The Proposal

Quinn Estates want to build a luxury Hotel and a full-sized surfing facility at Betteshanger Country Park. This will be disastrous for wildlife. We are the Friends of Betteshanger and we have had enough of development destroying wildlife.. We intend to be a voice for all the animals, plants and habitats at Betteshanger Park that are under threat. We ask you to join us so that our voices create a deafening chorus that cannot be ignored.

When Betteshanger Country Park Park was first set up Dover District Council was legally obliged to designate a Local Nature Reserve there. It never happened. Now wildlife is set to pay the price.

This is how it will be impacted:

The Hotel

The Hotel

  • The location is in one of the best areas of the Park for bats and breeding birds. An access road will completely disrupt this habitat.
  • Turtle Doves, the UK’s fastest declining birds having declined by 98%, are under threat. A special area meant to secure a quiet feeding area for them is now threatened with a Hotel right next to it. The future for the Park’s Turtle Doves looks bleak.
  • Ponds used by Water Voles would be removed and the Voles ‘translocated’. Water Voles are  endangered and are the UK’s fastest declining mammal.
  • Habitat for Badgers and Beavers would be threatened.

The Surfing Lagoon

  • The surfing lagoon site is in an area of the park originally set up as a ‘habitat exclusion zone’ – a refuge for wildlife. Up until this time it has remained a quiet area with no tracks or footpaths.
  • The second most important colony of Lizard Orchids in the Country grows here. They are a protected species and and a botanical treasure in East Kent. 800 would be dug up and many more would be lost under the proposals.
  • 2.6 ha of Open Mosaic Habitat would be removed along with its rare invertebrates.
  • The Seahive threatens another special site for Turtle Doves. It was chosen as a quiet area. Now, with a projected 500,000-700,000 visitors a year the Doves can expect the highest levels of noise and human disturbance. They don’t stand a chance.
  • A population of Common Lizards(reptiles) translocated to the Park for their long term protection would be translocated again.
  • The rarest invertebrate found at Betteshanger, Andrena niveata, the long fringed mini miner bee, was found on the surf lagoon site  and would be removed along with other invertebrates of County importance.

Please help the wildlife and the local people who enjoy it, by objecting to these plans.

Here is how to object to the planning applications.

There are two applications, one for the Hotel and one for the Seahive.

To object to the Hotel use planning application number 23/01095.

To object to the Seahive use planning application number 22/01158.

To object online:

  1. Google Dover Planning   
  2.  Click view applications
  3. Click Black Box view applications 
  4. Type in application number   
  5. Click search   
  6. Click on make a comment  

To object by email write to:   developmentmanagement@dover.gov.uk        Or you can write a letter.

Other reasons to object include: climate change and the loss of a carbon sink, increased traffic, use of water in a water stressed area, contaminated land, loss of a local green space and its benefits to physical and mental health.

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Thank you.