Hoo Development Framework

The construction of a commuter railway to Sharnal Street will lead to a radical change in the Hoo Peninsula community. The huge increase in population, which will be from outside the region, will lead to greater demands for recreational activities and potentially for increased access to the Medway for leisure pursuits. The Medway is an SPA, Ramsar and SSSI site and is already subject to high levels of disturbance. There would inevitably be increased pressure on the surrounding area by the increased population and the important nature reserves.

Strongly disagree

The Hoo Peninsula is essentially a rural area with small villages and important farming community. The region provides a largely unspoilt rural landscape in contrast to the heavily built environment on the south side of the Medway. The farmland of the Peninsula is of county importance for red list and declining farmland bird species such as Skylark, Yellow Wagtail and Corn Bunting. The region also supports important designated areas of coastal marshlands and estuary habitats and woodland sites, including Lodge Hill SSSI. The proposals of the Hoo Development Framework would radically alter the Peninsula environment and effectively extend the Medway Towns into this rural lanscape with significant increased public pressure on many sensitive wildlife sites.

A major concern is the location of housing close to important wildlife sites. In particular, housing closer than 400 metres to the Chattenden Woods and Lodge Hill SSSI (a buffer zone shown to greatly reduce effects of wandering cats etc.) will lead to a significant negative impact on the nationally important Nightingale population.

It is the view of the KOS that the Hoo Development Framework outlines huge urban development in a particularly nature rich and sensitive region of the county, and that such development is wrongly sited.