Local News

Swale Borough Council has confirmed that it will be sending an update on the Highsted Park planning applications to parish councils and local groups.

The council states that the two planning applications for the development are "currently not lawful as they needed to include an environment statement setting out the significant effects of the proposals on the environment".

The council say they have taken expert evidence on the sufficiency of the statement and has issued notices seeking further information. "The application is unlawful until the required information on issues such as archaeology and the impact on nationally important habitats is received" the council say.

The update also includes a summary of legal advice received on the application for a new motorway junction for the M2. This advice says that a planning application is not the correct procedure for a new junction. The legal view is that it should be pursued though a development consent order as it would be a nationally significant infrastructure project. These are determined by the Secretary of State, not the local planning authority.

The applicant is also required to consider alternatives to a new motorway junction and demonstrate the strategic need for one as national policy aims to minimise junctions on safety grounds.

The implication of this advice is that the junction should be removed from the planning application, and the two current planning applications should become three. The strategic case for a new junction would need to be established before the planning applications could be determined.

The council is required to ask that alternatives to, and alternative routes for, the two relief roads be considered. It is also asking for options and alternatives for the location of any new motorway junction, a no interventions option, and an option that gains access off the new junction 5 of the M2.

This will require a new round of traffic modelling to inform consideration of strategic planning applications and the local plan, as well as meeting the concerns of Natural England.

Natural England has expressed two concerns about the proposals. Firstly, the scale of further recreational pressure from additional population will need to be mitigated over and above the proposals in the current scheme. They are seeking what are known as “sites of alternative natural green space” to divert pressure away from the coastal special protection areas which include internationally important sites.

Secondly, they have concerns about the effect of air pollution from additional traffic along the A249 which could affect local bird populations. This affects not only this scheme, but other developments being promoted through the local plan process.

"All this means that the strategic need for infrastructure, alternative options for the infrastructure, and mitigating impacts on the important wildlife sites must be resolved before any detailed consideration of any specific planning application" the council says.

We will, of course, keep you up-to-date with the latest on this story on 106.9 SFM.

People across Swale are being encouraged to check if they are eligible to receive help under a new scheme being launched to help local householders be warmer in their homes, lower their carbon emissions, and save money on their fuel bills this winter.

Under the Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery scheme, delivered by Warmworks on behalf of Swale Borough Council and through funding from the UK Government, householders can apply to receive improvements to increase the comfort and warmth in their home. The scheme offers a wide range of insulation measures, and renewable heating technologies, such as air source heat pumps, which are designed to reduce the impact of heating homes upon the environment. 

The Green Homes Grant scheme is open to homeowners with a low energy rating and a low annual income. Each home that meets the criteria is eligible for a £10,000 grant that is distributed by Warmworks and is available until  Thursday 31st March 2022.

Warmworks will arrange a survey in the homes of eligible householders to agree what work will be carried out. Then, a local accredited and registered sub-contractor team completes the installation of the agreed heating and energy-efficiency measures before an independent inspection assesses the completed work against rigorous quality standards.

Where required, Warmworks will also then arrange for a full annual service to be completed 12 months later.

Cllr Ben Martin, cabinet member for housing at Swale Borough Council, told SFM News: "As we move further into winter and we depend on our heating systems more, families are facing increasing energy bills. A recent report by the Resolution Foundation found that 1 in 4 households will find their energy bills unaffordable this year due to price rises. The Green Homes Grant scheme offers vital improvements which could help people who are on low incomes and who find it hard to heat their home benefit from measures which could see them being warmer, reduce their bills, and decrease their home’s impact on the environment.”​

Cllr Ghlin Whelin, deputy cabinet member for housing at the council, told SFM News: “Warmworks have a strong track record of delivering schemes to more than 25,000 homes, which have helped their customers improve their heating. I’d encourage everyone in Swale who is on a low income and struggling to pay their energy bills to check if they are eligible to receive help from the Green Homes Grant scheme.”

Ross Armstrong, Warmworks Managing Director, told SFM News: “On the back of the COP26 conference in Glasgow, I’m delighted that Warmworks is working in partnership with Swale to deliver the Green Homes Grant scheme. Not only does the renewable heating technology available under it offer local people an opportunity to reduce their carbon emissions and support the transition to Net Zero, but as the colder weather hits, one of the most important benefits we can offer through the scheme is to help people across Swale to feel warmer, healthier and happier in their homes during these winter months. A few minutes to complete our short application could help your home stay warmer for years ahead.”

You can find out if you are eligible for the scheme by completing the short application form at: https://www.warmworks.co.uk/greenhomesgrant/ or by calling Warmworks, free of charge, on 0808 196 8255.

Collision investigators are appealing for information following the death of a motorist in Faversham.

At around 8.50am this morning  (Wednesday 19th January), a collision between a silver Toyota Yaris and white Volvo skip loader took place at the junction of The Western Link and Bysing Wood Road.

The Yaris was joining Western Link from Bysing Wood Road and the lorry was travelling along Western Link Road, towards London Road.  

The driver of the Yaris, a man in his 90s from the local area, died at the scene.

Kent Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit has completed enquiries at the scene and are appealing for anyone with information to get in contact. They are particularly keen to speak with anyone who has dashcam footage, or CCTV, which captures the collision or either of the vehicles travelling in the moments leading up to it.

Anyone with information is asked to call Kent Police on 01622 798 538 quoting DS/DC/9/22. Alternatively, email sciu.td@kent.pnn.police.uk

A Sittingbourne resident, who used social media apps in attempts to groom a child for sex offences, has been jailed.

Michael Smith repeatedly sent indecent images and videos of himself to another user who he believed was only 13 years old.

Smith, aged 54, accessed the apps to seek out and contact a child, between 10th March and 15th April last year. Despite receiving several replies, stating she was a child and at school, Smith made repeated attempts to entice her into sexual activity. His own online account displayed a false image of a teenage boy and it was used to instigate lengthy conversations of an explicit nature, urging the child to engage in sexual activity and to send him indecent images.

Unbeknown to Smith, the child did not exist – her profile was part of a fictitious account. He was arrested at his home in Canterbury Road, Sittingbourne on 15th April 2020. During police interviews, Smith admitted he was responsible for the online activity but claimed he didn’t know he was talking to a child and that his judgment was impaired because he had been using cocaine.

He was charged with attempting to sexually communicate with a child, two counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and a further count of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act. Smith pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and was sentenced on Monday (10th January), to three years and six months’ imprisonment. He received an additional two weeks for a bail violation and was also placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and made subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

Detective Sergeant Shona Ross, of the Paedophile Online Investigation Team, told SFM News: "Smith made persistent and repeated efforts to contact a child for the purposes of his own gratification. He has displayed a clear desire to sexually abuse a child and the graphic detail and demands he included in his messages were hugely concerning. This case also acts as a reminder to parents of children who have mobile phones and tablets to speak to them and help them understand the precautions they should take when using the internet, or the many instant messaging services that are available. Children should only communicate with people that they know personally and report any suspicions or inappropriate advances from strangers to their parents, schools or the police."