Medway Local Plan (Regulation 18, 2024)

Medway must maintain its commitment to these protections

Medway needs to robustly protect its infrastructure from neighbouring developments such as at Lidsing which will have a huge impact on surrounding roads including Luton Road where we live, more so than Maidstone as it’s on our borders and and residents would have to use mostly Medway roads to get to Maidstone. We must protect AONB’s without exception.

We need to make more use of recycling waste water for watering green spaces or flushing toilets. Some toilets even have sinks on top of the cisterns so that you can wash your hands and the water gets stored in the cisterns after use and then used to flush. Any new developments must include reduced water useage like dual flush toilets or automatic taps so that they only come on when you wash your hands so you can’t leave the tap running.

This type of land for development must be prioritised as long as it’s safe and residues are dealt with safely and environmentally safe too.

Encoutage more public transport use, cheap fares and car sharing initiatives etc to improve our air quality. We already know there are areas in Medway above the national average of poor quality. More trees and green walls needed to absorb emissions. In Brazil an artist painted a huge mural on the side of a building with a paint that absorbs CO2 so use of similar materials would help with air quality. I do feel however that the new house building targets are going to make things worse. Arriva need to move to electric and stop using second hand diesel buses.

Light pollution is an issue. Need to switch to more LED and other forms of lighting possibly turning lighting lower in less busy hours say midnight to 5am. Also lights on timers that are movement activated in certain areas especially in buildings that have lights on all night. This would be economically sound and would save money for Medway Council that could be used on other things. Also heating in public buildings needs to be reduced to a more comfortable and sustainable heat.

It goes without saying that we need sustainable growth where hopefully all sections of the community will benefit. This will improve health and outcomes. We need to ensure our green spaces are protected.
In relation to retail outlets the Council needs to stop the incursion of multiple fast food outlets and encourage local shopping with greengrocers, butchers, bakers and grocery stores for people who don’t want to go into our towns which will encourage people to not use cars. Do not allow waterfront developments and deprive the community of access to the riverfront.

There is a need to seriously consider people’s representations and they need to genuinely influence any decisions by Medway Council and not just pay lip service. All of my previous comments contribute to this section. Clearly any new development must consider its impact on roads, health infrastructure, transport, air quality, water services, refuse collection etc. Sustainability is the key and protection of and creation of new outdoor green spaces. Also new developments need to have a community hall or place where the local community can meet for social events especially outlying areas with poor transport connections

There is a need to seriously consider people’s representations and they need to genuinely influence any decisions by Medway Council and not just pay lip service. All of my previous comments contribute to this section. Clearly any new development must consider its impact on roads, health infrastructure, transport, air quality, water services, refuse collection etc. Sustainability is the key and protection of and creation of new outdoor green spaces. Also new developments need to have a community hall or place where the local community can meet for social events especially outlying areas with poor transport connections

There is a need to seriously consider people’s representations and they need to genuinely influence any decisions by Medway Council and not just pay lip service. All of my previous comments contribute to this section. Clearly any new development must consider its impact on roads, health infrastructure, transport, air quality, water services, refuse collection etc. Sustainability is the key and protection of and creation of new outdoor green spaces. Also new developments need to have a community hall or place where the local community can meet for social events especially outlying areas with poor transport connections