Three representatives of Gladman attended a meeting co-organised by St Mary of Charity and the Faversham Society on 16th January. The meeting was well attended with over 170 people braving a cold wet evening to come and hear what Gladman had to say and to question them. The questions covered many topics including traffic, drainage & sewage, disruption to people’s lives, affordable housing and the degradation of Class 1 Agricultural Land. Gladman did say that the pace of house building would be dependent upon demand and that it could take up to 25 years to build the whole development.

It is fair to say that the current plans for 5000 houses are largely conceptual, they have not done the work that the Duchy has done to consult the community and develop their plans. If they are invited by Swale Borough Council to proceed to the next stage, they will begin that work. Gladman has agreed to come back to Faversham at our invitation later in the year to talk about where they have got to and to answer our questions.

Gladman was approached by Saville's to create a concept, a capacity plan, and promote it to Swale Borough Council on behalf of the four landowners. The landowners would hope to sell with planning consent to developers. Gladman recognised the need for new infrastructure but no detailed work has been done. They talked of a high street, surgery, dentists, convenience stores, and the creation of some employment - but emphasised that this would not be a new town to rival Favdersham.

Their promotional prospectus can be downloaded here

The PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded here