We are concerned that there is no mention of community-led housing in the draft Local Plan, despite it extending to a period up to 2041.

Community-led housing development can help boost the supply of housing to meet Medway’s targets, as well as diversifying the type of housing being delivered or in the pipeline. Supporting the scaling up of community-led housing can also help increase the creation of genuinely affordable homes in Medway, providing more people with access to good-quality homes in thriving and connected communities.

Therefore we strongly urge Medway Council to put in place a specific policy that positively supports community-led housing.

A good example can be seen in East Cambridgeshire District Council’s Local Plan, through Policy LP5 (Community-led Development) which reads as follows:

‘The Council is very supportive of community-led development. This may include schemes involving housing, small business units and other appropriate uses. In principle, there will be a presumption in favour of genuine community-led development schemes, even on land not allocated for development and including on land outside of development envelopes, subject to meeting criteria (with further details on these criteria as set out in a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).’

The above-mentioned SPD outlines the following:

‘The District Council is generally supportive of community-led development…the affordable housing elements may be permitted outside development envelopes as an exception to normal policies of control where:

- The District Council is satisfied that (i) the scheme was initiated by a legitimate local community group, such as a Parish Council or Community Land Trust and (ii) the scheme has general community support, with evidence of meaningful public engagement
- It can be demonstrated that the scheme will be well managed and financially viable over the long term and that any benefits provided by the scheme can be retained by the local community in perpetuity
- An element of open market housing on the site will only be acceptable where it is demonstrated that it is essential to enable delivery of the affordable housing or other community benefits on the site’