Swale council calls on Angela Rayner to visit (Image: Getty)
Councillors in Swale have called on , the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to pay a visit to the sites that she has marked to build thousands of new homes.
Officials have invited the deputy prime minister to see the sites before deciding whether it’s appropriate to build there or not. The calls are ahead of an inquiry into the Highsted Park development near Sittingbourne and Teynham which begins on March 11.
Ms Rayner revealed the plan for 8,400 homes to be constructed just hours before Swale council’s planning committee was expected to reject the proposals.
The new estate would cover the edge of Sittingbourne and spill into Teynham, splitting across two applications. The first application includes a community space, hotel, recycling centre and primary and secondary schools.
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Councillor’s called on Swale council to invite Angela Rayner to the sites she plans to build on (Image: Getty)
This is for land surrounding Sittingbourne, with two halves named Highsted Village and Oakwood Village. The second application is for a smaller area named Teynham West, with proposals of 1,250 new homes plus sheltered and extra care accommodation and a primary school.
On January 29, local councillors called on Swale council to extend an invitation to Ms Rayner, asking her to travel from London to the town to physically see the impact that her decision will have.
Prior to the meeting yesterday, Cllr Julien Speed, who prompted the request alongside Conservative colleague Cllr Lloyd Bowen, said: “Looking at the planning report does not bring what the area is like to life.
“Highsted Park, which has been called a garden village but is really a town the size of Faversham in terms of expected population, is a test case for the government and its housing targets.
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Labour aim to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years (Image: Getty)
“So it is important for the secretary of state to come and see it for herself and listen to the views of people living here before she makes her decision.”
Cllr Speed has further accused the government of “ripping it away” from the “democratically elected local council” following the decision for a public inquiry.
The plans follow Labour’s announcement of a key manifesto pledge of building 1.5 million new homes over the next five years. Despite this, Ms Rayner told a housing select committee on January 7 that this figure would only make a “dent” in the UK’s housing crisis.
Express.co.uk has contacted Swale Council for comment.