MP'S DELIGHT AT REPRIEVE FOR PRECIOUS NIGHTINGALE BREEDING SITE

Kelly Tolhurst: "Once special sites are gone, we cannot get them back."

                                                       

MP Kelly Tolhurst has welcomed the planning  decision which has spared - at least for the time being - the destruction of a Kent woodland which is home to breeding nightingales.

Lodge Hill, which is within the Medway area of the 39-year-old's Rochester and Strood  constituency, had been earmarked for up to 5,000 new homes, but the site's owners, the Ministry of Defence, decided not to pursue the project following a campaign by a residents' action group, Kent Wildlife Trust and the RSPB.

The Conservative MP, who last year agreed to be the RSPB's species 'champion' for the nightingale, described the housing project as "a tick-boxing exercise to please officials and developers".

She said of the reprieve: "This is a victory for common sense.

“It was never right for our natural habitats and communities be sacrificed for poorly thought-out plans that would only bring misery to one of our most beautiful areas.

"While it is clear that housing developments are necessary, I dispute the plans for 5,000 homes at Lodge Hill where there would be a significant impact on our natural environment and local infrastructure. 

"Medway is a densely populated urban area, but we are still lucky to have some amazing pockets of tranquil countryside with an abundance of wildlife. 

"It would be devastating for Medway to lose special sites like these. Once they are gone we cannot get them back!

Ms Tolhurst's stance is all the more creditable because it is  at odds with the Conservative-controlled Medway council which believes the nightingales should be sacrificed in favour of new houses and jobs." 

"We need a realistic vision for the next 20 years that puts the community and prosperity at its heart.

“I will continue to push for a Local Plan that looks to put Medway on the map rather than be a tick-boxing exercise to please officials and developers.”

The MP's attitude to the project is in sharp contrast to that of  Mark Reckless, her Tory-turned-Ukip predecessor whom she ousted from the seat.

Below is a transcript of part of a speech he made  in a Commons debate on March 26, 2013. 

"Earlier this month, Natural England declared Ministry of Defence land at Lodge Hill in my constituency to be a site of special scientific interest.

"In numerous plans over 18 years, the site has been clearly designated for 5,000 homes and for employment opportunities for 5,000 people. A total of £35.5 million has been spent to get to the point of planning consent being granted. 

"After all this time and money, the council is concerned, to put it mildly, to be thwarted at the last hurdle by Natural England, which does not consider the economic impacts.

"The reason for this, we are told by Natural England, is that a study of some description has discovered that 84 nightingales might use the site. The comparison to be drawn is between those 84 nightingales and homes for 12,000 people and jobs for a further 5,000 people. 

"We are told by the Prime Minister that we are in a global race, but it is not clear that that message has yet filtered through to bodies such as Natural England.

"It is not surprising that council leaders in the area say that we need to end the absurd situation of a non-elected Government agency dictating to national and local government on how to run things. 

Medway is an example of a council that is pro-development, that wants to show that it is open for business. 

Will the Minister assure me that our local council will be able to decide where it is best for development to go, not Ministers or their inspectors, and still less these quangos? 

"We have heard of the bonfire of the quangos; in the case of Natural England, it appears to have fizzled out."

*Cautionary note: Despite the decision, the future of the Lodge Hill nightingales is far from assured. Medway council may yet include the site in its emerging Local Plan which could prompt a new development initiative.