Request
We are requesting under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, any data, meeting minutes, e mails, surveys, and/or reports that relate to the inclusion of the land in Lower St Eastry, pertaining to the DDC Local Plan, as SAP 32 EAS002.
The view from a Statutory Consultee, KCC Highways (Richard Smith ) in a letter dated 23rd March 2020 (PAP/2019/221) to RMB Consultants (this letter is in the public domain under DDC planning application 25/00934) was that due to 5 major concerns, the proposal to develop the land in Lower St, Eastry could not be supported.
However, despite this, the land was surprisingly included in the DDC Local Plan as SAP32/EAS002 in October 2022 (which was adopted in 2024). In August 2025 it became the subject of a specific application for 99 houses (application 25/00934).
We would like any data that supports the Dover DC decision to place the land at Lower St, Eastry into the Local Plan, despite the view of a major Statutory Consultee that it could not support the proposal to develop the land.
Our solicitors, wrote to DDC on 7th July 2026 Ref WIL22/1 (SAG).
ESN would like to draw your attention to paras 6-13 in our solicitor’s letter, as this broadly explains our concerns and the reason for the Freedom of Information request.
We therefore request under the Freedom of Information Act the evidence in the form of data, surveys, reports, minutes of meetings, e mails, etc that support why the land at Lower St was included in the DDC Local Plan when a Statutory Consultee had already stated it could not support the proposal.
Response
The majority of information you have requested is already available online, as follows:
The Council holds one additional email falling wihtin the description of your request and this is attached. Please note that all personal data has been redacted from this document as it is considered exempt from disclosure under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act. Personal data is defined by Article 4(1) of GDPR and also Section 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the release of this data would contravene the data protection principles.
Attachments
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