Comments for Planning Application MC/21/1296 Application Summary Application Number: MC/21/1296 Address: Gibraltar Farm Ham Lane Hempstead Gillingham Medway ME7 3JJ Proposal: Outline Application (with all matters reserved except access) for the erection of up to 450 market and affordable dwellings, nursery and supporting retail space up to 85sqm, with provision of main access to Ham Lane; estate roads; cycle and pedestrian routes; residential and community open space and landscaping; new junction for Lidsing Road/Hempstead Road and realignment and widening of Lidsing Road. Off site related highway works to Westfield Sole Road, Shawstead Road, Hempstead Road, Chapel Lane, Hempstead Valley Drive, Hoath Way roundabout, Hoath Way and M2 Junction 4 - Re-submission of MC/19/0336 Case Officer: Wendy Simpson Customer Details Name: Mr David Attwood Address: Boxley Grange, Lidsing Road, Maidstone me14 3el Comment Details Commenter Type: Member of the Public Stance: Customer objects to the Planning Application Comment Reasons: Comment:I wish to make a formal objection to the Gibraltar Development MC/21/1296 I have farmed at Harp Farm (adjacent to Lidsing Road) since 1974 and Boxley Grange Farm since 1984. The extent of the land associated with these farms stretches from fields bordering the M2 motorway (south side) to conservation land at the bottom of Boxley Hill. In my initial years of farming in these locations, Walderslade and the Walderslade Woods Road had not yet been established and the small country roads were extremely quiet. These country roads south of the M2 (Westfield Sole Road, Yelsted Lane, Harp Farm Road, Lidsing Road, Dunn Street) are predominantly single track carriageways designed to accommodate a rural/village level traffic flow. They have little drainage and frequently flood. I consider them to now be at a dangerous level of over capacity with serious accidents regularly occurring at known black spots (at times fatal). Any development on the fringes of Medway will negligible improvement to the local road network would drive traffic levels on these roads to breaking point. Despite claims from Developers residents of the new development will all pour onto the M2. The current dominant local traffic flow from Medway is to access the M20/M25 via Boxley Hill/Boxley Village in preference to sitting in stationary traffic trying to access via the M2/Bluebell Hill which already operates at full saturation esp during rush hours. The land south of M2 is part of the North Downs AONB. The M2 marks a physical man-made boundary of this land designation but wildlife does not adhere to a line drawn on a map. The development would impact on my farmland and the countryside within the AONB, all of which struggles with the pressure of already being so close to the largest conurbation in Kent (Medway Towns). I have cherished the land which I farm; I have planted in excess of 6 miles of hedgerows ad 10 acres of woodland. Within the 1500 acres covered by the Farm Titles I oversee Boxley Warren (a Local Nature Reserve) and Monkdown Woods which together comprise of over 400 acres of precious SSSI land and in some areas habitats of Special European Importance. The development would detrimentally impact on these critical wildlife havens, eroding away at a crucial green space buffer between urban areas and zones of wildlife conservation. It would reduce feeding areas and breeding habitats for species which are in severe decline in the UK and on the verge of being pushed into extinction. We have been working with Heritage Lottery Fund over recent years to prevent the abuse of the AONB and Boxley warren Local Nature Reserve by illegal off-road motorbikes and other anti-social activities which filter out of the neighbouring urban areas and ruin the enjoyment of the countryside by responsible individuals. The area is already blighted by fly-tipping and general littering and Maidstone Borough Council denounces all responsibility when it comes to street cleansing. The results are roads transgressing through SSSI land completely fringed in rubbish (example: Boxley Hill). This development does very little to address the needs for schools, doctors and hospital capacity in the local area. There is also insufficient land designated for leisure, the developers simply relying on existing overstretched facilities nearby (notably in Medway and not Maidstone). I honestly feel that the countryside of the North Downs AONB is treasured by many local residents, land owners and charity organisations. We must preserve such important green space for communities and wildlife alike and the building of potentially thousands of homes right on the AONB threshold would be a complete disaster. I believe building any one of the East Hill Development, the Gibraltar Farm Development or the Lidsing Village Green would further increase the urban footprint of the Medway Towns, increasing traffic, pollution, rural crime and exhaust the services of the most heavily populated area of Kent. .