Protecting Oaken Wood in Maidstone
Speaking at Kent County Council on 16th July, Tim Prater spoke to have the designated ancient woodland of Oaken Wood near Maidstone removed as a quarry site from the Kent Minerals Plan.
Despite a close vote on the Draft Kent Minerals Sites Plan, the substantial majority of the Reform administration voted for the plan, and Oaken Wood will be included in the plan submitted to the Government Inspector.
Before voting against the plan due to the inclusion of Oaken Wood, Tim said:
"We all know that planning has a presumption in favour of development, and you have to find reasons to reject. However, in the case of Oaken Wood, there is a different test.
"As Mr Wibberley has made clear, Oaken Wood is designated as ancient woodland. As he said its not that the trees are ancient – they are regularly coppiced, but that’s not the point. The ground has been woodland for many hundreds of years. It has a biodiversity, ecology and protected status all of its own.
"As our papers note very clearly, development of ancient woodland can only proceed if there are wholly exceptional reasons for damage to that ancient woodland.
"This protection is not optional. It is a legal requirement.
"So here, that is the test. Do those exceptional reasons exist sufficiently?
"What is the demand for the rock from Unesco buildings?
"What has the Tower of London, Leeds Castle and Canterbury Cathedral said they need in the next 30 years?
"How much ragstone will be used in building construction in Kent in the next 30 years?
"How much is needed to repair ragstone properties in Maidstone?
"Without those numbers you cannot assess if the demand is sufficient to meet the supply. And the papers we have are silent on that demand. And without knowing that demand, you simply do not have wholly exceptional reasons.
"Although the site will provide 20 million tonnes of output over coming years, up to 99% is aggregate used for road building – not repairing ancient palaces and cathedrals. So maybe only 1% of the rock removed will be used for the purposes defined as the exceptional reasons for digging there.
"And that completely changes the economics and environmental balance of importing rock. You would only be talking about importing 1% of the weight and volume. Different scale, different maths.
"The movers assert that the case for wholly exceptional reasons has been made. It has not, because the ONLY exceptional reason would be if there was a significant, quantifiable demand for the rock that could only come from that site, and that case has not been made beyond listing some famous ragstone buildings.
"I seconded a motion to remove Oaken Wood from the Minerals Plan 10 days ago, and I would have done so again today. However as that option is no longer available, and the case that there are wholly exceptional reasons has not ben made, I’ve afraid we should vote to reject this plan and reconsider it without Oaken Wood."