KCC Votes Narrowly to Allow Quarrying at Oaken Wood – We Fight On!
We can report that Kent County Councillors have voted 37–31 (with 4 abstentions) to approve the Kent Minerals Sites Plan. This includes a massive extension of Hermitage Quarry into ancient Oaken Wood, Barming. This allocation seeks the extraction of ragstone from a further 49 hectares, having already extended the quarry by 31 hectares 10 years ago. This decision was made despite the recent strengthening of the National Planning Policy Framework, which sets out clearly that any loss of "irreplaceable habitats" such as ancient woodland must evidence "wholly exceptional" circumstances.
There are significant deposits of high-quality ragstone elsewhere in Kent where no irreplaceable habitat or other environmental constraints exist.
Liberal Democrat County Councillors spoke powerfully against the motion to approve the Minerals Plan, including Geoffrey Samme (Maidstone Northeast) and Group Leader Antony Hook (Faversham).
Cllr Samme commented: "It was very clear that those speaking against the motion had a strong set of arguments, and put them far better than those on the other side. By contrast, the KCC Cabinet Members supporting the motion appeared uncertain, simply reading from their scripts."
Ahead of the vote, Cllr Tony Harwood (Maidstone Borough Council) and Chris Passmore also submitted an 800-signature petition calling on KCC to safeguard Oaken Wood by withdrawing their policy support for the quarry extension.
We remain determined to protect this much-loved and irreplaceable wildwood habitat. The narrowness of this vote shows that the local campaign to protect the woodland is working.
We believe that KCC has significantly underestimated the strength of public and legal opposition to this decision, and that it will not survive scrutiny at the next stage.
A Government planning inspector will now be assigned to assess the Minerals Plan's "soundness" — a process taking several months, with no inquiry date yet confirmed. We will take part alongside our fellow campaigners, and a further public consultation and Inquiry in Public still lie ahead. There's a long way to go — we need to keep up the pressure, and we hugely appreciate all the help and support we have received from local people.
Chris Passmore added: "We heard a lot from those proposing the motion about the importance of Gallagher's Hermitage Quarry to the local economy as a justification for destroying irreplaceable ancient woodland. They now need to take full account of the impact of these disastrous plans on Oaken Wood, and change their plans to source ragstone from other locations. I believe that this can still be done commercially but without destroying an ancient woodland."
Cllr Tony Harwood stated: "I am confident that ancient Oaken Wood will be saved." He added: "The 'irreplaceable' status of ancient woodland is a game changer, and it was obvious today that KCC has not yet woken up to this fact."
