Medway Council’s own evidence explains that the proposed Chattenden Barracks development (450 houses) by Homes England could seriously harm the Nightingale population at the adjacent Chattenden Woods and Lodge Hill Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).  This is a nationally protected wildlife site, and the risks with this development are too great to grant planning permission - the application must therefore be refused.  Please sign the petition and donate to our legal fighting fund here.  

We are calling on Medway Council to refuse Homes England’s planning application (MC/26/0436) to build 450 houses on the former Chattenden Barracks site in Chattenden - on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent.  

This is about protecting one of the nation’s most special wildlife habitats:  Chattenden Woods and Lodge Hill Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which is home to a nationally important population of Nightingales and is the best site in the country for the species.  

Medway Council’s own evidence (the Hoo Peninsula Strategic Environmental Programme Topic Paper) shows the number of singing male Nightingales at the SSSI is increasing year-on-year, with an incredible 160 territories recorded in 2025 - demonstrating how important the habitat is.  

New housing development near the SSSI could push Nightingales out of their breeding territories, and development directly adjacent to the SSSI can cause territory loss up to 150 metres away without protective fencing, and up to 50 metres away with protective fencing.  This means the danger is not small, and it does not disappear just because fencing is proposed by the applicant (Homes England). 

The figures specifically for Chattenden Barracks are deeply troubling.  There is an estimated Nightingale territory loss on the SSSI of 9% if the site is fenced and 14% if it is not.  Between 26% and 45% of cumulative SSSI territory loss is expected when Chattenden Barracks is combined with other proposed nearby development pressure - that is completely unacceptable.  

Local planning policy protects the SSSI.  The Hoo and Chattenden Neighbourhood Plan states development should avoid significant harm to SSSI land and other designated wildlife sites.  It also states development next to protected sites should have buffer zones, where evidence shows they are needed, to avoid disturbance and damage.  The Neighbourhood Plan is part of the development plan and is used to decide planning applications.  

National planning policy is also categorically clear.  The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that if significant harm to biodiversity cannot be avoided, properly reduced, or compensated for, planning permission should be refused.  It also states development likely to have an adverse effect on a Site of Special Scientific Interest should not normally be permitted.    

Medway Council’s wider ecology evidence warns that development on the Hoo Peninsula can create serious indirect impacts on designated sites, including cat predation, noise, lighting and recreational pressure.  It explains Chattenden Woods and Lodge Hill SSSI shares nearly 2.5 km of boundary with proposed residential-led allocations, and that recreational pressure could have a significant adverse effect at the national level on breeding Nightingales, if not prevented.  

Therefore, this petition is very clear:  the proposed development by Homes England at Chattenden Barracks should not go ahead under any circumstances.  The risk to Nightingales at the adjacent and nationally protected Chattenden Woods & Lodge Hill SSSI is too high.  Nightingales should not be pushed out so more houses can be built beside one of the very few special places the species depends on.  

Please sign this petition to send a message to Medway Council.  We call on them to refuse Homes England’s Chattenden Barracks planning application and to protect the Nightingales at Chattenden Woods & Lodge Hill SSSI.  Please also donate to our legal fighting fund here.