Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

Eland House

Bressenden Place

London SW1E 5DU

 

Date: 18th September 2014

 

Dear Eric,

 

I am writing about Medway Council Planning Committee’s decision to approve the outline planning application MC/11/2516 for a major mixed-use development at Lodge Hill, Kent. 

 

Lodge Hill is one of the most important places for nightingales in the UK and, for this reason, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It’s also home to a wide variety of other scarce, declining and protected wildlife. Due to the national significance of this site and the deeply worrying precedent its destruction would set for the protection of England’s most precious wildlife sites, including ancient woodland, I urge you to call in this application so that it can be examined at a full public inquiry.

 

As my PQ of 7th May 2014 revealed, the development at Lodge Hill would destroy more habitat in one go than the total loss of SSSIs to development in the last seven years.

 

While I welcomed the assurance in the answer that there is a very strong presumption against developing SSSIs in both primary legislation, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and previous guidance, the Lodge Hill planning application is a key test of whether this presumption is effective.

 

As you know, the NPPF contains important safeguards for SSSIs, whereby development should only go ahead when there are no alternatives and where the need for development outweighs the impacts on the SSSI and the national network of SSSIs.  The Lodge Hill development does not pass these tests – as confirmed in 2013 by the independent government inspector for Medway’s Core Strategy.

 

This development would therefore seriously undermine the NPPF and the Government’s very strong presumption against developing SSSIs, setting a dangerous precedent for the protection of our most special sites for wildlife across the country.  This is not to say there isn’t a need to build new homes, but less environmentally destructive locations can, and must, be found.

 

If the Government is serious about protecting the UK’s most precious wildlife sites for the benefit of people and nature, and reversing the terrible decline in biodiversity as revealed by last year’s State of Nature report, this application must be called in and subject to public inquiry. 

 

Thank you for your consideration of this matter and I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Caroline Lucas, MP, Brighton Pavilion