Shepway District Council is starting its community consultation on the proposed development of the Otterpool Garden town, with public events in Sellindge and Hythe on Thursday this week. You can find the times and dates for the full series of events on the council’s website. Whatever you have heard about the proposals, I would urge everyone who lives near to the development area to give their views both on the design of the garden town, and the infrastructure that will be needed to support it.
As with all consultations on planning matters, feelings can run high. I remember in recent years people claiming that the creation of the glamping accommodation at Port Lympne was in danger of destroying the character of Romney Marsh. Similarly, it was stated that building a Sainsbury’s in Hythe would devastate the town, and there were equally strong objections to the building of new homes on land close to the Hythe Imperial to raise money to restore the hotel itself. In each of these cases, well thought through investments in these developments have been good for our local economy.
I believe there are three, long term strategic advantages to the Otterpool development, which can make it a game changer for Shepway. Firstly, there is a real need for affordable new homes to buy and rent in our district. If we do not build them, we are simply pricing local people out of the housing market and denying first time buyers the chance to own their home. Secondly, the creation of the Otterpool development will create jobs on the 85 hectares of commercial land that is available – space that could bring in major new businesses to Shepway. At the moment, if a large business wanted to relocate to our area, we do not have any sites big enough to accommodate them. The development of the garden town will also create a large number of opportunities for local building companies. For young people seeking training and apprenticeships in the building and construction industry, there will be plenty of new opportunities to do so, and then move into stable, long term employment. Thirdly, the garden town development will provide the funding to support big improvements in local infrastructure. These could include the creation of a new parkway railway station at Westenhanger, the complete redesign of the junction at Newingreen, and funding for new health centres, schools and sports and recreation facilities. These will benefit people who live near to the development, as well as those that live within it.
Finally, some people may ask why this location has been put forward. In part, this is because heavy infrastructure like a motorway junction and railway station are already in place. Much of the land in the district, including the North Downs area of outstanding natural beauty, and the Romney Marsh, are neither suitable or available for development. We have no shortage of beautiful green space and countryside in Shepway, but what we do need over the coming decades is big investment in housing, jobs and infrastructure. Otterpool can provide all three.