Kings Hill and East Malling residents are up in arms over a proposed housing development - though it seems for different reasons.

The Tregothnan Estate, owned by The Honourable Evelyn Arthur Hugh Boscawen, heir to the Viscountcy of Falmouth, has submitted a planning application to Tonbridge and Malling council seeking outline planning permission to build 65 homes on a 3.35 hectare site on the boundary of Kings Hill.

The oblong-shaped piece of land approaches Teston Road in the north and lies north of Cattering Wood.

All details are reserved for future consideration except for access. The application shows this being from Clearheart Lane on the Kings Hill estate, with a secondary pedestrian and emergency vehicle access only from Ketridge Lane in the south.

A number of existing Kings Hill residents have objected to the access saying Kings Hill is already too busy and Clearheart Lane already suffers too many parked cars.

They want access to be from Teston Road.

But both East Malling and Larkfield Parish Council and Wateringbury Parish Council have contested this saying it would be unacceptable to use Teston Road or Ketridge Lane, as that would send more traffic into their communities.

The borough council has already received 190 written letters of objection and an online petition against the scheme has gathered 1,966 signatures.

Shakira Falzon-Thomas, from McArthur Drive, Kings Hill, started the petition, She is a co-ordinator for the Kings Hill Friends of the Earth Group.

She said she was "shocked and appalled" by the proposals.

She was concerned about the designated ancient woodland to the south west of the site and for the wildlife living there.

The applicant's own ecologists have discovered the area is used by six different species of bat and that there is evidence of dormice present, that there were lizards on site and a "good" population of slow-worms.

However, a developer would normally expect to be able to obtain a licence to deal with all those species.

Lichfields is the agent acting for the Tregothnan Estate. The company said that the majority of the ancient woodland that residents were concerned about was in a separate land-holding to the south west of the development site and would not be affected.

Tregothnan Estate bought the land from the MoD. It was previously part of West Malling Airfield, which closed in 1966.

But Mrs Falzon-Thomas said: "We do not want to lose this all-important biodiverse site to yet more homes which could be easily built elsewhere within the county on brown fields.

"West Malling is already over polluted and over populated, as such the local doctor’s surgeries are over whelmed and oversubscribed, therefore ascertaining an appointment is near on impossible and registering as a new patient simply impossible.

"Our village simply cannot cope with the volume of traffic nor provide enough parking facilities for the ever-growing community due to private developers destroying our beautiful green belt for financial gain."

She was supported in her view by Lee Hayes, also of McArthur Drive, who said: "Tregothnan Estate seems to have little consideration for the views of hundreds of residents.

"These plans will potentially lead to the destruction of further woodland in the area. This is a lovely piece of green space, much enjoyed by the residents of Kings Hill."

However, objectors' chances of stopping the application seem thin.

The land is within the settlement boundary for Kings Hill, is not in the AONB, nor prone to flooding, not in a Conservation Area or Greenbelt. It is already an allocated site for housing in the existing Local Plan.

Furthermore Tonbridge and Malling council has had previous refusals to grant planning permission in the locality over-turned at appeal, including a total of 350 homes off Kings Hill Avenue, Abbey Wood Road, and Jubilee Way in Kings Hill.

You can view details of the planning application here.

You can sign Mrs Falzon-Thomas's petition here.

You can learn more about Tregothnan Estate here.

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