Council favours towpath over community centre
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The saying "one rule for them, another for us" came true as
Maidstone council twisted and turned over its planning policy to
allow a development of new flats.
It has approved 35 flats in
Eccleston Road, Tovil, to be built without the required 40% of
affordable housing – a key feature of planning policy – after
developers claimed affordable housing was not viable in the current
climate.
But when it came to an idea that
payments from the developer could fund a new community centre for
Tovil, the council declared that was contrary to its adopted
policies.
Instead, £55,125 will be spent
on improvements to the towpath between Tovil footbridge and the
Millenium bridge, or improvements to Woodbridge Drive.
The Middlefields Pension Fund
originally had permission to build the flats – including 14
affordable homes – in February, but asked for the application to be
reconsidered. Officers recommended that councillors accept instead
a payment of £186,306 towards providing an affordable house
elsewhere, plus the £55,125 payment, made under a section 106
agreement, intended to improve the community as compensation for
new development.
Tovil Parish Council is in the
process of buying the former St Stephen’s Infant School building in
Church Road, to turn into the community centre.
Cllr Derek Mortimer (Lib Dem)
made an impassioned plea on behalf of the parish council asking for
the money to go towards the centre, but Rob Jarman, the council’s
head of development management, said money had to first go to
affordable housing or open space improvements.
After a suggestion by Cllr
Stephen Paine (Con) that the money could improve the "dark and
dangerous" towpath, councillors accepted this by a 9-2
majority.
Monday, January 09 2012
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