Thank you to Tilly Spong, Simon Wolliscroft, Mark Chandler and Gillian Henley who have provided some fantastic village photos for this site. Please join us on Facebook for up to date news and to submit your views of the village too.

There is a public access defibrillator sited at the Littlebourne War Memorial Hall/Recreation ground. This is available 24/7 it is owned and maintained by the Parish Council. The Defib is sited in a wall mounted heated cabinet to the rear of the hall/on the patio area.

If you do need to use the Defib please let the Clerk know afterwards so repacement pads can be fitted in the unit for the next use. clerk@littlebournepc.org

An application has now been submitted to Canterbury City Council by Gladman for 300 homes on The Hill, Littlebourne under application CA/23/00484 which can be accessed using the below link:

Outline planning application for up to 300 residential dwellings (including affordable housing and older person accommodation), a new community hub, introduction of structural planting and landscaping, informal public open space and children's play area and surface water flood mitigation and attenuation. All matters reserved except for access. - Land At The Hill Bekesbourne Lane East Of Bekesbourne Hill Bekesbourne Canterbury CT4 5EA

The Parish Council are working on a response to this application and would encourage residents to submit their own objections to the application via the City Council website. Further details are avaliable in the below downlaod leafet on things to consider in your repsonse to CCC. The deadline for comments is 12th May.

There will be no election of the Parish Council, all nine vacancies have been filled and those nominated are duly elected as councillors for the next four year term.

1. Excessive urbanisation outside of the Littlebourne settlement boundary which has been artificially and illogically redrawn to fit the proposals.
2. Both Plan R15 (300 houses) and Plan R16 (50 houses) would lead to a permanent loss of the best Grade 1 agricultural land.
3. Adverse effect on Landscape characteristics with damage to views particularly towards the south (R15) and to the east (R16).
4. Harm to designated heritage assets on A257 and the associated conservation area.
5. Lack of traffic assessment in the draft plan of potentially adverse effects on Littlebourne traffic density, pollution, and risk to pedestrians on the already width-constrained The Hill (A257), Bekesbourne Lane and the narrow Jubilee Road related to both R15 and R16 which would be further compounded by the other major proposed developments along the A257.
6. Takes no account of the poor capacity of existing wastewater (aka sewage) infrastructure and management in our catchment. In Littlebourne and other local villages, these shortcomings already result in regular, persistent and disruptive emergency measures, including pumping of sewage into the Little Stour and tankering of sewage to Canterbury’s Wastewater Treatment Works located upstream of Stodmarsh (500 tankers in 2021/22 winter).  
7. Tanker deployment (above), in particular, has a significant adverse nutrient effect at the Stodmarsh internationally-designated sites and therefore fails to meet the legal requirements of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.
8. Lacks a forward plan to address multiple impacts of increasing surface water run-off from urbanisation on flooding along Nargate Street and on the water quality in the Little Stour - a rare example of a chalk stream enjoyed by many local inhabitants.
9. Such water-related issues will become far more significant as a result of both a near 50% increase in village population, and the effects of climate change. Both factors will result in greater flows of both surface water and wastewater. 
10. The Local Plan must carefully consider how substantial housing development and associated water-based pollution can be kept consistent with stated objective of habitat protection and biodiversity enhancement by 20% during implementation.
11. The proposals do not meet sustainable development standards as there is no proposal for consequential increased local employment and most work would require travel away from the area.
12. Lack of local support for the developments.  Even a previous smaller development proposal on the south side of the Hill of 115 houses (less than half that currently proposed in R15) was rejected by 96% of villagers in a 2019 parish council poll.
13. Insufficient detail in infrastructure plans.   That consequential necessary infrastructure requirements such as sewers, school, GP surgery, public transport, walking / cycling routes would likely either lag way behind any development or fail to be implemented at all.

Further to the information from our Chair of the Parish Council, in the recent LPC News, members of the Parish Council have attended a meeting for local parishes and Canterbury City Council Planning.

We were told that the plan up to 2045 is to add 350 houses to Littlebourne and the boundry of the village has been stretched to include the land on the south of The Hill, and behind the doctor’s surgery, to allow this.

Your views are important and valuable and we would urge you to go online and have your say.  Be in no doubt that your thoughts on the smaller planning application last year were essential to the plan being rejected.

Why not come to meet the Parish Council on Monday 5 December at 7pm,  in the Lounge of the Village Hall, for a Q&A session about the future of Littlebourne. We would be delighted to hear your thoughts and try to answer any questions you have.

If you want to lodge your thoughts on the proposed plan, please visit the website:

https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/planning-and-building/new-local-plan-2045/

If you need any help accessing the council site, have limited internet access, or you just prefer to use pen and paper, why not use the back of this flyer to write your thoughts, not forgetting to put on your name and address, and post it in the Parish Council letterbox on the side of the hall.

Click on below detail for link to application on CCC's website

CA/21/01657

Outline planning application for up to 115 residential dwellings (including affordable housing), introduction of structural planting and landscaping, informal public open space and children's play area and surface water flood mitigation and attenuation. All matters reserved except for access. - Land At The Hill Littlebourne Canterbury Kent

Application REFUSED 30/09/2021 by Canterbury City Council.

See Decision Notice below for full details of reasons for refusal

Dog Fouling seems to be on the increase in the village. Most dog owners are responsible and clean up after their dogs however there seems to be small minority that just leave it on the pavements and the Recreation ground. This then ends up on shoes and pushchair wheels and is very unpleaesant, never mind a health hazard.

 It is very hard to catch people not clearing up after their dog, but if you do see someone you can report them through the City Councils website.

The current Layout PLan and indicative landscaping plan can been seen by clicking on the below documents.