Disgusted of Maidstone

This letter has gone to the KM in response to the appalling planning decision by the council reported here. Government of the rich, by the rich for the rich...welcome to Conservative Maidstone.

Dear Editor,

I am disgusted at the actions of the planning committee in delivering a slap in the face to the huge numbers of people in desperate need of a new home in Maidstone. In waiving the chance to have 14 affordable homes out of the 35 that it has allowed to be built, the Planning Committee has not only broken its own policy but it has paved the way for future developments to ignore the needs of people who urgently need homes but cannot afford them.

The waiting list for social housing in Maidstone has quadrupled since 1997 with more than 3,400 people / families now on it, equating to more than 1 in 20 homes in the borough. High quality, high density housing is urgently needed to help people who can't afford the huge rents and mortgages that are asked for in the rest of the housing market. With the latest reductions in housing benefit, this appalling situation will just get worse.

Not only will Maidstone miss out on a new community facility, let alone affordable homes, the council then rubs salt into the wound with funding for the tow path. A new tow path or homes for families - surely the choice is easy.

Stuart Jeffery
Maidstone Green Party