| Dear Susan, I wonder if you could help me. I am one of the members of the Sellindge Residents Association, and I have been writing for some time regarding the development of Otterpool Quarry by Countrystyle. Some time ago, this company put in a planning application, to KCC, for a green waste facility in Hollingbourne, about 2004-6, I believe. Hugh Robertson MP put in an objection to the application, as did the then Leader of KCC, Sandy Bruce Lockhart,and the present Leader, Paul Carter. I have seen a copy of the letter of objection that Hugh Robertson sent to the KCC, and it states in no uncertain terms that Kent, the erstwhile Garden of Kent, has suffered enough at the hands of developers, with the rail link etc. Even the proposed lorry park at Bearstead was refused, yet this is now one of Mr Carter's plans for the edge of Sellindge. All the things Mr Robertson mentioned in his letter, apply to our village, yet we have been subjected over time to the most horrendous despoliation. The high speed rail link, the converter station, the M20 motorway are just examples. Now we are facing the possible erection of wind turbines, large housing expansion, the waste site at Otterpool, the expansion of the electricity converter station and goodness knows what else, including the proposed lorry park on the edge of our village. I note that although Countrystyle's solicitors had all the searches done (presumably) at the Hollingbourne green waste site, they failed to notice that there was a covenant on the land before it reached the consideration of the KCC, and before the Leader, Deputy Leader, and the MP, Hugh Robertson got to the stage of submitting their own objections!!! Countrystyle withdrew their application, and one cannot be blamed for thinking that rather strange. One might form the opinion that it is rather opportune for the covenant to be "discovered" at that last stage in the application. It would be very helpful if you could let me know the address of the plot that Countrystyle wanted to develop in Hollingbourne, so that I could find out exactly when the covenant was put in the deeds of the land. My house has a covenant which states that I cannot raise chickens on my plot, and this is clearly stated and dated on my deeds. It would be the same for the Hollingbourne land, if indeed there had been a covenant on it. One might think that if planning had been granted without a fuss, as it was in the case of Otterpool Quarry, then any future applications by Countrystyle might be unfavourably considered. If that were the case, then any developer would be unwise to submit the application. I was at the meeting at County Hall in March, when you presented our petition to KCC and supported our objection as a village, and felt that the petition was not regarded as that important, even though it was signed by 96% of the residents. We were disappointed to see that a couple of the Planning Committee sitting on the floor of the Chamber were actually dozing off, and we were shocked at the lack of the democratic process. If you can aid me in finding out when the covenant was put on the Hollingbourne land, I would be very grateful, Kind regards, Mavis Turton |
