Agenda item

This report sets out a response to a request from Councillor Wildey for action regarding the protection of amenity land and ancient woodland, which is owned by the Council at Hall Wood and Hook Wood in his constituency of Lordswood, following the receipt of correspondence from concerned local residents.

Discussion:

Members considered a report which set out a response to a request from Councillor Wildey for action regarding the protection of amenity land and ancient woodland, which is owned by the Council at Hall Wood and Hook Wood in his constituency of Lordswood and Capstone, following the receipt of correspondence from concerned local residents.

Councillor Wildey commented that he had brought this item forward at the request of local residents who were concerned at the prospect of a loss of amenity at the sites if the planning application for housing at Gibraltar Farm was approved. He added that he felt these sites, as council owned ones, needed extra protection from developers.

In response to a request for advice about the position of Members of the Committee who were also Members of the Planning Committee, the Chief Legal Officer commented that the Gibraltar Farm planning application was currently with the planning inspectorate and a decision was awaited. He advised Members who sat on the Planning Committee not to discuss the planning application but any discussions about the issues around loss of amenity and how the sites could be protected would not amount to predetermination. 

A Member spoke in support of the recommendation in the report and commented that Capstone Valley was not designated. He suggested Cabinet could take this opportunity to review any other non designated green spaces in Medway and also consider if there were any further means to protect the two sites, such as designating them as Assets of Community Value. It was also suggested that, as part of this review, the designation of Rede Common could be looked at urgently.

Other Members supported the idea of protecting the land and that there was cross party recognition of the importance of Capstone Valley as a significant site which should be protected from development. A Member expressed his discomfort with the idea that the sites should be designated as village greens when, in his view, they were clearly not village greens. It was suggested that instead a review take place of the Council’s open spaces to look at what could be protected, with sites of minimal value considered for development. The point was also made that as these sites were in Council ownership they were not at risk of being developed. The recommendation in the paper risked setting a precedent and could trigger many other applications which, if not dealt with consistently, would be unfair to others in a similar situation.  By looking at these sites in isolation there was a danger of an inconsistent  approach developing to protecting open spaces.  Preferably, such a review should take place separately from the Local Plan process so that it could be concluded more quickly.

The Chief Legal Officer undertook to look at whether the sites in Lordswood were capable of being listed as assets of community value. He advised Members that approximately 18 months ago there had been an attempt to force the Council to sell part of the sites but this had been successfully rejected.

In response, Councillor Wildey made the point that there was more pressure for development in the Capstone Valley than other areas and therefore a greater need for these sites to be protected.

It was then proposed that, given there were no current plans or prospect of the development or disposal of the Hall Wood and Hook Wood sites, the Council should look at this from a strategic perspective with a review of all of its significant open spaces to consider their future designations and how these can be maintained into the future.

Decision:

The Committee agreed to recommend to Cabinet that, given there are no current plans or prospect of the development or disposal of the Hall Wood and Hook Wood sites, the Council look at this from a strategic perspective and carry out a review of all of its significant open spaces to consider their future designations and how these can be maintained into the future.