An application to build 74 homes in the centre of Hawkhurst was considered by the parish council at an extraordinary meeting on Monday night.

The proposal from Dandara is to build on land east of Highgate Hill, with an access off Highgate Hill, and with a pedestrian and cycle access to the north into Copthall Avenue.

The council said the development fell completely within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and so conflicted with national planning guidelines that stated only small-scale development could be allowed in such locations and then only if the impact on the AONB could be mitigated. That was not the case with this proposal, the parish council said.

The council said the applicant was relying on the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's current inability to demonstrate a five-year housing supply as the exceptional circumstances to justify the development.

But it noted that when dismissing an appeal for development on another site in the village at Ockley/Heartenoak, a government inspector had observed that the current housing supply at Tunbridge Wells was a "marked improvement over the situation some two years ago" equating to a "shortfall of only around 220 dwellings across the borough over five years."

The inspector had been of the view that such a small shortfall could be expected to be easily addressed.

The Highgate Hill site is allocated for development in Tunbridge Wells' draft Local Plan, but the parish pointed out that it and many local residents had objected to its inclusion, as had the High Weald AONB Unit, Natural England and the Campaign To Protect Rural England. The draft Local Plan had not yet been adopted.

The parish council also took umbrage that the applicant "repeatedly mistakenly refers to Hawkhurst as a town."

National planning guidance required that any development on agricultural land must first be shown to be necessary, and must second be of low quality grade 4 or 5 land.

The applicant hadn't shown the development was necessary and the land was classed as grade 3 and was therefore "not appropriate for development."

The parish council was also concerned that insufficient attention had been placed on the impact on existing residents.

It disputed the applicant's view that the site was sustainable and within walking distance of the village centre.

The parish said this took no account of the local topography.

It would be a steep uphill climb from the site to the Rye Road. Future residents would have the option to walk up Highgate Hill instead, but that was busy A-road, with very narrow and poorly maintained pavements approaching a crossroads which was often congested with parked cars.

The parish said that Dandara's assertion that the development would enhance the vitality of Hawkhurst's economy ignored the fact that "the increase in traffic congestion, demand for parking, pressure on Hawkhurst's already struggling infrastructure will in all likelihood have the opposite effect."

The council also deplored the fact that the development would erode the distinct separation of the two halves of the village - at Highgate and at The Moor.

It has other objections too: an adverse impact on the local landscape, on listed buildings and an over-concentration on large houses instead of small units which were what what actually needed in the village.

It criticised the provision for waste collection in the proposals and was "extremely concerned" about the safety implications of adding another junction on Highgate Hill and the increased congestion that would result at the Highgate crossroads.

Here the parish council was in accord with its residents. So far 74 of whom have objected to the scheme, nearly all of whom cite road safety and congestion among their reasons.

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