At the same meeting the next item on the agenda, application 21/1182/FH/CON, sought approval “of details pursuant to conditions 15 – Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (Site Clearance Stage only), 16 – Ecological Method Statement (Phase 1 only) and 17 – Habitat Creation Plan (Phase 1 only)” of the main Princes Parade planning application.
Both applications were presented to the planning committee as formalities to be ticked off… the badger sett as merely a pile of soil and not worthy of an objection and the other as not actually discharging the conditions, just a step in the process – nothing to see here, let’s tick a few more boxes and move on… It’s a bit like getting the conditions attached to the planning application approved by stealth!
As expected both applications were approved by the committee with the voting along along “party lines”. Congratulations to Chris Farrell and Hilary St. Clare for speaking so passionately and thanks to Jim Martin representing Hythe Town Council for arguing convincingly against both applications.
You can see the relevant Princes Parade part of the proceedings in this edited extract from the webcast…
You can also watch the full recorded webcast of the planning committee meeting on the council’s site here. Items 10 and 11 on the agenda are the ones to watch for.
Documents associated with the applications can be downloaded from here:
- 211209FH – Formation of a new badger sett including associated earthworks
- SK18_Landscape Proposals to Proposed Badger Sett Location_REV A
- Section through proposed badger sett location – MHS210.19_SK17_25.05.2021 rev C
The details of the badger activity noted by the council’s ecologists as well as lots of other useful stuff can be found in their Ecological Method Statement here…
And here’s a taste of the badger activity at Princes Parade…
Mr Badger comes visiting
This is a video from a trailcam in a garden on the opposite side of the Royal Military Canal to the proposed Princes Parade developments. Badgers forage in a wide territory and this one will have come from the setts in the beautifully quiet and undisturbed wild area that will soon become a building site – and then a housing estate – unless we manage to stop the destruction. However carefully the badger setts are moved they will still end up too close to the relocated Princes Parade road and the houses in an artificially lit, noisy environment.
There is a more suitable site for the leisure centre – and at lower cost, less construction risk and less damage to the environment – at Martello Lakes!