5 February 2007 - A Euro-MP has warned that the regional assembly’s plans to build thousands of homes in Kent could damage the county’s premier wildlife sites.

The Kent sections of the South-East Plan will undergo five days of public scrutiny by a panel of inspectors, beginning this Wednesday (Feb 7) in Maidstone . Dr Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP for Kent , said the inspectors must pay heed to the Appropriate Assessment – a statutory document - that judges the potential impact of the plan on EU-designated wildlife sites.

She said: “ The independent consultants who carried out the report could not rule out that the planned development would lead to damage of 14 areas [1] in Kent that have been designated as Special Protection Areas (S PA s) because of their importance for bird-life or Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) because of wildlife found there.

“Among the factors that could damage the sites are increased water abstraction, increased effluent discharge, and coastal squeeze. This occurs when wildlife habitats would naturally re-create themselves further inland as a result of rising sea-levels, but are blocked by development.

“The regional assembly is planning house-building on a massive scale. Between now and 2026, 122,000 homes are planned for Kent [2], but this could easily be at the expense of the county’s natural assets. Development plans for the South-East of England need to be scaled down – not up as the Government wishes.”

The SPA and SAC sites are protected by the ‘precautionary principle’ so that development can only be permitted where it can be shown that it won’t damage the important wildlife features of the site, although there are get-out clauses.

Dr Lucas said: “Much of the planned housing is a result of the Government’s hothouse economic strategy – which focuses on the South-East, East of England and London to their detriment - and at the expense of other areas of the country.”

ENDS