Oaken Wood Inquiry

Rumour has it that the Inquiry into the Oaken Wood planning application is due to be hear in February.

I receievd a letter last week from KCC with instructions for submitting evidence. Needs to be in by 10th Oct under reference APP/W2275/V/11/2158341

Send three copies of your evidence / comments / representations to:

Alan Ridley
The Planning Inspectorate
Room 4/02 Kite Wing
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Temple Quay
Bristol BS1 6PN

Green coverage in Maidstone

Front page of "Your Maidstone" today. Aside from the picture of Eric Pickles, both main front page stories show that Maidstone Greens are setting the political agenda in the town!

Oaken Wood called in

Great news that Oaken Wood has been called in and will go to a Planning Inspectorate inquiry. Letter from Pickles is here.

Commentary in Kent News here:

Stuart Jeffery of the Maidstone Green Party said: “The call-in by Eric Pickles is very welcome as is the change to reiterate local views to the planning inspectorate. Kent County Council made a hasty decision when they backed the plan for the quarry and it is clear that the plan needs greater scrutiny than KCC were prepared to give.
“While we are keen to ensure that jobs are not lost, we should remember that these jobs would see the loss of 74 acres of ancient woodland when there is an acknowledged lack of demand for ragstone. We want Gallaghers to put these jobs to use increasing their production of recycled aggregate.
“We also note that Kent County Council’s current draft mineral strategy suggests that there is no need for this additional ragstone. Let us hope that KCC don’t decide to change their mind on this established fact.”

Kent County Council consultation on Waste and Mineral

KCC are consulting on their waste and minerals strategy. While I intend to submit my thoughts in a few weeks, I was drawn to this comment in the Core Strategy:

"Option 1C -The ragstone quarry at Hermitage Farm, Maidstone, which currently is the subject of a planning application for a major extension. The operator of this site considers it to be the only realistic means of delivering the required 0.78million tonnes per annum (mtpa) ragstone landbank. However, the stock of planning permissions that makes up the ragstone landbank is currently well in excess of the County's needs for the plan period."

While the final sentance is clearly not written in plain English, it seems to be saying that the Oaken Wood site would produce far more aggregate than the county needs.

Oaken Wood letter to Eric Pickles

Oaken Wood has been referred to Eric Pickles. The campaign group are keen for people to write to him to help sway his decision. Below is my letter, feel free to plagiarise!
  
Write to Eric Pickles: eric.pickles@communities.gsi.gov.uk or Eric Pickles, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. Also write to local MP Helen Grant: helen.grant.mp@parliament.uk

Dear Mr Pickles,

Last week Kent County Council decided to allow the destruction of 78 acres of ancient woodland so that more aggregate can be quarried to build more roads. This decision has been referred to you as it falls outside of KCC's mineral extraction strategy and I am asking you to turn it down. Here is why:

Ancient woodland is a valuable source of biodiversity. Oaken Wood is ancient woodland and has been shown to be wooded since the 1600's. Kent Wildlife Trust have found a wide range of species on the site including one that is unique to the wood. Planning Policy Statement 9: Biodiversity and Geological Conservation explains why ancient woodland is so valuable and therefore why Oaken Wood should be protected.

Minerals Planning Policy Statement 1 states 'do not permit mineral proposals that would result in the loss or deterioration of ancient woodland, not otherwise statutorily protected'.

If this quarry is allowed to go ahead, you will be making a dangerous precedent for the future undermining ancient woodland across the country. Please do not allow our woodland to become this unprotected.

Stuart Jeffery,
Maidstone

Oaken Wood

Lots of media coverage following KCC’s decision to allow the destruction of 78 acres of ancient woodland so that aggregate used predominantly for roads can be quarried.  Clearly, Conservatives do not do conservation. Either they are trying to sell off woodland or are happy to see it destroyed once it is in private hands.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/quarry-plan-danger-for-ancient-woodland-2282378.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-13352133

Keith Taylor in Maidstone

Spend a hectic afternoon with Keith Taylor MEP in and around Maidstone yesterday.

We visited the Oaken Wood campaigners and Keith was very impressed with what they have achieved. It looks like Kent Wildlife Trust has objected to Gallagher's plans now and there is to be a public meeting in December.

We moved on to Fant Farm where 380 houses would be built under the current strategy that the council has. Keith and I signed a letter to Cllr Chris Garland asking him to redo the Strategic Housing Land Area Assessment. Also noted is a four fold increase in the social housing waiting list, so we shouldn't be reducing plans for housing too much, but perhaps refocussing them.

We moved on to Harrietsham to hear from the chair of the parish council about how the noise from the M20 is affecting residents there. The M20 runs right past the village and its surface is concrete rather than tarmac. The road noise a quarter of a mile from the motorway in the school car park meant we had to shout to be heard.

Finally we met with Janetta Sams who has been leading a campaign in Lenham (collecting 1000 signatures on a petition and presenting to the Maidstone Joint Transportation Board) to get 20mph limits around schools. Kent Police are blocking the proposal saying they won't endorse 20mph limits without traffic calming. Keith is writing to the Cheif Constable to ask them to reconsider.

MAIDSTONE’S GREEN EURO-MP RAISES CONCERNS OVER OAKEN WOOD PLANS

Keith Taylor MEP calls for public health assessment of proposed quarry development in letter to Kent County Council

The Green Euro-MP for Maidstone and the South East is supporting local campaigners in their efforts to halt plans to turn 74 acres of ancient woodland into a quarry.

A major planning application proposed by Gallagher Aggregates Limited (1) calls for an extension of Hermitage Quarry in Maidstone across ancient woodland and a local wildlife site. Angry local residents have launched a campaign to protect the land from destruction (http://www.saveoakenwood.co.uk/).

In a letter to Kent County Council, Keith Taylor MEP highlights his concerns that once bulldozed, the precious woodland would be lost forever.

He said: "There is neither enough policy guidance nor impact details at this stage of the application, and I believe any approval decision would be highly premature."

Keith continued: "To properly safeguard the wellbeing of the area's residents, I also think a full public health impact assessment of the project should be included with any future planning application.

"These quarry extension plans have caused significant anxiety amongst local people. Residents have already endured 20 years of quarrying on that site and do not want to see the area's natural habitats further endangered just so materials for yet more road building can be produced.

"The parish council, the Woodland Trust and CPRE have also raised serious objections to the proposed development. The environmental consequences are clear and even the economic case for quarrying ragstone and aggregate seems poor given the current climate."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1) TM/10/TEMP/0025 - http://www.kent.gov.uk/environment_and_planning/planning_in_kent/planning_applications/major_applications.aspx

For more information on the work of Keith Taylor MEP, please contact Melissa Freeman on 0207 407 9935 / 07950 382149 or keithpress@greenmeps.org.uk

www.keithtaylormep.org.uk

Oaken Wood meeting 16th Sept

Yesterday I spoke to a packed hall of Barming residents about two reasons the Greens were objecting to Gallagher's plans to turn Oaken Wood into a quarry. I think that there were around 120 people there and it was standing room only clearly reflecting the strength of feeling in Barming.

Alongside me were CPRE and The Woodland Trust and the event was organised by the Save Oaken Wood Action Group. I focussed on the economic and sustainability cases against the quarrying, but there are plenty of other reasons not to turn 74 acres of ancient woodland into material to build roads...

If you haven't already objected, The Woodland Trust have made it easy to do so with their online email objector thingummy.

Oaken Wood Public Meeting

More from the Save Oaken Wood Action Group below - public meeting looking at the reasons to oppose the plan (I'll be speaking at it along with CPRE and the group itself of course).

I'm also joining a meeting that Gallagher's have arranged with CPRE on Monday morning as they want to convince us that the quarry will be a good thing...

Keith Taylor MEP has joined the fight against the plans, co signing our letter of objection to KCC.

Have just finished reading Soil and Soul where the community fought a super quarry in Harris.

Public meeting: Why to oppose the GAL* application to quarry Oaken Wood

Thursday, September 16, 2010 7:00 PM

Please attend the meeting: Why to oppose the GAL* application to quarry Oaken Wood.

• Where?
  
  • Barming Primary School, Belmont Close, Barming, ME16 9DY
• When?
  
  • 16th September 2010 at 1900 / 7pm
• Why?
  
  • Because we won't get a second chance to save Oaken Wood from destruction.
  • You can make a difference
  • Barming needs your help.

Oaken Wood hots up

The Woodland Trust are backing the campaign to save Oaken Wood. They have an online petition here.

The full planning application can be seen on the KCC website here.

CPRE are backing the campaign too... Dr Hilary Newport, Director of CPRE Protect Kent said “This is a precious site which is hugely valued by local people, and we find it hard to accept that the need for the ragstone is so great as to warrant the destruction of this ancient woodland habitat, and the disturbance caused over the many years of this quarry's operation.  Our focus ought to be on developing new and more sustainable building practices which do not rely on the destruction of important ecological and historical resources.  Ancient woodland is irreplaceable, and while we acknowledge the proposals to reinstate the wildlife habitats after quarrying the ragstone, nothing can restore the rich history of ancient woodland management practices and the ancient trackway that would be lost.”

The facebook campaign now has over 1200 members!

Maidstone Greens and Kent Green Party will be lodging an objection to the development.

Guardian of Oaken Wood

The campaign to save Oaken Wood has appeared on the Guardian's Piece by Piece website. Good to see the CPRE Kent (Protect Kent) backing the campaign to save it.

No news on the planning application yet. Like KIG this is another case of profit before the environment and two figures to the future. We don't need more roads and we certainly don't need fancy ragstone to build houses with.

Oaken Wood

74 acres of ancient woodland that Gallaghers plan to destroy. They must be stoppped. We don't need the aggregate for new roads and we don't need ragstone to make houses look pretty. We need woodland and the biodiversity that it brings. This is what they intend to get rid of:

This satelite phot from Google shows the wood and the current quarry next door:

Hands off Oaken Wood!

Press release from Kent Green Party below. Please let Gallagher's know what you think of their plans (link here)

Greens in the Maidstone and Tonbridge and Malling areas are backing the campaign to save Oaken Woods from quarrying by Gallaghers. Expressing deep concerns about the wisdom and need for quarrying in Kent, they have stated that Gallaghers need to put the needs of environment before profit and that ancient woodland must be protected. They have further stated that there no need for further road building in Kent and that there are good alternatives for building materials. Maidstone Greens have expressed their concerns to the company directly.

Stuart Jeffery of Maidstone Green Party: "Gallagher mainly supplies aggregate for road building and stone for house building. While we recognise the need for more social and affordable housing in Maidstone, there is no need for further expansion of our road network, especially when it involves destroying 74 acres of ancient woodland.

"Kentish ragstone may be an attractive building material to use but it is not a practical one. At a time when we should be reducing our carbon footprint, we should be building houses using materials with very high insulation values. We need to be investing in zero carbon alternatives with high insulation values is we are to have a new housing stock for the future.

"Destroying ancient woodland for the sake of building roads is simply shortsighted and greedy. Any promised replacement woodland will not be adequate for the loss of diversity that the area currently has."

Stop Gallaghers destroying 74 acres of ancient woodland in Maidstone

Gallaghers are applying for permission to open a 74 acre quarry on the site of Oaken Wood, an ancient woodland with a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Local Wilflife Site in it. Gallaghers say that they will refill the quarry and plan new woodland on top once they have removed milllions of tonnes of stone for road and housebuilding.

This is simply crazy. There are much better alternatives to the use of Kentish Rag Stone to build houses with. While Rag Stone looks pretty, the impact on the enviroment and the fact that this resource is not renewable makes this exercise a pointless waste of time that will simply increase the profits for the company. Let's use carbon negative building materials such as hemp blocks for new houses.

And as for destroying an ancient woodland so that there can be aggregate to build more roads with...

A facebook page has started and I urge people to join it.