Hayle Mill

I am afraid that Simon Green is not giving you the whole picture
when he asks you to write in support of the Livesey application to
re-develop Hayle Mill (Conservation DistList Instance: 17:48
Tuesday, December 30, 2003).

Livesey intend to convert the mill buildings in 30 flats and to
build 14 new homes in the grounds--an excessive amount of "enabling
build" that has more to do with profit than saving the mill.

There is another planning application also before Maidstone Borough
Council, which incidentally pre-dated the Liversey application by
many months.

It has been submitted by Tonbridge Estates--with whom Mr Green
worked closely on a previous application for the mill that was
rejected by the Council in 2000 as being too intrusive for the area.
That first application, submitted with Mr Green's support was for a
conversion of the mill to 11 apartments with 12 new homes in the
grounds.

The current application submitted by Tonbridge Estates is solely for
with the conversion of the Mill to 11 apartments and with NO NEW
BUILD in the grounds.

Tonbridge Estates have come clean and--assisted by recent growth in
the house prices--admitted that it is the mill can be saved for
posterity without building a housing estate in the grounds.

Their current application, involving the conversion of the mill
itself, is exactly the same as their previous plans which Mr Green
supported.

Clearly, saving the mill by conversion to 11 units is better than
the extensive new building envisaged in the Livesey application, and
is the reason why no-one locally is supporting the latter's
application.

It is possible that Mr Green may have a financial interest in seeing
one application succeed rather than the other. I urge anyone who is
considering writing to the planning inspector to acquaint themselves
fully with the merits and de-merits of both applications before
taking sides.

Alan Smith


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 17:49
                  Distributed: Friday, January 9, 2004
                       Message Id: cdl-17-49-005
                                  ***