Greenfield land in Kent vanishing
Thursday 6th February, 2003
Within ten years the oasthouse at Finn Farm in Kent, which dates from 1810, will be surrounded by row upon row of houses instead of open fields. Developers have mapped out the pastures surrounding the farm at Kingsnorth, three miles south of Ashford, for a large estate.
Alistair Allen, the oasthouse owner, had been promised that the Park Farm Estate would encroach no farther than the bluebell woods that he can just see from his upstairs window. Now the building plans have been extended to 100 metres from his back door.
The Government has stipulated that 29,000 houses must be built in the Ashford area by 2033. Greenfield land, on which the village of Kingsnorth is situated, is virtually the only place they can go.
“When I moved here in 1996, there was not another house between here and Ashford, and we had a clear view over the fields behind,” Mr Allen, a travel manager, said. “At that time we had terrible problems getting permission to renovate the building and had to follow careful instructions from English Heritage.
“Now the Government seems to be ignoring all its own rules to get these houses built. This will mean our country roads will undoubtedly be turned into dual carriageways and (we will have) even more trouble in getting our children into schools.”
Ashford town’s population of 60,000 is expected almost to double over the next 30 years. To house the required numbers, large expanses of greenfield land, owned by the Church Commissioners, will have to be used; Ashford has little or no brownfield land left unoccupied.