After four years in the making, Birchington’s draft Neighbourhood Plan is due to go out for formal consultation on September 8.
This follows a meeting for stakeholders and residents that was held on August 17 to provide an opportunity to discuss the plan, hear about how it has developed, what it covers and how it will be taken forward.
The plan aims to manage change and development in Birchington to ensure it respects and enhances the existing character of the parish.
Protection of the natural environment is a high priority as is the need to retain and support local shops and businesses.
Health and social well being is largely outside the remit of the plan but there is support for proposals to add to essential services.
Leisure and community facilities are deemed as essential for well-being by providing physical recreation and a base for social activities.
The character of the village is defined by its diverse buildings, street patterns, open spaces, views and vistas, seascapes and surrounding countryside. The plan seeks to protect, conserve and enhance the sense of community for residents and to meet the challenges of climate change and population growth in the future.
The Neighbourhood Plan has to meet local and national requirements in areas such as planning policy and sustainable development.
Other aims are to conserve and enhance heritage assets, urge that new developments are capable of being built and used creating net zero greenhouse gas emissions and to sustain agricultural production on Thanet’s best and most versatile farmland. Making sure residents have access to housing is also part of the plan.
The formal consultation will run for six weeks and the Plan will be available (with supporting evidence and specialist reports) on the Parish Council website; hard copies of the Plan will also be made available – locations tbc.
Once the consultation ends on October 21, the Parish Council will analyse all the responses and decide whether modifications are needed. The council then has to formally approve the amended version and submit it to Thanet District Council.
Rod Giddins, from the Neighbourhood Planning Group, said: “Thanet council will check the plan for conformity with planning laws and then publicise it. By February we hope TDC will have appointed an external independent examiner who will then review the plan in detail and may make modifications. This could take us into March/April 2022.
“The Parish Council will ultimately have to submit the plan to a referendum of voters in Birchington Parish and it is planned to do this on 5 May 2022. If the majority vote for it then TDC will formally approve it and it becomes part of the planning system.”
See the Plan details and keep up to date with the progress by visiting https://birchington-pc.gov.uk/
These so called consultations are an absolute farce the developers and planners do as the please. Jo public is there to ignore the only time they want jo public is when the elections come around.
How about a swimming pool a good gym and a cinema.
Just moved here so what do you do to.keep fit or it’s raining etc?
I thought the future of Birchington had already been decided ? Concrete over most of the green fields that are left for thousands of houses as a consequence of the dogmatic, and frankly ludicrous, belief that Manston airport will become a thriving jobs metropolis.
If anyone from Birchington or the surrounding area doesn’t favour this future vision I can only suggest you have a very careful think about who you vote for at the next general election.
You’ve got it in one.
It was the noble burghers of Birchington who were so determined to scupper the original Local Plan that resulted in the necessity of building lots of houses on Greenfield sites.
How about leave it alone?
How about saying that they can build home but only if 100% under £250,000. Never happen, anyway there not needed. Rebuild and used land that’s lieing empty, business space, old house’s that need repair. Make it appealing to builders to start here first.
Builders like green field sites because they have a “bare canvas”. No pesky remedial ground works to eat into the profits.
This all goes back to the days of Thatcher, the Right to Buy scheme, and legal obstacles being put in the way of Local Authorities being able to build affordable social housing for rent.
All of the above is down to this government and the circus that is TDC.
I think Birchington is trying to limit the damage as far as it can – those involved are at least having a go, rather than just sitting on the sidelines and trotting out the same old moans that get nowhere beyond the online echo chamber.
We know the Tories are bankrolled by the building industry, we know TDC is a mess – follow the people ofBirchington, get off your backsides and do something about it.
Leave birchington alone , it is a lovely village , there aren’t many left , faversham is already being built around wich is making it overcrowded, birchington doesn’t need sprawling estates all around it , causing more traffic jams , it will spill into Westsgate too , and make the whole area unpleasant to live and visit
My teen years I spent in Westgate plus early sixties had a Guest house in Margate so I know Birchington very well and what a beautiful village it was and is residents are so lucky to live in such the most beautiful area do not let town council agree to let developers ruin what many outsiders would die for trouble is they turn a deaf ear to the majority-Good luck nice people of Birchington