Kentish Express Ashford & District
Garden village project could put future of fishing at risk
Challenge to 5,000-home development which anglers claim will pollute river
The future of fishing in Kent is being put at risk by Maidstone’s Local Plan Review.
That is the view of Fish Legal, a law firm representing the interests of anglers.
The company argues that Maidstone council’s plan to create a garden village settlement of 5,000 homes at Lenham Heath is jeopardising the lives of wild brown trout, sea trout and protected white clawed crayfish that live in the River Stour, all of which are particularly susceptible to pollution.
Its objection is one of more than 2,000 responses which the borough has received as a result of the public consultation on its Local Plan Review, which - once approved - will direct development in the borough for the next 15 years.
Fish Legal says the use of rural land next to “the ancient village of Lenham” is “inappropriate and unsustainable”.
It argued that the Plan had not adequately considered the environmental impact especially on fish and protected species and habitats in the River Stour downstream of the site.
Dr Justin Neal said the consideration of the issues could not be left to a planning application stage, but rather he urged the Planning Inspectorate not to accept the borough’s draft plan in its current form.
Fish Legal is a not-for-profit organisation of dedicated lawyers who use the law on behalf of anglers to fight polluters and others who damage or threaten the water environment.
In particular it represents the Ford Mill Fishery, the Upper Stour Syndicate, the Stour Fishery Association, the Tonford Fly Fishing Club and the Canterbury and District Angling Association, all of whom believe the Heathlands garden village will harm fishing downstream of the development site.
Dr Neal said: “This is the wrong place to construct a new settlement and the consequential direct and indirect pressures on the river could be catastrophic.”