How Long is a Piece of String?? – Probably not as long as TWBC’s Local Plan Journey and its Implications!!
So, the six-week public consultation on the latest additional evidence (20 documents, over 1,100 pages) presented by TWBC ended on October 23rd. Save Capel, and 48 other organisations or individuals have responded which you can read here.
Click on the buttons below for selected responses…
Our summary of the responses could be said to be “more questions than answers”. Be that from Paddock Wood Town Council and the local parishes, the various housing developers, statutory bodies like National Highways or Natural England, and a whole raft of other interested parties.
Save Capel’s views on the way forward have changed. We supported the progression of the Local Plan (LP) last December, as it removed Tudeley Village and reduced the housing proposed for East Capel by nearly 1,000 dwellings. That was based on the Council’s assurances that the information and evidence deficit at that point would be addressed to demonstrate that the LP would work. This consultation has clearly shown that the Council’s updated evidence remains wholly inadequate to show that the proposed expansion of Paddock Wood in the LP is sustainable in many/all key respects, so we have removed our support.
Public Hearing 14.11.2024
The hearing will take place in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 1RS and commence at 10am. There is a public gallery in the Chamber where the proceedings can be watched. The hearing is also being live streamed for members of the public to observe online.
The Inspector has considered the responses to the latest consultation and has posed several questions that have set the Agenda. Whilst there is a reserve session scheduled for the following day (Friday 15th), we understand the Inspector expects to cover everything on Thursday.
Whilst we head to the Hearings next week travelling in hope rather than expectation, of a definitive next step, we do expect these sessions to be the final public hearings for this examination.
The Hearings will be live streamed, and recorded for catch-up, on the Council’s public i tv page.
Quiz Night 10th January 2025
The Charity is running a Quiz Night where prizes will also be presented to the winners of their photo competition. Please book your team places and contact cgps@capelgb.com for details.
We hope to see you if you can make it…
As ever, the Save Capel Executive would like to thank you all for your continuing support. We’d love to hear your feedback on this via email to savecapel@gmail.com
Stewart, Ian, Maggie, Charlie, Jan, Mark, and Chris
