Watch Over Adisham's Woods

Our aim is to watch over and cherish all woods in the parish of Adisham in Kent. Three of these are currently threatened by the development of buildings, tarmacked roadways and tall, electrified fencing. Residential activity has been reported, with electricity, water, internet connections, postboxes and CCTV installed.

Read on to find out how you can help us protect these woods.

After enforcement notices were issued to the developers of buildings in the Tower Woods last year, requiring removal of the buildings and making good the land on which they lie, the developers chose to appeal. Their appeals, along with the comments and evidence submitted by Adisham residents and other stakeholders, are currently being considered by the Planning Inspectorate.

All five cases are still in progress, with no decision yet made on the two cases decided by written representations, and no date arranged for the three cases decided by public hearing. As of April 2024, it has been over a year since the deadline to submit comments on these appeals.

However, the notifications for decisions and hearing dates are likely to come soon. The latest figures on the table to the right indicate that average wait times for decisions are currently about a year for written representations and a little over a year for hearings.

WOAW will communicate here and on other local channels as soon as there is news on decisions and a hearing date. The latter is particularly important, as the hearing will give local people the opportunity to make their feelings known. Hearings are usually held in an appropriate community space, like a village hall. We will share the details when we know more.

Update on enforcement action against developers in the Tower Woods

Permission has been granted for a court hearing to review the recent decision to approve the construction of wine warehousing on undeveloped green fields at Highland Court Farm, only a short distance from Adisham’s woods.

Significantly, a large area of brownfield land at Highland Court has just become available through the departure of fresh produce company Gomez. If the approval is overturned, it can no longer be argued that the undeveloped fields are the only suitable site.

Our colleagues, The Friends of Higham Park, are seeking to raise £2,500 to support this legal action. CPRE are overseeing the funding arrangements to provide added security, and your donation will only be taken if the £2,500 target is met.

Please give what you can to protect this important piece of tranquility and biodiversity in the Kent Downs.

Help protect a crucial piece of the Kent Downs National Landsape

As of late November 2023, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) have been renamed as National Landscapes. Behind this change is a desire to elevate the status of these areas to that enjoyed National Parks, recognising their significance as areas for nature recovery, wellbeing and public access.

Several of Adisham's woods lie within or adjacent to the Kent Downs National Landscape, including those situated along Woodlands Road that are being threatened by inappropriate development. The presence of rare and vulnerable species in our woods, including the Lady Orchid shown in the National Landscape logo, highlight why they are a crucial part of what makes the Kent Downs so special.

WOAW hopes that the revamped status of these important areas will provide fresh momentum behind their protection and management for biodiversity.

Kent Downs National Landscape

A planning application was made by Chapel Down to construct warehousing for wine production and storage on AONB land nearby at Highland Court Farm. After being unable to respond to the initial application in the spring, WOAW was able to lodge an objection to the development, following a threat of judicial review which forced Canterbury City Council to reconsider the application. You can read our objection here.

WOAW objects to proposed development at Highland Court Farm

In May, the area around Adisham’s SSSI woods was visited by Natural England’s Dan Tuson. Dan is spearheading Natural England’s arable reversion programme in East Kent, which is working with landowners to revert farmland back into species rich grassland. Following his visit, coordinated by WOAW, Dan is now working with one of the woodland owners to enable their adjoining meadows to support a wider range of species.

May also saw a visit from the East Kent county recorder for the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, Sue Buckingham. For the past five years, Sue has coordinated annual surveys of the three Kent Priority Species, one of which is the Lady Orchid. WOAW volunteers already contribute to this survey each year, but Sue wanted to visit the SSSI woods to learn more about how the habitat supports this species. She also got to see many of the woods’ other botanical offerings, including Lesser Butterfly-Orchid, Common Spotted-Orchid and Herb Paris.

Visits from stakeholders in Natural England and the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland

Protecting footpath biodiversity in Oxenden Wood

Facilitated by WOAW, an agreement has been reached with Kent County Council for the owners of Oxenden Wood to take responsibility for maintaining the wood’s public rights of way. Over the past two years, KCC’s indiscriminate cutting of vegetation along these paths, particularly footpath CB544, has caused significant damage to flora in the SSSI. The owners, with WOAW’s support, will now continually monitor the state of Oxenden Wood’s paths; ensuring access to all path users while protecting plant life.

Unfortunately, footpath CB544 has faced a further threat over the past year, which is visible from the hoof-prints in the image above: being used by horse-riders.

This is churning up the soil, meaning that other users are forced to walk on the very edge of the paths, widening them and damaging the important habitat for rare plants that grow on the edge of the paths. The poor state of this footpath is also discouraging walkers.

Local stable owners and horse riders: please stick to the bridleways and byways in and around the woods, double-checking before every ride that your route does not include footpaths. Footpaths are the short green dashes on Ordnance Survey maps.

Canterbury District Tree and Woodland Strategy

Canterbury City Council recently released their draft Tree and Woodland Strategy, which sets out their vision for protecting, increasing and managing trees and woodlands in the district from now until 2045.

WOAW responded to the public consultation on this strategy, which ended in January 2023. You can read our response here.

Canterbury City Council Draft Local Plan Consultation

Canterbury City Council’s proposed new town of 3,200 homes in Adisham represents a severe threat to the wildlife of the parish’s woodlands and the surrounding countryside.

Read our statement on the impact the development would have on Adisham’s SSSI woods here.

Enforcement action taken against developers in Adisham’s woods

Canterbury City Council have issued planning enforcement notices mandating the removal of six buildings constructed in and around Adisham’s ‘Tower Woods’ (Oxenden Shaw and Woodlands Wood). This action follows extensive information gathering and communication from Watch Over Adisham’s Woods, in collaboration with the Woodland Trust, CPRE Kent and Rosie Duffield MP.