1 day Ago By [email protected] (Louis Walker)
“We haven’t got a doctor here, there’s only one school, one shop, most of our roads have no pavements - there just isn’t the infrastructure for all these new homes.” Carole Bond is just one of several residents gathered at a coffee morning in Capel-le-Ferne concerned about new housing developments creeping ever closer to their doors. Many of them hoped to enjoy a quiet retirement in the clifftop village, between Folkestone and Dover.
Now they fear the growing number of new-builds set to rise up in the coming years will “destroy” its sense of community. Council bosses and developers say the extra properties are needed to meet government targets and give families a chance of getting on the ladder, especially with house prices rising locally. The Labour government wants 1.
5 million new homes to be built by mid-2029. Dover District Council’s local plan is for 11,000 additional properties over the next 16 years. But there is a growing tension in Kent between the ambition to build new homes and existing residents’ desire to conserve the area they love.
The residents we spoke to in the village hall do not want to see the character of Capel-le-Ferne change. Pensioner Paul Bailey, who moved to the area three years ago to escape the London rat race, told KentOnline: “It feels like the rural life is disappearing and it won’t end here. “I moved here because I wanted to be away from the hustle and bustle.
I knew the towns around it and just thought what a lovely place to live. “You don’t get the sense of community in London. I lived there for 17 years and probably only knew my closest neighbours.
Within a couple of months here I knew everyone on my road straight away. “It feels like that’s what they’re trying to destroy - it’s a very social village.” According to Rightmove, average sold property prices in Capel-le-Ferne rose 13% last year to £423,932 - a sum way out of reach for most first-time buyers.
In a bid to increase supply, Dover District Council (DDC) allocated 90 homes for the village in its local plan, which was adopted in December last year. But the number of homes approved has already exceeded that figure, with 106 located on opposite sides of Cauldham Lane already being given the green light. Land at Great Cauldham Farm is set to be home to 90 new dwellings despite fierce objections from more than 100 residents who argued the countryside is being “concreted over”.
Earlier this year, DDC also approved plans for 16 homes on vacant farmland despite initially only allocating five homes. More houses could be on the way, with two further sites earmarked under the local plan yet to see schemes given the green light. No application has been submitted thus far for the former Archway petrol station in New Dover Road.
Meanwhile, plans for nine homes for a third plot in Cauldham Lane were submitted earlier this month by Esquire Developments and have already received eight statements in opposition on DDC’s planning portal. The news has left Carole Belsey, who has lived on the road for the last 12 years, fearful of being “boxed in” by the continued housebuilding. She said: “Living in Cauldham Lane, we are going to have one development in front of us.
Do we really need to have it at the back as well? “It’s like we’re being boxed in. There’s no consideration for us at all. “They say trees will be planted but how long will they take to grow to give me my privacy back? “It really upsets me for the wildlife as well because we’re not in the town - it’s a small village and there is all manner of wildlife here.
It will be ruined completely.” Developer Quinn Estates, which is behind the project for 90 homes approved by DDC in November last year, says it is important to make use of allocated sites given the greater demand for housing in the district. A spokesperson said: “The site was highlighted in the council’s local plan as being suitable for residential development.
“While the site was identified as having an indicative capacity of approximately 70 dwellings, this was not a set figure. “It is important to make the best use of land when it is allocated, and the council accepted our case for a higher density, given local housing need. They are also satisfied with a layout plan that indicated how this could be done.
“Great Cauldham Park will deliver an exceptional community extension of high-quality new homes, including affordable housing. “We have taken care to include a range of public benefits, including to biodiversity with wildlife corridors, public open space and tree-lined streets.” But residents fear that continuing to build will diminish the community spirit they have worked hard to create throughout the village.
Jan Milliken, who runs a coffee morning twice a month, has lived in Capel-le-Ferne for 60 years. She said: “I care about this village. That’s why seven years ago I started up the Good Neighbours Scheme because I care about the people.
“We started off with a monthly coffee morning of about 12 people. Now we are based in the village hall and regularly get 45 to 50 people twice a month. “It’s really satisfying to stand and look over all the people sitting there at tables and chatting.
I can’t describe the feeling I get when I see them all enjoying themselves - it’s really something special about this village. “But this is exactly it, though. It feels like to balance housing quotas, residents are potentially going to lose things like this and the community we’ve built.
” DDC says on top of the four sites earmarked in Capel in the local plan, there is potential for further development to come forward. A spokesman said: “New housing is required to be provided across the district to meet people’s need for housing and the council is required by national policy to identify sufficient land through the local plan to meet that need. “The amount of housing proposed, and sites selected in Capel-le-Ferne, have been chosen based upon several factors and evidence prepared to support the local plan.
This includes the settlement hierarchy, site availability, the suitability of individual sites for development, and other environmental constraints, such as National Landscapes, “The concerns raised by residents were all considered through the local plan process and are balanced against the benefits of and need to provide new homes to meet with the district’s housing needs. “The local plan does not allocate a specific number of dwellings to the village. However, each site is provided with an indicative capacity.
” Under DDC’s local plan, Capel-le-Ferne is also classified as a large village, a description many residents disagree with as, in their eyes, it lacks the necessary infrastructure. The council spokesman said the designation was a result of evidence “reviewed and tested by the inspectors who examined the local plan”. Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal He added: “As Capel has been identified as a large village, there is potential for further development to come forward on sites that have not been allocated.
“Proposals will need to meet several criteria to be considered acceptable, including the assessment of impacts such as traffic and loss of open space.”.
