Campaigners trying to halt the major redevelopment of a county park – including the creation of a new surf park – have dropped plans for judicial review. It means the £50 million project for Betteshanger Country Park, near Deal, can go ahead and a new luxury 120-bed hotel and surfing lagoon will be built. Planning applications for both developments were approved earlier this year by Dover District Council (DDC), although work is yet to start at the park, a former colliery.
In a bid to stop the developments going ahead, campaign group, Friends of Betteshanger Park, revealed their intension to launch judicial review and last year started crowdfunding to raise money, reaching £20,000. But after their legal team contacted DDC questioning the planning process, the council performed another environmental screening but concluded a wider impact assessment was unnecessary, with the local authority having enough evidence to satisfy the legal requirements of further development. It has since been concluded by the Friends, on advice from their lawyers, that judicial review would be met with “little chance of success”.
A spokesman for Friends of Betteshanger Park said: “We would like to thank those who have supported us and campaigned to protect Betteshanger Country Park from destructive development. “Our lawyers have written several letters questioning DDC’s planning process. They conceded another screening of the environmental impact but concluded an environmental impact.