Voice of the Opposition
Cllr George Perfect on the Local Plan
Editor’s note: Each month, we present a guest column from one of Medway’s elected representatives, rotating between our MPs, council and opposition leaders, and the Police and Crime Commissioner. Today, for our latest Voice piece, we welcome Medway Council Leader of the Opposition George Perfect, who talks about Medway’s emerging Local Plan.
Voice of the Opposition
by Cllr George Perfect, Conservative Leader of the Opposition at Medway Council
I am writing this Voice of the Opposition on the way back from the Local Government Association Conference in Liverpool, where I have spent the last few days with colleagues of all parties, as well as having constructive meetings with Conservative colleagues from around the country. Yesterday, I was fortunate to meet with the Leader of my Party and HM Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, and with our Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government, Kevin Hollinrake. I remain confident that my party will renew and rebuild in the months ahead. Kemi set out to me yesterday, the Conservative Party is under new leadership. From now on, we are going to be telling the British people the truth, even when it is difficult to hear: the truth about the mistakes we made, the truth about the problems we face, and the truth about the actions we must take to get our country out of its current challenges. It may not feel like it right now, but our country’s best days are ahead of us.
I wanted to take the opportunity in this Voice of the Opposition to talk about the Local Plan, and specifically summarise why members of the Conservative Group did not support it at the special meeting of the Council held last month. I am very clear, it is right that the administration proceeded with work on a local plan, but I am also clear, it must be the right plan and deliver for residents of existing communities.
Firstly, on health. We are not starting on a level playing field. It’s clear to all of us that there are significant challenges that our local healthcare services face - a GP crisis, a hospital with ageing infrastructure in desperate need of a long-term plan, and a lack of community services for our people. There is no additional capacity that could cope with up to 50,000 additional users in Medway, let alone all the new residents of Swale, that the hospital also serves. Without a clear plan and investment to deliver that plan, it will put our critical medical infrastructure in an even more precarious state.
Secondly, on pressure on our already overwhelmed utility services. We are concerned that the plan is not built on infrastructure that will deliver for the long term. Just weeks ago, Southern Water urged residents to restrict their water use owing to the weather. With power, there is nothing within the Local Plan report giving us warmth and certainty around the ability of the grid to be able to provide the necessary power for our people. Medway deserves certainty around our utilities to avoid existing communities suffering from a lack of government investment into this area. The plan relies far too heavily on written undertakings rather than evidence that the utilities companies have invested and costed plans that will deliver the capacity that support housebuilding at scale whilst keeping existing services and the investment to upgrade ageing infrastructure.
Since the Labour government came to power, they promised better transport services but have only delivered disruption both in Medway and around the country. They gave an unaffordable inflation-busting pay deal for many areas of the public sector, scrapped vital road projects, and at the same time pushed up rail and bus fares. The Conservatives invested £100bn upgrading the railways and introduced the £2 bus fare cap to help families, all things that would have supported this local plan. This local plan does not deliver a long-term transport plan, without plans for key critical junctions, roads that are already over capacity, and a railway network creaking and in urgent need of investment. There are currently no plans for any significant infrastructure investment from the new Government, and this is a failure of the three local MPs who have delivered nothing to improve our transport facilities as part of this local plan.
Finally, the impact on Medway the place. This Local Plan will significantly change the face of our five towns and the Peninsula by 2041. It will see massive change to all areas of Medway, and we worry it is not considering the change of communities in the whole. Suddenly, the rural life of those that enjoy Hempstead, Lordswood and the Peninsula will suddenly see mass urbanisation on land that is currently agricultural, the Docks will close, and the lifeblood of employment that this site provides will be lost forever. Large parts of the Hoo Peninsula and the surrounding area will lose their village status and feel.
And of course, we remain concerned about the Chatham Docks. We all saw the passion from the public gallery in last months’s special council meeting. Those workers were rightfully angry at the administration after being promised by the now Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council that they would save Chatham Docks, even standing shoulder to shoulder on the very steps of the building where they decided to put their jobs at risk just a few short years later.
The consultation on the Regulation 19 remains open throughout July, and I would encourage all residents to leave their feedback and attend consultation events to make your voice heard.
Cllr George Perfect is the Leader of the Opposition at Medway Council and Conservative councillor for Rainham North.
Its very easy to criticise the local plan - and there is still much of concern within the latest proposal - however Medway is in this position because the previous Conservative Council failed to agree a local plan for decades.