Earlier this week, I met with concerned Hextable residents, alongside District Councillor and Deputy Chairman of Hextable Parish Council Chrissy Hudson and two fellow parish councillor’s to discuss the proposals for the village put forward in the Local Plan.
As it stands, almost 1,000 new homes are being proposed which would increase the size of Hextable by over 50%, and residents rightly fear that this would risk the village merging with both Swanley and London. Residents are also deeply worried about the lack of infrastructure to support such large-scale development, particularly when combined with proposals for Swanley and Dartford – a concern I share.
This situation lies entirely at the hands of the Labour Government whose high mandatory housing target of over 17,000 houses for our area, and their decision to allow building on so-called “Grey Belt” land – aka the countryside - is putting even more pressure on our communities.
I will do all I can to support the residents and will be making strong representations to the Local Plan consultation on their behalf.
