Kentish Express Ashford & District
Luxury homes set for golf course
Ten executive properties could be erected
An abandoned golf course close to where Sarah Everard’s body was found could have 10 executive homes built on it.
The plan is a more detailed version of a previously approved scheme for the former Great Chart Golf Club off Bears Lane.
The nine-hole course, which formed part of the Great Chart Golf and Leisure complex, closed in April 2019, however an outline planning application for 10 houses had already been submitted by that point.
In fact, the site had already been earmarked for seven homes in a 2017 submission by landowner John Kay - but after approval he altered the plan after being informed of “saleability issues”.
Since outline permission was granted in June 2019, the overgrown complex became a key focus of national media after the body of 33-year-old Ms Everard was found in Hoads Wood in March.
The new application - submitted by developer Clarus Homes - would see the 10 homes spread across the 23-acre course, which is largely natural except for
alterations made for the golf course and its 30-space car parking area.
A planning statement attached to the reserved matters application reads: “The outline planning permission was for a bespoke scheme that was conceived and developed in light of new exclusive homes policies and a clear desire from Ashford Borough Council to respond to a demand for a small number of large, exclusive properties.
“By their very nature, such properties are necessarily located in larger grounds set amongst less developed surroundings such as the countryside.”
Suggesting “the proposed exclusive properties are to be grand in respect of both scale and stature”, the planning statement adds that minor changes to layout should improve “neighbourliness”.
A large amount of tree planting would be carried out to increase biodiversity on the site, as well as break up the site which borders on a railway line.
Taking care to preserve the best quality existing trees, the planning statement adds the development would “extend the existing belt of vegetation along the railway to create a link between areas of ancient woodland to the east and west
of the site”.
Furthermore, 57% of the site would remain open spaces which will be planted with wildflower seeds.
To address parking requirements, each house will have a garage or carport with “a drive and parking area in front”.
One major hurdle the development states it will overcome is the Stodmarsh pollution issue - an ongoing effort to preserve
water quality that is hampering many developments across east Kent - as bosses state it is outside the River Stour catchment area.
It is not known what is planned for the remainder of the leisure complex, including the former pitch and putt course, paintball area and archery range.
In March, the Metropolitan Police said there was “no suggestion of any criminal activity
linked to the golf course/complex” as part of the Ms Everard probe.
A spokesman said at the time: “We can clarify that a local golf course/complex owner in Bears Lane has generously allowed police to use his land as a rendezvous point while operational activity is ongoing.”
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There were ‘failings’ before the death of a young mum who was found on the M20, an inquest has found.
Elle-Mae Wood was killed after being hit by a car on the coastbound carriageway of the motorway in Ashford.
Assistant Coroner Catherine Wood said there were failings on behalf of East Kent Hospitals Trust after the 20-year-old was deemed to have enough capacity to leave the William Harvey Hospital.
The inquest into her death finished last Thursday with the coroner reaching a narrative conclusion.
The court had heard previously how Ms Wood, of Elwick Road, had been brought to the William Harvey Hospital by police in the early hours of June 14, 2020, in a confused state.
Officers had been informed by a concerned member of the public who stayed with her until she was picked up.
After taking her to the A&E department of the hospital, police then left her with the reception team and requested to be informed if she left.
The court heard that it was common practice for police to hand over to clinically-trained members of staff at the hospital, but there was nothing in terms of official policy at the time.
While waiting to be seen, Ms Wood left and came back several times, including on one occasion where a receptionist began to phone police but dropped the
call when she walked back in.
She then went outside and approached a security guard to ask him to walk her home, as well as requesting a lift from an ambulance crew who were at the hospital.
Paramedic Inese Rozina told the court that she responded “we’re not a taxi service”, before becoming concerned for the young woman and alerting the reception desk to her condition.
“I specifically said ‘I don’t think she’s safe to be left’, but then she came back in and sat down,” she explained.
Finally, at 2.32am, Ms Wood left for the final time, and walked down to Junction 10a of the M20, before walking on the entry ramp to the carriageway.
It was there that she was hit by a car driven by Csaba Sajtos, who was driving to catch an early train to Europe.
The Surrey man said in a statement that he did not realise he had hit a person.
The final day of the inquest centred around whether Ms
Wood, who had a young son Kian, now three, had sufficient capacity to be allowed to leave the hospital.
Making her findings, Mrs Wood said: “Elle was not in a position to fully make any decisions with any insight into her condition – at best her capacity fluctuated, but she was not in a position to make a fully informed decision on her safety.
“It would have been wise for a full capacity assessment to have been carried out; it was a failure not to conduct the assessment.”
In an impact statement, Ms Wood’s mother Carly Edwards said her daughter’s death had been avoidable.
“When we received the news that Elle had been found dead, life as my family and I knew it stopped,” she said.
“Elle was so let down on the last night of her life and for this my heart breaks every single time I think about how this was avoidable. Avoidable if people cared about others.”
Representatives for East Kent Hospitals Trust – which runs the hospital – and Kent Police denied any negligence on their parts.
Police representative Hannah Hinton said the force had acted “appropriately and as good samaritans” in picking Ms Wood up and taking her to hospital, and asking staff to call police if she left the premises.
Trust representative Steven Hooper said bosses had enacted an action plan to address the issue of capacity checks.
The coroner made no official recommendations as part of her findings.