Cliffe Marshes and the protected wetland

The marshes north and west of the village are the Thames Estuary and Marshes Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, with the South Thames Estuary and Marshes SSSI alongside. The appeal decision of 28 November 2023 records the Church Street site as within 6km of the Thames Estuary and Marshes Special Protection Area and Ramsar site (paragraph 53). The applicant’s own Drainage Technical Note puts Cliffe Marshes approximately 450 metres north of the site and the 2021 ground conditions assessment records the designated area as immediately to the west and about 500 metres north. The group has asked Medway to state the distance from Natural England’s published designated-sites data. The Phase 2 investigation also records a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone on the site itself and gives the North Kent Medway Chalk groundwater a Water Framework Directive status of Poor.

• Internationally protected wetland and the birds that use it
• The RSPB Cliffe Pools reserve on the village’s doorstep
• Groundwater already classified as Poor