🌿 Day 5: Landscape & Visual Impact at Highsted Park Inquiry 🌿
Main Discussions:
📌 Cllr Monique Bonney (Five Parishes Group) presented evidence emphasising the severe landscape harm the development would cause.
📌 She highlighted that the area includes protected landscapes, conservation areas, and countryside gaps, which would be permanently degraded by the proposal.
📌 Bonney argued that the cumulative visual harm—considering this development alongside others—would be significant and damaging to local character and views.
⚖️ Cross-Examination (Zack Simons, Barrister for the Applicant):
🔍 Simons questioned the objectivity of the landscape assessments used by the opposition.
🔍 He suggested that mitigation measures, such as planting buffers and open spaces, could reduce visual harm.
🔍 He challenged whether some of the identified areas were truly at high risk of visual degradation or if they had already been impacted by modern infrastructure.
🎤 Expert View from Clare Brockhurst (Leyton Place, for the Applicant):
🌳 She defended the applicant’s landscape impact assessment, arguing that the project had been designed to minimise visual intrusion.
🌳 Brockhurst stated that the countryside park and green buffers would help integrate the development into the landscape.
🌳 However, she acknowledged that certain areas would still experience notable visual changes, particularly in locations with historical and ecological importance.
⚠️ Key Concerns Raised:
🚧 The cumulative landscape impact when combined with other large-scale developments.
🚧 Loss of open countryside views, particularly from protected and designated landscape areas.
🚧 The risk that proposed mitigation (such as planting) may not be enough to prevent significant visual harm.
📢 The inquiry continues, and we’ll keep you updated with factual summaries from each session.
The Teynham & Highsted Community Action Group is a consortium of five parish councils – Teynham, Lynsted with Kingsdown, Tonge, Doddington and Newnham. This summary has been generated by AI from a transcript of the video recording.
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