Kate is a local farmer who has called Tenterden home for over 20 years and it’s a place she loves as much as her job.
“It’s the best job in the world and I count my blessings to be outside everyday in some of the most beautiful countryside in the whole of the UK. Tenterden itself is such a beautiful town – one of only two in the countryside with a High Street lined with greens reminding us of its agricultural roots”.
Kate might just be the best qualified person to speak to about the importance of Keeping Tenterden Green so that’s exactly what CommunityAd did.
So Kate, how long have you been involved with the organisation Keeping Tenterden Green?
Over three years, when people in Tenterden came together and demanded that the Town Council acted to do what it could to reflect their voices through community planning. As a town councillor and deputy chair of the planning committee my role is formal, advisory rather than strategic, but I’ve been so impressed, and really heartened by how much people care and the huge amounts of work they put in, entirely as volunteers, to keep the project going.
How would you summarise 2021 within the organisation?
Well, there were a number of impacts – some practical. For example, we could no longer hold face to face meetings and the legislation governing community planning is very clear on the need for public consultation. So, we had to move online extremely quickly, using Facebook, Instagram and our website to continue our work. The lockdowns also massively increased people’s awareness of what we had on our doorstep – green space, nature, the freedom to get outside and find some calm, some respite in a world that had been turned upside down.
Remind our readers why it is so important for you and the community to keep Tenterden green?
Precisely because these spaces add so much to our lives – and perhaps we’ve taken the countryside for granted, given its abundance in this part of the world. And because of the future, we cannot ignore the powerful impact of nature on carbon capture and the climate crisis is both a biodiversity and a carbon emergency.
Kent as a county is getting built on at a crazy rate, why is this not good news and why should we be wary?
The right homes in the right places is what our ambition should be – not on flood plains, not on irreplaceable habitat, prime agricultural land, dominating medieval heritage and landscapes, not to the detriment of our open, green spaces and not in unsustainable locations lacking infrastructure, jobs, community facilities and support. And the right homes built to the highest possible design and environmental standards where people can feel part of a community. Some of the levers are there already in legislation to ensure better, sustainable building but communities have to organise to use them, not just react when a planning application immediately affects them as individuals.
How can readers get involved with Keeping Tenterden Green?
Our website is www.tenterdenneighbourhoodplan.org;
Facebook @keepingtenterdengreen;
Instagram @tenterdengreenspace.
Have a look at what we share on social media and on our website and we are an entirely volunteer set-up. If you think you might want to join in, send me an email on [email protected] or call me on 07389 110611.