NEW PLANS

  

Plans have been submitted to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council by Hugh Lowe Farms of Mereworth for a massive polytunnel growing operation that involves a total of 1315 acres over 6 parishes including Mereworth, West Peckham, East Peckham, Wateringbury, Hadlow and Platt. They are applying to cover a third of their land at any one time which means that each year 430 acres will be under polythene of which 168 acres will contain permanent tunnels, .

The full application can be found on this LINK

The application is misleading, inaccurate and has not addressed flood risk and environmental issues as is usual in a proposal of this scale. The quotations in bold are from the HLF application.

  

'THE MAJORITY OF THE TUNNELS BEING TAKEN DOWN AND PUT UP ON A ROTATIONAL BASIS, AND WITH SOME OF THE TUNNELS BEING USED FOR SUCCESSIVE CROPS....'

Only just true, in fact only just over half of the tunnels are to be rotated, the rest will be permanent structures.

Rotational tunnels remain in place for between two and five years after which they are removed and the land is used for either wheat, barley or beans for another two or three years before the tunnels are re erected again for strawberries. The plastic covers are removed for most of the winter months. This form of traditional rotation means that the the land remains fertile and there is no build up of soil borne disease that attacks strawberries.

Successional tunnels remain in place permanently and are used for growing raspberries which have a longer life or for growing strawberries in grow bags. The use of grow bags is very attractive for berry growers because dismantling and re erecting polytunnels every few years is a costly process and the rotational crops are not as lucrative as strawberries. Every two or three years the growbags and old strawberry plants are discarded and new ones placed in the tunnels.

Over the last few years Hugh Lowe Farms have been increasing the acreage under plastic and also increasing the acreage of permanent successional tunnels. In the new application almost half of the tunnels in use will be permanent.

This is a massive area of PERMANENT tunnels totalling 168 acres out of a total covered area of 483 acres.

West Peckham permanent tunnels, March 2009

  
 

In future all of these permanent tunnels could house a growbag system which is a move away from traditional rotational growing to a highly industrialised and intensive form of agriculture. Rather than rotating the tunnels over the land, the growing medium is rotated through the tunnels. At a recent public meeting Marion Regan of Hugh Lowe Farms indicated that they were looking to move towards a system of table top growing in which the grow bags are raised to waist height rather than placed on the ground. This is effectively a hydroponic system which makes no use of the soil in the fields at all.

The trestles do not need planning permission although they are effectively a part of the overall polytunnel system in spite of the fact that they are unsightly all the year round and far more visually obtrusive than grow bags on the ground.

  

Tabletop growing at another farm

  
 

Polytunnels are now an inevitable and essential part any modern growing operation but these new industrialised methods of growing are being rushed into with little regard for the visual and environmental impact on the landscape and the quality of life for those who live locally or visit the countryside.

  
 

'THE HOOPS, WHEN NOT COVERED IN PLASTIC, HAVE LITTLE VISUAL IMPACT WHEN VIEWED FROM A DISTANCE AND PARTICULARLY WHEN SEEN AGAINST A BACKCLOTH OF HEDGEROWS/ SHELTERBELTS/ AREAS OF WOODLAND......'

  

 
Hillside in 'Special Landscape Area' above West Peckham
The application goes on to say that the impact of the covering of the polytunnels wirth plastic usually occurs for a small part of each year and that is generally during the spring/ summer /autumn when the surrounding hedgrows and trees are in leaf and therefore the natural screening is maximised. All of these pictures were taken in February, you can judge for yourself whether the visual impact is low...
  View from St Michaels Conservation Area  
   
  Polytunnels in February on an exposed hillside in East Peckham   Frames in February, West Peckham  
     
  Strawberry beds waiting for frames in February, West Peckham   Strawberry Fields in February, West Peckham  
 

'PARTS OF THE AGRICULTURAL HOLDING ADJOIN AREAS DESIGNATED AS CONSERVATION AREAS ....
......ACCORDINGLY, A BUFFER HAS BEEN LEFT BETWEEN FIELDS IDENTIFIED FOR USE FOR ERECTING TUNNELS BETWEEN THE FARM AND ADJACENT CONSERVATION AREAS...'

  
Not true, it is obviously important that any area that has been identified in local policies should be respected in terms of it's landscape, cultural and historic value. As well as maintaining the character of these areas the local authority planning policies require developments to respect the SETTING of Conservation Areas, as well as the views from them.  
West Peckham St Michael's Church & Roydon Mereworth Castle
The conservation areas affected by the application were not marked on the applicant's maps, so we have added them in purple. The fields that are proposed for polytunnels are shaded in beige. In the case of the village of West Peckham the fields that are cross hatched are designated for permanent polytunnels so on some rotational years the entire western side of the village will be surrounded by tunnels. The field in Roydon is completely surrounded by Conservation Area and the entire western side of the Mereworth Castle drive also abuts polytunnel fields.
 

'THE STEEL FRAMED STUCTURE IS LEFT IN THE FIELD THROUGHOUT THE YEAR WITH THE PLASTIC COVERING LIMITED TO A FEW WEEKS/MONTHS EACH YEAR'

Not true, what the application actually asks for is to have tunnels covered for up to 35 weeks of the year, this means that they could have the instrusive plastic sheeting over them for a total of eight months. This is three quarters of the year - hardly a few weeks/months.

End elevation shown in application End elevation of the actual tunnels Side view
The submitted plans are inaccurate and misleading because the drawings that have been submitted do not correspond with what the tunnels actually look like. Three designs have been submitted all of which state that there is 'polythene on curved sides only'. In fact many of the tunnels that are permanently in place have a framework attached to the ends which presents a solid face of plastic and is far more visually intrusive than the plans suggest. The side elevations are also covered with polythene contrary to the plans. These particular tunnels are within ten metres of a residential property. The plans claim that the polythene sheet is clear, in fact it appears as white and opaque.
 

 

 
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