In accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme, any petition that has more than 1,500 signatures will trigger a Council debate.

The following petition has been received and has achieved the signatures required:-

Do Not Build on Gravesham’s Green Belt

Gravesham Borough Council is considering options to remove 80 hectares of land from the Green Belt to allow 2,000 new homes to be built. These homes will not be affordable, and this will do nothing to address the problems faced by the residents of Gravesham – all it will do is attract more people to the area and put more strain on local services and infrastructure.

We do not believe it is necessary to build 8,000 new dwellings to meet local need.

We call on Gravesham Borough Council to reject government-imposed targets, and to focus on developing brown-field sites to provide affordable housing where it is needed and for the local people who need it.

Note: In accordance with paragraph 3.10 of the Council’s Procedure Rules, the petition organiser or nominated substitute will be given up to five minutes to address the Council. The subsequent debate (during which the petition organiser or nominated substitute will not be able to speak) will not exceed a further fifteen minutes.

In accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme, Mr Bob Lane (Petition Organiser) presented the Council with the following petition as it had achieved the signatures required:-

Do Not Build on Gravesham’s Green Belt

Gravesham Borough Council is considering options to remove 80 hectares of land from the Green Belt to allow 2,000 new homes to be built. These homes will not be affordable, and this will do nothing to address the problems faced by the residents of Gravesham – all it will do is attract more people to the area and put more strain on local services and infrastructure.

We do not believe it is necessary to build 8,000 new dwellings to meet local need.

We call on Gravesham Borough Council to reject government imposed targets, and to focus on developing brown-field sites to provide affordable housing where it is needed and for the local people who need it.

At the conclusion of the presentation, the Mayor invited the three Group Leaders to speak for up to 5 minutes each as the debate was not to exceed fifteen minutes in accordance with paragraph 3.10 of the Council’s Procedure Rules.

The Mayor thanked Mr Bob Lane for attending the meeting.