Ashford Borough Council is preparing a new Local Plan for the borough and is inviting local communities to get involved in the process.

Egerton Parish Council commented on the draft Ashford Local Plan 2042 in a process referred to as a Regulation 18 consultation - the first formal consultation of the Local Plan process. The consultation ran for eight weeks and EPC commented as follows: 

ASHFORD BOROUGH COUNCIL’s LOCAL PLAN to 2042: SUMMARY OF EGERTON PARISH COUNCIL’s RESPONSE TO CONSULTATION UNDER REGULATION 18

Background: EPC’s view

Although the draft Plan and its associated documents was published by ABC for consultation by 13 October it is still an early draft. It includes 14  Policy Intentions and 11 Policy Ambitions.

Many of the draft policies relate to the town and suburban fringe. Villages have distinct policies. There is not much evidence in it that EPC’s full responses to the initial questionnaire in 2024 were given detailed examination. The call for sites in 2023 and on which EPC commented in detail a year ago have not yet been assessed. There were 6 sites in Egerton suggested by landowners or developers, none of which were put forward for local needs affordable housing.

It is disappointing that there are still many gaps in the draft Plan, making meaningful comments quite difficult. Some supporting documents such as the Sustainability Appraisal are cornerstones of the Plan but work is still in progress by ABC to draw up a detailed site assessment proforma, as well as a  Habitats Assessment.

The existing 2030 Plan is being used as a starting point for many of the policies but they need to be enhanced and updated to take account of new Government policies and ABC’s own experience of handling planning cases and outcomes of planning appeals. In particular, wording of the criteria to be met for development still needs to be refined or defined to aid planning decisions.

ABC say there is a housing requirement for over 17,000 new dwellings over 18 years, mostly concentrated in the town, suburbs and suburban fringes.   There is a current residual housing requirement of nearly 6,000 homes.  There is a growing population but an increased need for local affordable housing for rent and housing suitable for older people. It appears this is not deliverable from the sites put forward. ABC is seeking more proposals from landowners or developers without clarifying more specifically the areas where it is most needed.  The hint is that there will be a focus on the town centre and its suburban fringes but there will also need to be significant additional housing in Tenterden and in some villages.

ABC think 1,000 new homes will be needed in the rural villages but not spread evenly across them. The decisions on location will be through assessment of individual merit and circumstances. A more precise definition of sustainability will be a key priority. A new village matrix will be prepared with a snapshot in time to determine housing requirements, what factors are to be included in assessing a location and how to meet the requirement. EPC awaits this with interest and will study it with care before making further comments.

EPC is disappointed that there is little included about food security nor about the role of agriculture, horticulture, viticulture etc in economic development and countryside landscape.

EPC’s Working Group on the ABC Local Plan 2042 reviewed in detail their initial observations on the draft Plan’s 3 key documents:  the first draft Plan, the Interim Sustainability Appraisal report and the Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report. ABC’s other associated documents were also studied for full context.  Before refining their draft comments for EPC as a whole, members of the Working Group had attended a presentation held by ABC to glean further information. 

The Working Group put forward its further refined draft comments objections or support of the draft Local Plan to the full Parish Council in early October. The full Council endorsed via email the  Group’s findings and recommendations. Consequently, final comments in a long list of individual paragraphs in the ABC documents were submitted to ABC before the deadline of 13 October and summarised publicly at the EPC meeting on 14 October.

Summary of EPC’s response to ABC’s consultation

Most of the final 72 comments made by EPC were based on:

• asking ABC to enhance and define its intended policies more accurately to reflect fully Egerton’s rural perspective;
• requesting that ABC rely on Neighbourhood Plans where the policies are stronger and more effective in our own communities than ABC’s policies;
• making sure ABC recognised that Egerton had already anticipated the greatest housing need being for local people – young families for affordable homes to rent or shared ownership  and for local older owner-occupiers to “right-size” to more suitable accommodation;
• correcting ABC’s records to include all sites granted planning permission in Egerton (North Field, Orchard Nurseries and Gale Field)  so that the total housing in the pipeline was accurately recorded as 34, in addition to 18 newly built homes;
• the need for timely and accurate completion of ABC’s assessment criteria for windfall development and ensuring it is worded with care to avoid ambiguity or misinterpretation;
• getting ABC to recognise the lack of any public transport in Egerton;
• ensuring there is no contradiction in ABC’s overall policy objective to protect and enhance the villages and the basis for  development in the villages;
• asking ABC to obtain independent studies of the capacity and quality of infrastructure such as  sewage treatment works to minimise pollution and avoid overloading systems with the demands caused by proposed new housing;
• the need for ABC to clarify the way in which developer contributions to village projects were approved by ABC and agreed with parishes; how they  were calculated, and how they would be binding;
• the need for ABC to include the value of Parish Design Statements;
• seeking a stronger ABC policy on green buffers between settlements to protect the environment and countryside vistas and views;
• the case for ABC overcoming a significant omission about the need for food security and the role of agriculture, horticulture, viticulture etc in terms of economic development and countryside landscape; and
• asking ABC to tighten up the policy to mitigate the effects of  climate change and to strike a fair balance between the need for more green energy generation and preserving the rural and agricultural landscape.

EPC understands that all comments received by ABC will be published in the future by ABC. Then ABC will consider the comments and produce a second draft Plan for further consultation.

Other information

Below are links to the leaflet setting out What is a Local Plan and FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).

Print copies of the Local Plan and all supporting documents are available to view online via the consultation portal here: https://haveyoursay.ashford.gov.uk/draft-lp42-consultation 

To find out more click here:  Call for Sites | Have Your Say Ashford

The current timeframe for progressing the Local Plan is set out in the Council's Local Development Scheme available here: The Local Development Scheme (LDS) contains the production timetable for Local Plans and other Development Plan Documents (DPD).

Should you have any questions or queries regarding this consultation, please contact the Plan-Making & Infrastructure Team via [email protected]