Eastry campaign launches fundraiser to fight 100 home development

Local Democracy Reporter Ollie Leader spoke to the Eastry Say No campaign about its concerns.

Transcript

00:00Lower Street is already a busy Roman road

00:04running right into the heart of the quintessentially Kentish village of Eastry.

00:10But more than that, it's become a battleground against a 100 new home development

00:17which campaigners say will cause traffic chaos and increase the risk of accidents

00:24in an area with inadequate footpaths and poor visibility.

00:29The access to it is very poor, it's a blind bend and there is a 30 mile an hour speed limit through here

00:37but you can hear from the traffic that it comes at 60 down from the bypass and then comes down to 30.

00:45It is an accident waiting to happen and one of the local residents recently fell down on the blind bend

00:52and if we hadn't have sort of stepped in he may well have been run over by a car

00:56because they were speeding down from the bypass.

00:59Dover District Council's local plan has already greenlit the area for housing

01:05but the density of development in just one field has proven to be a barrier to local support

01:13with 330 objections being lodged against the planning applications so far.

01:20The Eastry Says No campaign is now trying to raise thousands for independent surveyors to assess their concerns.

01:30But we have to actually get independent assessments on things like traffic management,

01:36the suitability of ancient Roman roads to take all this increase in traffic that's going to come out of these developments.

01:44It's going to be a nightmare and we do not believe that that road can take any traffic

01:49and we do not believe that the access and exit that's being proposed is safe.

01:54The proposal has not yet gone to planning committee for approval with Hume planning consultancy acting on behalf of the developers

02:04stating that highway evidence supports the current planning application

02:09and discussions are ongoing with Kent County Council as the local highway authority to resolve any outstanding concerns.

02:17But campaigners say that no matter what happens next, the fight is far from over.

02:25Oli Leda in Eastry