During March 2021, the Parish Council became concerned about activity on The Quaives’ meadow which in 2019 had been the site of a withdrawn planning application for glamping. The activity included what appeared to be excavations of the meadow by a digger. In the absence of any planning application and without any powers to intervene, the Parish Council unanimously agreed at its meeting on 16th March 2021 to report the developments to Canterbury City Council (CCC) as a possible breach of planning.
We have since become aware that the development of the meadow is for a change of use to glamping facilities for 20 bell tents scheduled to operate between late May to September 2021. More details are available here.
Many parishioners have raised concerns about this development, expressing fears of noise, pollution and increased traffic in our Conservation Area. The Parish Council, which previously objected to the 2019 application, shares these concerns.
CCC Enforcement is investigating as to whether there has been a breach of permitted development rights. The Enforcement Officer has informed us that “certain potential changes of use are allowed for a set number of days without the need to apply for planning permission under permitted development rights.”
Some matters of the case are outside of the remit of CCC and have been referred by them to Kent County Council and the Environment Agency which are the responsible authorities.
The Parish Council has been actively contacting various agencies to seek advice. We are also working with Ickham and Well Parish Council.
CCC Enforcement has given no indication as to when their investigations will conclude or a decision made about whether or not a breach has occurred.
We have requested to meet and engage with the owners of The Quaives. We have received no response to our request as yet, but we are keen to actively engage with them to fully understand both their immediate and long term plans.
We will continue to update our website as we get more information. Should you wish to share your views, please use the contact form on our website, and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Alternatively, contact any of your Parish Councillors as listed on our Internet site.
Darren Howe
Chairman