There is very strong opposition to plans to build hundreds of new homes in Sholden. Not surprisingly.
The developers and the District Council argue that without an influx of young families, who need homes to move into, Deal will slowly degenerate as the rest of us get old and decrepit. Perhaps they are right.
But Deal has always recreated itself as change is forced upon it and although usually I am all for planning and taking strategic decisions, on this one I think I would let nature take its course. The trouble with grand plans is that they can lead to grand disasters - that certainly would have happened if the planners had got their way in the 60s, 70s and 80s in Deal.
