5.35

The green corridor is vital for wildlife between Chatham and Gillingham. Additional housing between these two towns is extremely detrimental to wildlife. If Capstone is built up further, this will severely impact on ecosystem of the area.

The suburban development are in Capstone Valley and Hempstead will desimate the open gap between Hempstead and Lordswood. East Hill development has already reduced this gap. No additional developments should invade the Capstone Valley. Existing facilities (doctors, hospitals and schools along with infrastructure will not support such expansion.

Prosper of development at Capstone attempted to alter previous local plan which was resisted. Has proposed land to Maidstone for 200 homes on the boundary. Cross Border Masterplan, who pays for what on this for services etc; which side of boundary are they placed? Medway council has resisted developments in Capstone Valley consistently. To allow development now completely repudiates the council's previous attitude to protecting a valuable area of open space in a crowded are of Medway. Environmental impact enormous. This land is offered for profit pure and simple. Detrimental affect far outweighs any benefits.

Knew it would happen when the first plans for east hill went through - is there a plan to make north Dane way safer with triple the car users? A roundabout in the middle will still see speeding cars from the top to middle north Dane already deaths and accidents along this road without new houses

Local Authorities should be working together to challenge targets not finding solutions that create problems for their neightbours.

The way to solve this is better bus services adding a bus stop on Otterham Quay Lane outside Fruit Fields Drive and talking to Arriva to divert the 132 early mornings and late nights and Sundays.

Of course the land owner is proposing a cross boarder master plan as it’ll help his case for Lidsing, and that will only have a detrimental impact on the residents of the Medway towns.

Yes, both ideas are crazy and wholly self-centred. Not only will both destroy the charm of the area be ruinous for wildlife but plainly the sites are totally unsuitable beyond being a cash generation exercise for the landowner and developer

Medway have vehemently opposed the Lidsing Garden Development. Why now are Medway promoting a master plan with the landowner? The same issues still remain that Medway are currently opposing and will be made worse blending Medway and Maidstone into one large urban conurbation. The areas of Capstone/Hempstead/Lidsing/Bredhurst are rural in nature with their own character, a large master plan development will destroy this. s106/CIL money will not scratch the surface on the issues these developments will create.

The quantum of house building must come from urban regeneration and new villages within the rural parts of Medway. Rainham has already seen a significant amount of development around the fringes, and there is limited scope for further redevelopment without wholesale infrastructure coming forward, which given how constrained the town centre is already is very unlikely. Infrastructure will be the significant problem with suburban extension.

I understand that this plan is close to Medway's boundary and is therefore likely to affect Medway's facilities and road network. This should not be part of the local Plan.

Maidstone Borough Council with a quarter of the population density is countenancing a large development far from the centre of Maidstone, adjacent to Medway and reliant on Medway’s facilities and road network. This is the kind of un-neighbourly behaviour that must not be replicated in any part in Medway’s Local Plan.

We have seen lack of improvement around proposed developments. Poor road infrastructure improvements do not make any difference to existing congested roads. Attwod is only profiting from proposing areas in Capstone Valley. We have already seen the minimal road improvement for both East Hill and Gibraltar Farm. Cross border development would totally overload the existing infrastructures. There is never contribution to medical, especially hospital and General Practice. Capstone valley in the suburban classification is on country lanes that would require extensive improvement resulting in more pollution and removal of the green environment. Do not include Capstone and Darland valleys

We note that even for those Suburban Expansion sites nearest to Rainham station, and even more so for the other sites further afield, the challenge of offering new residents ready access to mainline rail services will be very heavily dependent on the availability of high quality bus service links.

Any more development in Rainham would lead to complete grid lock! Did anybody ever consider Lower Rainham Road when granting planning permission previously?

I think it's important to address the additional burden of the potential 'Lidsing Garden Community' on Medway services and infrastructure. Building on this scale across Medway and the border of Maidstone will irreversibly change the landscape and character of this area.

Destroying the Capstone Valley with houses would be disastrous. Local roads on both sides of the boundary would be overwhelmed. The loss of green space would have a devastating impact on wildlife, the environment and people's well-being.

Most of the land marked for Capstone Valley around Chatham are not suitable for housing and its unsuitability has been decided in previous planning applications. The Local Plan report also rightly pointed out there is a cross-border impact with Lidsing Garden Community. Capstone Valley is bio-diverse, including hatching over Hook Wood. No development should be permitted in these special areas. Capstone Valley is also an important green lung and development will affect air flow and circulation. Development will increase air pollution and inability to clean the air from areas like Luton Road.

Site ID 288
This land is previously developed land. This site lies at the eastern side of Rainham and adjacent to current development under construction at Otterham Quay Lane and the landowner is in discussion with that developer regarding access from their site to provide an extended development area under the same developer. The site measures some 3.5 hectares and is capable of accommodating up to 90 units at an average density of 25 dwellings per hectare.
The land is well contained by existing development consented to the east, the railway line to the south and Seymour Road to the west. Land to the west is in established use as a golf course for recreational purposes and therefore development here would have natural boundaries of extent that would ensure that development would not spread further east towards the boundary with Swale Borough Council and the settlement of Newington.

Site ID 291
This site lies at the eastern side of Rainham and adjacent to current development under construction at Otterham Quay Lane and the landowner is in discussion with that developer regarding access from their site to provide an extended development area under the same developer. The site measures some 6.6 hectares and is capable of accommodating up to 80 units.
The land is well contained by existing development consented to the east and roads to the north and west. To the north and west the land is in established use a a golf course for recreational purposes and therefore development here would have natural boundaries of extent that would ensure that development would not spread further eat towards the boundary with Swale Borough Council and the settlement of Newington.

The image provided at Map 2, titled “overview of potential sites for Suburban Expansion” shows that the identified sites are located in the south east and southern parts of the Borough. Paragraph 5.35 identifies that:
“Land in this area lies close to Medway's boundary with neighbouring authorities, particularly Swale and Maidstone. Development in these locations would potentially have a cross-border impact. Development to the east of Rainham would erode the strategic gap between Rainham and Newington and add further to the congestion and pollution issues on the A2. Development to the south around the Capstone Valley would potentially adjoin the development of the proposed 'Lidsing Garden Community' in Maidstone. The landowner is promoting a cross-border masterplan. There are a number of potential impacts, including transport, infrastructure and the natural environment.”
In respect of the transport impacts, Richborough consider that there are likely to be substantial issues with the proposal to locate significant expansion in the southern parts of the Borough, including the ‘Lidsing Garden Community'. Development south of the authority boundary will not count towards meeting the housing requirement for Medway, but the resulting traffic will significantly impact M2 Junction 4 and the M2 corridor around the south of the Borough. This will potentially limit the opportunities available for sites identified within Medway to deliver effective mitigation.

Without the addition of an new motorway junction to the East of the motorway services on the M2 connecting to the A2 East of Rainham on the Medway boundary - it will be impossible to justify more car-dependant urban sprawl in Rainham and expect the traffic to add to the congestion through the High Street or through Newington down to the A249.

As residents of Watling ward, we are particularly concerned to see green field land in Capstone Valley on the list of possible sites for new housing (W1, W7, W8, W11 - W14). We use that area extensively to walk and run, on a regular basis and it forms part of what makes Watling ward an attractive place to live. If green field sites are built on, the concept of a place where residents have access to vital green areas within walking distance, and where they can walk in undisturbed nature, disappears. We will end up driving to country parks which adds to traffic congestion and pollution.
Adjacent to these identified sites is the area managed by Kent Wildlife, and I have personally seen birds of prey hunting, rare butterflies and plants and protected reptiles. Already we've recently seen a sparrowhawk and a heron in our garden, 20 metres from the A2, presumably because their habitat nearby is being disrupted.
Some of the land on the list is farmland, growing food for human and animal consumption; loss of such land could necessitate importing food which adds to our carbon footprint, and adding to food insecurity in the future. Once some chunks of land have been lost to farming and nature, it sets a precedent and nearby fields and woods can more easily be absorbed into housing plans.

I object to the proposed development to the south of Capstone Valley around the Hempstead area due to loss of natural habitats, increase in noise and air pollution and strain on existing infrastructure this will inevitably bring.

Agreed. Linking the proposed Capstone and Lidsing residential developments into a suburban sprawl will damage a beautiful, natural local environment, add to traffic problems and pollution, increase the pressure on local services and is unlikely to create a thriving local community of the sort you envisage in the objectives of this local plan.

There is an opportunity here for infrastructure development and co-operation with Maidstone, which is exceeding its targets. If only we could get on!!