Loose Neighbourhood Plan

Loose Neighbourhood Plan

This is the website page for information about the Loose Neighbourhood Plan.  It is where you can find information about the existing plan and about how it is being updated to meet the future needs of the parish.  Please check back here regularly for the latest news.

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April 2026 Update

The Neighbourhood Plan Working Group has been using the feedback received from the community to help inform the content of the new draft neighbourhood plan.  Currently completing the final parts of the plan, the Working Group is also liaising with Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) about whether formal screening to assess the plan's environmental impact will be required.   Although the Working Group believes the plan is unlikely to require formal screening, this review with MBC is necessary before we can take the next important step.   This step will be to publish the complete draft plan for formal public consulation.  Watch this space for further updates.  In the meantime, over the coming weeks members of the Working Group will be at the following local events: Duck Race (Brooks Field 25 May); MBC's Loose Valley Conservation Area Appraisal Consultation Event (KGV Field Pavilion 2 June); Loose Fete (KGV Field 13 June).  They would be delighted to meet you to discuss the plan and your views about living in Loose.

 

Background

In May 2024 Loose and North Loose merged to form a significantly larger Loose parish.  In recent years, both Loose Parish Council and the North Loose Residents' Association have led their communities to deliver neighbourhood plans for their respective areas.  As a result, we have two neighbourhood plans covering different parts of the parish: the North Loose Neighbourhood Plan made in 2016 and the Loose Neighbourhood Plan made in 2019.  To view these plans, click on the following links. Loose Neighbourhood Plan     North Loose Neighourhood Plan

 

What is a Neighbourhood Plan?

A Neighbourhood Plan is an important planning policy document adopted by the local planning authority.  For Loose the relevant authority is Maidstone Borough Council (MBC).   MBC uses the Loose and North Loose neighbourhood plans alongside other policy documents when it assesses planning applications.

A neighbourhood plan cannot block housing development but it can help to shape and influence it.  Having a Neighbourhood plan has a financial advantage for the local community: the Parish Council receives a larger share of the financial levy (known as the Community Infrastructure Levy or CIL) which is paid to the planning authority by developers.  The entitlement increases from 15% (for areas with no neighbourhood plan) to 25% for areas with an agreed plan.

 

Updating the Neighbourhood Plan

Both the Loose and the North Loose neighbourhood plans are a few years old.  In view of the passing of time, the evolution of Maidstone's own Local Plan and the increase in the Loose population and area,

a working group of parish councillors and residents is taking forward the review of the two neighbourhood plans.  Its aims are: to ensure the content is up to date, relevant and effective; to integrate the two plans into a single one covering the whole parish; to manage the development of the new plan through the formal process laid down by planning regulations.  Minutes of the working group meetings can be found on the documents page - link above..

 

How is work progressing?

Maidstone Borough Council has formally approved Loose Parish Council's application to designate the enlarged parish (see map below) as a new neighbourhood area.  This is a required formal step in the process that will lead to delivery of the new plan.

 

A public meeting was held on 11th June 2025 to inform residents about the work to date.  To view the slides of the presentation given during the meeting click on this link: Presentation Slides.

 

The presentation was followed by an exhibition about the main topics being covered in the new draft plan.  The topics are: A Vision for Loose; Housing Need and Development; Character, Heritage and Design; Environment and Green Space; Business and Employment; Leisure and Wellbeing (including community facilities and open spaces); Getting Around.  The exhibition was also displayed at the Loose fete.  At both events the members of the Neighbourhood Plan team were on hand to listen to visitors’ comments and answer questions.

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In the second half of 2025 members of the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group held a series of pop-up events around the parish.  The purpose of the events was to meet residents informally and particularly to understand what they liked or did not like about living in Loose.  The Group also arranged two online/postal surveys to assess local housing need and the views of businesses in Loose.

 

Keeping in Touch
If you would like to talk to any member of the Neighbourhood Plan team, please look out for the pop-up events around the parish or contact the Parish Office who will put you in touch.