Locals OUTRAGED as 374 homes set to be built on UK golf course

Tunbridge Wells council has received over 100 letters of complaint in regards to the plans to build 374 homes on Hawkhurst Golf Club.

Jack Seddon's picture
Thu, 23 Jul 2020
Locals OUTRAGED as 374 homes set to be built on UK golf course

Tunbridge Wells council has received 129 letter of complaints from local residents who are furious with the plan to build 374 homes on Hawkhurst Golf Club.

Development company Cedardrive initially submitted plans in July last year for 417 homes, a GP surgery, community hall and "relief road" through the new estate that would link the A229 Cranbrook Road to Hawkhurst High Street.

Locals teamed up with the Campaign To Protest Rural England and the High Weald AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty) to complain to the council who looked set to deny the plans from Cedardrive.

Cedardrive then reduced the number of homes to 374 and moved the planned relief road further south to save the loss of a half acre of woodland.

In a recent newsletter published by Cedardrive, the developers said: "Together with previously proposed measures, these enhancements will ensure a biodiversity net gain of at least 10% can be delivered. In addition, the better traffic flow brought by the relief road should improve the quality of life of people living in the centre of the village."

Local residents protesting the plan have a different opinion, including Michael Howells, who lives on the highstreet and told the KentOnline: “The developer’s own figures predict a 100% increase in traffic on the High Street in Hawkhurst - more than 8,000 additional car movements per day. This will have appalling and potentially dangerous consequences for the village centre.”

Another member of the public, Dr Michael Robinson, added: “Pollution within the village is running above danger levels, and the ‘relief road’ will cause long tail backs in certain directions, this situation will only get worse."

A spokesman from Cedardrive disagrees with the protestors and insists that thorough research and planning has gone into the relief road to ensure that traffic flow is improved.

"We have carried out extensive modelling to understand the impact the new relief road would have. These show an improvement in traffic flow - even when allowing for the new homes on site - with immediate and ongoing reductions in delays and queueing," said the spokeman.

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