On Sunday 9 February I joined campaigners in Teynham Village Hall to do my bit to halt this development. As the decision-making powers have been snatched from Swale Borough Council at the behest of my Labour neighbour MP, I will also keep voicing your concerns directly to the Government. They must listen to local people and take into account the sound planning objections against it.
I don’t need to tell you that this development could lead to an extra 19,300 residents (if an average of 2.3 people live in each of the 8,400 homes) living on the edge of Sittingbourne. Given the population of Faversham is 20,900 residents, this development effectively adds a town the size of Faversham to the East of Sittingbourne.
This will change a beautiful rural area into a large urban one, and we are unlikely to get the necessary infrastructure, including road improvements, to cope with it. It will inevitably lead to an increase in traffic on local country lanes, which are already alarmingly busy with cars and lorries often trying to avoid queues on main roads. Cllr Julien Speed has pointed out that traffic on the London Road in Teynham is already up 24% since 2019 - and that's before a single house is built on the approved Frognal Lane site, let alone Highsted Park.
Any plan for a new junction on the M2 is unlikely to make a material difference. The M2 already struggles to cope with the volume of traffic on it, and last year it was shut 32 times – increasing the amount of traffic on the A2 by 37%.
Another big concern for me is the impact this development will have on food security. Nearly three quarters of the proposed development will be on good or better agricultural land. It would be far better to continue the last Government’s policy of focussing development in towns and cities where they have the infrastructure to support new residents. In short, London should be taking more housing.
I will keep making these points directly to the Government to make sure they hear them, and if you want to help the Stop Highsted Park Action Group there is more information about how you can help here: https://teynham-highsted.org/
As I said on Sunday, if anyone can stop this, this community can, and I will be with you every step of the way.
