Protect High Halstow: Our Countryside, Wildlife & Future!

High Halstow Parish Council has begun a legal challenge following Medway Council’s decision to approve up to 760 new homes on land east of High Halstow. Please visit the CrowdJustice page by clicking here to read more and to donate. The Parish Council has already instructed specialist solicitors and a barrister and issued a formal Pre-Action Protocol Letter. The Parish Council is now asking residents and supporters to help raise the funds needed to continue this work and ensure the community is properly represented. 

Earlier this year, the Parish Council asked residents whether it should pursue a Judicial Review of the decision. The response was overwhelming.

Of the 343 people who completed the survey:

• 333 supported pursuing Judicial Review.
• 323 still supported proceeding after being told that taking the case through to its conclusion could potentially cost around £80,000.
• 322 said they would personally contribute towards crowdfunding the challenge.
• Based on the amounts people indicated they were willing to contribute, the survey suggested that the community could potentially raise around £30,000.

The Parish Council listened to that mandate and acted.

The Parish Council has already committed significant funds to the initial legal work. Specialist solicitors and a barrister have been instructed, and a formal Pre-Action Protocol Letter has been issued to Medway Council. But if the case is permitted to proceed to a substantive Court Hearing, the costs could increase considerably.

At the same time, another major challenge is approaching. Medway Council’s emerging Local Plan will determine where tens of thousands of new homes and associated development could be located over the coming years. The Plan is now moving towards independent examination by Government-appointed Planning Inspectors, and High Halstow Parish Council intends to make sure the evidence affecting the village and the wider Hoo Peninsula is properly scrutinised.

That means the Parish Council may need access to planning professionals, legal representatives, highways specialists, ecologists, environmental experts and other independent specialists. The Parish Council needs evidence to challenge evidence.

Money raised through this campaign will be ring-fenced to support legal and professional work connected with these planning matters, including the Judicial Review, the Local Plan Examination, independent technical evidence and expert representation.

The Parish Council recognises that new homes are needed. But development must be sustainable. Infrastructure must be properly considered. Environmental impacts must be understood. Wildlife and habitats deserve proper consideration. And decisions capable of permanently changing existing communities should be based on robust evidence and reached through a lawful and transparent planning process.

High Halstow is a small rural community facing decisions with potentially enormous and permanent consequences.

Please donate today by clicking here.

Whatever you can afford will help.

If you cannot donate, please share the CrowdJustice page with friends, family and others who care about protecting the countryside, wildlife and rural communities. Every share could put the campaign in front of somebody who can help.

Our village. Our countryside. Our wildlife. Our future.

Thank you for standing with High Halstow.

High Halstow Parish Council.