Oaken Wood: Have Your Say on the Hermitage Quarry Extension
On 16 July, Kent County Councillors voted 37 to 31, with 4 abstentions, to approve the Pre-Submission Draft Kent Mineral Sites Plan.
Left unchanged, the KCC Administration will have allowed Gallagher to extend Hermitage Lane Quarry further into 49 hectares of irreplaceable ancient woodland at Barming, Maidstone Kent.
But the outcome is far from settled.
The Plan now moves to a formal public consultation on its soundness and legal compliance, closing at 11:59pm on Thursday 10 September 2026. Every comment submitted during this period is sent on to a government-appointed planning inspector as part of an Independent Examination — meaning there's still a real opportunity to change the outcome.
Why this proposal doesn't stack up
The case for objection is strong. The proposed extension breaches national planning policy — specifically NPPF Paragraph 193(c) — because the commercial case for extraction doesn't meet the "wholly exceptional reasons" required to justify destroying irreplaceable ancient woodland, and the 49 hectares it would be the single greatest loss of ancient woodland in the British Isles in a generation.
Ragstone is available elsewhere in Kent without this cost to irreplaceable habitat, so an alternative site should be found once Oaken Wood is confirmed as fully protected from quarrying.
You don't need to be an expert to respond. We've put together a ready-to-use template letter below, so you can send a considered objection in a couple of minutes.
How to respond.
1. Click on this link to open an email to: mwlp@kent.gov.uk
2. Copy the subject line in the text at the foot of this page into to the subject line in your email
3. Then copy the text into the text box in your email.
4. Add todays date.
5. Add your name and address and Postcode….essential
6. Press send.
7. or even better print out and post to:
Minerals and Waste Planning Policy Team, Planning Applications Group, Sessions House, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XQ.
Draft letter to cut and paste in to mwlp@kent.gov.uk
Email Subject:
Regulation 19 – Pre-Submission Draft Kent Mineral Sites Plan July 2026.
Email Text:
XX Aug 2026
Dear Sir/Madam,
I write to formally object to the proposed allocation of land to the South and West of Hermitage Quarry, Aylesford, as it is contrary to Paragraph 193 C. of the National Planning Policy Framework:
c) development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats (such as ancient woodland and ancient or veteran trees) should be refused, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and a suitable compensation strategy exists.
Ragstone deposits are widespread in West Kent and the commercial and utility arguments for the proposed extension at Hermitage Quarry do not reach the high planning policy bar of “wholly exceptional reasons”.
The scale of destruction of irreplaceable habitat sought is unquestionably of national significance, and would amount to the single greatest loss of ancient woodland in the British Isles in a generation. In addition to the circa 49 hectares of woodland directly impacted by this proposal, the extent of disturbance, fragmentation and deterioration of irreplaceable habitat would also be exceptional and therefore unacceptable in planning policy terms.
In conclusion, planning policy now appropriately recognises the exceptional importance of irreplaceable habitats such as ancient woodland to our nation, heritage and biodiversity. This is why the historic attrition of ancient woodland in this country has now all but ceased.
Ragstone is found elsewhere in Kent, and in locations where no irreplaceable habitats survive. An alternative site for hard rock will come forward once a clear determination is reached that ancient Oaken Wood is fully protected from quarry extension plans
Yours faithfully,
Name:
Address:
Postcode:
