450 homes approved for Gibraltar farm

Transcript

00:00It's hard to believe you're in the middle of Medway, standing in this vast stretch of farmland,

00:05but this could soon be absorbed by the town's expanding urban sprawl.

00:10With the council's approval for construction of hundreds of new homes on this site now appears inevitable,

00:16the Gibraltar farm development has been a source of controversy for more than a decade.

00:21I think it should be deferred.

00:23It just seems bizarre that Hempstead is having to make a lot of small changes to its access,

00:29changes to roads, particularly around Chapel Lane and Hoth Way,

00:33which just don't seem necessary when access was off North Dame Way.

00:39It would be a far simpler project and would make much more sense for the residents of the new development.

00:45Despite hundreds of objections, the council gave outline planning permission.

00:50A rejection would have required a legally valid reason,

00:53as the council could have faced significant costs in a legal challenge.

00:57We have spent more money, legal fees, defending public inquiries in the last three years

01:04than any other council in the country.

01:08That's a lot of public money that's been spent on that.

01:12Now I'm very happy to go to appeal if I think we can win,

01:18but in this instance I don't think there are valid planning grounds to refuse this application.

01:27Medway Council is currently operating without a local plan.

01:30It's a framework for the area's future development,

01:33including housing, infrastructure and environmental protection.

01:37I'm really disappointed.

01:39As has been said, over 700 people wrote to object.

01:42The MPs locally objected and the community itself I think is very concerned about this.

01:48However, my colleagues were left in a very, very difficult situation.

01:52Twice this council has rejected local plans under the Conservatives

01:57and I'm afraid this is now the outcome of a council that doesn't have an upstate local plan.

02:02It's a difficult one. I'm not here to criticise the previous administration.

02:06I think there were some strategic errors made on the local plan.

02:09I think the previous administration should have forced the local plan for a vote and just taken it.

02:16Yet we have suffered from a lack of a local plan. I can't deny it.

02:19So far outlying planning permission has only been granted.

02:23Further detailed approvals will be necessary before any new homes are built.

02:28Gabriel Morris in Medway.