As part of the Neighbourhood Plan process. the Parish Council was required to assess the potential sites for housing development in our parishes.
These are the parcels of land put forward by landowners in response to a “call for sites” for Ashford Borough Council’s Local Plan 2030 or our Neighbourhood Plan Survey.
Ashford Borough Council Local Plan 2030
Ashford Borough Council has written a Local Plan for the Borough, up to 2030. The Local Plan is an important document that makes site allocations for different development uses and sets out criteria-based policies to facilitate planning decisions. The Local Plan must identify sufficient land to provide for any new jobs and homes to 2030, as well as for Gypsy & Traveller sites, Leisure, Retail, Visitor and Tourism facilities.
After two periods of public consultation in 2017 and 2018 and independent examination the Local Plan was formally adopted by the Ashford Borough Council in February 2019.
Potential housing development sites in our parishes
As part of the Local Plan, Ashford Borough Council was required to assess all of the potential sites in the Borough, to determine if they could be suitable for allocation for these future developments and facilities within their Local Plan. This is called a Strategic Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA). Sites for assessment must come from a variety of sources, including vacant land, surplus public sector land, existing allocations, and through a ‘call for sites’ to all landowners in the Borough.
Between July 2013 and May 2014, Ashford Borough Council invited developers to submit details of any sites that were available for development for possible allocation in the Local Plan. The sites put forward within our parishes are listed below.
Sites in Boughton Aluph and Eastwell Wards:
| Name, location | Development | Ref |
| Lenacre Hall Farm, Sandyhurst Lane | 100+ dwellings, leisure and sheltered housing | BAE1 |
| Former Sandpit, Sandyhurst Lane | 15 dwellings | BAE2 |
| Braehead, Sandyhurst Lane | 5 dwellings | BAE5 |
| Land adjacent to Gardeners House, Faversham Road, Boughton Lees | 4 dwellings * | BAE3 |
| Land at Rook Toll off Faversham Road | 6 dwellings | BAE4 |
* Site previously proposed for leisure/tourism use.
Sites in Boughton Aluph and Eastwell and adjacent Bockhanger Wards:
| Ashford Golf Club, Sandyhurst Lane | 100+ dwellings and associated uses | BBAE1 |
| Land at Eureka Park, Goat Lees | 300+ dwellings, commercial and flexible use | BBAE2 |
Sites included in the Ashford Local Plan 2030
Of the 7 sites in our parishes submitted by local landowners for inclusion in the Council’s Local Plan only the Eureka Park site [BBAE2] has been included in Ashford Borough Council’s Local Plan. The site, which falls partially within our parish, is earmarked as a strategic site for the Borough. Plans include 375 new homes plus 20 hectares of commercial development to be accessed from Trinity Road.
Although the remaining 6 sites in our parish have not been proposed for development in the Council’s draft Local Plan, with the exception of site Ashford Golf Course [BBAE1] they have been included in a list of “housing sites remaining for land supply or for other uses”†. If located within a designated Neighbourhood Planning area, these sites must be assessed as part of the Neighbourhood Planning process. Once assessed a Neighbourhood Plan can allocate a site (or sites) for development to meet an identified local housing need.
Other development sites put forward in response to the Neighbourhood Plan Survey
As part of the Neighbourhood Plan Survey the Parish Council issued our own “call for sites” to landowners with a local site which might be available for development in the years up to 2030 and which they would like to be considered as part of the Neighbourhood Plan process. Two sites were put forward:
- Land adjacent to El Ashere, Wye Road leading to Kempes Corner, Boughton Aluph
- Land adjacent to Aluph House, Pilgrims Way, Boughton Aluph
We assessed these two sites alongside those put forward for the Local Plan.
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