Highsted Park Update 17 February 2025

Latest update on the Highsted Park Planning Inquiry

• The Planning Inquiry is moving at a pace, driven by a strict timetable set by the Planning Inspector.
• The Inquiry will start at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 11 March, and will be held at Swale House.
• The Inquiry is split into 3 tranches. During each tranche, a number of different topics will be covered. The north and south planning applications will be considered at the same time.
• The Action Group represents 5 parish councils: Doddington, Lynsted with Kingsdown, Newnham, Teynham, and Tonge, and is a Rule 6 party.

To support our case and represent community views, we have a barrister - Simon Bell - plus can draw on two subject experts - Bruce Bamber (Transport) and Dr Nicholas Doggett (Heritage). In order to cut costs, we are sharing expenses in relation to Dr Doggett and Simon Bell with the Five Parishes Group.

• To date (16 February), we have raised £17,483. In addition, another £2,000 has been transferred from Newnham PC (expected to arrive on today). The objective is to raise £31,000. A detailed spread sheet of costs, and breakdown has been compiled. Engagement letters for barrister and subject experts will state work will only be permitted, within the available funds raised.
• A dedicated website provides updates, plus how to make a donation.
  • The home page is: https://teynham-highsted.org/
  • The news page provides a brief overview of recent updates: https://teynham-highsted.org/news/
  • The donate page can be found here: https://teynham-highsted.org/donate-page/
• The barrister and the subject experts are being contracted via Lynsted with Kingsdown PC (to simplify contractual arrangements, plus it means that the VAT can be recovered on the invoices).
• Updates on the totaliser will be published this week on social media.
• A flyer is currently being developed, with the intention of being delivered to some 3500+ households within the local area - via a network of volunteers.
• An initial public session - run by the Action Group - was held at Teynham Village Hall. Representatives from the five parish councils attended the update.
• A second public session will be held in Doddington on Sunday 2nd March 11 – 1pm.
• A number of people have volunteered their services, to help out in different ways.
• The Planning Inspector has requested that we (the Action Group) co-ordinate members of the public who wish to speak. We have created a simple form to capture requests to volunteer and requests to speak in the public sessions. The form can be found online: https://forms.gle/ay3tNGNW3dp6HxDJ8

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Doddington,Lynsted with Kingsdown, Teynham and Tonge Parish Councils will continue working together to represent community views on the Highsted Park planning applications. Together, we will be known as TEYNHAM & HIGHSTED COMMUNITY ACTION during the inquiry process.

As you may know, the Secretary of State has ‘called in’ the Highsted Park planning applications. This means the Planning Inspector will thoroughly review the plans and then make a recommendation to the Secretary of State, who will decide the final outcome. The review is set to begin in March 2025 and is expected to last 12 weeks.

We’re pleased to announce that our group of Parish Councils has been granted Rule 6 status. This gives us the right to participate formally in the inquiry process, ensuring your voices are heard and our community’s concerns are properly represented.

Over the coming weeks, there will be case management meetings where the barristers, planning inspector, and other parties agree on how the inquiry will be run. Participation in the inquiry will incur costs in respect of legal and consultancy fees. Each parish council in our group has agreed to provide a level of financial support to a "fighting fund" but this will need to be augmented by publicly funded contributions. To this end the group will be launching a crowdfunding campaign in the new year. More details of this will be provided in due course.

We aim to provide you with more updates, and outline opportunities for you to contribute to the campaign/community action, in January 2025.

Steve Coates 

Chairman      

Doddington Parish Council    

December 2024