over-intensive development. He said that such development could put at risk that very attractiveness which makes Shepway so desirable in the first place, as well as making life intolerable for local residents.
Rory Love said that he has had to defend residents of his ward twice recently against inappropriate planning applications, including a current plan involving the demolition of an attractive family home in Shorncliffe Road and its replacement with a block of ten flats, as well as the loss of its garden to garages and a tarmac parking area. He added that several more similar applications had come before last Tuesday’s Development Control committee meeting.
Addressing townspeople and members of Folkestone Town Council, Cllr Rory Love said:
“The Government has not helped. They recently reclassified back gardens as ‘brownfield’ sites, making them easier to develop, and now they are spending £2m of taxpayers’ money on a study into how more properties can be crammed into our urban environment. So far they have promoted plans to double the density of housebuilding, and make it even easier to build new mini-estates in back gardens.
“I want a proper open debate about the kind of town in which we want to live. Do we really want to lose our gardens and green spaces to unsightly blocks of flats? Do we really want tower blocks on the seafront? These are the questions we need to address in that debate, and those of us who are elected to represent people must make sure we are championing their views.”
8th May 2006
“ Those of us who are elected to represent people must make sure we are championing their views ”