Two keen environmental campaigners, Jonathan and Emily Groves, and two volunteer organisers of the local Green Party, Christine Oliver and Sarah Waite-Gleave, worked hard over the festive period to get the new community campaign up and running by 3^rd Jan. It has been supported since December by EKCA, East Kent Climate Action. Concerns over deteriorating seawater quality at Deal Beach surfaced as local front page news in July 2024. The rating by the Environment Agency (EA) was ‘excellent’ in 2019; reduced to ‘good’ in 2021; reduced to ‘sufficient’ in 2023. A context which meant that when in 23 August the Environment Agency recorded a ‘spike’ of e.coli and sewage, the downgrading went down to ‘poor’ from sufficient, and advice was published that it was not advisable to swim.  This situation angered many in Deal and Walmer communities. It caused the cancellation of the Boxing Day dip.   

The new community campaign group, SOSDAW, has its own email address sos deal and walmer @ gmail . com (remove spaces), a mailing list of nearly 200 since its launch and a petition http://www.change.org/p/clean-deal-walmer-coastal-waters with the aim of focussing the campaign and pushing those with responsibility for the issue (Southern Water, EA, DEFRA, DDC and KCC) to clean up and re-grade fast by December 2025, instead of waiting until Southern Water have to report to EA in Spring 2027. The petition gained 1000+ signatures in the 5 days after the launch.  

SOSDAW want actions in East Kent to include:  

• An immediate and long-lasting increase in the frequency of seawater testing by both Southern Water and the regulator EA, with an increase in the number of sites where testing is done between Sandown Castle, North Deal and Boundary Road, Walmer / Kingsdown. 
• Surveys of, and speedy upgrading of, infrastructure such as Southern Water assets (pipes, holding tanks, settlement tanks, etc); Infrastructure upgrades to put an end to storm overflow releases (given that there is a Kent-wide call to be more resilient in the face of more frequent extreme downpours and surface flooding) ; complete separation of foul sewage and surface water everywhere in CT14 postal area, including connections to Golf Road WPS. 
• Any sewage leakages originating at DDC owned properties including Deal Pier to be thoroughly repaired and pipes replaced at speed in 2025. The in-depth investigation by Southern Water which aims to report to EA by May 2027, to provide a public interim report by Dec 2025, given we have key coastal events due to happen in Walmer in summer 2026. EA to work on a ‘Step Change’ process speedily and work with the local community to identify problems, resolve them and enable an upgrade in seawater bathing quality in 2025.  
• Increased forward planning so that water companies become statutory consultees on all industrial, tourism, and housing developments and are required to provide Local Planning Authorities with reports on how developments will impact capacity and will connect to existing waste / foul water infrastructure before planning applications are approved; a speedy end to illegal / accidental misconnections of new bathrooms to the storm water drainage systems. 

The petition contains a section on the background context relating to the water industry. The petition was informed by evidence given on 16 December 2024 to the DDC Overview and Scrutiny Cttee when 90 minutes were spent questioning Southern Water and Environment Agency representatives about pollution in coastal waters in the district.  

Private swimmers can decide for themselves whether to swim or not, whether to dismiss the EA rating, given our fast-flowing local currents. But organisers of seawater-based events (boxing day dip, rowing / sailing regattas) who need Public Liability Insurance are impacted when a reading of human faecal matter is recorded  and local seabathing quality is down-graded. As has happened steadily since 2019. 

Chair of the launch meeting, Green Party campaigner, Sarah Waite-Gleave said, “last night people were kind enough to thank us for getting organised fast. It was a lot of work over the Xmas weeks! Unfortunately the speakers we were expecting from Surfers against Sewage and Sewage Coalition (who did a parliamentary briefing on 9th Dec) couldn’t make it, so colleagues Emily Groves, Sam Brookfield and Mike Eddy had to step in at short notice, warm thanks go to them. The deputy leader of DDC, cllr Jamie Pout, cabinet member for environmental services and transport, turned up unexpectedly in the audience, and spoke during the Q&As which was very helpful from the point of view of public information. Those of us who are town councillors are also working with colleagues on Walmer and Deal Town Councils to get Southern Water to clean up our coastal waters.”

The public are asked to use the Environment Agency hotline to report any problems 0800 80 70 60 .     To support the campaign, residents can sign the petition www.change.org/p/clean-deal-walmer-coastal-waters and join future demonstrations to demand a clean up and re-grading of our coastal waters fast. The launch was front page news in the Mercury on 8^th January.   The new campaign group has an instagram account @sosdealandwalmer and is on Blue Sky too @sosdaw.bshy.social that readers can follow for updates on the next actions that will be taken. 

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The worsening water quality, related to faecal pollution, has happened despite assurances from Southern Water that they are taking action. And while Southern Water continue to pay large bonuses to executives.  BBC covered the story that Lawrence Gosden CEO of Southern Water got a £183,600 bonus in July 2024 although this water company has announced plans to increase household bills by 73% between now and 2029.  On 5^th Sept 2024 we wrote to Dover and Deal MP Mike Tapp asking him to attend a meeting in parliament on 10^th Sept organized by anti-sewage groups who want much more action from the new government on the water pollution issue and we urged other to write too. The link is on our facebook page.  

In early 2024, Green councillors on Walmer Town Council (Pete Findley, Sarah and Mike Eddy) persuaded their colleagues to approve a ‘Motion for the Ocean’ and consequently WTC sent strong requests to DEFRA, to KCC and to DDC to take urgent action to stop sewage spills on Kent coasts, to clean up waters,  stop fecal, plastic and chemical pollution and restore marine biodiversity. 

Back in Oct 2021, when she was a cllr on Deal Town Council, our parliamentary spokesperson Christine Oliver, initiated a resolution by Deal Town Council, “Deal Town Council condemns in the strongest possible terms the decision by the MP for Dover and Deal to vote in favour of allowing water companies to continue to discharge raw sewage into the sea and water courses at levels above EU regulation standard. 
View article: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/deal/news/amp/perverse-in-the-extreme-256480/

Members of your local Green Party will continue to keep a close eye on the reports of the Environment Agency and to campaign for a clean up of coastal waters and rivers in East Kent, and support all local campaigners on this issue.  We were also part of the Save our Seas rally at Ramsgate with national campaigner Feargal Sharkey in February 2023. 

Christine Oliver, parliamentary spokesperson for the Green Party in Dover and Deal said: ‘It is not surprising that campaign groups will be demanding much tougher action on Tues 10^th Sept and again on Sat 26^th October when there will be a March for Clean Water in London. Raps on the knuckles from Ofwat will not solve the problem caused by the failed privatization of water treatment and supply.   

Sources of information:

• https://www.kentonline.co.uk/deal/news/do-not-swim-warning-would-kill-our-town-309612/
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4ngjj733j7o
• https://inews.co.uk/news/labour-no-real-plan-fix-uk-rivers-3237514

The post Speaking up for cleaner seawater in Dover District appeared first on Dover & Deal Green Party.

The minutes show that Walmer Town Council on 5^th July 2023 declared an ecological emergency. The proposal with details of how policy could be implemented with a Local Nature Recovery Strategy was prepared by Green cllr Pete Findley (photo: on right), and item 146 was proposed and seconded by Cllrs Pete Findley and Mike Eddy.

On 31^st Oct at Deal Town Council, a similar proposal was on the agenda, and an ecological emergency declaration, again initiated by Cllr Findley, was voted through by 5 Labour and 3  Green councillors thus  8 of the 12 councillors present at the Halloween meeting in Deal’s Council chamber.

Dover & Deal Green parliamentary spokesperson, Christine Oliver (Photo: on left) said, “It’s great to see colleagues picking up on the 2021 environment Act. Three endangered species that our Deal & Walmer community is taking steps to recover are swifts and the sussex emerald, and bright wave moths. Swift boxes are being constructed in Deal by a committed volunteer. They need to be installed high under eaves and a volunteer who is safe using ladders is being sought. Rare moths and other insects, will benefit if we protect our foreshores, and keep our green spaces pesticide-free.  The draft DDC Green Infrastructure Strategy is out for consultation with the public until 14^th Nov. The more of us who comment the better!”

See the DDC website for details; comments can be emailed to biodiversity@dover.gov.uk

Sarah Waite-Gleave, another of our 10 Green town councillors, said, “We Greens will also be urging the Planning Inspectorate to reduce fuel poverty this November by amending the DDC Local Plan, requiring new homes to be low or zero carbon to protect people now and in the future, from soaring fuel bills. The Local Plan should change to require roof-top photovoltaic on all new builds, and homes oriented to the sun in a way that make them cool in summer and warmer in winter. We’ll push for genuinely affordable homes, close to amenities so transport costs can be saved, on land unlikely to be flooded, on the retention of mature trees that sop up sudden extreme downpours, and shade us in heatwaves. We expect more extreme weather events like Storm Ciaran”.

The post Congratulations to Green Town Councillors in Walmer & Deal on 2 Ecological Emergency Declarations appeared first on Dover & Deal Green Party.

In 2022 after the opening of the Kent Mining museum, applications were put in to take over key sections of the site to the east of the A258 roundabout at Betteshanger Country Park  (ex cycling centre Fowlmead) and put in a surf lagoon (planning application 22/01158) and a five star hotel (planning application 22/01152).

Pete Findley, the Green district council candidate in the ward where the site is says “We fully support the actions of the Friends of Betteshanger to stop development of this wildlife haven. A water park and an hotel will use vast amounts of precious water from our taps, pump even more into the already strained sewage system, take business away from Deal and Dover, clog up our roads even more than they are already and destroy many acres of nationally important land for wildlife, particularly orchids.” Dover District Council has already approved the housing development at Sholden and Betteshanger Grove and they must now make amends and refuse this latest development”.

The evidence of the natural value has piled up. Joshua Styles, botanist made a strong case that the site meets selection criteria for SSSI – Site of Special Scientific Interest – protected by Natural England). Ecologists of Kent-wide & national reputation have objected on the DDC planning portal (22/01158 surf lagoon & 22/01152 5* hotel). Professor of Conservation Biology, Ian Swingland, has worked on the site, and he too objects strongly. Objections have also been made by local RSPB, Kent Wildlife Trust, Buglife, Plantlife, Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory and CPRE (Council for the Protection of Rural England) Kent after they did their own appraisals.   The evidence is that the mosaic habitat is home to red listed endangered species including lizard orchids, poly grass and turtle doves as well as many other bats, birds, mammals (including beaver), reptiles (including rehomed common lizards), unusual insects, lichens, fungi and other flora and fauna.

Background information about the site and instructions on how to use the Dover district council planning portal to object, are both on the website of the community campaign group https://friendsofbetteshanger.co.uk/ . They are on facebook and tweet from Save Betteshanger Park . The good news is the campaign is now attracting real media attention including support from BBC Spring Watch presenters

We Greens emailed to hundreds of people in early Dec 2022 on how to object; we objected on the planning portal and we told DDC planning department and the Planning inspectorate that the Local Plan would be ‘unsound’ if Betteshanger Park were not protected as a Local Green Space & Biodiversity Opportunity Area. We included a call to defend Betteshanger in thousands of our locally delivered newsletters. We’ve also emailed our contacts at ITV Meridian and the Guardian suggesting they pick it up as national story.

There are over 800 local, non-party political campaigners working together to record the wildlife and protect this well-loved wildlife habitat.  We urge those who value our endangered species to OBJECT on the DDC planning portal and to sign and share the petition. https://www.change.org/…/save-the-wildlife-at…

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The two environmental betrayals are the #AttackOnNature denounced by Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB  since 23^rd Sept 2022 and the lifting of the Fracking moratorium announced by Liz Truss’s Business Minister the same week.  (There are many other betrayals relating to the crashing of the economy and sending cost of living crisis into overdrive).

The campaigners’ action was in support of 2 questions from members of the public on the agenda. Pete Findley of Mongeham asked DDC cabinet for evidence that DDC were genuinely providing protections for wildlife habitats with the new Dover Local Plan due to go for its second public consultation between 21 October and 9 December. Sarah Waite-Gleave asked the DDC cabinet to renew their 2013 commitment to oppose fracking for shale or methane gas and the poisoning of the water table hydrologists / geologists consider is likely to accompany it in Kent’s fragile chalk aquifers. Both campaigners are community and Green party campaigners.

There was also a motion proposed by Labour opposition cllr Helen Williams tabled:

DDC completely oppose fracking in any land within our council area, and will oppose any planning application for this

Cllr Williams explained she brought the motion because of the possibility being put back on the 2022 agenda by Truss government.  She cited many risks that DDC Scrutiny committee registered in 2013,  including water issues in a water stressed area,  water contamination, noting that none of the risks had gone away.

The leader of the Labour opposition group cllr Mills seconded the motion stating, ‘on the issue this council has a long-standing commitment since 2013,  which makes it easy to support this motion, the issue of pre-determination is an evasion. We should stand up and tell residents, this is where we draw the line. We need a recorded vote on this issue.’

The response from the Conservative majority was voiced by the cabinet member for Finance, Governance, Digital and Climate Change, Cllr Chris Vinson, who said, “This council isn’t ultimately the decision maker. . . , we are a statutory consultee. The name escapes me of the arms length body that deals with licensing, they and KCC are involved. When and if an application comes up, our response should reflect all the concerns [water resources, roads, traffic, lights ] we had in 2013. The sentiment I agree with, but I can’t support this motion, we can’t be seen to pre-determine in anyway.  Our current policy is reasonable and should stand, but I can’t support this motion.

The vote was as follows:

• Abstentions 4
  Bond
  Chandler
  Hannent
  Collor
  (Conservatives absent:  Back, Manion, Kenton, Richardson )
• For 10
  Beer
  Biggs
  Brivio
  Cronk
  Haste
  Keen
  Mills
  Williams
  Woodgate
  Walker
  (Labour absent Jones, Zosseder )
• Against  12
  Bartlett
  Bates
  Beaney
  Friend
  Vinson
  Conelly
  Hawkes
  Hibbert
  Jull
  Murphy
  Rose
  Walkden
• Total 32 cllrs

Sarah Waite-Gleave said afterwards: ‘since 23 Sept 2022, Conservative councils across England have been voting to oppose fracking, to put community before party to distance themselves from Conservative chaos in Westminster. Most recently at West Sussex County council on 14 Oct they voted to oppose fracking, which does nothing for energy bills or fuel security. Alas Dover Conservative cabinet have chosen tonight to put party before community and Ms Elphicke in parliament has also put party before the future health of her constituents tonight too.’ 

The post Environmental Campaigners beg Dover District Council for protections appeared first on Dover & Deal Green Party.

Martin Lewis of Moneysavingexpert.com says July 2022, ‘why oh why, don’t we get homes better insulated, so we as a country, use less energy, import less energy, keep homes cool in summer and warm in winter’.  He says ‘a decent govt would insulate for free all homes of families on under £25,000 and it would be much, much cheaper than paying the oil and gas giants, because the worst part of cost of living crisis is the energy bills tripling’.

We in the Green Party, have long, long been saying the same. Also it is completely irresponsible of the would-be prime ministerial Conservative candidates to ignore the findings of Royal Institute of International Affairs warning (Climate change risk assessment 2021 | Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank) on the global instability, and the conflicts that the inadequately controlled climate crisis is bringing, as they fight like cats in a sack to please their unwoke small membership who prefer putting their heads in the sand.

Accountable, responsible government, is something that we, the 67 million in the UK, the 1.5 million in Kent, could hope for, if we had a reform of our political system, the creation of constructive multi-party democracy. It would stop many of the big corporate donations to the biggest party. A multi-party, cleaned-up parliament will come when we, in England, get fair proportional voting like Scotland has already.

Yes, decisions to eat and/ or heat are linked to whether or not we turn out to vote for change at the ballot-box. As a younger, cleaner party we’d like your support, so that we have resources to push an older, richer party to behave better for East Kent.

The post Heatwave Warnings And Cost Of Living Crisis: Reality Bites Showing We Need Change appeared first on Dover & Deal Green Party.

The drought in 1995 triggered many drought mitigation, planning and infrastructure reactions prompted by the adverse economic effects. The Environment Agency has described the Dover and Folkestone regions as “Exceptionally Low” with regards to rainfall.

The overall effects, however, are not just economic but more wide-ranging:

• Livestock, such as sheep, pigs and cows, become short of fresh grass to graze resulting in poorer condition and growth and a reliance on winter hay (which may be in short supply).
• Grains and other crops may not swell to full size and the crop may be poor quality and low yield. These food supply difficulties ultimately contribute to the rise in the cost of living.
• The danger of fire and subsequent destruction of land and property has reached the UK after many years of trauma across the globe in places like the USA, Australia, Europe and Africa.
• With the failure of crops and livestock there can be many ongoing indirect effects such as fewer jobs.
• Water restrictions by our Water Companies can be drastic and much more severe than a simple hose-pipe ban.
• Water quality – never very good to start with and very much a current issue – is compromised which can be a serious health hazard. This is potentially something that our Dover District Council can do something about.
• Wetlands, Rivers, lakes and ponds run dry with a subsequent loss of biodiversity.
• Trees are weakened and some may not recover while wildfires can destroy valuable timber.
• Water based activities and boat transport can suffer.
• recover such as increased stress on endangered species or even extinction.
• Wind erosion and reduced soil quality.
• There can be many social impacts of drought including public safety, health, conflict, and changes in lifestyle.
• Across the globe many people are losing their lives and livelihoods due to drought as well as devastating floods. The Climate Crisis is overtaking us. Melting ice is raising water levels and many people’s homes are already under water. Climate migration requires relocation and we may be facing increased numbers of refugees.

We need a plan. Poor water quality is a consequence of many factors including drought conditions and affects us all. The Green Party proposes the following action for our Council to protect our water quality-

This Council notes:

Residents are deeply concerned about water quality and the impact of regular wastewater discharge, which includes untreated sewage, into our local rivers and seas and the impact on wildlife and on human health. The UK has the dirtiest rivers in Europe. Releasing sewage into rivers is no longer an emergency-only situation occurring as a result of severe storms, but an everyday occurrence even in ‘normal’ rainfall, and that we are in a situation of cumulative overload on the sewage and wastewater system.

Whilst there are long term commitments, there are no plans in place which will address the immediate unacceptable situation either locally by Southern Water or by national government.

Both the local Dover District Council and national planning policy requires a robust approach to both water quality and pollution and a recent legal opinion from the Environmental Law Firm confirms the need to consider cumulative impact. Yet planning consultation documents show that it has not been the practice of council planners to ask Water Companies to report on cumulative impact i.e. whether or not development may lead to any potential increase in ’emergency’ discharge into rivers and seas.

This Council resolves to:

1. Recognise this Council’s obligation to protect its rivers and seas, including from the cumulative impacts of pollution, in line with its local planning policy and the National Planning Policy Framework.
2. Recognise that there is clear evidence of deterioration of water quality due to cumulative impact of multiple sewage discharge events or ‘sewage overload’.
3. Ensure that an evidence base is compiled that assesses the cumulative impact of sewage discharge so that this is factored into decisions made in new iterations of the local plan, including the overall level of future development.
4. Seek to better understand the cumulative impact of wastewater discharge including untreated sewage on our local rivers, wildlife and the health of our residents.
5. Continue to take a lead on addressing this issue, working constructively with other agencies.
6. Ask the chair of the relevant scrutiny committee to invite the Chief Executive of Southern Water plus senior representatives from the Environment Agency and Natural England to attend a meeting to answer questions on the current levels of sewage discharge.
7. Ask Southern Water from this date onwards, in its planning consultation responses for major development, to clarify which treatment works will be managing the sewage; whether it has the information available to assess the impact on the number or duration of sewage discharges into local rivers or seas, and if it does have this information to share it.
8. Request that planning officers, from now onwards, include in all reports relating to major development a specific section on the impact on watercourses, including the potential for the development to affect sewage outflow into watercourses (i.e. cumulative impact), or to flag if this information is not fully available, so that this information (or the lack of it) is clearly and transparently set out.

by Peter Findley, Dover & Deal Green Party

The post Drought in East Kent and Water Quality appeared first on Dover & Deal Green Party.

We welcome the good news from Port of Dover and Doug Bannister about their plan for our port to be Carbon Net Zero by 2030. The article in Dover Express on 5 May said plans include the sourcing of alternative fuels, utilization of renewable energy sources, port electrification, off-setting (we hope planted off-setting will be in Kent), minimizing carbon emissions in procurement and development projects working with the community and supply chains and customers.

We applaud Port of Dover and Mr Bannister all the more, given that they are making these commitments after being dealt such a lousy set of cards in recent years by a less than competent set of Conservative ministers.

In April 2020,  two Green Councillors on Dover Town Council, Cllr Sawbridge and Cllr Garnett,  submitted four pages of detailed suggestions for the DoverTC ‘Ambition Plan’. Their suggestions included for Dover Town Council to send a letter to Port of Dover to ask about:

1. Plans for the Port truck and car parking areas to be made ‘non-engine-idling zones’, to include infrastructure for fridge trucks to plug-in to electric chargers,
2. Plans to put solar PV on top of Port buildings and to install wind turbines on the harbour walls like the ports of Boulogne and Liverpool,
3. For Dover TC to invite community energy enterprises (such as Kent Community Energy and Big Solar Coop / Share Energy)  to speak to Council about how they could encourage community owned renewable energy projects on business and larger (public) buildings in Dover,
4. For solar-powered boat trips of our port to be facilitated via Destination Dover (like those that have been so successful in La Rochelle for 25 years).  On another occasion we have also asked for NO2 air quality monitoring to be done at the port and the results shared with PCS and RMT union officials, and publicly.

So we send appreciation once again to Port of Dover officers for their carbon zero bid. With only seven and a half years before 2030, there will be lots of Dover residents keen both to talk constructively to Port of Dover about their plans, and to see the evidence of carbon zero plans taking shape soon.

Beccy Sawbridge, Nick Shread & Sarah Gleave

The post Greens Welcome Port Of Dover Commitment to Carbon Zero by 2030 appeared first on Dover & Deal Green Party.

You know that the messages about the need for more trees must be getting through, when the Saturday Guardian (16 April 2022) has 2 pages on “the life-changing magic of planting trees” in its Lifestyle section. And in the list of 5 things you can do to help, they suggest lobbying your local council for more trees and keeping an eye open for greenwashing by questioning the types of species and their future safeguarding.

On the front cover of the May/June edition of British Archaeology (published by the Council for British Archaeology), the headline is “A message from the Neolithic – Don’t Plant Trees”. But rather than not planting trees, the real message from the Neolithic is let nature do the planting by managing our existing woodland. Mature coppiced and pollarded trees provide richer habitats for other flora and fauna than fields of saplings. Managed woodlands also soak up more carbon and provide jobs, while the coppiced poles can be turned in to a variety of useful items.

And the New Scientist for 16 April devotes several pages to a plan to set aside 30% of the planet’s land and sea area for nature by 2030. “30 by 30”, as the plan is called, will be a tough ask but 30% is regarded as the bare minimum to allow healthy biodiversity to be maintained.

The post Trees and yet more trees appeared first on Dover & Deal Green Party.

Thirty communities across Kent took part in this big event, disgusted at the mis-use of the planning system. Of the 13 District / Borough councils in Kent, which have power as Local Planning Authorities , the 10 Conservative-led councils are coming in for many complaints from these community groups for caving in to central Conservative government decisions.

Protest at Cottington Lakes

Here in Dover, the protest took place north of Sholden, at Cottington Lakes where a very well known Kent developer (who has a record of making 5 figure donations to Kent Conservative parties) plans to build 975 new homes, around an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). Early plans from the developer show only a quarter of the development is for young families, so 75% will be for older folks fleeing London’s corrupt property market or for financial speculation. Cottington Lakes is close to Finglesham where there were huge local protests in 2019 when this same developer proposed to build a 3000 house new town. We Greens were part of the Save Finglesham Fields campaign.

More honesty in planning processes

Kent residents are crying out for less deceit and much more honesty in planning processes, this includes Dover District. East Kent is not getting, either the low energy, genuinely affordable and cheap-to-rent homes in towns that local families need;  nor the protection of its food-producing, carbon-absorbing, wildlife-harbouring countryside we also need. The reason is the influence of the big money of big developers that has shot up this decade, the influence that has been exposed repeatedly since 2018. In 2021 Transparency Intl UK published a report showing how national housing policy is shaped by the big developers from whom the Conservative Party received a fifth of its donations 2010-2020.

Influence works in many ways. Developers say they will only consider greenfield and rewilded sites which don’t require pricier clearance than brownfield sites, to keep their profit margins over 30%. The big profit margins allow them to pay public relations agencies, (such as Edelman’s) so that they can present an image that makes them look like a wildlife charity. The big profit margins allow developers to give sweetheart deals to local sports clubs and pose as local philanthropists. The big profit margins allow them to buy their own ecology surveys on sites, which grossly undervalue the wildlife and natural value of a site before a build, so that it appears, dishonestly, that they have increased its natural value when the new executive homes are finished. Deceit.

In many borough councils outside Kent, planning regulations have been adopted to make all new homes low or zero carbon, Reading BC is an example*, but in attractive Kent, which high-profit developers focus on, council planners are discouraged by developers from ruling that 30% of building within town boundaries be affordable, bleating about viability. Discouraged too from planning low-carbon building because it also would reduce profit margins below 28%. Records also show how big developers promise X, Y and Z to get planning permission, but often two or 3 years later, ask planning committees to remove the planning conditions requiring X, Y and Z protections for local services and environment. This is more likely to happen if some members of planning committees have friends in the development business.

We need increased transparency

Another report from Transparency Intl UK, says we need “increased transparency (=less hidden agendas), tighter rules, strengthened oversight”, in its 2020 report ‘Permission accomplished: assessing corruption risks in local government planning’. These are the issues behind action taken by 30 communities in Kent on 28 Nov, Save Kent’s Green Spaces.  Don’t we all agree, less deceit, more honesty is much needed?

This article based on a letter by Sarah Gleave, of Dover and Deal Green Party, published in the Mercury  15 Dec 2021

References :

• Exclusive: Robert Jenrick in new UK ‘cash for favours’ row | openDemocracy
• https://www.labcwarranty.co.uk/media/2694/land-development-report.pdf shows that return on investment for developers in Kent is running at 29.34% .
• House of Cards | Transparency International UK
• https://www.edelman.com award-winning global public relations consultancy firm
• Reading one of just 95 areas in the world to make Climate Action A list – Reading Borough Council – zero carbon homes standards adoped in RBC Local Plan 2019.
• Permission Accomplished | Transparency International UK

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