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this proposal and the realistic size and scale of the potential development of this eight acre Green
Belt site – all of which are detailed in this letter. The Application is a cynical understatement of the
owners’ future plans in the hope it can gain initial support from Bexley Planning for a venture that,
we understand, almost every local resident is emphatically against.

Bexley’s Planning Control have, to date, themselves been fiercely protective of any inappropriate
development within its Green Belt boundaries but this Application is by far the most damaging we
have seen – with potentially catastrophic implications for the future.

What if the Business Fails or is Sold?
Should permission be given for a change of use for this site to one of ‘educational use’ and the
business is put up for sale, the site’s change of designated status would leave it open to purchase for
schools/religious centres of possibly more radical nature. In the current, and rapidly developing,
climate such an institution, away from public view, would be a real concern.

There are no Special Circumstances that support this Application - it should be refused.

Inappropriate Location and Impact on Local Residents

A school needs major road access with both adequate on site and local parking for the continual flow
of pupils, parents, teaching staff, auxiliary staff, deliveries, maintenance staff and visitors without
causing traffic obstructions, danger to other road users and pedestrians, damage to property and the
environment and conflict with local residents. It needs close proximity/access to public transport and
should be sited at a distance from residential properties and should provide a high level of security
for the children. In addition it needs all utility services.

The proposal for 48 Parsonage Lane fails on every aspect of these requirements and would cause
irreparable damage to the local environment, the destruction of the Green Belt and a development
that would cause distress and anger to local residents.

Increased Traffic Blocking the Lanes
The only access to this site is via Bunkers Hill or Parsonage Lane, both narrow country lanes with
steep inclines and bends with no pavements and limited passing for vehicles - and even then solely
for cars. Larger vehicles or incidences of more than one car either way will mean vehicles having to
reverse up or down the lane which is difficult because of the obscured line of sight. For the moment
such problems are limited and manageable as current usage is not ‘time specific’. The proposed
school, even at its starting level, will, we estimate, more than double the number of vehicles with the
majority arriving/leaving at the same time causing the lanes to be blocked as people refuse to move –
or are just incapable. It should also be remembered that every Monday morning refuse is collected
and the large refuse vehicles create temporary blockages as they move along the lanes. Moreover,
many residences at the top end of Parsonage lane have no gas supply so oil tanker lorries regularly
block the lane for 15 mins or so whilst unloading and will only move for emergency vehicles – see
later comment.

The suggestion that pupils will be brought from Bexley Station by mini-bus is ridiculous. The
Application documents suggest that children will come from other boroughs and even from Essex –
Bexley Station is just on a local loop line – so children will almost certainly be transported by
parents' cars or by taxi. The North Cray Road has just a single bus service running every half-hour,
the route unlikely being relevant. Remember also that the limited public transport supporting North
Cray may be unsuitable for many of these children.

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