Save Our Heath Lands
Donation protected
Save Our Heath Lands (SOHL) is an independent volunteer-led campaign group made up of concerned residents of Lenham and the surrounding villages, under threat by Maidstone Borough Council’s Garden Community proposal - a new town with 5,000 new homes on our beautiful, green heath lands.
Maidstone Borough Council are promoting this Garden Community, autonomously acting as their own ‘master-developer’, and threatening local landowners of compulsory purchase if they do not enter into secret negotiations with them. They are ‘poacher turned gamekeeper’ acting as the local planning authority on one side and as housing developer on the other.
Lenham, at the heart of the Garden of England, accepts that more houses need to be built nationally however we don’t accept that it should be put in unsustainable locations, without suitable infrastructure, and on such a vast swathe of Kent’s greenfield. Lenham parish has already accepted our civic responsibility to accommodate more housing and our draft Neighbourhood Plan makes provision for up to 1,000 new homes on suitable strategic housing sites across the village.
We want to unite residents in Lenham and the surrounding villages around a common purpose and give everyone a voice. We want to reach out and hear from as many residents as possible because your voice matters most. We want to call out Maidstone Borough Council on their secrecy, lack of transparency and disingenuous approach to community engagement.
Maidstone Borough Council are promoting this Garden Community, autonomously acting as their own ‘master-developer’, and threatening local landowners of compulsory purchase if they do not enter into secret negotiations with them. They are ‘poacher turned gamekeeper’ acting as the local planning authority on one side and as housing developer on the other.
Lenham, at the heart of the Garden of England, accepts that more houses need to be built nationally however we don’t accept that it should be put in unsustainable locations, without suitable infrastructure, and on such a vast swathe of Kent’s greenfield. Lenham parish has already accepted our civic responsibility to accommodate more housing and our draft Neighbourhood Plan makes provision for up to 1,000 new homes on suitable strategic housing sites across the village.
We want to unite residents in Lenham and the surrounding villages around a common purpose and give everyone a voice. We want to reach out and hear from as many residents as possible because your voice matters most. We want to call out Maidstone Borough Council on their secrecy, lack of transparency and disingenuous approach to community engagement.
Organizer
Steven Heeley
Organizer
