Residents of Chart Sutton, near Maidstone, Kent, are protesting over plans by Charltons Farms to construct 22ha of polytunnels. According to reports, ‘Residents with homes facing the fields off Rectory Road and Forsham Lane fear that the new additions will turn their beloved countryside into something resembling an “industrial landscape”’.
Planning consultants DHA, who represent Charltons Farms, have denied claims by residents and local councillors that the proposed structure will ruin the appearance of the village and create a wind tunnel. In a statement they said, ‘The farm site is well screened from public views outside of the site by the existing boundary hedgerows and trees, which will be retained and reinforced with native species hedge and tree planting.
‘Charltons have been farming in the Maidstone area for over 75 years and operate a very successful top-fruit, soft-fruit, stone-fruit, and fruit packing business, employing between 700 and 2,000 workers, depending upon the time of the year. The proposal will provide polytunnels for strawberry production and will increase fruit yield on the farm, thereby helping to maintain and enhance the viability of the business’.
Charlotte Pearson, whose home faces one of the proposed sites, told The Express, “We will look straight out onto them. There is a public footpath through one of the existing polytunnel sites that I often walk on, so I know what it is like. Promises are made of increasing hedgerows and keeping green corridors between the tunnels, but that is not what happens. Instead, it ends up looking like an industrial landscape”.
In a move which could affect large parts of Kent’s fruit growing sector, Maidstone Borough Council is reported to be working on plans to have the Greensand Ridge designated as a ‘National Landscape’, the term which has replaced ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’. If successful, the moves, which were originally proposed by Liberal Democrat councillor Brian Clark last year, could restrict on-farm development in the area. “These applications highlight the urgent need to reinforce protection for the Greensand Ridge through National Landscape designation,” he commented. Both Chart Sutton and Sutton Valence parishes, over which the proposed developments are spread, have also opposed the introduction of more polytunnels in the area.
