A Sustainable and Inclusive Community

Luddesdown National Landscape Society: Protecting a Historic Landscape

 

Luddesdown, a rural parish with scenic, narrow country lanes, offers residents and visitors opportunities for cycling, riding, and walking along lanes bordered by hedgerows and greenery. Two local pubs, The Golden Lion and The Cock Inn, enhance the area’s charm. However, Luddesdown’s character is under threat due to proposed developments, including a large winery and bottling plant with a projected output of 150,000 bottles annually and onsite sales of 58,000-67,000 bottles.

 

This development risks increasing traffic on Luddesdown’s single-track lanes, which lack sufficient passing points and are already strained during disruptions on nearby major roads. The lanes are unsuitable for heavy traffic, posing safety risks to walkers, cyclists, and horse riders, and threatening the destruction of hedgerows and the area’s natural beauty.

 

Residents argue that the proposed building and its uses exceed the needs of local agriculture, turning Luddesdown into a commercialized landscape. This change, they contend, would bring unnecessary traffic, congestion, and environmental damage to an area known for its tranquility and natural appeal.

 

Despite residents’ concerns, officials like Kent AONB Unit and KCC Highways seem indifferent to the local impact, leaving Luddesdown vulnerable to the consequences of unchecked development.

 

Support Luddesdown: Help preserve this unspoiled countryside by completing the survey to oppose unnecessary development.

A Rural Community Being Destroyed by Indifference

  • Gold Street

    One of only 2 lanes that feed Luddesdown. A single track lane, 2.5-2.7m at its narrowest with 1 passing place that if blocked requires reversing back to 120m to Sole Street or up to Danes Place.

  • Henley Street

    Single track lane, with very limited passing places for existing traffic and our surveys shows the lower end of the village is experiencing more traffic meaning uncontrolled development and traffic at the top part will leave villagers ‘kettled in’.

  • Winery / Bottling Plant

    Positioned atop the Luddesdown Valley, estimated production of over 150,000 bottles, of which 58,000 and 67,000 bottles are sold from on site, seeking permission for visitors cars, delivery drivers and possibly weddings guests to enter Gold Street at a tight series of bends, and across the Public Right of Way (NS190).

  • Gold Street

    A 7.5 ton lorry parked by the field gate entrance is the only location where cars can pass. It is is approximately 120m up or down the narrow lane (2.7m at its narrowest) to the next passing place on the public highway.

    A winery / bottling plant could produce 150,000 bottles per year and is able to host outdoor wedding parties, and industry estimates are that 58,000-67,000 bottles of wine per year are sold from on site.

  • Gold Street

    Traffic congestion on Gold Street. This is NOT during surge periods and before a completely unknown volume of extra traffic is generated from sale of 150,000 bottles of wine, or more.

    KCC Highways believe, without even bothering to leave their office, that there are plenty of passing places on this narrow lane.

  • Damage

    The Kent AONB Unit waxes lyrical about the theory of the National Landscape without leaving their offices, but those of us who live here and know the narrow lanes and see the damage live with the reality.

    They’re completely happy to pronounce on the ‘best ' location without knowing the impact on tranquility and amenity, which were very important qualities identified in residents surveys.

  • Debris

    Our idyllic country lanes are littered with the aftermath of trucks, lorries and vans that they were never built to cope with.

    Plonking a building on a site is more than just how it looks, but the impact it has on the countryside and and the people who live their and enjoy it. The Kent AONB has not acknowledged the residents experience, and have not even been here either.

  • Destruction

    The area is being eroded before our very eyes…this is how an area is degraded despite being known for it’s ancient feel and tranquillity.

    So, we can expect more destruction because both KCC Highways and the Kent AONB Unit have ignored these issues and the area will be brought down by their lack of scrutiny.

The KCC Public Rights of Way Officer has stated it would be prudent to advise the winery /bottling plant applicant that “a public right of way must not be stopped up, diverted, obstructed or the surface disturbed or encroachment on it’s current width, either now or in the future. ” AS you can see it has already been obliterated by just 2-3 cars crossing it - before approval for lorries, delivery vans and visitors arising from the sale of 57,000+ bottles of wine on site. If this is all in a days work of protecting the National Landscape it does not auger well !