Faversham Creek Trust seeks show of support for its plans

Supporters of the Faversham Creek Trust and its ambitious plans to train young shipwright apprentices need to get along to a meeting in Sittingbourne on Thursday.

Trust members are hoping a strong and orderly presence will persuade Swale councillors to back the trust's plans for an apprentice training centre close to the Morrisons store in Faversham.

The trust has leased the Victorian purifier building from Morrisons, and in the last couple of months members have been cleaning up the building and raising funds for repairs so it can be used as a new headquarters for the shipwrights' apprenticeship school whose lease at Standard Quay was terminated last summer. 

Trust members have prepared two grant applications to provide long-term funding, and there has been a wave of support, with donations from people in Faversham and beyond. 

Swale Council's local development framework panel meets in the council chamber, Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne, on Thursday (February 23) at 7pm (the agenda is on the Swale website).

The panel will be considering the reports and recommendations for the local development plan, including the strategic housing allocation which shows 102 houses on creekside sites. 

The trust is not against housing near the creek per se, but thinks that the council should be supporting traditional and maritime activity as a priority: a policy already enshrined in the area action plan.

The trust will have three minutes to put its point of view and would welcome an orderly supporting audience.