Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Development Plan Document

Strongly disagree

Strongly disagree

The spatial strategy is unsound and fails to properly consider local constraints, particularly in Bearsted area. It applies a broad, top-down approach that ignores existing traffic congestion, limited infrastructure and pressure on local services, all of which make further development in this area unsustainable. The policies do not demonstrate that reasonable alternatives have been fully explored or that development is being directed to the most suitable and accessible locations. As a result, the strategy risks disproportionate and unjustified harm to the character, environment and quality of life in Bearsted. Significant revision is required.

Strongly disagree

I strongly disagree with the proposed vision and objectives of the Gypsy Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Development Plan as they relate to the Bearsted area. The vision is fundamentally flawed in that it applies a generic, borough wide approach without properly recognising the severe and well documented constrains of Bearsted. The objectives fail to demonstrate any meaningful understanding of the village’s limited infrastructure, rural character, environmental sensitivity and already stretched local services. As such, the vision is neither realistic nor deliverable in this location. Bearsted experiences existing and persistent issues with traffic congestion, highway safety and inadequate public transport. Any additional development arising from this plan would exacerbate these problems, directly conflicting with the plan’s stated aim of promoting sustainable and well integrated communities. The absence of credible evidence showing how these impacts would be mitigated undermines the ligimiaacy of the objective as they apply to this area. Furthermore, the plan does not provide a transparent or convincing justification for why Bearsted area should be considered a suitable location when alternative e areas with better infrastructure and capacity may exist. This raises serious concerns about the fairness and soundness of the site selection process. Concentrating development pressure on a village such as Bearsted is unjustified and disproportionate. The proposed vision also fails to safeguard the character and identity of Bearsted, which is a key consideration in planning policy. Development that conflicts with the established scale and setting of the village would icause rreversible harm to the local environment and to residents’ quality of life, directly contradicting the stated objectives of the balanced and sustainable development.