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A golf club’s plans to refurbish its course have been met with backlash from villagers who fear their roads will be ruined by up to 50 lorries a day.
Those living near the Sittingbourne Golf Centre in Tonge are hitting back at proposals to raise the ground level of its six-hole course.
A lorry going through Tonge village, causing cars to move over
Just over three years ago, a similar project at the club caused misery for villagers who said HGVs damaged roads and shook houses as they came and went from the site in Church Road.
Now, people have been warned up to 50 lorries a day – or 250 a week – will pass through the village over an 18-month period.
Tonge Parish Council chairman Carrie Pollard said: “Many residents of Tonge and surrounding areas that use Lower Road and the Tonge triangle as part of their daily commute still remember the mayhem caused by the temporary one-way system that was introduced as part of a previous similar application.”
The council says that for several years, residents and motorists experienced “huge volumes” of soil at the golf range, which caused damage to the road.
Cllr Pollard, who also represents Murston at Swale council, added: “It has had a massive impact on the area known as Tonge Mill, with the noise and vibration becoming intolerable with HGV’s passing very close to their front windows, which are right on the road and preventing them from sitting in their gardens.
“These buildings are grade II listed, and the ceiling of one collapsed; also the road collapsed at one time and had to be closed.”
Cllr Carrie Pollard, who is chairman of Tonge Parish Council, says if plans are approved, it will bring misery to residents again
Tonge village resident Marina Coudray is concerned about the return of lorries
Golf club bosses say all concerns have been addressed within their planning application.
They add that a restriction on peak period deliveries will be encouraged to avoid “non-essential” deliveries and all will be pre-planned with a noise abatement strategy in place for out of hours deliveries.
But Marina Coudray, who has lived in the village for around a year, is worried her family’s “quiet cocoon” will be ruined.
She told KentOnline: “From what I understand, it will be a lot of disruption in the streets. And we came here for it to be a bit of a quiet and nice place.
“The whole project doesn’t really align with this, with all the lorries coming through.
“I work from home, so there will be a lot of disruption that we’re not really happy with.
“The lorries might damage the building and make the whole place very loud.
“It will also be dangerous for us to get off our drive and in and out of the village as it’s so tight.
“This place is very narrow and when there are cars, it’s always a bit dangerous. So if there are even more cars and lorries that are driving a bit fast, it’s not great. I really don’t feel comfortable with this idea.”
An elderly couple who live near the Tonge triangle, and didn’t want to be named, said if plans are approved it will be another nightmare for them and villagers.
Sittingbourne Golf Centre in Church Road, Tonge, near Sittingbourne. Picture: Andy Jones.
The Sittingbourne Golf Centre wants to raise the ground level of its six-hole course. Picture: Andy Jones
They said: “Whatever they [workers] tell you is going to happen, you can forget it because they do exactly as they like.
“There weren’t any proper bits of traffic light or signs and they never cleaned up the roads afterwards.
“We did feel as if we were a bit neglected. We were just sidelined really.”
They added that the frequent lorries moving through the village would shake their home.
A large filled-in pothole near Tonge village which was damaged by lorries
One of the roads along the ‘Tonge triangle ‘, which is used by lorries
“They were coming by in threes at a time,” the couple said. “It wasn’t just a single one and then a long gap.
“It was several at once, then a couple of minutes gap and then another lot. We were told there was some sort of system with traffic lights where they wouldn’t be passing one another. Well, that was nonsense because they were passing whenever.”
The pensioners have said if the application is approved, some rules need to be put in place to stop traffic “thundering” past.
There are also concerns that the area – which is popular with ramblers and families – will become dangerous because of the large HGVs in the small roads.
Tonge Parish Council said that previously there was a one-way system put in place which had signage that was “missing or had fallen over”.
Cllr Pollard said: “So the area became very confusing to motorists who often ignored the signs. It created dangerous situations with cars meeting face-to-face with no space to pass and each driver believing they were in the right.”
The council says it has been working with KCC Highways for over three years to try to get a permanent one-way system put in place around the Tonge triangle with proper signs and road markings.
It would cost the parish at least £15,000, which they are saving for.
A spokesman added: “When the last application was approved, not only did it have a huge effect on the Tonge area but impacted other local parishes including Bapchild, Doddington and Wichling, all of whom experienced road damage and noise disturbance caused by these lorries travelling through their villages.
Cllr Carrie Pollard says the parish council has been saving up to make a one-way system in Tonge permenant
“Residents and local parishes in the area are taking a stand against this proposal.
“Through our previous lived experience, from when the golf range was granted permission to implement similar improvement works, we feel that to be asked to go through this again for their singular benefit is completely disproportional and should not be granted.”
Several residents have objected to the proposals on Swale Council’s planning portal, listing volume of traffic, vibrations caused to nearby homes and a lack of communication or consultation with villagers as issues.
One villager wrote: “As a resident of Tonge, I strongly object to this planning application.
“Previously this resulted in roads in the area becoming unpassable and near misses, accidents, road-rage or aggressive driving incidents became an almost daily occurrence.
Sittingbourne Golf Centre is found along Church Road in Tonge
“The benefit to the local area of this development is not evident.
“To date, the golf course and the land around has not been visibly improved by previous soil movements and related activity.
“The site in general and the condition of the road is visually unpleasant and not in keeping with the surrounding area.
“Questions raised previously regarding the golf centre’s motivation for this development and their commitment to improving the local area while being mindful of the wellbeing of residents have gone unanswered.”
A second added: “Our primary concern relates to the volume and frequency of HGV movements associated with the proposed works.
“We consider that the level of lorry activity during the construction period may have a significant impact on local amenity, traffic flow, and general safety, and therefore requires careful scrutiny and mitigation.”
In the club’s planning application, a design statement concluded: “The proposals include the raising of ground levels across the golf course to mitigate existing flooding issues.
“The golf course is proposed to be relandscaped and adapted with improvements to playability, player interest and sustainability.
“It is, therefore, considered that the proposed benefits of this scheme outweigh any perceived harm and should be granted full planning permission.”
Sittingbourne Golf Centre director Rachel Appleyard said: “The concerns raised by the parish council and residents are addressed within our planning application and documents.”
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A lorry coming down Church Lane in Tonge. Picture: Carrie Pollard
The planning application outlines strategies to minimise the impact on residents.
A planning statement explained: “A restriction on AM and PM peak period deliveries will be encouraged to avoid non-essential deliveries during these periods.
“All deliveries will be pre-planned to ensure that vehicles can service the site without obstruction.
“A noise abatement strategy will also be in place for out of hours deliveries, whereby service vehicles would be instructed by the contractor to turn off their engines once parked, for the duration of servicing activity.”
It added: “Full construction of the proposals is expected to take 18 months to complete.
“This time period allows for the unpredictable nature of importing material whereby there are periods of no activity due to poor weather conditions or unsuitable material being available for example.
“When suitable material is available it is anticipated that up to 50 HGVs will be required to access the site per day.
“This will equate to a maximum of around 9 vehicles per hour throughout the working day and 250 vehicles per working week.
“The majority of HGVs accessing the site will be small tipper trucks around 6.5m in length.”