HELP US TO FIGHT HIGHSTED PARK...!

Teynham & Highsted Community Action has been launched to fight the two applications together known as ‘Highsted Park’ - a new town of 8,400 houses to be built between Faversham and Sittingbourne.

We are a consortium of five local parish councils - Teynham, Lynsted with Kingsdown, Tonge, Doddington and Newnham.

Our action group has been granted official ‘Rule 6’ status, making us a main party at the Public Inquiry which commenced on 11 March and is scheduled to run for 47 days.

Following its conclusion, the Planning Inspector will prepare a report to recommend whether or not the applications should proceed.

Our role at the Inquiry is to help explain how this development would have a catastrophic impact on our local community.

Highsted Park, if granted permission, would:

- urbanise the rural countryside by building 8,400 houses on valuable agricultural land, needed for food production

- cause harm to designated heritage assets and habitat sites

- create a new motorway junction off the M2 within the protected Kent Downs ‘National Landscape’

- increase traffic and worsen air quality on the local road network

- run link roads through conservation areas and ancient woodland

- put excessive strain on other local infrastructure such as healthcare provision, education, water supply and drainage

We are working closely with Swale Borough Council and the Five Parishes Group to bring specific areas of expertise to the proceedings - whilst also ensuring that the lived experiences and specific concerns of local residents are directly represented.

Leading barrister Simon Bell, a specialist in planning and environmental law, has been instructed to represent our action group. We have also appointed Bruce Bamber of Railton TPC, a consultant with over 30 years’ experience in the transport industry, to act as expert witness on highways matters. Our heritage expert is Nicholas Doggett of Asset Heritage Consulting.

As parish councils, our financial resources are limited – which is why we need your help to fund legal and professional fees.

Please donate whatever you can, to stop the ‘Garden of England’ turning into a construction site.

Note: all funds raised are paid directly into the Action Group's fighting fund bank account, which is managed by Lynsted with Kingsdown Parish Council.

For further information on our action group, please visit: https://teynham-highsted.org/

This website is being updated as the Public Inquiry progresses.