Anger over housing plans due to nightingales

The RSPB says the Lodge Hill site is one of the most important in the country for nightingales

Plans to build homes near an area described by conservationists as nationally-important for nightingales have been criticised.

The RSPB says at least 85 singing males live in Lodge Hill, a former military training ground in Chattenden, north Kent.

The charity said proposals for about 20 houses would impact the habitat of the birds, which is designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI).

The company behind the plans, Esquire Developments, have declined to comment.

Michael Pearce, a local independent Medway councillor, said Lodge Hill has over a dozen nightingale territories.

"We are very concerned with this development because it's going to impact those territories and harm our nightingale population," he added.

The plan for the four-acre site was refused by Medway councillors in January.

However, following an appeal, the decision now falls to a government planning inspector.

Campaigners say the proposed development site would impact the "vulnerable" species

Plans by Homes England to build 5,000 homes on the Lodge Hill site were withdrawn in 2017 after a lengthy campaign.

Due to the nightingales, 850 acres of the land was designated as an SSSI by Natural England in 2013.

The latest housing proposal lies outside the SSSI, but campaigners said it is very near to where the birds nest.

Joseph Beale, from the RSPB, has called for a buffer zone of about 400m (1312 ft) around the SSSI to prevent any impact from a residential zone.