Tonight (September 4) the first of two council planning meetings will discuss the development of 1,600 homes, a primary school, shops, care home, expansion of Birchington medical centre and a community park on farmland at Birchington.
The development is earmarked to take place on land off the Canterbury Road and was first proposed by Ptarmigan Land and Millwood Designer Homes in 2019 with a planning application submitted in December 2020.
Millwood Designer Homes is no longer part of the scheme. The joint applicants are now Ptarmigan Birchington Ltd, Places for People Homes Ltd, landowners The Master Fellows and Scholars of the College of Saint John The Evangelist in the University of Cambridge and The Birchington Pool Trust.
The applicant and owner for the area of land lying adjacent to Park Lane is Places for People and the applicant for the remainder of the site is Ptarmigan (which is owned by St John’s College).
Amendments include a reduction in homes from 1,650 to 1,600 and introduce additional green areas to preserve archaeological potential. There are also changes to the development boundary line.
The plan includes a new strategic link road between Minnis Road and Manston Road, alterations to existing junctions and new access arrangements from Minnis Road, Park Lane, Canterbury Road and Manston Road/Acol Hill and a new recreational and leisure shared-use link between Minnis Road and Park Lane.
The proposals include a network of new cycle and pedestrian routes linking Quex, the coast and the wider countryside; 36 play spaces with 6 equipped; seasonal wetland basins; Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and discharge via infiltration plus swales and bioretention systems; woodland with information boards; edible corridor and community orchard and a heritage pocket park.
Some 1,816 letters of objection have been received by the council.
Among those objecting is Birchington Parish Council which says the planning the committee is “being asked to agree parts of a jigsaw, but without knowing what the full picture looks like.”
In a statement due to be read out to planning committee members the parish council says: “Birchington Parish Council acknowledges that the site is allocated in Thanet Local Plan 2020, establishing the principle of development. However, the footprint diverges significantly, and we also have serious concerns about making decisions in advance of understanding the costs of the Link Road and knock-on effect to the community benefits delivered through the site.
“As an Outline application, we consider it disingenuous to seek to gain approval for those parts of the parameter plans relating to design (density, buildings heights etc.). Not only do these conflict with one or more policies of the Local Plan, Birchington Neighbourhood Plan, Thanet Transport Strategy and aspects of the NPPF, but they are pre-emptive of an approved masterplan, as required under Local Plan policy SP16.
“We consider that the committee is being asked to agree parts of a jigsaw, but without knowing what the full picture looks like.
“Our objections to this application remain as submitted and set out in the agenda papers. The application contains major flaws. If this application were accepted in its entirety, it would:
- Extend the footprint of the allocated site, contrary to Planning Inspectorate rulings, destroy more prime agricultural land and potentially increase new home numbers by about 130.
- Breach multiple Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plan policies and would be contrary to adopted Birchington Design Codes and Guidelines.
- Create uncertainty and risk in relation to costs and knock-on impact on community benefits, due to the interdependence between this development and the significant unknowns about delivery of 2,000 homes in Westgate and funding of the North Thanet Link Road.
- Destroy characteristic approaches to the west of Birchington and views to the sea and Quex.
- Create inadequate road junctions based on out of date (2031) traffic projections.
- Allow development in the absence of a masterplan for the whole site. (SP16)
- Give blanket permission for uncharacteristically tall buildings of up to 13m (11+/- 2m)
- Exceed the policy ceiling of 35dph and place 72% of dwellings on plots in excess.
- Route 22,000 vehicle per day on NTLR through the centre of the highest density housing.
- Place the majority of open and green space away from housing to the west of the NTLR, a very busy road with few safe crossing points.
- Locate a 400-place primary school adjacent to a major road junction projected to carry more than 40,000 vehicles per day.
- Not meet Local Plan Inspectors requirement to provide for expansion of medical services at the Birchington Medical Centre.
- Predetermine planning decisions about the closure and redirection of public footpath TM37
- Fail to provide sufficient Section 106 funded appropriate off-site developments in Birchington to mitigate the harm caused by this development.
“In short, this is a significant development that would have significant adverse impacts on our community, creating a housing estate with few day-to-day amenities and minimal sustainable travel connections to existing amenities and services. An estate of mainly tall, high-density homes dominated by the high traffic volumes of the NTLR and served by inadequately designed road junctions.
“(Birchington) Council believe these proposals are not sustainable and would cause harm to the existing community. There should be no decision about access, extents or parameter plans until there is an agreed masterplan for the whole site and clarity about strategic development in Westgate and delivery of the North Thanet Link Road.”
District councillors for Birchington will also be speaking against the proposals.
Financial viability
Developer documents state the end date for the build would be December 2036. A financial viability submission says there are four options where between 4% and 22.5% of affordable housing could be delivered dependent on the amount of funding required for developer contributions and whether Kent County Council receives government funding towards major road network proposals – so reducing the amount payable by the developer.
A heads of terms agreement quotes developer contributions for the major road network as £5,712,760 plus 23% affordable housing, if KCC also gains government funding or £19,271,361 towards the North Thanet Link and 15.5% affordable housing if it does not.
Demonstrations
Demonstrations will take place outside Thanet council offices in Margate tonight and tomorrow when the second session is due to be held.
The protests, which will include members from Birchington and Westgate and Garlinge action groups, are due to take place from 6pm. The planning meeting begins at 7pm.
Councillors have been advised to defer and delegate to officers for approval subject to safeguarding conditions.
