Appendices to Proof of Evidence of Kevin Goodwin

WPC1b

APPENDICES TO PROOF OF EVIDENCE OF KEVIN GOODWIN

IN RESPECT OF

FORMER WYE COLLEGE BUILDINGS, HIGH STREET, WYE (Appeal A)

LAND NORTH OF OCCUPATION ROAD, WYE (Appeal B)

FORMER ADAS OFFICES, OLANTIGH ROAD, WYE (Appeal C)

ON BEHALF OF WYE with HINXHILL PARISH COUNCIL

DECEMBER 2020

©KG Creative Consultancy Limited CONTENTS

APPENDIX A - Minutes of Ashford Borough Council Cabinet Meeting October 2019

APPENDIX B - Pre-Application Protocol Letter 19th November 2019

APPENDIX C - Ashford Borough Council Response Letter 25th November 2019

APPENDIX D - Screening Letters 18th December 2020

APPENDIX E - Wye with Hinxhill Housing Needs Survey August 2018

APPENDIX F - Personal Statement of David Reece

APPENDIX G -Personal Statement of Maryanna Graham

APPENDIX H -Personal Statement of Michael West

APPENDIX I -Personal Statement of Richard Bartley

APPENDIX J -Personal Statement of Trudi Field

APPENDIX K -Personal Statement of Vinny McLean

©KG Creative Consultancy Limited CA Published 15th October 2019 Decisions effective from the 24th October 2019 unless they are called in or are recommended to the Council for approval Cabinet

Minutes of a Meeting of the Cabinet held in the Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Tannery Lane, Ashford on the 10th October 2019

Present:

Cllr. Clarkson (Chairman); Cllr. Bartlett (Vice-Chairman);

Cllrs. Barrett, Bell, Buchanan, Clokie, Feacey, Pickering, Shorter.

Apologies:

Cllrs. Gideon, N Ovenden.

Also Present:

Cllrs. Burgess, Chilton, Dehnel, Forest, Iliffe, Harman, Hayward, Howard-Smith, Krause, Ledger, Link, Mulholland, Smith, Spain, Sparks, Wright.

Chief Executive, Director of Law and Governance, Director of Finance and Economy, Head of Legal and Democracy, Head of Corporate Property and Projects, Head of Community Safety and Wellbeing, Head of Planning and Development, Head of Housing, Head of Finance and IT, Spatial Planning Manager, Housing Operations Manager, Development and Regeneration Manager, Principal Solicitor (Strategic Development), Principal Urban Designer, Funding and Partnerships Officer, Member Services Manager (Operational).

173 Minutes

Resolved:

That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Cabinet held on the 12th September 2019 be approved and confirmed as a correct record.

174 Leader’s Announcements

The Leader said he was pleased to have seen an article in last week’s Sunday Times listing Ashford in the country’s top six “turnaround towns”. It quoted 11.9% population growth and 11.4% employment growth in Ashford between 2009 and 2017, as well as a 16.9% increase in house prices since June 2016. Whilst there was still much to do and there was no complacency, the Leader said it was interesting to see progress in Ashford being spoken about in this way.

The Leader also advised that Kent County Council had agreed to appoint Roger Gough as its new Leader, replacing Paul Carter who had stood down after serving in this

297 CA 101019 position since 2005. He read from a note he had written to Roger Gough on behalf of Ashford Borough Council congratulating him on his appointment and advising that they looked forward to continuing to work closely with him and KCC in the future.

175 Adoption of Village Envelope Boundaries – Wye and Warehorne

The report advised that the newly adopted Local Plan included policies that referred to the ‘built-up confines’ of settlements and that, in consultation with Parish Councils, Officers had prepared a series of village envelope maps to indicate where the Council currently considered the existing built-up confines of settlements were. These would help to clarify the written definition in the Local Plan for the purposes of decision-making on planning applications. The report sought the Cabinet’s approval to adopt the village envelope boundaries for Wye and Warehorne villages as informal guidance for development management purposes.

In accordance with Procedure Rule 9.3 Mr Reece, Chairman of Wye with Hinxhill Parish Council, spoke on this item. He thanked the Cabinet for giving them the opportunity to speak on the next three agenda items. He particularly wanted to thank the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group for their dedication and hard work in producing their report on the Masterplan process. Taken together, these items were closely interrelated and required decisions which would profoundly affect the shape and future of Wye. Turning to the proposed Wye settlement boundary, he said that the Parish Council agreed that the ADAS site was outside the built confines and much of the proposed boundary, so also was Withersdane, although it was part of Wye3 and was arbitrarily excluded from the Masterplan. The report further acknowledged that there were minor inconsistencies - one related to the incorrect boundary of the covenanted land, on which the Council had received a letter. However, the Wye Neighbourhood Plan was currently being reviewed, therefore he asked the Cabinet to defer Recommendation (i) as it related to Wye to form part of the current review. Mr Reece further advised that the implications of Recommendation (ii) greatly disturbed the Parish Council. This proposed to delegate powers to amend the boundary of the settlement envelopes in the Borough. The report stated that the village envelope maps would become material considerations in the application of Local Plan Policies HOU2, HOU3 and HOU5. The Parish Council’s legal advice was that any changes should therefore only be addressed through a formal Development Plan Document and public consultation. Delegating open and indefinite powers to make changes would remove future decisions from any democratic scrutiny by the public and statutory consultees, or Elected Members, and he considered this was both unjust and unlawful. The consequence of this recommendation was that new proposals on sites currently near (but not touching) Wye3, could be subsumed into the settlement confines, creating a new boundary. Further applications could then be added to this new boundary, which became a licence for the boundary to creep ever eastwards. In his view this smacked of policy making on the hoof. The report before the Cabinet supporting this agenda item did not consider Recommendation (ii). Neither did the earlier Cabinet report on 11th April 2019, for other villages in the Borough. Therefore he considered that Cabinet had not had the implications and risks explained to it and was un-briefed on Recommendation (ii). So, in his view, a decision to adopt this recommendation would have failed to have regard to a material consideration and risked

298 CA 101019 legal action. The Parish Council asked the Cabinet to refuse Recommendation (ii) and retain control over boundary changes.

In accordance with Procedure Rule 9.3 Mr Jarman, representing Telereal Trillium, the owners of the site spoke on this item. He advised that when they had become aware of the proposal to establish a village confines for Wye in the nature set out in this report, it was fair to say that there were initially concerns as it appeared to be in conflict with the Wye Neighbourhood Plan. On the instructions of the Examiner, Policy WN1PA – the village envelope - specifically stated that between Olantigh Road and Scotton Street the village envelope would be defined by the Masterplan (on the agenda later at this meeting) and therefore this proposal was inconsistent with those provisions. However, having been assured by Officers, and it being set out clearly within the report, it had been made clear that there was no inconsistency in having different boundaries for Wye – the one in this report for the village confines of the application of the present Local Plan policy, and secondly the one in the Masterplan which showed the form of development to be set out in the Masterplan itself. There was an assurance that these could sit side by side, and on that basis they were happy to accept that this apparent inconsistency could be overlooked. In terms of the detail of the boundary itself, he noted the Officers’ comment that there were elements of subjective judgment involved and he considered that must always be the case out of necessity. As a result of the agreement that the boundaries could be different and have different implications, he considered that there was not a need to go into any greater detail on those points at this stage.

The Portfolio Holder advised that a lot of the issues referred to had been looked at in great detail by the Local Plan and Planning Policy Task Group and an enormous amount of work and consideration had gone in to that, so it was not entirely true to infer that Members had not had proper oversight. This had all been done in the context of the approved Local Plan, and Policies HOU3 and HOU5 had been reflected in the considerations within the report. As Portfolio Holder he was therefore comfortable to support the soundness of the two recommendations in the report.

In response to questions about Recommendation (ii) and whether relevant Ward Members or Parish Councils should be more directly involved in decisions to amend village envelope boundaries, the Spatial Planning Manager clarified that the purpose of this recommendation was to allow the amendment of a village envelope boundary to account for the construction of new development. So this would be reactive to anything that had been built “on the ground”, and any such development would have already been considered through the statutory channels. The recommendation did not provide an opportunity to create areas for development “by the back door”. The Portfolio Holder further advised that Ward Members would be directly involved in the consultation and invited to Local Plan and Planning Policy Task Group meetings when considering such matters in order to give that local view, in liaison with their Parish Council. This was in fact one of the recommendations to come out of the Overview and Scrutiny review – the next item on the Agenda for this meeting. He was therefore comfortable with what was already going to be in place. The Chairman of the Task Group also gave an assurance that such an invitation would be made. To aid clarity it was agreed to add the words “that has taken place” to the end of the recommendation.

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Resolved:

That (i) the village envelope boundaries shown in the Appendix to the report be adopted as informal guidance for development management purposes.

(ii) authority be delegated to the Spatial Planning Manager, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Development to amend, where relevant, a village envelope boundary to account for the construction of new development that has taken place.

176 Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Review into Wye3 Masterplan Process

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had undertaken a review of the Wye3 Masterplan process. In its review the Committee had made 12 recommendations which were now presented to the Cabinet. The report also included the advice of Management Team on those recommendations.

In accordance with Procedure Rule 9.3 Mr Reece, Chairman of Wye with Hinxhill Parish Council, spoke on this item. He said of the twelve recommendations made by Overview and Scrutiny, Recommendations (ii) to (xii) related not to Wye but to improvements to future masterplans. So on those, the Parish Council had no comment except to state that in their view having to make 12 recommendations dramatically highlighted how flawed the process had been from the beginning to today. The Parish Council attended one of the Task Group’s meetings and laid out the flaws, as they had done previously in letters to the Chief Executive and Head of Planning, referencing dozens of documents. They had requested answers, information and meetings and most of this had gone totally unanswered. He hoped that future Masterplans would be better handled. On Recommendation (i) however, the Parish Council considered this could still influence the future of Wye for the better. He wanted to dispel any impression that there were two parallel traffic analysis reports. The Parish Council had commissioned the MLM traffic report to examine the data and methodology of the TPP traffic report and particularly to answer a question KCC Highways had that remained unanswered - regarding the frequency of delays “sometimes” at Wye level crossing, asking “how often is sometimes?” As many would know, the level crossing was the key to all traffic flow in Wye. TPP asserted that traffic was always able to clear the level crossing before the next train. He said that this was false and contrary to common experience. MLM considered a video which covered a whole week at the level crossing and showed clearly that on nine occasions the gates had to be shut in the face of oncoming traffic. Despite having asked the question, KCC had not reacted to this evidence. The MLM letter sent today stated that the TPP report was skewed in favour of the developer and erroneous and outdated in detail. Despite the fundamental importance of traffic issues, the ABC Case Officer, in his own words, “forgot to deliver the MLM report until the day before the Cabinet” last September. He said that KCC claimed to have found nothing to discredit the TPP report, but in the time available he considered that KCC could not have done the MLM report justice. He said it should also be noted that KCC Highways had not accepted the Task Group’s invitation to attend a meeting. He concluded by asking that now there was new evidence, notably changes at ADAS covered in the next agenda item, and Network Rail’s 2019 data on Wye level crossing risk and usage, the

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Cabinet uphold Recommendation (i) to consider the MLM traffic report with the new evidence.

The Spatial Planning Manager said that on Recommendation (i) particularly he would point the Cabinet to Management Team’s response which set out the issues clearly in that the substantial traffic evidence put forward by TPP on behalf of the developers had been robustly assessed by KCC. This matter had been reported to and accepted by the Cabinet in September 2018. The work undertaken by MLM on behalf of the Parish Council had not been intended as a parallel exercise and had not therefore dealt with all of the same issues. A letter had been received that afternoon from the MLM Group and whilst there had not been a lot of time to consider it, amongst its content it did state that MLM would not have necessarily expected KCC to formally respond on their assessment as the Highway Authority, despite previous concerns on this point by the Parish Council. They also did not assert that their video evidence in any way invalidated the conclusions of the TPP work. So in summary he advised that the transport evidence in support of the Masterplan had been assessed thoroughly by KCC and they had reached their own independent view. That view was open to debate and disagreement, but Officer’s advice was that the matter had been properly considered and did not need to be re-opened as part of the masterplanning process.

One of the Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group said he wanted to comment on Management Team’s advice to reject four of the twelve recommendations. On Recommendation (i), he considered that the Parish Council had been poorly treated and felt so aggrieved that they had spent money on their own transport report, and the seven day consideration was in stark contrast to the Developer’s one day. The assertion that TPP’s conclusions were sound did have to be called in to question as two reports on the same village differed so much. He did not think KCC had done justice to the MLM report and the refusal to attend the Task Group meetings meant they had not been able to get to the crux of the matter over the variations in the reports. Independent advice would give everyone confidence to make the right decisions which is why he supported Recommendation (i). It did not undermine any trust or working relationship and he was sure that the short time it would take to allow for a proper analysis would not place any detriment on the already delayed process. Regarding Recommendation (ii), he accepted this was a wide and all-encompassing one, but having been let down in Wye, the Task Group considered there were times when KCC did the bare minimum and agreed to traffic reports without proper analysis. Independent assessments, or even a qualified Officer employed by the Council were seen as the way forward in order to be able to judge whether traffic reports were sound. Management Team’s suggestion that relationships with KCC were strengthened was welcomed, but it was important that the whole process, not just the methodology, was thoroughly assessed. On Recommendation (iii), he considered that the review had demonstrated that there was a need for adequate support for Officers with large caseloads who were also trying to complete a Masterplan process. The recommendation was seeking a commitment from the Council to ensure that such processes continued and were not undermined when other factors intervened. He understood that it was early days for the new Planning structure, but that was still bedding in and he considered adoption of this recommendation would guarantee an ongoing level of support for future masterplanning processes. Finally, with regard to Recommendation (vii), this had been made with a recognition that the overarching Local Plan and Planning Policy Task Group may not have the time to take on such specific work, and a smaller, more focussed group would

301 CA 101019 be able to meet more often as required and ensure a simpler process to support Officers and the major stakeholders.

The Portfolio Holder said he wanted to thank the Task Group for the way it went about its business in undertaking this review. Of the 12 recommendations made, eight had been clearly supported by Management Team and he also urged the Cabinet to approve those eight. With regard to the other four, firstly it was important to say that this Council had to respect KCC’s view as the Highway Authority. He also wanted to make clear that the new structure for Planning would make significant positive changes to the Service and he was confident that when everyone was in place early next year the Service would be transformed, so to talk about further changes at this stage was premature. As mentioned in the previous item, he considered that the Local Plan and Planning Policy Task Group was the right ‘Member led vehicle’ to deal with masterplanning issues, with that previous caveat that Ward Members be formally invited to relevant meetings to reflect the local view. He therefore supported Management Team’s comments on Recommendations (i), (ii), (iii) and (vii) and asked the Cabinet to reject those four recommendations for the reasons given.

Resolved:

That (i) a clearly defined scope and timeline be agreed at the commencement of any future masterplanning exercises.

(ii) where masterplanning exercises are to be carried out collaboratively with a steering group, clearly defined terms of reference for the steering group including the roles of each partner to the steering group are jointly agreed prior to the commencement of any future masterplanning exercise.

(iii) where masterplanning exercises are to be carried out collaboratively with a steering group, an independent chair should be engaged to lead the steering group.

(iv) an independent external facilitator be retained for all workshop elements of any future masterplanning exercises.

(v) in order to ensure continuity as far as possible throughout future masterplanning exercises, a single list of invitees should be maintained for all workshop events.

(vi) the Council ensure it provides clear, regular updates on the development of any masterplan to stakeholders throughout any future masterplanning exercise.

(vii) the Council maintain a single point of contact throughout any future masterplanning process for the gathering and dissemination of any and all information related to the masterplanning exercise.

(viii) the Council ensure that any and all responses to consultation or engagement exercises conducted on masterplanning be submitted directly to the Council.

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(ix) the remaining four recommendations be not adopted.

177 Adoption of the Draft Wye 3/WNP11 Masterplan

This report was a follow-up to the Cabinet report of September 2018 and considered issues raised at the time of the Cabinet resolution and subsequently in respect of the former ADAS site that formed part of the draft masterplan area. The Cabinet was asked to approve the draft masterplan as informal guidance for development management purposes, subject to the suggested changes in the recommendations, to assist decision- making on applications within the Masterplan’s boundary.

In accordance with Procedure Rule 9.3 Mr Jarman, representing Telereal Trillium, the owners of the site spoke on this item. He said he was pleased that, after a long gestation period, the Masterplan had reached the point of adoption and he hoped the Cabinet would follow Officers’ advice to adopt. Like all parties to the Masterplan process there had been frustrations at delays along the way, but they did feel that the plan in its current form would be of great value in guiding the re-use and re-development of the former Wye College building complex. There was one point of detail that he wanted to address the Cabinet on and that was the proposal to reduce the number of buildings proposed at the former ADAS complex from 20 to 15. As a brownfield site with substantial existing buildings, that already had been subject of extensive negotiations with Officers, he asked that this be reconsidered and retained at 20. Indeed, during the process the number had already been reduced substantially from 27 to 20 and following the Cabinet’s interim approval of that number last September that had progressed to pre-application discussions in January 2019 and the recent submission of the planning application. The Officers’ comments with regard to the permitted development rights were noted but he felt that the key point was that the complex of buildings remained exactly the same in terms of site, buildings and constraints, so a proposal for 20 was realistic and still would reduce the overall amount of built floor space on the site within the AONB. He was aware supporting this in the Masterplan would in no way guarantee permission for 20 in a planning application and that would be dealt with at the appropriate time.

In accordance with Procedure Rule 9.3 Mr Bartley, of Wye with Hinxhill Parish Council spoke on this item. He asked the Cabinet if Council Officers were clear on what kind of document they were recommending for adoption tonight. In his view Paragraphs 70 and 71 of the report suggested they did not. It was a document that had moved from a Supplementary Planning Document to a Design Brief. He said that adopted policy stated that the Masterplan should be a Supplementary Planning Document, and therefore be compliant with Regulation 8, and conform to other policy documents. The Parish Council knew that Telereal had challenged this policy requirement on the 25th April 2016. Then, at some point, Officers had pronounced that ‘it had been decided’ that the Masterplan would just be ‘informal guidance’. He wondered where was the justification for this significant change to adopted policy, since planning law required that planning applications be determined in accordance with the development plan, in this case the Local Plan and Wye Neighbourhood Plan? Despite the receipt of some 2,000 comments, he said that the Masterplan map in Appendix 1 to the report had remained unchanged in over two years, bar one minor change to help the bin lorries. He asked where was the evidence that Officers had reassessed the entire Masterplan against the

303 CA 101019 new Local Plan and revised NPPF policies? In the absence of this reassessment he asked how the Cabinet could know if the scale of the development proposed by the Masterplan was proportionate to the size of Wye and whether, the proposal would conserve and enhance the AONB’s natural beauty? Specifically he asked how Policy HOU2 would apply in relation to heritage assets and the proposed care home flats, and HOU3a and HOU5 elsewhere on Wye3? He also asked why this Masterplan ignored Withersdane? These were a few of what he considered to be the many fundamental flaws in the process. With regard to traffic, he said that the TPP Assessment used an imputed fall back allowance. All the Cabinet had in front of it were assertions, and these pre-dated the change in the lawful use of the ADAS site and it’s, as yet unknown, fall- back position. He asked where was the evidence of assessment of the MLM analysis? The ADAS site had profound implications for traffic. The lawful use issue would reverberate and impact on every number within the traffic model, on which the Masterplan relied. Therefore, before any consideration of which traffic assessment was right, he considered it was fundamental that the new lawful position of the ADAS site was clarified, and correctly reconsidered within any modelling, and reviewed by KCC Highways. Advice had been sought from Counsel, who confirmed the Parish Council’s view that the ADAS permitted development granted in January 2016 was not lawful. Therefore, he considered that the fall back, the workshops and indeed the entire Masterplan consultation process was based on a false presumption of residential development, and therefore an inflated land use value. He said that there was no evidence in the report that Officers had assessed the hasty proposal for 15 Units on the ADAS site against the usual policy requirements, therefore this recommendation was flawed and open to challenge. Mr Bartley said that given the complexity of the issues and the impasse that had been reached on this site, a positive suggestion would be a Neighbourhood Development Order which could resolve WYE3 equitably. In conclusion he said that Telereal had stated publicly in 2015 that ‘The Imperial Masterplan was in the bin’. He now invited the Cabinet to bin Telereal’s WYE3 Masterplan, and not accept the recommendations, or adopt what he called a “flawed, quasi-policy document”.

The Portfolio Holder said that he wanted to assure all present that the amount of work that had been put in by Planning Officers to arrive at their conclusion had not been reported in its totality and the report was only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ in terms of that work. In terms of the previous report that came to the Cabinet in September 2018, new information had come to light and the report had been reviewed and found to be wanting. That new information had brought about the changes to the numbers and the historical use of the ADAS buildings. Much of the consideration was judgment based, but based on real experience and analysis of this important site within the AONB. He understood that there were strong opinions on this matter, but on balance he considered the report in front of Cabinet was sound and he urged colleagues to support the Officer’s recommendations.

The Spatial Planning Manager said that this matter had to a large degree already been covered by the Cabinet back in September 2018. A number of the issues raised then by the Parish Council were matters that since that point had now been addressed, for example the MLM traffic assessment and concerns about Officers checking for the presence of any outstanding representations on the draft Masterplan. This had therefore come back to the Cabinet at this meeting mainly because of the ADAS site. Significant new evidence had come forward in respect of whether the prior approval process was the appropriate one to determine whether that building could be converted to flats or not, and this report demonstrated that there had been a very thorough exercise undertaken,

304 CA 101019 with the benefit of Counsel’s opinion, to confirm Officers’ views that were reported to the Cabinet in September 2018 were in fact incorrect and that advice to Members had now been corrected. In the absence of that previous fall-back position, Officers had reconsidered what they viewed as the appropriate numbers for the ADAS site in the Masterplan. On balance a small reduction in the amount of development on the ADAS site was viewed as appropriate and should be made to the Masterplan.

Resolved:

That the draft masterplan for the WNP11 area be adopted as informal guidance for development management purposes subject to the following:-

(i) the wording and any associated diagrams or maps be changed to reflect that residential redevelopment of the former ADAS site should not exceed the existing footprint of previously developed land and be up to a maximum of 15 residential units; the amendments to be to the satisfaction of the Head of Planning and Development, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning & Development.

(ii) wording be changed to the appropriate Planning and Design Principles section to include further general principles sections on grey water recycling measures in accordance with paragraph 63 of the September 2018 Cabinet report; the amendments to be to the satisfaction of the Head of Planning and Development, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning & Development.

(iii) the inclusion of those amendments to the draft masterplan listed in the attached schedule of proposed changes, appended to the report; and,

(iv) any other consequential minor amendments considered necessary by the Head of Planning and Development in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning & Development.

178 Local Authority Lottery Scheme

The Portfolio Holder introduced the report which sought Members approval to undertake the necessary legal and project management tasks to develop and deliver a Local Authority lottery scheme for the benefit of the local voluntary sector and the residents of the Borough.

Two Members expressed concerns about the proposal in terms of its potential effect on those who may be susceptible to gambling addictions and whether such a lottery was sustainable given previous experience of an Ashford Borough Council run lottery scheme in the 1980s where initial interest very quickly lost momentum. They therefore wondered if a Council run lottery was an appropriate thing to be lending support to and whether there were better and more moral ways to raise funds for charitable causes. Both the Portfolio Holder and the Leader said they had some sympathy with those comments, but these matters had already been considered and this would not be a lottery of instant gratification such as scratchcards, game machines or online

305 CA 101019 gaming/betting. Dover District Council had been running such a scheme since February and had been very successful, as had a number of other Local Authorities, in raising money for the local voluntary sector and local not for profit clubs.

Resolved:

That (i) a set up budget of circa £11,000 be agreed to be allocated that will enable a Local Authority lottery scheme to be launched.

(ii) the Head of Culture and the Head of Legal and Democracy be authorised, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Culture, Tourism and Leisure, to agree and settle all necessary licences, legal requirements and documents and to contract with an External Lottery Manager to deliver an appropriate Local Authority lottery scheme for the Ashford Borough.

179 Housing – Current Delivery, Finance and Onward Strategy

The Portfolio Holder introduced the report which, amongst other elements, included the Council’s new Affordable Housing Delivery Plan 2019-2023 for endorsement. This set out how the right homes would be delivered in the right places and the strategic context in which the delivery programme sat, enabling work with Registered Providers and acquisitions (land and on-street purchases). He wanted to thank the Officers involved for producing such a detailed document. It was admittedly ambitious, but it would put Ashford at the forefront of delivering affordable social housing in Kent. The document was also holistic in the way it looked to deliver affordable housing in the Borough along the lines of the Council’s wider corporate agenda – carbon neutrality by 2030, space standards, decent homes for all and attempting to remove the stigma regarding social housing. The document was also flexible in that it would allow for a change of direction if and when needed, in response to changing circumstances in future years.

The report was opened up to Members and the following responses were given to questions/comments: -

 The commitment to carbon neutrality was something that was being closely examined by Housing and its contractors/partners in terms of embracing new heating methods and technologies. It was important to constantly challenge themselves to deliver the facilities to meet the targets that had been set. In terms of existing stock they were working with Engie to examine their expertise in energy provision and potential retro-fitting. This had of course not yet been costed, but a provision had been included within the business plan and this would be kept under review going forward.

 The Chief Executive and the Portfolio Holder for Finance and IT agreed to examine possibilities for the Council to be more flexible with the dates it took direct debit payments, particularly for those claiming Universal Credit.

 The plan had been closely analysed in financial terms and had been found to be sound. The level of debt for the current proposed programme could be repaid

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within 20-23 years and was affordable and manageable within the life of the current business plan. Clearly though it would have to be kept under review on a year on year basis.

 There was some risk to the Council if there was a significant and sustained increase in Right to Buys due to legislative changes, but this was not anticipated and the business plan did have flexibility to deal with changing circumstances.

 In terms of disabled adaptations, the business plan did maintain the budget for these in the Council stock, including the support for the In-House Occupational Therapist post who worked on adaptations and Disabled Facilities Grants. In addition, the significant amount of work undertaken within the HRA to meet the needs of disabled people would continue.

Resolved:

That (i) the progress in delivering the affordable housing programme in the HRA be noted.

(ii) the impact of the Housing Department on the corporate agenda, as detailed in paragraph 4 of the report be noted.

(iii) the priorities set out in paragraphs 5 & 6 of the report be agreed.

(iv) the updated HRA Business Plan and financial projections as set out in the report and in Appendix A to the report be agreed.

(v) it be noted that Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) will review the HRA Business Plan financial projections as part of the budget scrutiny process.

(vi) it be agreed that given the positive impact of street purchases on the overall programme, the existing delegation to the Head of Housing (no.14.9) be amended as set out in paragraph 35 of the report.

(vii) authority be delegated to the Head of Housing, in consultation with the Head of Finance and IT and the Portfolio Holder for Housing, to bid for and/or purchase land suitable for housing development, up to a value of £5m., subject to the availability of sufficient funding (as explained in paragraph 65 of the report).

(viii) the Council’s plans for future housing delivery as set out in Exempt Appendix B to the report, which represents the full delivery programme be agreed, and authority be delegated to the Head of Housing, in consultation with the Head of Finance and IT and the Portfolio Holders for Housing and Finance and IT, to vary the programme as necessary

(ix) the detailed delivery plan entitled “Building on Solid Foundations” at Appendix D of the report be endorsed.

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180 Joint Transportation Board Minutes – 10th September 2019

One of the Ward Members for Aylesford and East Stour referred to the Aylesford Place and Newtown Road Underpass repairs. The report from KCC Officers at the Joint Transportation Board meeting had been extremely disappointing, and indeed a month on since that meeting nothing had been done. It had now been made clear that the CCTV cameras there were not being monitored. KCC had made a pledge that they were going to get estimates to do the work but nothing had been done and they were now approaching the time of the year where there would be darker evenings and the underpass would become even more dangerous for those using it, including children going to and from the North School. He therefore asked if KCC could be encouraged to act sooner rather than later.

The Deputy Leader, who was also Vice-Chairman of the Joint Transportation Board, said he would raise this with KCC Officers. The Head of Community Safety and Wellbeing advised that she would also contact KCC Officers for an update on this. She advised that the cameras in this location had not been operational for a number of years and quotes for replacements were being pursued.

Resolved:

That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Joint Transportation Board held on the 10th September 2019 be received and noted.

181 Economic Regeneration and Investment Board Notes – 11th September 2019

Resolved:

That the Notes of the Meeting of the Economic Regeneration and Investment Board held on the 11th September 2019 be received and noted.

182 Schedule of Key Decisions to be Taken

Resolved:

That the latest Schedule of Key Decisions as set out within the report be received and noted.

183 Exclusion of the Public

Resolved:

That pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item, as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the public were present there would

308 CA 101019 be disclosure of exempt information hereinafter specified by reference to Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 12A of the Act, where in the circumstances the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

184 Corporate Property and Projects – Service Changes

The Portfolio Holder introduced the confidential report which asked Cabinet to consider proposals to change the Corporate Property and Projects Service, the impact these would have on the delivery of service priorities and the consultation process followed.

Resolved:

That (i) the recommendations of the Joint Consultative Committee of 27th September 2019, which note the outcomes of the consultation and proposals for the Corporate Property and Projects Service, be endorsed.

(ii) the implementation of the service changes of the Corporate Property and Projects Service be approved as outlined in the Joint Consultative Committee report of 27th September 2019.

Recommended:

That the potential costs of £46,427 resulting from early release of pension on the grounds of redundancy be approved.

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Queries concerning these Minutes? Please contact Member Services: Telephone: 01233 330349 Email: [email protected] Agendas, Reports and Minutes are available on: http://ashford.moderngov.co.uk

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Major Casework Directorate Customer Services: 0303 444 5000 Temple Quay House e-mail: Environmentalservices@ 2 The Square planninginspectorate.gov.uk Bristol, BS1 6PN

Ms Sue Pearse Your Ref: 17/00567/AS Development Services Director Civic Centre Our Ref: APP/E2205/W/20/3259450 Tannery Lane Ashford Date: 18 December 2020

Kent TN23 1PL Sent by email: [email protected]

Dear Ms Pearse

TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING (ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT) REGULATIONS 2017 (SI 571/2017) (‘THE EIA REGULATIONS’)

Appeal by: Telereal Trillium

Site Address: Former Wye College, Wye, ASHFORD

I refer to the above appeal. The Secretary of State has considered the application in accordance with Regulation 5 (6) b of the above Regulations.

The development proposed, namely, the conversion of former College buildings with associated restoration and alterations to buildings, demolition of later structures and rebuilding to provide 38 dwellings and community space; together with provisions of two new dwellings, parking courts with car barns, cycle storage and refuse stores on land to the north of the retained buildings and associated landscaping; and change to parking arrangements for Squires Cottages (Change of Use from College residential accommodation back to 4 individual dwellings approved under Reference 16/00893/AS) 2) Listed Building: Conversion of former College buildings to provide 38 dwellings with internal and external alterations to include new openings, new partitions, closure of existing openings, removal of doors and partitions, new staircases and opening up of intermediate floor. Demolition of existing extensions, falls within the description at 10(b) of Schedule 2 to the above Regulations. In the opinion of the Secretary of State, having taken into account the criteria in Schedule 3 to the above Regulations, the proposal would not be likely to have significant effect on the environment for the following reasons:

The proposal is small in scale, but is identified as being located within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and having potential to affect the Stodmarsh Special Protection Area (SPA), Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Ramsar and a Scheduled Monument (SM) (the south-western quadrant of the application site).

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There will be localised impacts on landscape, cultural heritage and water quality. No significant environmental effects are identified in terms of noise, waste, contamination, flooding or traffic. The appellant has submitted information detailing measures to reduce and offset total phosphorus and Total Nitrogen reaching Stodmarsh via the Great Stour River and has concluded that the proposals will result in no effect on the integrity of the Stodmarsh SPA, Ramsar and SAC. Historic England supports the appeal in principle and has identified benefits coming from the proposal along with recommended conditions in order to secure them. No objections are raised on heritage grounds and no significant effects are identified.

Considering the nature of the receiving environment, and taking into account the scale and nature of the proposed development coupled with the impact characteristics, it is considered that while the development may have a minor visual impacts on the landscape it is not likely to give rise to a significant environmental effect.

Accordingly, in exercise of the powers conferred on the Secretary of State by Regulations 5(6)(b) of the above Regulations, the Secretary of State hereby directs that this development is not Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) development.

Under regulation 28(1) of the above Regulations, the relevant planning authority must take steps to secure that this screening direction is placed on the part of the Planning Register which relates to the application in question. I would be grateful if you could do so to ensure that the Secretary of State's view is publicly available.

(This direction does not affect any duties of the appellant under other legislation, including The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.)

Yours sincerely Lucy Hicks

Lucy Hicks EIA and Land Rights Advisor (Signed with the authority of the Secretary of State) cc: The appellant’s agent Mr Jonathan Rowlatt and Richard Buxton Solicitors.

Where applicable, you can use the internet to submit documents, to see information and to check the progress of cases through the Planning Portal. The address of our search page is: https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/

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Major Casework Directorate Customer Services: 0303 444 5000 Temple Quay House e-mail: Environmentalservices@ 2 The Square planninginspectorate.gov.uk Bristol, BS1 6PN

Ms Sue Pearse Your Ref: 19/01327/AS Development Services Director Civic Centre Our Ref: APP/E2205/W/20/3259462 Tannery Lane Ashford Date: 18 December 2020

Kent TN23 1PL Sent by email: [email protected]

Dear Ms Pearse

TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING (ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT) REGULATIONS 2017 (SI 571/2017) (‘THE EIA REGULATIONS’)

Appeal by: Tele Property Investments Ltd

Site Address: Occupation Road, Wye, ASHFORD

I refer to the above appeal. The Secretary of State has considered the application in accordance with Regulation 5 (6) b of the above Regulations.

The development proposed, namely, the residential development of 40 dwellings, with associated access road, car park and open space falls within the description at 10(b) of Schedule 2 to the above Regulations. In the opinion of the Secretary of State, having taken into account the criteria in Schedule 3 to the above Regulations, the proposal would not be likely to have significant effect on the environment for the following reasons:

There will be localised impacts on landscape, and water quality. No significant environmental effects are identified in terms of noise, waste, contamination, flooding or traffic. The appellant has submitted information detailing measures to reduce and offset total phosphorus and Total Nitrogen reaching Stodmarsh via the Great Stour River and has concluded that the proposals will result in no effect on the integrity of the Stodmarsh SPA, Ramsar and SAC.

Considering the nature of the receiving environment, and taking into account the scale and nature of the proposed development coupled with the impact characteristics, it is

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considered that while the development may have a minor visual impacts on the landscape it is not likely to give rise to a significant environmental effect.

(This direction does not affect any duties of the appellant under other legislation, including The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.)

Yours sincerely Mrs Lucy Hicks

Mrs Lucy Hicks EIA and Land Rights Advisor (Signed with the authority of the Secretary of State) cc: The appellant’s agent Mr Jonathan Rowlatt and Richard Buxton Solicitors.

https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/

Major Casework Directorate Customer Services: 0303 444 5000 Temple Quay House e-mail: Environmentalservices@ 2 The Square planninginspectorate.gov.uk Bristol, BS1 6PN

Ms Sue Pearse Your Ref: 19/01330/AS Development Services Director Civic Centre Our Ref: APP/E2205/W/20/3259465 Tannery Lane Ashford Date: 18 December 2020

Kent TN23 1PL Sent by email: [email protected]

Dear Ms Pearse

TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING (ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT) REGULATIONS 2017 (SI 571/2017) (‘THE EIA REGULATIONS’)

Appeal by: Tele Property Investments Ltd

Site Address: Former Government Offices, Olantigh Road, Wye, ASHFORD

I refer to the above appeal. The Secretary of State has considered the application in accordance with Regulation 5 (6) b of the above Regulations.

The development proposed, namely, the demolition of offices and redevelopment with twenty dwellings with associated garages, parking and internal estate roads and open space falls within the description at 10(b) of Schedule 2 to the above Regulations. In the opinion of the Secretary of State, having taken into account the criteria in Schedule 3 to the above Regulations, the proposal would not be likely to have significant effect on the environment for the following reasons:

Considering the nature of the receiving environment, and taking into account the scale and nature of the proposed development coupled with the impact characteristics, it is

https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/

considered that while the development may have a minor visual impacts on the landscape it is not likely to give rise to a significant environmental effect.

(This direction does not affect any duties of the appellant under other legislation, including The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.)

Yours sincerely Mrs Lucy Hicks

Mrs Lucy Hicks EIA and Land Rights Advisor (Signed with the authority of the Secretary of State) cc: The appellant’s agent Mr Jonathan Rowlatt and Richard Buxton Solicitors.

https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/

Wye with Hinxhill Housing Needs Survey August 2018

Tessa O’Sullivan – Rural Housing Enabler

With the support of:

Wye with Hinxhill Parish Council Ashford Borough Council

Contents Page

1. Executive Summary 3

2. Introduction 4

3. Background Information 4

4. Method 5

5. Results 6

6. Local Housing Costs 17

7. Assessment of Housing Need 20 7.1 Assessment of need for affordable housing 20 7.2 Assessment of need for older persons housing 36

8. Summary of Findings 48 8.1 Summary of need for affordable housing 48 8.2 Summary of need for older persons housing 49

9. Appendix W1 – Question 20 comments 50

10. Appendix W2 – Letter to householder and housing needs survey 53

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Rural Housing Enabler (RHE) undertook a parish wide survey to ascertain if there are shortfalls in affordable housing provision within the parish of Wye with Hinxhill. The survey also sought to identify the needs of older households of all tenures needing to downsize/move to more suitable accommodation. This report provides overall information as well as analysis of housing need.

A survey was posted to every household within the parish in July 2018. 1200 surveys were distributed with 387 surveys being returned, representing a 32% response rate.

Analysis of the returned survey forms identified that 75% of respondents are owner occupiers. 55% of respondents have lived in the parish for over 10 years.

High property prices and a predominance of privately owned homes means that some local people are unable to afford a home within the parish. At the time of writing the report the cheapest property for sale was a 3 bed bungalow for £275,000; to afford to buy this a deposit of approximately £41,250 would be required and an income of £66,786. To afford to rent privately an income of approximately £28,600 would be required to afford the cheapest property found in the village which was a 2 bed flat for £715 pcm.

Overall, a need for up to 21 affordable homes, for the following local households was identified: • 7 single people • 6 couples • 8 families • 19 households currently live in Wye and 2 live outside but want to return

The survey also identified a requirement for 19 homes for older households: • 14 single people • 4 couples • 1 family • 18 households all currently live in Wye and 1 lives outside but wants to return • 7 of the older households need affordable housing. These affordable homes are required in addition to the 21 affordable homes identified above.

The survey has identified a total need for 28 affordable homes; 7 of which are for older households. In addition there is a requirement for 12 open market properties suitable for older households who want to downsize/move to more suitable housing for their needs.

2. INTRODUCTION TO THE WYE HOUSING NEEDS SURVEY

The Rural Housing Enabler worked with Wye with Hinxhill Parish Council and Ashford Borough Council to undertake a housing needs survey within the parish.

The aim of this survey is to identify in general terms if there is a housing need from local people. It is not to provide a list of names and addresses of individuals requiring a home.

3. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

In a report published in June 2018 by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) it is stated that: ‘The affordability gaps in rural areas are high compared to urban areas. The average rural house price is around £19,000 above the average for England as a whole, at £320,700 compared to £301,900, and is more than £87,000 higher than the urban average excluding London (£233,600)’ 1

Small developments of local needs housing schemes can provide affordable housing for local people, thereby enabling them to stay in their community and contribute to village life. This can make a real difference to the vitality of village services.

In 2007 Matthew Taylor, then MP for Truro and St Austell, was asked by the then Prime Minister to conduct a review on how land use and planning can better support rural business and deliver affordable housing. Many rural communities are faced by a combination of higher than average house prices and lower than average local wages. This can create challenges for individual families, the local economy and the wider sustainability of the community.

On July 23 rd 2008 Matthew Taylor presented his Review to the Government. The then Government issued their response to the review in March 2009 where they accepted the majority of Matthew Taylor’s recommendations (Department of Communities and Local Government 2009).

The Government believe that the Community Right To Build will shift power from them to allow local people to deliver homes that are needed in their communities so that villages are vibrant places to live and younger people are not forced to move away because of a shortage of affordable homes. 2 The Community Right to Build forms part of the neighbourhood planning provisions contained in the Localism Act 2011.

The Rural Housing Enabler Programme, which is delivered in Kent through Action with Communities in Rural Kent – the Rural Community Council for Kent and Medway, is supported by Local Authorities across Kent and Medway including Ashford Borough Council.

Action with Communities in Rural Kent is a registered charity (No. 212796) whose purpose is to improve the quality of life of local communities, particularly for disadvantaged people, and to facilitate the development of thriving, diverse and sustainable communities throughout rural Kent. Since March 1998 Action with Communities in Rural Kent has employed a Rural Housing Enabler whose role is to provide independent support, advice and information to Parish Councils and community groups concerned with the lack of local needs housing in their rural communities.

1 A New Rural Settlement: Fixing the affordable housing crisis in rural England https://www.ippr.org/files/2018- 06/1530194000_a-new-rural-settlement-june18.pdf 2 http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/neighbourhoodplansimpact

The RHE will assist with carrying out a housing needs survey, analyse the results and help identify suitable sites in conjunction with the local authority and others, for a local needs housing scheme. Once a partnership has been established between the Parish Council, the chosen housing association and the local authority to develop a scheme, the independent role of the RHE helps to ensure the project proceeds smoothly and to the benefit of the community.

4. METHOD

The Rural Housing Enabler from Action with Communities in Rural Kent agreed the format of the survey and covering letter with the Parish Council and a copy of the survey was posted to every household in the parish in July 2018.

Surveys were returned in pre paid envelopes to Action with Communities in Rural Kent. Copies of the survey were available to complete for anyone who had left the parish and wished to return, these were held by the Rural Housing Enabler. It was asked that completed survey forms were returned by 17 th August 2018. All surveys received at Action with Communities in Rural Kent by the 20 th August are included in this report.

1200 surveys were distributed with 387 returned by this date representing a return rate of 32%.

Some surveys were not fully completed therefore the results are shown for the total answers to each question.

5. RESULTS

Section 1

Listed below are the results of each question asked by the housing needs survey.

Question 1. What type of housing do you live in?

285 Owner occupier (with or without mortgage) 1 Tied tenancy 6 Housing Association rented 41 Private rented 1 Living with relatives 39 Council property 3 Housing Association shared ownership 5 Other please specify

Other please specify Housing Association shared ownership Council property Living with relatives Private rented Housing Association rented Tied tenancy Owner occupier (with or without mortgage)

0 100 200 Frequency

75% of respondents are owner occupiers.

Question 2.

Number of bedrooms in your home

40 1 97 2 143 3 79 4 19 5 3 6 1 8

140 120 100 80 60

Frequency 40 20 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 8

Number of people that currently live in the property

1 0 138 1 152 2 31 3 35 4 12 5 1 6

140 120 100 80 60

Frequency 40 20 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Question 3. How long have you lived in the parish?

21 Less than 1 year 76 1-5 years 75 6-10 years 43 11-15 years 60 16-25 years 105 26+ years

26+ years 16-25 years 11-15 years 6-10 years 1-5 years Less than 1 year 0 20 40 60 80 100 Frequency

208 respondents (55%) have lived in the parish for over 10 years.

Question 4. Have any members of your household left the parish in the last 5 years?

58 Yes 305 No

300

250

200

150

Frequency 100

0 Yes No

Question 5. If you answered yes to question 4, please state what relationship they have to you.

38 Child 2 Parent 5 Other relative 11 Other please specify

Other please specify

Other relative

Parent

Child

0 10 20 30 Frequency

Question 6. Please indicate the reason why they left.

8 Lack of affordable housing 21 To attend university/college 16 Employment 18 Other please specify

Other please specify Employment

To attend university/college Lack of affordable housing

0 5 10 15 20 Frequency

Answers given under ‘Other’ include, to live with partner, death, marriage.

Question 7. Would they return if more affordable accommodation could be provided?

10 Yes 38 No

35 30 25 20 15 Frequency 10 5 0 Yes No

Question 8. Do you or a member of your household need separate or alternative accommodation either now or in the next 2 or 5 years?

315 No 18 Yes, now 11 Yes, next 2 years 31 Yes, next 5 years

Yes, next 5 years

Yes, next 2 years

Yes, now

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Frequency

60 (16%) respondents said they had a housing need either now or in the next 2 or 5 years.

Section 2 – Housing Needs

Only those respondents who deemed themselves in housing need were asked to complete Section 2.

Question 9. Are you completing this form for yourself or someone else?

41 Self 17 Someone else

40 35 30 25 20 15 Frequency 10 5 0 Self Someone else

Question 10. If you are completing this for someone else please state their relationship to you and where they currently live e.g. with parents, private renting etc.

The respondents who completed the form for someone else were doing so mainly for their adult children who were living at home with parents. One respondent completed forms for relatives who have had to leave their home due to affordability issues.

Question 11. Personal details are not included in this report.

Question 12. If you live outside the parish do you wish to return?

3 Yes 2 No 3

Frequency 1

0 Yes No

Question 13. If you live in the parish do you wish to stay in the parish?

52 Yes 3 No

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 Frequency 15 10 5 0 Yes No

Question 14. What is your connection with the parish? Respondents were asked to indicate all connections that applied to them.

Local connection FREQUENCY I currently live in the parish and have done so continuously for the 42 last 5 years I have previously lived in the parish and have immediate* family 8 who currently live there and have done so continuously for the last 10 years I have lived in the parish for a total of 7 out of the last 10 years 16 I am in full tim e or part time* employment in the parish 7 I need to move to the parish to take up full time or part time* 1 employment I need to move to the parish to give or receive support to or from 2 an immediate family member

Question 15. What type of household will you be in alternative accommodation?

25 Single person 16 Couple 15 Family 1 Other

10 Frequency 5

0 Single person Couple Family Other

Question 16. How many people in each age group need alternative accommodation?

AGE 0 - 9 10 -15 16 - 19 20 -24 25 - 44 45 - 59 60 - 74 75+ Male 7 1 3 7 10 10 6 3 Female 4 4 2 7 11 5 5 14 Total 11 5 5 14 21 15 11 17

Question 17. Why are you seeking a new home?

Other I am homeless/threatened with homelessness Difficulty maintaining home Access problems To move to a better/safer environment Lodging Sheltered accom due to age/infirmity New job Disability/disabled Divorce/separation Setting up home with partner Retirement To be nearer work To be nearer family Private tenancy ending Current home affecting health First independent home Present home in need of major repair Cannot afford existing mortgage Present home too expensive Need smaller home Need larger home

0 5 10 Frequency

Question 18. What is your current housing situation?

21 Owner occupier with/without mortgage 16 Renting privately 1 Renting from Housing Association 5 Renting from Council 0 Shared ownership 0 Tied tenancy 11 Living with relatives 2 Other

Other Living with relatives Tied tenancy Shared ownership Renting from Council Renting from Housing Association Renting privately Owner occupier with/without mortgage

0 5 10 15 20 Frequency

Question 19. Are you an older person/household wanting to downsize/move to more suitable housing for your needs.

22 Yes 33 No

30 25 20 15

Frequency 10

5 0 Yes No

Question 20. Please tell us in your own words why you need to move and what prevents you from doing so.

There were 51 responses to this question; a full list of responses can be found in Appendix W1.

Question 21. What type of housing do you need? Please tick any that apply

Type of Housing Frequency Flat 21 House 32 Bungalow 16 Accommodation suitable for older persons 10 without support Extra care housing 7 Other 1

Question 22. Which tenure would best suit your housing need?

25 Renting - Housing Association/Council 14 Shared ownership - Housing Association 26 Owner occupier 7 Other please specify

Other please specify

Owner occupier

Shared ownership - Housing Association

Renting - Housing Association/Council

0 10 20 Frequency

Question 23. How many bedrooms will you need?

17 1 24 2 14 3 1 4 0 5+

10 Frequency 5

0 1 2 3 4 5+

Question 24. Please indicate the total gross annual income of the household in housing need.

More than £60,000 £50,000 - £60,000 £40,000 - £50,000

£35,000 - £40,000 £30,000 - £35,000

£25,000 - £30,000 £20,000 - £25,000 £15,000 - £20,000 £10,000 - £15,000

Under £10,000

0 2 4 6 8 10 Frequency

Question 25. How much money could you raise towards the purchase of a property? The following answers were given: • 1 x £2000 • 2 x £10,000 • 1 x £30,000 • 2 x £50,000 • 2 x £100,000 • 1 x £130,000 • 2 x £280,000 • 2 x £300,000 • 2 x £350,000 • 2 x £500,000 • 1 x £650,000

Question 26. How much money would you be able to raise as a deposit towards buying your own home? The following answers were given: • 1 x £2000 • 1 x £3000 • 2 x £5000 • 6 x £10,000 • 2 x £20,000 • 1 x £25,000 • 1 x £30,000 • 4 x £50,000 • 1 x £80,000 • 1 x £250,000 • 1 x £400,000

Question 27. Do you have any particular or specialised housing requirements? The following responses were given: • Wife partially disabled • Bungalow would be ideal. Straight wide staircase for potential stair lift arrangement • Lack of mobility may be a problem in the future • Becoming more frail, aged 90, and may need more care e.g. meals, bathing • Need ground floor property or one with life due to disability • Both children have ASD, need stability and a quiet, rural location • Stairs are becoming a problem, with age • Mobility scooter, walk in shower, ramp to front door plus grab rails in various places • Potential disability, lower body • Disabled, cannot climb stairs • I currently need high levels of support. I am in receipt of higher care level of personal independence allowance • My chest was badly affected by the black mould in my last rented accommodation

Q28. Are you registered on the council’s housing register?

7 Yes 48 No

45 40 35 30 25 20

Frequency 15 10 5 0 Yes No

6. LOCAL HOUSING COSTS

To fully assess local housing need it is important to look at open market prices in the private sector of houses both to rent and buy.

Property for sale

Searches of www.rightmove.co.uk which markets property for a number of leading local estate agents, in August 2018, showed the following cheapest properties for sale in Wye.

Type of Property Number of Pri ce Bedrooms £ Semi -detached house 2 300 000 Detached house 2 450 000

Detached bungalow 3 275 000 Apartment 3 280 000

Terraced house 4 350 000 Semi -detached house 4 475 000

Property to rent

A similar search for rental property found the following currently available:

Type of Property Number of Price £pcm. Bedrooms Flat 2 715 Cottage 2 800 Cottage 2 825 Semi -detached house 3 1300 Detached house 4 1500

Household income required to afford current market prices

Using local information, the table below shows gross income level needed to purchase a property in the area. The figures are calculated assuming a 15% deposit and using 3.5 x gross income. Monthly repayment is based on a 2 year fixed standard with HSBC at 3.94% (August 2018) 25 year mortgage term and is calculated using HSBC’s mortgage calculator.

It should be noted that in the current economic climate lenders have made the borrowing criteria for potential mortgagees far stricter by requiring at least a 15% deposit, making securing a mortgage difficult for some first time buyers, especially those on lower incomes. Although there are higher LTV mortgages available, they tend to attract a higher interest rate.

Type of Property Price £ Deposit Gross Income Monthly (15%) Level Repayment 2 bed s emi -detached 300 000 45 000 72 857 1049 house 2 bed d etached house 450 000 67 500 109 286 1574

3 bed d etached 275 000 41 250 66 786 962 bungalow 3 bed a partment 280 000 42 000 68 000 979

4 bed t erraced house 350 000 52 500 85 00 0 1224 4 bed s emi -detached 475 000 95 000 108 571 1618 house 20% dep required

To gauge the income level required to afford to rent privately the following calculations assume that 30% gross income is spent on housing. (A household is considered able to afford market rented housing in cases where the rent payable would constitute no more than 30% of gross income).

Type of Property Price Approx. Gross Annual income £ pcm £ 2 bed flat 715 28 600 2 bed cottage 800 32 000 2 bed cottage 825 33 000 3 bed semi -detached house 1300 52 000 4 bed detached house 1500 60 000

Using HM Land Registry data on house sales ( www.mouseprice.com ) using postcode area TN25 which lies within or includes part of the following towns, counties, localities, electoral wards and stations: Aldington, Ashford, Bilsington, Bilting, Bockhanger, Bodsham, Bonnington, Boughton Aluph, Boughton Aluph and Eastwell, Boughton Lees, Brabourne Lees, Brook, Challock, Charing, Downs North, Downs West, East Brabourne, Eastwell, Elmstead, Elmsted, Godinton, Hastingleigh, Hinxhill, Hothfield, Kennington, Kent, Lympne and Stanford, Mersham, Monks Horton, North Downs West, Romney Marsh, Saxon Shore, Sellindge, Smeeth, Stanford, Stowting, Stowting Common, Victoria, Weald East, West Brabourne, Westwell, Wye, the average house prices in the last 3 months are –

1 bed properties £217,700 2 bed properties £296,600 3 bed properties £367,800 4 bed properties £532,200 5+ bed properties £681,800

To afford the average cost of a 1 bed property using the mortgage calculation shown above, a salary of £52,870 would be required. To afford the average cost of a 2 bed property a salary of £72,031 would be required.

Information provided by ‘mouseprice’ states that the average property in the TN25 area costs £405,200 with average earnings being £28,564. This means that the average property costs over 14 times more than

18 the average salary. The source used by ‘mouseprice’ to assess price to earnings ratio is Calnea Analytics proprietary price data and earnings data – updated quarterly.

Affordable Rent

The Government has introduced changes relating to rents charged to new tenants of social housing from April 2011. Affordable Rent properties allow landlords to set rents anywhere between current social rent levels and up to 80% of local market rents.

Due to a lack of information available on average private rent levels in the area, affordable rent levels are assessed as Local Housing Allowance (housing benefit) levels for the Wye area.

Size of Property LHA Levels £pcm/Affordable Rent levels £pcm 1 bed 531 2 bed 630 3 bed 749 4 bed 969

The table below shows income needed to afford the affordable rent levels using 30% of gross income as the indicator of what is affordable, for those who are not in receipt of housing benefit.

Property Price Gross annual £ pcm Income £ 1 bed 531 21 240 2 bed 630 25 200 3 bed 749 29 960 4 bed 969 38 760

Shared ownership

To give an indication of respondents’ ability to afford shared ownership, levels of income and rent/mortgage have been taken into consideration on purchasing a 25% and a 40% share of a property with estimated values of £217,700 for a 1 bed property, £296,600 for a 2 bed property and £367,800 for a 3 bed property. These values have been taken from average values found at www.mouseprice.com. Affordability is calculated using the Homes and Communities Agency’s target incomes calculator.

Calculations are made assuming a 10% deposit of mortgage share.

Property Share Deposit Monthly Monthly Monthly Monthly Gross price £ Required mortgage rent £ Service total £ Income £ £ charge required 217 700 25% 5425 259 373 95 727 26 190 217 700 40% 7595 414 298 95 807 30 162 296 600 25% 7415 354 510 95 959 34 541 296 600 40% 10 381 566 408 95 1069 41 226 367 800 25% 9195 439 632 95 1166 42 011 367 800 40% 14 712 702 506 95 1303 51 123

7. ASSESSMENT OF HOUSING NEED

This section is divided into two categories; the need for affordable housing and the needs of older people in the parish requiring alternative housing, either affordable or open market. A total of 60 respondents said they had a housing need; 22 of those were older households.

7.1 Assessment of the need for affordable housing – rented and shared ownership

This analysis is divided into categories of those who need housing now, within the next 2 years and within the next 5 years.

At this stage some respondents might be excluded if they do not provide sufficient information for an assessment of their needs to be made, do not want affordable housing or are not eligible for affordable housing.

In total 37 respondents said they had a need for affordable housing in the following timescales: • Now x 12 • Within the next 2 years x 8 • Within the next 5 years x 17

Assessment of the 12 households seeking affordable housing now

4 respondents were excluded because they only tenure they wanted was owner occupation.

The 8 households in need of affordable housing now are: • 2 x single people • 3 x couple • 3 x family

Single people – there were 2 single people

Age Frequency 20 -24 2

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency First independent home 1 To be nearer family 1 To be nearer work 1 Other (Parent rents house in 1 Wye with partner, I cannot stay there permanently

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Living with relatives 1 Other ( Homeless ) 1

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 1 2

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency Flat 1 Flat/house 1

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Renting HA 1 Renting HA/Owner occupation 1

Income:

Income Frequency Under £10,000 2

Amount available towards purchase of a property: There were no responses to this question

Amount available towards a deposit: There were no responses to this question

Particular or specialised housing requirements: None

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency No 2

The respondents indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; they currently live in the parish.

The following table shows the respondents’ ability to afford the various forms of tenure.

It should be noted that actual affordability of the various forms of tenure required depends on income and the ability to pay the required deposit and other finances necessary to buy a home.

Income Number of Renting Shared Starter Open Private respondents HA Ownership home market rent purchase Under 2 2 with 0 0 0 0 £10,000 HB

It is assumed that respondents who cannot afford the affordable rent will be eligible for housing benefit (HB).

Couples – there were 3 couples. Two respondents did not indicate their partners’ age

Age and Gender Frequency 20 -24 1 25 -44 3

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency Setting up home wit h partner 3 To be nearer work 1 New job 1 To be nearer family 1 Other (Wish to have own 1 home) Other (To return to the village 1 I was born in)

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Living with relatives 2 Renting from Council 1

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency Flat /House 2 Flat/House/Bungalow 1

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Renting HA/Shared ownership 1 Shared ownership 1 Shared ownership/owner 1 occupier

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedroo ms Frequency 1 1 2 2

Household’s joint gross annual income:

Income Frequency £25,000 - £30,000 1 £35,000 - £40,000 1 More than £60,000 1

Amount available towards purchase of a property: • Don’t know • Mortgage lending not known

Amount available towards a deposit: • Don’t know

Particular or specialised housing requirements: None

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency No 3

The respondents indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; two currently live in the parish and one lives outside but wants to return.

The following table shows the respondents’ ability to afford the various forms of tenure.

It should be noted that actual affordability of the various forms of tenure required depends on income and the ability to pay the required deposit and other finances necessary to buy a home.

Income Number of Renting Shared Open Private respondents HA Ownership market rent purchase £25,000 - 1 1 0 0 0 £30,000 £35,000 - 1 1 1 x 2 bed 0 1 £40,000 More than 1 1 1 x 2 bed 0 1 £60,000

Families - there were 3 families

Adult Adult Child Child Child Age Age Age Age Age Family 1 45 -59 10 -15 F 16 -19 M Family 2 20 -24 25 -44 0-9 M 0-9 M 0-9 F Family 3 45 -59 25 -44 0-9F

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency Need larger home 1 Private tenancy ending 1 Need larger home 2 Present home too expensive 1 To move to a better/safer 1 environment Disability/disabled 1 Other (Social/medical need) 1

Current housing:

Current Housi ng Frequency Renting privately 2 Renting from council 1

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency House 2 House/bungalow 1

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Renting HA 2 Renting HA/Shared ownership 1

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 3 3

Household’s joint gross annual income:

Income Frequency £25 ,000 - £30 ,000 1 £35,000 - £40,000 1 £50,000 - £60,000 1

Amount available towards purchase of a property: • Not sure • 0 • £10,000

Amount available towards a deposit: • 0 • £5000 • £10,000

Particular or specialised housing requirements: • Both children have ASD. Need stability and a quiet, rural location

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency Yes 2 No 1

The respondents indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; they currently live in the parish.

The following table shows the respondents’ ability to afford the various forms of tenure.

It should be noted that actual affordability of the various forms of tenure required depends on income and the ability to pay the required deposit and other finances necessary to buy a home.

Income Number of Renting Shared Open Private respondents HA Ownership market rent purchase £25,000 - 1 1 with 0 0 0 £30,000 HB £35,000 - 1 1 0 0 0 £40,000 £50,000 - 1 1 1 x 3 bed 0 1 £60,000

Assessment of the 8 households seeking affordable housing within the next 2 years

2 respondents were excluded because the only tenure they wanted was owner occupation.

The 6 households in need of affordable housing within the next 2 years are: • 2 x single people • 2 x couple • 2 x family

Single people – there were 2 single people. One respondent did not indicate their age

Age Frequency 20 -24 1

Reason for seeking new home:

Reaso n Frequency First independent home 1 Private tenancy ending 1

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Living with relatives 1 Renting privately 1

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 1 2

Type of housing needed:

Type o f housing Frequency Flat 1 Flat/bungalow 1

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Renting HA 2

Income:

Income Frequency Under £10,000 1 £20,000 - £25,000 1

Amount available towards purchase of a property: • £0 • £100,000

Amount available towards a deposit: • £0 • £10,000

Particular or specialised housing requirements: None

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency No 2

The respondents indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; they currently live in the parish.

The following table shows the respondents’ ability to afford the various forms of tenure.

It should be noted that actual affordability of the various forms of tenure required depends on income and the ability to pay the required deposit and other finances necessary to buy a home.

Income Number of Renting Shared Starter Open Private respondents HA Ownership home market rent purchase Under 1 1 with 0 0 0 0 £10,000 HB £20,000 - 1 1 0 0 0 0 £25,000

It is assumed that respondents who cannot afford the affordable rent will be eligible for housing benefit (HB).

Couples – there were 2 couples. One respondent did not indicate their partner’s age

Age and Gender Frequency 20 -24 3

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Freq uency Setting up home with partner 2 First independent home 1

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Living with relatives 2

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency House 2

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Renting HA 1 Shared ownership/owner 1 occupier

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 2 1 3 1

Household’s joint gross annual income:

Income Frequency £15,000 - £2 0,000 1 £25,000 - £30,000 1

Amount available towards purchase of a property: • Don’t know

Amount available towards a deposit: • £20,000

Particular or specialised housing requirements: None

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency No 2

The respondents indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; they currently live in the parish.

The following table shows the respondents’ ability to afford the various forms of tenure.

It should be noted that actual affordability of the various forms of tenure required depends on income and the ability to pay the required deposit and other finances necessary to buy a home.

Income Number of Renting Shared Open Private respondents HA Ownership market rent purchase £15,000 - 1 1 with 0 0 0 £20,000 HB £25,000 - 1 1 0 0 1 £30,000

Families - there were 2 families

Adult Adult Child Child Age Age Age Age Family 1 25 -44 25 -44 0-9 M Family 2 45 -59 45 -59 10 -15F

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency Private tenancy ending 2 Other (Not sure when, but we 1 know Wye College/Imperial want to sell our property)

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Renting privately 2

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency House 1 Flat/house 1

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Renting HA /Shared ownership 1 Shared o wnership/owner 1 occupation

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 2 1 3 1

Household’s joint gross annual income: One respondent did not indicate their income

Income Frequency £15,000 - £20 ,000 1

Amount available towards purchase of a property: There were no responses to this question

Amount available towards a deposit: There were no responses to this question

Particular or specialised housing requirements: None

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Registe r Frequency No 2

The respondent indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; they currently live in the parish.

The following table shows the respondent’s ability to afford the various forms of tenure.

It should be noted that actual affordability of the various forms of tenure required depends on income and the ability to pay the required deposit and other finances necessary to buy a home.

Income Number of Renting Shared Open Private respondents HA Ownership market rent purchase £15,0 00 - 1 1 with 0 0 0 £20,000 HB

Assessment of the 17 households seeking affordable housing within the next 5 years

10 respondents were excluded for the following reasons; • 5 respondents wanted to buy on the open market only • 5 respondents did not indicate sufficient information for an assessment of their need to be made

The 7 households in need of affordable housing within the next 5 years are: • 3 x single people • 1 x couple • 3 x family

Single people – there were 3 single people

Age Frequency 16 -19 1 20 -24 1 45 -59 1

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency First independent home 2 Disability/disabled 1

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Living with relatives 2 Renting from council 1

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 1 3

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency Flat /house 1 Flat/house /bungalow 1 Bungalow 1

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Renting HA 2 Renting HA/Shared ownership 1

Income:

Income Frequency Under £1 0,000 3

Amount available towards purchase of a property: • Nil • None • £10,000

Amount available towards a deposit: • None • £2000 • £10,000

Particular or specialised housing requirements: • I currently need high levels of support. I am in receipt of higher care level of personal independence allowance (DLA)

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency No 2 Yes 1

The respondents indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; they currently live in the parish.

The following table shows the respondents’ ability to afford the various forms of tenure.

It should be noted that actual affordability of the various forms of tenure required depends on income and the ability to pay the required deposit and other finances necessary to buy a home.

Income Number of Renting Shared Starter Open Private respondents HA Ownership home market rent purchase Under 3 3 with 0 0 0 0 £10,000 HB

It is assumed that respondents who cannot afford the affordable rent will be eligible for housing benefit (HB).

Couples – there was 1 couple. The respondent did not indicate their partner’s age

Age and Gender Frequency 16 -19 1

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency First independent home 1

Current housing:

Current Hous ing Frequency Living with relatives 1

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency Flat/House 1

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Renting HA 1

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 2 1

Household’s joint gross annual income:

Income Frequency £25,000 - £30,000 1

Amount available towards purchase of a property: Not answered

Amount available towards a deposit: Not answered

Particular or specialised housing requirements: None

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency No 1

The respondent indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; they currently live in the parish

The following table shows the respondent’s ability to afford the various forms of tenure.

It should be noted that actual affordability of the various forms of tenure required depends on income and the ability to pay the required deposit and other finances necessary to buy a home.

Income Number of Renting Shared Open Private respondents HA Ownership market rent purchase £25,000 - 1 1 0 0 0 £30,000

Families - there were 3 families

Adult Adult Child Child Child Age Age Age Age Age Family 1 45 -59 25 -44 0-9M 10 -15M Family 2 25 -44 25 -44 0-9F Family 3 25 -44 0-9M

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency Need larger home 1 To be nearer family 1 First independent home 1 Other (Would like my own 1 home)

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Renting privately 2 Renting from council 1

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency House 3

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Renting HA 1 Shared ownership 1 Renting HA/Shared ownership 1

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 2 2 3 1

Household’s joint gross annual income:

Income Fre quency £10 ,000 - £15 ,000 2 £40,000 - £5 0,000 1

Amount available towards purchase of a property: • Don’t know • Nil • Have not looked into this

Amount available towards a deposit: • Not sure – parents may help • Nil • Have not looked into this.

Particular or specialised housing requirements: None

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency No 3

The respondents indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; two currently live in the parish and one lives outside but wants to return.

The following table shows the respondent’s ability to afford the various forms of tenure.

It should be noted that actual affordability of the various forms of tenure required depends on income and the ability to pay the required deposit and other finances necessary to buy a home.

Income Number of Renting Shared Open Private respondents HA Ownership market rent purchase £10,000 - 2 2 with 0 0 0 £15,000 HB £40,000 - 1 Not Possibly 1 x 0 0 £50,000 eligible 3 bed

7.2 Assessment of the requirement for housing for older households

Householders were asked to respond to the survey if they were older people who needed to downsize and/or move to more suitable housing for their needs; this included owner occupiers.

The analysis is divided into categories of those who require alternative housing now, within the next 2 years and within the next 5 years. Respondents may be excluded if they did not indicate sufficient information for an assessment of their need to be made.

In total, 22 respondents said they were older households wanting to downsize/move to more suitable housing for their needs. They wanted to move in the following timescales: • Now x 5 • Within the next 2 years x 3 • Within the next 5 years x 14

Assessment of the 5 households who require alternative housing now.

The 5 households seeking alternative housing within the now are:

• 4 x single people • 1 x couple

Single people – there were 4 single people

Age and Gender Frequency 60 -74 2 75+ 2

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency Need smaller home 2 Present home too expensive 1 Disability/disabled 1 Need larger home 1 To be nearer family 2 Homeless/threatened with 1 homelessness

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Owner occupier 2 Renting from council 1 Other (Homeless) 1

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 1 1 2 3

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency Bungalow 1 Bungalow/Extra care 1 Accommodation suitable for 1 older persons without support Acco mmodation suitable for 1 older persons without support/Flat/House

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Owner occupation 2 Renting HA 1 Renting HA/Other (Alms 1 House)

Particular or specialised housing requirements: • I need a bungalow with garden access as I have a dog. A walk-in shower room. Large doors. Accessible • My chest was badly affected by the black mould in my last rented accommodation

Income:

Income Frequency £10,000 -£15,000 2 £15,000 -£2 0,000 2

Amount available towards purchase of a property: 2 respondents gave the following answers: • The full cost of a smaller home • Subject to selling present property • I do not know. Maybe about £5000 by the time the accommodation is built

Amount available towards a deposit: One respondent answered this question • Not required

The respondents indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; three currently live in the parish and one lives outside by wants to return.

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequen cy No 3 Yes 1

Couples – there was 1 couple.

Age and Gender Frequency 60 -74 2

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency To be nearer family 1 Present home too expensive 1

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Renting privately 1

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency House 1

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Renting HA/Shared ownership 1

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 3 1

Income:

Income Frequency £10,000 - £1 5,000 1

Amount available towards purchase of a property: • Not sure, £50k could be borrowed

Amount available as a deposit: • £50,000

Particular or specialised housing requirements: None

Registered on Council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency No 1

The respondent indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; they currently live in the parish.

Assessment of the 3 households who require alternative housing within the next 2 years

The 3 households who require alternative housing within the next 2 years are: • 2 x single person • 1 x couple

Single people – there were 2 single people

Age and Gender Frequency 45 -59 1 60 -74 1

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency Present home in need of major 1 repair Present home too expensi ve 2 Current home affecting health 1 Sheltered accom. due to 1 age/infirmity To move to a better/safer 1 environment Disability/disabled 1 Access problems 1 First independent home 1 Difficulty maintaining home 1 Access problems 1 Divorce/separatio n 1

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Renting privately 2

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency Flat/Bungalow/Extra Care 1 Flat/Bungalow/Accom suitable 1 for older persons without support

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Renting HA/Shared ownership 1 Renting HA 1

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 1 2

Income: One respondent did not indicate an amount but said they are self-employed and live off savings

Income Frequency Under £10,000 1

Amount available towards purchase of a property: • £100,000

Amount available as a deposit: • £50,000

Particular or specialised housing requirements: • Need ground floor property or one with lift due to disabilities

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency No 1 Yes 1

The respondents indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; they currently live in the parish.

Couples – there was 1 couple.

Age and Gender Frequency 75+ 2

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency Need smaller home 1 Disability/disabled 1 Access problems 1

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Owner occupier 1

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency Bungalow/ Accommodation for 1 older persons without support

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Owner occupation 1

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 2 1

Income:

Income Frequency More than £60,000 1

Amount available towards purchase of a property: • Total sum required

Amount available towards a deposit: • Total sum required

Particular or specialised housing requirements: • Wife partially disabled

The respondent indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; they currently live in the parish.

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency No 1

Assessment of the 14 households who require alternative housing within the next 5 years

Three respondents were excluded for the following reasons: • 1 respondent did not want to stay in the parish • 2 respondents did not indicate sufficient information for an assessment of their need to be made

The 11 households who require alternative housing within the next 2 years are: • 8 x single person • 2 x couple • 1 x family

Single people – there were 8 single people

Age and Gender Frequency 60 -74 1 75+ 7

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency Present home too expensive 1 Need smaller home 2 Current home affecting health Sheltered accom. due to 4 age/infirmity Disabilit y/disabled 1 Access problems 1 First independent home Difficulty maintaining home 3 Access problems 1 Other (Need smaller garden) 1

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Renting privately 1 Owner occupier 6 Renting from HA 1

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency Flat/Bungalow/Accom suitable 1 for older persons without support House/Bungalow 1 Extra care/Accom suitable for 2 older persons without support Extra care 2 Flat/House 1 Flat/Extra care 1

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Renting HA/Shared ownership 1 Renting HA 1 Owner occupier 4 Owner occupier/private care 2

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 1 5 2 2 3 1

Income: Two respondents did not answer this question

Income Fr equency Under £10,000 2 £15,000 -£20,000 4

Amount available towards purchase of a property: • Enough • All of it • £350,000 • Sale of present house • I could not raise any money • Sell home and some other assets

Amount available as a deposit: • Enough • No mortgage needed • I could not raise any money • Full payment

Particular or specialised housing requirements: • Stairs are becoming a problem with age • Becoming more frail, aged 90 and may need more care e.g. meals, bathing • Lack of mobility may be a problem in the future

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency No 7 Yes 1

The respondents indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; they currently live in the parish.

Couples – there were 2 couples

Age and Gender Frequ ency 60 -74 2 75+ 2

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency Need smaller home 1 Disability/disabled 1 Access problems 1 Sheltered accom due to 1 age/infirmity

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Owner occupier 2

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency Extra care 1 Accom suitable for older 1 persons without support

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Owner occupation 1 Shared ownership 1

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 2 2

Income:

Income Frequency £35,000 -£40,000 1 £40,000 -£50,000 1

Amount available towards purchase of a property: • £300,000 • £500,000

Amount available towards a deposit: • £50,000 • £10,000

Particular or specialised housing requirements: None

The respondents indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; they currently live in the parish.

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency No 2

Family- there was 1 family

Adult Adult Chil d Child Child Age Age Age Age Age Family 1 45 -59 45 -59 0-9 10 -15

Reason for seeking new home:

Reason Frequency Disability/disabled 1

Current housing:

Current Housing Frequency Owner occupier 1

Type of housing needed:

Type of housing Frequency House/Bungalow 1

Tenure best suited:

Tenure Frequency Owner occupation 1

Number of bedrooms required:

No of bedrooms Frequency 4 1

Income:

Income Frequency More than £60,000 1

Amount available towards purchase of a property: • £650,000

Amount available towards a deposit: • £250,000

Particular or specialised housing requirements: • Bungalow would be ideal. Straight wide staircase for potential stair-lift arrangements

The respondent indicated at least one of the local connection criteria; they currently live in the parish.

Registered on the council’s Housing Register:

Housing Register Frequency No 1

8. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The summary is divided into two sections; summary of the need for affordable housing and summary of the need for alternative housing for older households.

8.1 Summary of the need for Affordable Housing

The survey has identified a need for up to 21 homes for local people who are in need of affordable housing; they are 7 single people, 6 couples and 8 families. 8 of the households need housing now, 6 within the next 2 years and 7 within the next 5 years.

The 21 respondents in need of affordable housing indicated strong local connections to the parish of Wye with Hinxhill; 19 currently live in the parish and 2 live outside but want to return.

9 respondents are currently living with relatives, 7 are renting privately, 4 are council tenants and 1 is homeless (sofa-surfing).

Respondents said they needed the following amount of bedrooms: • 8 x 1 bed • 7 x 2 bed • 6 x 3 bed

Actual number of bedrooms respondents would be eligible for in a housing association rented property will depend upon the council’s allocation policy, see below.

10 respondents indicated an interest in shared ownership. Analysis of income and finance available indicated that 4 households may be able to afford this tenure (see below).

Taking into account the council’s allocation policy and affordability of shared ownership the mix of accommodation that respondents require is:

Rented accommodation (HA): • 11 x 1 bed • 4 x 2 bed • 2 x 3 bed

Shared ownership: • 2 x 2 bed • 2 x 3 bed

Actual cost of the shared ownership property and amount household has towards costs and through a mortgage would need to be verified to confirm affordability.

8.2 Summary of the requirement for older people wishing to downsize/move to more suitable housing for their needs

The survey has found a requirement for more suitable housing for 19 older households; they are 14 single people, 4 couples and 1 family.

5 households require alternative housing now, 3 within the next 2 years and 11 within the next 5 years.

12 households are currently owner occupiers, 4 are private rented tenants, 1 is a council tenant, 1 is a housing association and 1 is homeless.

18 of the households currently live in the parish and 1 lives outside but wants to return.

The most frequently given reasons for needing an alternative home was the need for a smaller home, current home too expensive and sheltered accommodation due to age/infirmity; other reasons include disability/disabled, access problems and difficulty maintaining home.

7 of the households need affordable housing, rented from a housing association; 4 are currently private tenants, 1 is a council tenant, 1 is a housing association tenant and 1 is homeless. They want the following type of housing: • 1 x 1 bed bungalow • 1 x 2 bed bungalow/extra care (2 nd bedroom for carer) • 1 x 2 bed house • 2 x 1 bed flat/bungalow/accommodation suitable for older persons without support • 1 x 1 bed flat/bungalow/extra care • 1 x 2 bed house/bungalow

It should be noted that in terms of the size of property an older person/couple needing affordable rented housing may only be eligible for one bedroom.

The 12 older households who were owner occupiers said they require the following type and size of housing; they all want to buy on the open market: • 1 x 2 bed flat/house/accommodation suitable for older persons without support • 3 x 2 bed accommodation suitable for older persons without support • 2 x 2 bed accommodation suitable for older persons without support/extra care • 1 x 1 bed extra care/private care • 2 x 1 bed extra care • 1 x 3 bed flat/house • 1 x 2 bed extra care • 1 x 4 bed house/bungalow

9. Appendix W1 Question 20. Please tell us in your own words why you need to move and what prevent you doing so.

College selling current house - difficult to find suitable property in village that accepts dogs

Recently any new housing has been too large for my needs. I would prefer to be in walkable distance to the village centre and the railway station, as I am now

Need to move to larger property due to lack of one bedroom. Unable to afford private rental due to unpredictable income. Need to stay in parish due to children's school

Difficult to answer this survey accurately for this house, as I have just moved in with my father in Wye, as keeping two gardens and houses maintained is too onerous as we get older. May have to downsize into a small bungalow some time in future

Need to move from first floor flat to ground floor flat because of age and mobility problems. Also need to move to council property as private rent is too high

Two children need to move to start their adult life, get their home paid for before they retire. New houses are built badly and too squashed together plus too expensive. Share ownership only keeps prices up

Closer access to village amenities, shops, library, buses, train

We sold a house in Wye to generate cash to purchase a family home. Our family has lived in the parish for generations and we need to be a cash buyer rather than in a chain

Need to downsize to smaller home more suitable for my wife who is disabled

Need to find affordable accommodation

8 soon to be 9 year old son and 13 year old son share a bedroom. Older son really needs a private bedroom

Age 80+ and coping less well

Seeking a property with better access for wife who suffers with condition (MS). Currently in unsuitable older property.

In years to come I may need to move to a care home and I wish to stay in Wye if possible

May not be able to cope where I now live in the future

Would like own property but prices are too expensive and not enough properties for first time buyer

Price of housing in Wye; costs of renting

Present house too big for my needs, expensive to run. I am unwilling to move from my comfortable home unless suitable accommodation turned up to buy

I have increasingly poor mobility needs due to arthritis and knee problems, and would like a ground floor home. I cannot go to see properties and have no living family or relatives. I need help with moving and want to live in Wye

To have their own home, not living with parents. Costs of private renting or buying are too expensive on a teacher's salary

There is a need during the next 5 years to a smaller house/apartment with less maintenance

On the housing list waiting for a 3 bed house - B and C

I am currently living and working abroad. I have a daughter to look after as well. I would much prefer to bring my wife and child to UK where it would be good to settle with my father who lived in Wye

I do not currently need to move but foresee that with increasing age I will in the next 3 or 4 years, if I cannot live independently

We do not wish to contemplate moving at present

Cannot afford to buy on open market and do not want to be renting forever

Don't want to rent private, due to expense and only being on annual renew

My partner needs to move down and the current house is too small. There are limited houses to rent close to my new work (fire station) for a reasonable price

Moving into the Brambles Care Home

I am happy where I am but in the future I will probably need accommodation without a lot of steps leading to the street

Leaving current home after university and setting up home with partner. Homes too expensive in Wye. Will need a one/two bedroom flat/house

I am disabled, use sticks and have use of a mobility scooter. Require ramp to rear door/garden to existing property or a move to a property with ramp plus good scooter/wheelchair access

I have a cancer diagnosis and will have to consider declining mobility. My current home has many stairs. I may have to reduce my working hours

I will in the near future need more help to stay in my home of 52 years but probably will have to move away nearer family

I am currently in private rented house but would like the opportunity to have more secure accommodation for myself and my son. Privately renting always brings an element of uncertainty and can be quite stressful if the landlord suddenly decides to sell

3 adult children need affordable local housing

Not ready to move yet as totally independent and in good health

3+ bedroom houses in Wye are too expensive for us.

We were told landlords (Imperial) will sell at some point but no info on when. No affordable private rental in Wye - prices are overly inflated here.

Renting's too expensive, but we can't afford to buy either

I would like a bigger space on the ground floor with a garden and enough space so that my son who is my carer can stay.

In the next five years need to buy house in a pensioner's village or move to live in a care home.

Tenancy agreement will run out October 2019. Possibly will not be renewed as owner may sell property

To live independently

Would like to live independently in the future. Have ASD and mental health difficulties so need to be near to parent for support.

We need to be able to buy a 3 bed family home. We need two home offices. We cannot even afford a 2 bed in Wye even though we can afford £250,000. Cramped work/living conditions now causing depression. Our only chance if prices do not drop is to move to a cheaper northern county where we will know no one.

I need a flat/house of my own in the village near my family. Nothing I can afford and mum rents her home privately and both other adults work from home. No space whatsoever so can only be temporary. Mum needs to buy her own house cannot afford prices in village.

My dad couldn’t' pay the rent so we were kicked out and are both homeless. I am on my own now, sleeping on friends' sofas.

Low income = struggle to pay rent. Mortgage out of the question.

Born and grew up in Wye but live in Folkestone as can't afford rent in Wye or a mortgage

I need to buy but I can't afford to buy in Wye and don't know where else to live. I like Wye.

Wye To all households in the with Hinxhill civil parish of Wye with Hinxhill Parish Council

2B Briar Close, Bramble Lane Wye, Ashford, Kent TN25 5HB

T: 01233 812459

th [email protected] 16 July 2018 www.wyeparish.info

Dear householder

Housing in Wye - your needs and aspirations

This is an invitation to take part in our housing needs survey (HNS). Please respond, whether or not your household has a housing need. The results from this initiative will help to inform and strengthen your community, and benefit present residents and future generations.

The aim of the survey is to find out the local need for affordable housing (rented and shared ownership) for all ages and for older households who wish to downsize/move to more suitable housing for their needs, this includes older households who are currently owner occupiers. All households should complete Section 1 (and if appropriate Section 2) of the survey and return the questionnaire in confidence by Friday 17 th August , using the enclosed FREEPOST envelope.

Section 1 is anonymous and for every household in the parish to complete please.

Section 2 is for households with a housing need, as described above, either now, or in the next 2 to 5 years.

Why is this survey both important and urgent? As you probably know Telereal Trillium (TT) owns the 44 acre WYE3 site. To give you an idea of the scale of this area, WYE3 is 15 times the size of Churchfield Green. Earlier this year TT prepared its draft WYE3 Masterplan. Unsurprisingly, being a developer-led Masterplan, it proposes the most profitable types of housing, and takes little account of local housing needs and aspirations, or affordability.

Ashford Borough Council is now considering the large number of public responses to the draft WYE3 Masterplan. Thank you for these. While we are waiting for the outcome, the Parish Council is taking this opportunity to update the evidence of residents’ current and future housing needs. Your response to the HNS will add weight and leverage, and help to shape the future. Housing is a vitally important issue which also affects the way Wye functions as a community. We have only this one chance to shape the types of housing built on WYE3.

Please take this chance to help yourself and others, by returning your HNS questionnaire/s in the enclosed FREEPOST envelope by Friday 17 th August.

Yours sincerely Noel Ovenden

Cllr Noel Ovenden (Chairman of Wye with Hinxhill Parish Council)

Housing Needs Q&A

Q. What is this survey about, and who will benefit?

A. All households change over time, but what is the total housing need across the parish? Section 1 will provide a valuable profile of housing, and answer some key questions. For example, it will count the number of growing families who are living in overcrowded homes, and households with young adults living at home. There are some two million of these so-called ‘boomerang kids’ in the UK: how many live in Wye and how many really want to stay? This survey should provide the answers to these and other housing questions.

Q. Why should I or anybody else who is not in housing need take part in this survey?

A. Unlike so many villages, Wye still benefits from having a strong sense of community. To reinforce our position, the HNS aims to establish the case for ‘local needs’ housing. A sense of belonging encourages people to contribute their time and skills to support village life, and to maintain Wye’s shops and services. • For example, Wye Fire Station needs all its on-call retained firefighters to live within a maximum of five minutes from the Fire Station. Where will new fire crews live if housing in Wye is unaffordable?

Q. This survey will help struggling young families, but what about Wye’s older people?

A. The survey questions address the needs of older age groups too. The results will show how many older Wye residents want to stay in Wye and be near to their friends, but would either like to, or need to down-size. It will also show how many need to move to more suitable housing, perhaps a smaller house or bungalow, sheltered housing or a care home? TT proposes to build a large private care home on Olantigh Road. How many older Wye residents are interested in buying one of the 50 or so flats in this complex?

Q. What, in a nutshell is ‘local needs’ housing, and how does it work?

• Only people with a genuine local connection to Wye are eligible for ‘local needs’ housing in Wye; • Local needs is a special rural category of affordable housing that can help local people of all ages with strong connections to Wye, and who would like to stay, or return to their home parish; • Local needs housing will either be for rent, or part-sold (shared ownership) to tenants; • Crucially, local needs housing is NOT subject to the Right-to-Buy legislation; • Local needs houses will remain available for future generations of eligible people;

Q. Why is the Parish Council not doing this survey ‘in house’ with volunteers to save money?

A. Primarily for reasons of confidentiality, and also to access specialist skills the Parish Council has asked the charity Action with Communities in Rural Kent (ACRK) to carry out this survey independently. The housing specialist leading the HNS project is Tessa O'Sullivan. ACRK will hold any personally identifiable information given in Section 2 in the strictest confidence, and will only publish the final HNS report with anonymised total figures. The Parish Council will NOT see any of the personal information in the questionnaire forms.

Q. Who is paying for this housing needs survey?

A. Ashford Borough Council Housing Department has agreed to the Parish Council’s request for support and ABC will fund the entire cost of this survey. This includes the postage and production costs of the final HNS report. Wye with Hinxhill is the only parish in the borough to benefit from an ABC funded survey this year.

Q. Who do I ask for further information about the HNS, or for additional HNS questionnaires?

A. Please contact Tessa O'Sullivan directly by email: [email protected] or tel: 01303 813790.

Q. How do I keep informed about housing, local news and other matters that affect Wye?

A. See the noticeboards, Parish Magazine and www.wyeparish.info, and read e-newsletters at Wye Library.

If you have an email address then please contact the Parish Clerk [email protected] to register to receive free parish newsletters by email.

If you do NOT have access to email, then drop a note addressed to the Parish Clerk with your name and address and postcode into the Parish Council’s free postbox in Wye News.

Statement by David Reece My name is David Reece. I have been a houseowner in Wye since 1972. Although I have no connections with Wye College, my family and I have been privileged to enjoy the College facilities in many different ways. I have used the gym, played squash in the old squash court, and tennis at the Withersdane courts. For these activities there was meant to be a nominal charge, but the College never tried too hard to collect it. There were no restrictions on walking over the College land. I am familiar with every footpath, and I have rough shot in the remoter areas with members of staff. I have impressed visitors by showing them the lovely memorial gardens at Withersdane. I remember an amazing Midsummer Night’s Dream performance under the massive old mulberry tree in the Withersdane grounds. Quite apart from the educational function which brought life and fun from the students, many from Commonwealth countries, the College buildings are seen as an important element of Wye’s history and heritage: both visually at the core of the mediaeval centre, and because residents have been accustomed over the years to go to meetings and attend functions in one or other of the communal spaces. I particularly remember going to various auctions and sales in the Wolfson House lecture theatre, and to dances in the enormous Swanley Hall. Looking back, it was as normal to attend a meeting in one of the College rooms as in any other public room in the village. Perhaps the most striking for me were a couple of black-tie dinners in the Parlour, where the atmosphere of intimacy and a connection with years gone by in this small, oak-panelled room was relished by all. The single most important event for my family was the wedding reception held in the College buildings after my daughter’s marriage in the adjacent Wye Church on 15 June 2002. The guests assembled and admired the interior of this large and ancient country church. They might have continued to admire it for quite a while, but to the relief of the groom, the football-mad vicar and the ushers were not delayed by a threatened penalty shoot-out of the World Cup semi-final. After the ceremony it was just a short stroll before entering the gate by the Latin School. Champagne circulated in the Latin School garden while the photographer worked away.

The wedding party then took up position in the Cloisters to greet the guests. One young man made my day even more special by commenting on what a nice house I had, and I don’t think I corrected him.

Quite a considerable time later we all assembled in the Dining Hall which had been beautifully decorated.

There were about 160 at the reception dinner, full capacity for the venue, and the staff did a great job in serving these numbers without the food getting cold. From the video it looks like I seem to have made a speech, with others. The rest of the evening was spent between the Dining Hall and a marquee erected in the Main Quad with live music and a well-used bar. Finally, the happy couple were seen off the premises in a sparkler parade. Charlotte fulfilled what was apparently a life-long dream of running barefoot through the village to their room in the Wife of Bath.

There was no doubt from the letters afterwards what a lovely day had been had by all, with the College facilities playing a full part in making it truly memorable.

Maryanne Graham Personal Statement

I am Maryanne Graham and I joined Imperial College Wye in 2004 and took over and managed the well-established and successful events programme for its final five years. I left in 2009 as the college was closing but the conferences and events did continue to take place for around 6-9 months after my departure due to Imperial College choosing to honor those that had already been booked.

Along with one other colleague (who retired around 2007) I was responsible for taking bookings and organising all of the non student, external events at the college both in the Main College and also Witherdane. Many of the bookings were from people who lived in the village and I recall there being a real sense of partnership between the college and the village which meant that the same local societies and village events were held at the college year after year.

The events calendar was always very full right throughout the year. There were up to 30 wedding receptions most years which predominantly took place in the Main Dining Hall. As of 2006 ceremonies could take place in either the Old Hall or the Cloister Quad upon obtaining a Civil Ceremony Licence , please see enclosed evidence. For much smaller weddings who wished to have a religious ceremony they could do so in the Chapel just off the cloister Quad and hold their reception in the Parlour.

The College had an excellent relationship with St Gregory and St Martins church next door and many of the couples who were married there also held their receptions in the college. There were also wakes which took place throughout the year in the Old Hall which tended to be predominantly for local people after the funerals had taken place in the church.

Various dinners and parties regularly took place in the dining room, the Parlour and the Old Hall all throughout the year. (please see accompanying appendix). As mentioned previously there were also regular events held by different local societies or people in the village of around 15 to 20 throughout the year (please also see accompanying appendix)

Reception drinks and informal social gatherings also took place outside in the Latin School Garden and the Main Quad.

The running of events (in particular weddings and large dinners) required a team of staff which included waiting staff who were often either students of the college or locals from the village, particularly students who had returned home for the summer.

As well as dinners and celebratory functions there were regular bookings in the Latin School, Wolfson Lecture Theatre, The Parlour, Old Lecture Theatre the Carr lecture theatre and the Latin School for conferences and meetings for both local and further afield companies.

Outside of my role but just as much a part of my day to day work life at the college this sense of partnership and community spirit was also demonstrated through the college dining room being open to villagers for both breakfasts and dinners which many and in particular the elderly would take advantage of. The Old Hall was also open to villagers to use the grand piano, which was housed there and some of the sports facilities were also available for use, villagers could walk into the porters lodge at any time and make the booking. Throughout the last summer the college was still in operation, the Wheelroom was also open for general walk-ins, direct off the highstreet, for walkers and villagers alike to enjoy a tea or coffee and a slice of cake. Visitors were also welcome to visit during the week and enjoy the extensive history of the college.

The Chapel just off from the Cloister Quad was used for regular Friday services and the then Reverend of St Gregory and St Martin's Church had his Chaplain's Room in the Student Support Services corridor, due to his dual role as chaplain and parish priest. The PCC office was also in the College too, and as my office was based for some time in the same corridor I do recall residents going in and out on routine parish church business to see the PCC secretary.

Event Regularity Location Group/ Society

Burns Night Dinner Yearly Main Dining Room Ashford Old Hall for Reception Drinks Freemasons

Formal dinner Old Hall & Parlour Worshipful Company of Farmers

Carols By Yearly Old Hall Wye Village Candlelight

Book Fairs Bi monthly Wolfson Lecture Theatre Wye Village

Wye Historical Bi-monthly Wolfson Lecture Theatre - Society Meetings

Jane Austen Bi-monthly Parlour - Society

Summer Schools Yearly Carr and Old Lecture Theatres Various along with the other college amenities

Michael West Personal Statement

My name is Michael West and I live at Great Bromley Farm, Blackwall Road, Hinxhill, Ashford. I was born in Brook and have lived within a 5 mile radius of Wye ever since. I went to Primary School at Spring Grove in Wye and later the Norton Knatchbull Grammar School in Ashford. I was Baptised in Hinxhill Church, got married there and have since had my children baptised there, the latter 2 by our local Vicar Alan. After the Norton Knatchbull I went on to do a degree in Agricultural Business Management at Wye between 2002 and 2006. Prior to studying at the college myself and friends locally used to frequent regularly the pubs in Wye and on a Friday evening this was often followed up by a trip to the Wye College union. We liked it there because of the atmosphere, cheap drinks, music and more often than not events such as theme nights, bucking bronco, bungee runs etc. John the porter got to know us as a friendly bunch and we were always accepted in and had a good time. We weren't the only non college members to use the union and several other young and some older people from Wye, Crundale, Godmersham, Hastingleigh, Brook and Ashford used it also. This was one of the deciding factors for me in choosing to study at Wye as it felt like very much part of the community. In my first year at Wye I lived in the college buildings in H Block not wanting to miss out on college life. As a student who was also local, many of my existing friends used to come to the many events held at the college such as Balls, parties, charity and cricket weeks and commemoration balls. There was often at least one table of locals at the commemoration Ball at Withersdane. One of the most well attended events to include the village was Bonfire Night on the crown. Many villagers and students would congregate at the entrance to the college by the road and walk up to the crown in a procession with burning torches supplied and made by students. Myself and others would traditionally spend the weeks leading up to the fire collecting wood and garden waste in a tractor and trailer from people all around the village and this was gratefully received as it gave people a chance to get rid of any bulky burnable items. This was a tradition that I believe went on for many years before I organised it but sadly my year were the last to do it. The union committee had a budget for fireworks too and a big display was put on for students and villagers alike. During my second year I lived in 32 Bridge Street with 5 other friends. During this year I was on the union exec committee and my role was buildings manager. This involved organising the hardware for college events in and out of the union and weekly meetings were held to discuss all things related. Again many of these events were attended by locals providing they bought a ticket! As well as student organised events there were often weddings and parties held in the main dining room, the wheel room (the post graduates bar), the parlour and the old library. These were often wedding receptions and birthday parties, wakes etc and we would see notices up prior to and often hear the music and see people wandering around the quads. On a few occasions we did gate crash for an hour or two and were usually well received! I also remember being invited to one wedding reception which took place in wheel room by a local couple who I knew already and lived in the village. The College always seemed very open to all and local (often older) people used to come and eat in the college dining room at lunchtimes. There were two old boys who spring to mind, Harry Henderson and Albert Williams who were regulars at meal times. Harry used to be a familiar face in maths lectures, helping the less able to keep up! He used to do this voluntarily and was very well received by us and was well known to staff and students alike. Harry and Albert were elderly men who lived on their own and having somewhere like the college that they could visit and feel a part of must have been very important to them. Another benefit of having a college in the village was the sports facilities, this was run by Dimitri Sarbanovic and were well used by students and villagers. Facilities included a Gym, swimming pool, squash courts, tennis courts and the playing fields. I used all of the above at some point and were all well subscribed, these facilities in my opinion should be made available again as I feel the closure has left a big void in the village. I have very fond memories of being at Wye and one of the things I missed the most was the great sense of community. Fast forward a few years and I am now on the Parish Council, joining in 2018. I also have my own business as a fencing and groundworks contractor which I run alongside managing the family Farm at Hinxhill where I live. I have been trading for nearly 12 years on my own with most of my work being within a 5 mile radius of the village. I still socialise with and work for local people, many of whom I have known since I was a child. I feel therefore that I have a good knowledge of Wye, the local area and many of the people who live here. Richard Bartley STATEMENT Community use of Wye College buildings and facilities My name is Richard Bartley. I moved to the neighbouring parish of Boughton Aluph in 1990 and settled in Wye in January 1992 while I was studying at Wye College 1990- 1993. I joined the Agricola Club on graduation in 1993. Wye College employed me in 1995 to take over the Farm Business Unit manager’s case work, when he became terminally ill. I have gained the following first-hand experience from the perspectives of a member of the public, student, staff member, active Wye resident and parish councillor.

I was elected to Wye with Hinxhill Parish Council in 1999 and was re-elected in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019. I have contributed to several community-led initiatives, including roles in the Wye Neighbourhood Plan Working Group, WYE3 Steering Group, MUGA Working Group and Parish Plan Group. Prior to that I helped to establish Our Place Wye, Wye Community Farm, the Village Design Group, Youth Forum (Generation Y) and the Millennium Project Group. (These groups have to some extent relied on Wye College buildings for meetings, exhibitions and public consultation events).

My first direct connection with Wye started in 1980-1982 when entomologists and plant pathologists based at the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service (ADAS) Wye labs provided me with technical advice in connection with my work. This centred on field research on synthetic pheromones under the heading of integrated pest and disease management systems and the ecology of natural predators and other beneficial insects. Subsequently throughout the 1980s, I visited ADAS Wye to deliver soil and plant pathology samples for analysis, and for advice on treatments.

As a specific example of a personal experience of the Wye College buildings as a member of the public I spent an enjoyable evening in the Parlour at a formal dinner. I was invited as a member of the 39th Worshipful Company of Farmers course held at Wye in January 1999. At that time, I was a farm manager and a National Farmers’ Union county horticulture chairman. I returned to Wye to take a degree in October 1990.

As specific examples of community use of the Wye College buildings and facilities I attended as a Wye resident the:

• College Dining Hall for a barn dance in October 1995 • Office of the Clerk to the Governors of Wye College in the period 1997-1998 for weekly Millennium Project Group meetings • The Green for the launch of the consultation draft of the Wye Village Design Statement. (This coincided with the first Wye Farmers’ Market in June 1999). • Old Lecture Theatre (OLT) to hear a public presentation from a consultant preparing Ashford Borough Council’s (ABC) Core Strategy. • Latin School for the launch of the Wye Heritage Centre 17th September 2011 and exhibition to celebrate a century of hop breeding at Wye (1906 - 2006) • College Chapel for the Celtic evening services over several years • Wreath laying ceremonies (by invitation) at the WWI and WWII memorials in the Cloisters held on Remembrance Sundays in 2015 and 2018. • Latin School at an event 6th July 2012 to mark the ‘Return of the Ancient Britons’ to Wye (the set of Jacobean statues) with a display in the Latin School and a garden party to celebrate the occasion (Image below)

Image above: The late Ian Coulson with Hercules and another Jacobean figure in the Latin School at the ‘Return of the Ancient Britons’ to Wye event, 6th July 2012

• Latin School and Latin School Garden for an exhibition ‘Corporal Gordon Tucker: ‘Life in a Pocket Diary’

As a parish councillor I attended several meetings in Wye College buildings, including meetings in the: • Latin School for a meeting with Trevor Thomas ABC Planning Dept. in 2005 to discuss plans for the Havillands development • Northbourne and Salmon Rooms with the Deputy Rector of Imperial College during the intense Wye Park engagements from January to September 2006 • College Dining Hall as chairman of the Parish Council at a celebratory buffet, following the installation of the new priest in charge in Wye church in November 2009, along with approximately 200 people, mainly from the congregation of Wye church, and attended by Kent County Councillor Cllr Susan Carey • Wolfson Lecture Theatre (WLT) 24th March 2011 at a crowded public meeting to hear the WYE3 Steering Group members outline the marketing of the Imperial College campus and take Q&A • Wolfson Lecture Theatre for WYE3 Steering Group meetings with Imperial College staff and development team members in connection with the WYE3 Concept Masterplan • Porters’ Lodge for meetings with Kent Police, the Wye Community Warden and the Imperial College Security manager • Porters Lodge with Telereal Trillium staff and development team members • Latin School for Wye Neighbourhood Plan Working Group, Parish Council closed meetings and ordinary meetings (sample agendas attached), and Our Place Wye meetings

Over the past 30 years I have shown family, friends and many curious visitors around the College buildings when the buildings were open and accessible. However, I have not shown any former students or tourists around since 2019, and in recent years it has only been possible to look through the windows, e.g. to glimpse the cloister.

As examples of ongoing and informal community use of the Wye College buildings I visited the:

• College Library in the Grade II buildings, subsequently the Kempe Centre to keep up to date, make job searches in journals and use the photocopiers. (Wye residents used these photocopiers and had only to buy a card from the issue desk. There was often a queue for the copiers, which created opportunities for conversations between students and residents). In addition to having access to all the reference resources, I also had a public reader’s card which enabled me to borrow books. As a student I worked in the library before it moved to the Kempe Centre. I came to know Trevor Sweetman who was an agricultural consultant based in Wye. He had no direct connection to Wye College, but was also a frequent library user. • Latin School and garden on numerous occasions as a drop-in when the Heritage Centre was open on Wye Farmers’ Market days • Latin School for a reception for Dr Lee Prosser, organised by the Wye Arts Association 16th April 2018 before his presentation 'The Jacobean Staircase at Wye College' (poster attached) • Dining Hall for canteen lunches1 the Wheel Room bar and Kempe Centre café to meet people (the loss of these social eating facilities is recorded in the Our Place

1 Our Place Wye Business Plan 2015 – 2018 (Phase Two Activity, page 12) extract Wye Business Plan (extract below). This in turn prompted the Wye Neighbourhood Plan policy WNP7 for ‘the provision of a day care facility for elderly residents in Wye’ • Old Hall for occasional meetings and exhibitions (I was invited, but did not attend did not attend concerts e.g. ‘The Hills are Alive’ and Carols by Candlelight). • Wolfson Lecture Theatre (WLT) (demolished January 2020) for numerous events including the formal presentation of the Wye Village Design Statement to ABC in 2000, Neighbourhood Plan public exhibitions and patchworker meetings, Statutory Annual Parish Meetings, parish council ordinary meetings, Our Place Wye meetings and workshops

Images above and below: Wye Neighbourhood Plan public exhibition in the Wolfson Lecture Theatre, 16th December 2012

As a practical example of a charitable use of the Wye College buildings I used the WLT for six years until November 2014. Imperial College provided this facility, without charge, as a distribution and collection point for the annual Poppy Appeal for Wye and District, and for coin counting. This facility provided storage space for Poppy Appeal materials

over a period of about three weeks each October/November. As other groups used the WLT during this time, including regular evening yoga classes, I had to pack all the Poppy Appeal materials away in readiness. For the remaining 49 weeks of the year the head of security at Wye allowed me to store bulk Poppy Appeal materials in a heated store room inside Wye College, in what had once been part of the College library.

Use of other Wye College facilities As routine I would walk through the Porters’ Lodge and take a short cut through the quads and covered walks to the Kempe Centre library, swimming pool and gym. This route was dry and as it avoided the narrow pavements on Olantigh Road it was safer for small children. This also provided access to numerous notice boards along the route. In the pre-internet era these notice boards displayed posters of a range of forthcoming events e.g. public lectures and concerts, items for sale and wanted, and casual work e.g proofreading PhD theses. ‘Wye Week’ was a weekly news sheet which was issued to staff via pigeonholes and pinned to noticeboards. This sheet focussed on College matters but it included an eclectic range of notices of village and charity events and College events open to the public. As such it provided more current information and covered a wider range of events than any other source.

As a student with a young family my children enjoyed birthday parties in the family common room and they and we attended several parties there for other children. Both of my children learned to swim in the College Pool. My elder daughter’s first paid job was as a summer life guard at the College Pool. They also learned to play tennis and croquet at Withersdane and enjoyed picnics in the gardens. I was a member of the Wye College and subsequently the Imperial College Sports Club, mainly for access to the swimming pool and latterly the gym (letter attached).

As a family we attended a church summer picnic at Withersdane. At other times the gardens were an attractive place to walk around informally and enjoy. In the winter months the tropical house and desert house in Occupation Road were always warm and the plant collections made it an interesting destination all year round. In addition to the colour and variety, there were often unusual plants on sale for a few pence.

When my children started at primary school, many of their classmates had parents who were overseas students. In about 1995 I recall being told that the children at Lady Joanna Thornhill Primary School Wye spoke a total of 36 first languages. These friendships provided another layer of informal connections between the College and the village. The annual International Night put on by overseas students was a particular highlight of the social year. As was Bonfire Night. Each year students and many hundreds of Wye residents, in particular those with families, would walk in a long torch light procession to gather around the bonfire above The Crown and watch the fireworks.

Appendix 1

Our Place Wye Business Plan 2015 – 2018 (Phase Two Activity, page 12) extract Our Place Wye Business Plan ‘As highlighted by the informal study undertaken last year, there are no opportunities for people to gain access to nutritious, value for money lunches aimed at “older people”.…It is firmly believed that opportunity for eating in a social context, access to nutritious, value for money meals is a crucial element of the programme. It helps reduce social isolation, encourages social inclusion, and provides a focus, and is in essence, another social space, but with a clear purpose. Many people living alone often do not go to the trouble of cooking proper meals. The report also indicated the number of people without access to cars; and frailty does not make it easy to shop by public transport. We have reviewed existing arrangements and intend to research different models and opportunities, which are realistic and cost effective

There is strong local support for this area of activity; many people recall that Imperial College (currently closed and disused) allowed the local community access to its dining rooms the emerging vision of this venture is to establish a ‘community cafe’ (emphatically not an older people’s lunch club); to strive to create a vibrant ‘age inclusive’ space that people wish to be part of and visit, as the heart of village life…’ (emphasis added).

WYE ARTS ASSOCIATION

DR LEE PROSSER

Curator with Historic Royal Palaces and Author of the Report:

‘The Jacobean Staircase at Wye College’

TALK ON

JACOBEAN STAIRCASES

Wye College Staircase – C & G Beard 1889 (Courtesy Wye Historical Society) AT WYE CHURCH MONDAY 16 APRIL 2018 at 7.30 p.m. All Welcome Entry £5 Trudi Field Personal Statement

I am Trudi Field, a Wye resident in Abbots Walk since 1 September 2006. I have two secondary age sons and work part-time in a Wye-based charity. I have been the Group Scout Leader of the 2nd Wye Scout Group since 2012.

We moved here on 1 September 2006 from London. We chose the Ashford area as an alternative to city life for our young son and looked at villages which had a train stations for commuting to London. Wye was our first choice as the vibrant atmosphere and multi-cultural faces from the collage were an immediate attraction, along with the beautiful historic college buildings and many amenities. We did not know anyone in the area.

As a stay at home Mum with a 3-year-old, I was introduced to the International Women’s Group, by my neighbor. A weekly meeting held in the former college building; The Diana Prescott room, where mums and their pre-school children met for a morning, enjoying both organised activities and talks and informal time. This rental space has since been demolished and is now a private garden. The group was set up by a staff member of the college to welcome and help integrate the many international women and their young children, who had accompanied their husbands studying at the college. I was given a warm reception and was very grateful to meet and make local friends and acquaintances so quickly.

Spending many hours pushing my toddler around daily was enhanced by being able to enjoy the open college facilities. I had passed my time in London exploring and grabbing lunches and coffees at a variety of places. In Wye, being able to walk through the college quadrant, as a path from one side to the other and enjoy this grade 1 listed building and its environs, as well as exploring other paths which housed science labs, a Muslim prayer room be able to buy lunch in the college hall, gave me much-needed stimulation. The café at the college library, now Wye School, became our hang- out, where we continued to make connections and started to feel part of the community as we learnt more about available amenities and had familiar faces to stop and chat to in the street.

When my son started school, a tennis opportunity for 4 year olds arose in the college sports hall, a building I had not been in before. It was so exciting to see that an outdoor pool had existed (by then not in use) and friends told me that formerly local residents had been allowed to use, it with their families, in the summer when the college was on holiday! Sadly, we had missed out on that. I also joined an exercise class which was held in one of the rooms in that college building.

When my son’s tennis lessons moved outdoors to Withersdane Hall’s courts, I discovered the stunning grounds there, again open to all, and then spent many recreational hours enjoying the variety of landscapes and formal planting using many unusual plants, as befits an agricultural college, as well as being a great space for children to run and explore.

Having started a Scout Group in the Village in 2012 with the youngest section; Beavers, I needed to find a regular meeting hall when we opened the Cubs in September 2013. I contacted Wye College about using the Wolfson Hall, but was told “Regrettably, we cannot commit to a regular booking…The Wolfson Hall can only be booked on a weekly, non-committal basis”. Finding available hall space since for the expanding group of now 4 sections has been an on-going problem as there are so many local groups and societies wanting the weekly spaces in Wye, there is not enough available space for us all.

I have also attended many meetings, exhibitions and book fairs in the Latin school and Woolfson Hall, which will now be lost to us.

I hope that future development in Wye of the college buildings provides access and rental hall space for the community. Wye has grown around the core of a vibrant College facility over the centuries and it has shaped the community we live in. The availability of facilities makes homes out of houses. Communities can only form if they have somewhere to meet collectively, inside and out. These connections then generate ideas which in turn become leisure groups, small businesses and networks of every description. Please consider this.

Vivien McLean Personal Statement

Former Wye College Buildings, High Street, Wye, Ashford, TN25 4AH The following statement covers my personal knowledge and experience of the listed buildings of the former Wye College and the range of community uses that access to these facilities provided to the residents of Wye and the wider public.

I moved to Wye in 1995 with my husband and young children and I worked in or near the village until I retired as Parish Clerk in 2018. After that I continued with voluntary activities until July 2019 when we moved to live near our grown up children in Hampshire. My elderly mother moved to Wye in 2012 - she threw herself into village activities and soon had a busy social life for herself so I have knowledge of community life in Wye across three generations. I also knew how Wye College used to function before Imperial College took it over in 2000.

During the course of those 24 years I was at various times a Parish Councillor, Parish Clerk and Burial Clerk. Before that for 3 years I was the paid Administrator to the Wye Benefice of 8 churches. I was also the administrator for the Wye College Agricola Club and managed the alumni database across the world. In 1997 I volunteered to be secretary to the Wye Village Design Group and continued during the preparation of the Village Design Statement. I was actively involved in the Wye Neighbourhood Plan as a patch worker, and was the Correspondent for Wye Children’s Playing Field Charity and actively supported the formation of Wye Heritage Centre and the Our Place Wye project. For two years I was Secretary to the Village Hall Management Committee and chaired the Wye Working Group which managed the building of a Multi Use Games Area for the youth of the village.

For relaxation I enjoy singing and was a member of Wye Church choir as were both of my daughters, I also sang with informal groups. Christmas Carols by Candlelight in the Old Hall was always a favourite occasion - it was always packed. This event was organised by Wye residents and enabled people who did not feel comfortable in a church to share the same strong sense of community at Christmas.

As part of my work for Wye PCC and Wye PC I was aware of, and often directly involved in, the organisation of the many community projects and events that took place in the historic buildings and other parts of the former Wye College estate. Throughout my involvement with village life I never ceased to learn about and be amazed by the fascinating historic connections between Wye and its College.

I would like to elaborate the points that I made to the Ashford Borough Council Planning Committee 20 June 2018. At that meeting to decide 17/00567/AS and 17/00568/AS I was restricted to 3 minutes to speak as a resident, but as my personal knowledge of Wye College is extensive, I was not able to do this subject justice in the short time allowed. Thank you for this opportunity to add more information to the minute of that Planning Committee meeting which summarised my speech as follows

“In accordance with Procedure Rule 9.3, Mrs Mclean, a local resident, spoke in objection to the application. Her points concerned the impact on the community and the lost opportunity represented by a ruthlessly mechanical and unsympathetic application. The aim was to maximise residential accommodation at the expense of community use and benefit. Mrs Mclean said she knew the listed buildings very well and had contributed to the development of the Wye Neighbourhood Plan, and knew that this application did not reflect the policy, aims and aspirations of the community. It also lacked the overarching values that reflected the quality of the site and setting. The proposed residential development made little contribution to the economic life of Wye in bringing new jobs to the village that would make it a more sustainable development. Mrs Mclean had worked in an office off the middle quadrangle and three generations of her family had enjoyed concerts and functions in these buildings. On behalf of Wye College Agricola Club she corresponded with over 3,000 past students; the college remained a very special place for these people. Community use of the listed buildings enriched the community in so many ways, but not if it was stifled as a gated development. If residential privacy was pitched against community interest, the community would lose out. When the college closed, it damaged many aspects of village life, but the Latin School still provided a direct historic connection to the education foundation of 1447. Mrs Mclean had attended both of the WYE3 Masterplan workshops. The agenda did not include discussion of the listed buildings and attempts to raise issues were shut down without discussion. There had been no public discussion about the positive contribution that conservation of heritage assets could make to sustainable communities, including their economic viability as required by the NPPF. Mrs Mclean asked Members to consider present and future generations and maintain the correct connection provided by the Latin school with the educational foundation of 1447, and recognise it as an asset of community and historic value.”

As Clerk to the Parish Council in 2017 I was authorised to lodge the successful nominations for the Latin School and The Green as Assets of Community Value. Telereal Trillium did not appear to contest these nominations. I also nominated the Wolfson Lecture Room as an ACV, but Ashford Borough Council rejected this because of the 2 year delay between its last use and the Parish Council’s nomination. Telereal Trillum did not challenge the large amount of evidence that I presented to show that the Wolfson Lecture Room had been very valuable to Wye as a community space for many years until Telereal Trillium closed it. I also took part in the Imperial College Concept Masterplan and the Telereal Trillium WYE3 Masterplan workshops and as Parish Clerk I attended to support councillors and minute many closed meetings with Ashford Borough Council and Telereal Trillium. Therefore I know how consistently Telereal Trillium has ignored community views and sensitivities about the sense of historic connection to the College listed buildings.

As Clerk to the Parish Council I know how busy the community of Wye was and will be again after the pandemic and how difficult it can be to book meeting rooms in the village. This is a barrier to community life and restricts the formation of new interest groups. Wye benefits from having many active community groups and it continues to form new ones, Wye Scouts, Wye Active and Our Place Wye being good recent examples across the three generations. The closure and recent demolition of the Wolfson Lecture Room is a blow as it was a very well equipped and flexible meeting space. As such the Wolfson had a huge practical value to the community, but unlike the Latin School and other parts of the listed buildings it had no historic value or connection with a deep sense of place.

As PCC secretary I worked closely with Rev John Richardson who was Vicar of Wye and Wye College Chaplain from 2001 to 2011. For 3 years my office was off the middle quadrangle. In that time many hundreds of residents from Wye and across the United Wye Benefice came into the church office to deal with baptism, wedding and funeral arrangements. The Benefice has 8 large rural parishes and 8 churches, a chapel of ease and the College Chapel so I was in the centre of this network and in daily contact with clergy, churchwardens, treasurers and parishioners – every day visitors called into the church office to see me for any number of reasons.

As well as the church office being located in the centre of the listed building complex the PCC’s email address was [email protected], the church had a pigeon hole in the Porter’s Lodge and the phone number was an extension on the Imperial College switchboard. A key part of my job was to liaise with College staff over the details of weddings and other events, and to book meeting rooms. This was a reciprocal relationship, for example the Parish Magazine that I edited every month provided the College with free local publicity and informed residents about College functions. There were regular meetings of the United Wye Benefice, the main meeting would be held in the Old Hall and then break into groups using the Dining Hall, the Salmon Room, the Northbourne Room, the Senior Common Room and the Parlour.

I worked normal office hours and used to eat my lunch in the College Dining Hall with staff and students so I often sat with or spoke to Wye residents who were also eating there. These chance mealtime conversations were as much a part of keeping up with everyday village life as the conversations that I would have anywhere in Wye.

As church administrator I applied for the civil marriage venue licence for Wye College Chapel from the Canterbury Diocese solicitors. This licence enabled Wye Church to provide weddings with adjacent reception venues to fit weddings of all sizes. Large wedding receptions used the Parish Church, the Latin School garden and Dining Hall, while smaller weddings used the College Chapel, Old Hall and the Parlour. This partnership was very popular with couples and it remained financially successful until Imperial College closed the Dining Hall and sold the kitchen fittings for scrap.

The church day started with an 8am prayer meeting. These meetings moved around the Benefice and on Fridays were held in the College Chapel. When I walked through the quads or into the Dining Hall as a Wye resident I felt part of a living community and I am sure that was a common experience. When we moved to Hampshire the Parish Council kindly honoured me with the Freedom of the Parish, the first time this had been done.

For me personally the College has always been so much more than a place of work and study. Three generations of my family have felt welcome and enjoyed many concerts, weddings, funeral wakes and meetings in these buildings. I have sung many times in the Old Hall, taken part in numerous meetings in the Latin School, attended free public lectures and worshipped in the consecrated chapel - a place of stillness and calm. My family and I picked blackberries on College land and used the College swimming pool, tennis courts, sports hall and gym….not just for exercise and recreation but as informal social places.

When Henry VIII appropriated Wye College during the Dissolution of the Monasteries he insisted that the founder’s original educational use continued. Amazingly a trace of educational use and its community benefits has survived until now, but all future generations stand to lose the direct connection that the Latin School provides with Archbishop Kempe’s foundation in 1447.

Please note that the stained glass in the west window of Wye Church shows Archbishop Kempe holding a model of the Latin School in his arms to symbolise his legacy from 1447. The Latin School is registered as an Asset of Community Value and Historic England recognises its historic value. Although the Ashford Borough Council case officer dismissed this historic connection to the community it was fortunate that the Ward Member persuaded the Planning Committee of its great significance and they changed their Resolution to protect this historic connection and retain community use, albeit only the Latin School.

Community use of all the listed buildings has enriched the lives of so many people in so many ways – now the buildings need the chance to live and breathe again, but it will not work if the openness of the College is stifled as an exclusive and socially divisive gated development. Please give this matter due weight.

Thank you for this opportunity.

V A McLean