Skip to main content
Logo icon
Sevenoaks
Conservatives

Main navigation

  • News
  • About Us
  • Get involved
  • Events
  • Contact
Logo icon
Sevenoaks
Conservatives

TALKING POINTS

  • Tweet
Thursday, 11 July, 2019
Nick Chard KCC

Is the impact on local infrastructure considered enough before new housing developments are started?

The approach should be to think of building communities, sustainable communities, not just houses.

This approach assumes we make sure the elements of building a community, the infrastructure, is in place, ideally before the construction of new developments commence. Residents are wary of promises which don’t materialise after the development has finished.

By infrastructure I mean transport (roads, buses, trains, cycle and pedestrian access); medical facilities (GPs, dentists and hospitals); schools ( primary and secondary); communal facilities ( community halls, recreational spaces); Utility provision (water, drainage, gas, electricity, broadband and gas) and the other things that well developed sustainable communities have which adds to the quality of life for its residents.

Our planning system recognises the need to invest in infrastructure, there are mechanisms for charging developers; section 106 agreements and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), both worthy ideas but together they fall short of what we need to fully fund all of what we need.

This shortage of money is compounded by some developments which do not meet the threshold for the charging mechanism, their size or type of development doesn’t trigger the necessary payments.

What I can reassure Sevenoaks residents is the close collaboration between Sevenoaks District Council and Kent County Council to maximise the opportunity to fund the essential infrastructure our new communities expect and need.

KCC and SDC have a detailed analysis of future infrastructure requirements based on expected growth, local plans and their cost. There is a gap between the cost of what we need and what we can extract from developers. This gap is therefore what we need to fund locally or from national government grant to build sustainable communities; we shall stand up for local residents to do just that.

Councillor Nick Chard, KCC

  • Articles

You may also be interested in

The Queen's Speech 2022

Tuesday, 10 May, 2022

Show only

  • Articles
  • Local News
  • Media
  • National News
  • Speeches in Parliament

Join or Renew

Help us take action on local issues and build a better Britain.

accepted-payment-cards

Sevenoaks Conservatives

Footer

  • About RSS
  • Accessibility
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • About Us
  • Get a postal vote
  • Get involved
ConservativesPromoted by Linden Kemkaran on behalf of Sevenoaks Conservative Association - First Floor, 6 Wealden Place, Bradbourne Vale Road, Sevenoaks, TN13 3QQ
Copyright 2022 Sevenoaks Conservatives. All rights reserved.
Powered by Bluetree