Housebuilder considering land near Meopham for 470 new homes
Initial plans for 470 new homes near a large Kent village are due to be considered ahead of a full application.Housebuilding firm Richborough is eyeing up land near Meopham for a proposal to build the homes across two sites close to each other in the village.Documents submitted to Gravesham Borough Council on Tuesday by consultants Wardell Armstrong, on Richborough's behalf, set out the future proposals.Half of the homes across the two sites, totalling 52 acres, are set to be marketed as affordable and sold or rented below the market rate.
Some 350 homes are proposed for agricultural fields east of Wrotham Road, near a parade of shops, and a further 120 on another parcel of land south of Longfield Road, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.According to the documents, the proposed development on the smaller site "has potential to provide a new school car park and drop off area".The documents are part of an Environmental Impact Assessment scoping report, with a planning application for the homes not yet submitted.The consultants said "significant effects are not likely as a result of either scheme in isolation, or both in combination".Under planning rules, the council's planning department must respond with a decision within the next three weeks.Richborough has been asked when it will submit a full planning application.
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The Herald Scotland
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They believe the decision made by Scottish Forestry that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was not necessary was wrong. David Lintott, CEO of Restore Nature Ltd said: 'The scale of the work that is being carried out without any proper environmental assessment of the impact it's going to have is shocking really.' In a Crowdfunder, 'Save Todrig from Sitka spruce plantation' launched to fund the legal process, Restore Nature Ltd declared: 'We believe the decision by Scottish Forestry to 'screen out' an EIA on 23 December 2024 was unlawful.' It follows a similar Crowdfunder carried out by the 'Save Stobo Hope' campaign. Over the past year Scottish Forestry has been the focus of a series of court threats relating to large scale conifer plantations. In 2024 the regulator was taken to judicial review by campaigners over its decision not to require an EIA at the almost 2000 acre site, which hit the news when heather was sprayed with herbicide. Heat at Todrig (Image: Member of public) Scottish Forestry ultimately overturned that decision, issued an enforcement order halting the planting, cancelled a £2 million grant issued to the developers, and, in February of this year, ordered an EIA. Following this, True North Real Asset Partners, owner of the Stobo Hope plantation, then responded to the halting of the works with its own petition for judicial review. Todrig is a similar story, yet different in some key elements. The 1,000 acre estate is a large area of heathland, wetlands and grasslands in the Scottish Borders near Melrose. The Crowdfunder describes it as 'steeped in history and part of the Ettrick Forest' and also 'once a royal hunting ground with oak and hazel woods'. Close to 85% of the planted area, though not the whole land holding, is set to be planted with the commercial conifer, chiefly the controversial fast-growing non-native conifer, Sitka spruce, valued for its timber. The application for the planting at Todrig was made by Euroforest Silviculture (previously named Pryor and Rickett Silviculture) on behalf of Gresham House Forest Growth & Sustainability LP, which bought Todrig Farm for £12.3m. Restore Nature also notes that: 'Adjacent to Todrig is Whitslaid, the site of another proposed plantation for 1,700 acres of mostly Sitka spruce. If both schemes are approved, this would result in a contiguous, predominantly Sitka spruce monoculture plantation of 2,700 acres or 11 square kilometres. 'This will lead to a permanent loss of heather moorland, wetlands and grasslands, further devastating the flora and fauna of the Southern Uplands.' READ MORE: The crowdfunding page also claims Scottish Forestry is 'favouring investors over rural communities'. 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The campaign is initially aiming to raise 'a minimum of £10,000 to pay for the legal costs of this Judicial Review with the Court of Session, Edinburgh'. 'If we are granted permission for a substantive hearing,' it said, 'we hope to raise an additional amount to challenge the decision by Scottish Forestry to determine no EIA was required. We hope that if an EIA is required, Scottish Forestry will refuse consent for the proposed woodland creation scheme." A spokesperson for Gresham House said: 'We are aware that Restore Nature Ltd has petitioned for a judicial review of the screening opinion issued by Scottish Forestry, which determined that an environmental impact assessment was not required for our proposed woodland creation scheme at Todrig in the Scottish Borders. As this is a matter for the relevant authorities, we await the outcome of the petition and will continue to comply fully with all required processes." Scottish Forestry declined to comment.
