Plans for over 100 new homes ‘will change the face of Kent village forever’

Plans to bring over 100 new houses to Dymchurch have been met with an outpour of objections. An outline planning application submitted to Folkestone and Hythe District Council details the creation of 132 new homes on the land at High Knocke Farm.

This would include the construction of affordable housing along with the associated infrastructure and necessary landscaping. The proposals, put forward by Rebridge Estates, state that thosen site offers ‘a significant opportunity to deliver high quality sustainably located housing within the Dymchurch area.’

Located immediately to the south of Dymchurch, approximately 400 metres away from the village centre, the proposed site comprises a total 6.3 hectares of mainly undeveloped greenfield land in agricultural use. Houses would be predominantly two stories in height, with a mix of detached, semi-detached and terraced properties alongside a small number of flats.

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Approximately 38 per cent of the total site area would be used as public open space, with a layout that is designed to give priority to pedestrians and cyclists. Plans detail the inclusion of a large and central public open space, an open community meeting space as well as children’s play and activity areas.

While the application states: “the proposals are well-informed and we firmly consider that the numerous identified public benefits of the proposals outweigh any limited perceived degree of harm’, the bid has been met with a wave of opposition. Since being submitted, the application has attracted over 180 comments, a great number of which raise concerns against the propositions.

Current and former Dymchurch Parish Councillors wrote a group statement that reads: “As both current and former Dymchurch Parish Councillors, we jointly feel that is important that we make our voices heard on a proposed development that will have significant impacts on the historic coastal village of Dymchurch – one that potentially will change the face and character of the village forever.

“We take note of the recently elected Leader of F&HDC – Cllr Jim Martin (Green) who stated when in opposition to the former administration that there was a “massive over supply” of residential housing sites “in the pipeline” in this part of Kent – directly questioning the need for more.

“We fully accept that there is a demand driven need for residential housing to be built, be that both nationally and locally – especially affordable housing, however; our belief is that there is a strong argument supporting the suggestion that new largescale residential housing developments should only be built in the right place – and that it is not acceptable for developers to destroy open land that is simply more commercially attractive to them at the expense of the local community.”

Richard Crispin commented: “Dymchurch does not need a massive estate. There is no infrastructure to complement an estate, new houses, new sewer, no thanks.”

Madeline Scarre said: “There are many reasons for this development to not go ahead. Increased volume of traffic spilling onto a very busy A259 – which during the summer months is even busier. You can hardly cross the road safely at times. There is only one medical centre serving the whole area and it is already stretched to breaking point. The Pharmacy in Dymchurch is often overwhelmed with prescription requests – increasing the population in this area would impact greatly on all these services.

“During many months of the year the water table is very high and flooding is something which is a great problem and concern to residents living in the area. The field in question is below sea level. I strongly object to this proposal.”

Julie Constantinou added: “I strongly object to this build. There are not enough facilities to support all the people. This is a green space for nature. The village is overrun in the holiday season and cannot sustain more people, parking and stress on the environment. It will destroy the village atmosphere. The drains and infrastructure is not in place. There will be worse noise pollution and crime. This does not make sense.”

Meanwhile, Dymchurch Parish Council has unanimously objected to the outline planning application. Comments from the council state: “Dymchurch Parish Council are not opposed to sustainable and affordable housing to support all ages from entering the housing market and for any development to be considered, but this must be in the most appropriate locations prioritising brownfield sites or existing sites for improvements.”

Folkestone and Hythe District Council’s planning committee is scheduled to meet and make a decision on the proposals tomorrow (June 6). Full details on the application and all comments left on the proposals can be found here.

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