Medway Local Plan (Regulation 18, 2023)

Currently included in the maps are areas which are not suitable for development. For example North Dane Wood on Lordswood Lane is marked in the East Hill applications as being ancient woodland but has been put forward for development. The same land owners have also used this woodland in their East Hill development as forming a neighbouring green route for wildlife to support their development. This cannot work both ways and given East Hill has approval, this woodland must remain. Also included are Hempstead Road allotments which are also vital. I therefore have concerns that due diligence hasn't taken place.

Most of the land considered under this category is incorrectly included. The vast majority of the land in the maps would be considered rural to anyone visiting it. This land consists of orchards, farms, fields and rolling countryside. If you stood in a field in the green lung that is Capstone, your vista would be no different to an area in the rural category on other maps. The same can be said of Rainham. These parcels are land are crucial green spaces for relaxation, views (mental health) and nature. This land deserves the same consideration as the peninsula

To truly achieve high quality housing (which I agree is immensely important) we need a systematic approach including looking at the wider infrastructure and how the housing connects to systems on which the habitants depend.

Create a Medway Gold Standard that developers have to follow.

Developments should be less dense than is the current norm. It is well known that inhabitants of high rise flats are at a higher risk of suffering depression and other mental health related problems. Now that high rise building is less favourable, developers are turning their hands to making traditional housing as dense as possible. Houses are now built taller than previously, closer together, they're lacking front gardens/drives and streets are narrower (apparently to make them safer for pedestrians but in reality, it boosts the developers profits while making residents feel cramped and the buildings oppressive.). Medway should develop a gold standard for building with thought for residents such that they have gardens, front driveways with EV charging points and sufficient space so as not to feel like they live in an oppressive area. Coming home should be a delight, not a chore. Opening your curtains should be pleasant, not depressing. Horsted Park is a good example of how not to build. The houses are tall, narrow, there are no views from within the streets, there are very few detached houses, no one has a front garden, very few have actual drives and the streets are narrow.

Dwellings need sufficient storage to actually live. Time and again we see new builds with very little storage, blocks of flats end up with people having to store their belongings on their balconies, houses like Capstone Green end up with people having to actually store their own property outside the houses. As above, this makes for a depressing existence and serves as a constant reminder that you don't actually have enough space in your life to live.

As part of our gold standard, we should be requiring new builds have Passivhaus standard levels of insulation. No greenwashing, no offsetting, actual high quality building, designed with thought to ensure low bills from the outset.

It should be a requirement that developments should be designed such that houses have in roof solar panel systems instead of tiles. The orientation of the houses should be designed in conjunction with the solar panel systems to ensure every house has a good coverage of panels and a battery that will actually cover the expected net usage of the property. Too often we see greenwashing or commitments to do xyz instead of actually installing something that will make a difference, and when we do see solar panels on new builds, there's a paltry 4 or 5 rather than a useful 10+. We wouldn't be installing anything other than air source heat pumps (ASHPs) as part of the gold standard so the power requirements of those need to be taken into account when connecting these properties to the grid. There's likely to be a need for significant upgrades to the DNO's infrastructure as a result which should be funded by the development.

We should consider using air to air ASHPs and an immersion heated water tank instead of air to water ASHPs. This allows residents to use their solar generated power to cool their property in the ever hotter summers that are expected as a result of climate change. Time and again I have personally witnessed some awful driving in Medway as temperatures soar in the summer months due to people not sleeping properly. On the hottest day of the year in 2023 I witnessed three RTCs as a result of people's lapse of concentration. Air to air ASHPs also have other benefits over wet systems. They provide higher SCOPs than wet ones, they significantly reduce the risk of water escape in a property and are cheaper to install. In a Passivhaus build they can be integrated into the MVHR system to provide a very comfortable living space.

Builders need to be held to account for their build quality with council appointed inspections of properties throughout the build process. Too often the new build purchase process is marred by poor build quality which people have now come to expect. This could be avoided if there were penalties for builders not producing quality products. Warranties provided by developers are nearly useless and residents can currently find themselves stuck with poorly finished properties for months or even years.

Developments should be built around existing trees. With a lot of this development inevitably falling on greenfield spaces, trees need to be saved at all costs. Planting new trees does not offset the removal of old ones. These trees should not just be a feature of a development but the development should be designed such they are visible from as many windows as possible and from the streets too. Trees planted as part of the development shouldn't count towards this goal as they take decades to reach a level where they can be visible above roof tops. It has been proven that the ability to see trees positively impacts one's mental health. We shouldn't be just aiming for trees to be within walking distance, they should be visible wherever possible and saved from destruction. Having trees visible from windows of homes helps quell the feeling of being hemmed in. If you can look out of your bedroom window and see trees in the distance instead of row after row of houses, your immediate environment feels that much bigger. That's not to say the houses shouldn't be there either but just a row of trees in the distance achieves this effect.

Ensure good mobile phone signal for at least two major networks at all points within a development. If required, ensure that new masts are installed as part of the development. These connectivity requirements are essential for everyone these days but people working in Medway will now include those who used to commute to London but now work from home. These are no longer commuters in the traditional sense but will have previously chosen Medway due to its proximity to London. With the provision of full fibre broadband and good mobile phone reception, we can ensure Medway remains attractive to these potential high earners.

High quality housing for downsizers needs to include detached properties if they are to match the quality of these individual's previous homes (or possibly even better them). If you have got to a point in your life where you need to downsize, chances are you have some capital behind you and will have become accustomed to a certain way of living. Semi detached bungalows with no front garden and no driveway will not be attractive to them.