Dartford council has approved its local plan setting out its blueprint for mass housebuilding targets for the next 13 years - but not everyone is convinced it goes far enough.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 This is the second fastest growing district in the whole of England.
00:07 Dartford Borough Council has just signed off on thousands of new homes, receiving mutual
00:12 consent from across the political spectrum.
00:15 Many dwellings coming to this new garden city.
00:18 But currently there are no medical facilities for some 4,000 homes already built.
00:24 It's a really positive thing that people want to come and make their home here.
00:28 But in order to meet that level of housing growth, we need the infrastructure to support
00:32 it.
00:33 The record so far hasn't been good enough and that's why we'll be holding the council
00:36 to account to make sure that they can deliver the infrastructure that is needed to go with
00:40 housing.
00:41 But a council's leader's pledged he won't allow for development without the infrastructure.
00:46 Well it's important to remember that the local plan isn't just about homes.
00:49 I mean in the debate tonight you heard lots of people talking about we need more homes,
00:53 we need more homes, we need more homes.
00:54 I don't actually agree.
00:55 I think what we need is more community and we need to make sure the infrastructure is
00:58 there to meet those homes when we build them.
01:00 So I have a very, very straightforward view.
01:03 This isn't about housing number.
01:04 I know the government might have wanted it to be that way and others might want it to
01:07 be that way.
01:08 For me this job isn't about building more homes, it's about building communities.
01:12 The new Epsleet Valley town has been growing into this former quarry since 2015.
01:17 Planning isn't controlled by the local council, but by a development corporation set up by
01:21 the government.
01:22 There's high demand in this area with a commute time of less than 20 minutes to London.
01:28 But only a third of the promised homes have been built so far.
01:31 So what we need to see is all types of homes really.
01:37 There's obviously demand for flats and for people, young professionals, but there's demand
01:41 as well for homes for families and slightly larger places as well.
01:45 So we need to see a strong mix but the key thing is to get those homes built and built
01:50 quickly.
01:51 London is a desirable area and having a local plan will allow the council to manage the
01:55 sustainability of plans coming through.
01:59 But some will have to be built on the green belt.
02:02 So this is something I do have reservations about.
02:06 As I said we need to make sure the infrastructure is in place.
02:08 People do need homes, but my key focus actually is affordable housing.
02:12 So I do think over the last 10 years developers have effectively got away with not providing
02:18 housing.
02:19 People can afford around here.
02:20 We're being locked out of living in our own borough.
02:24 With a growing demand for homes on the London border, this plan hopes to make the area more
02:28 affordable.
02:29 But how desirable will it be if the infrastructure isn't there?
02:32 Gabriel Morris in Dartford.
02:34 [BLANK_AUDIO]