Fenn Bell Inn could get permission to build 44 homes

Transcript

00:00It's Medway's only zoo. Meerkats, monkeys, lemurs and many more exotic animals all live

00:08here. But plans to build homes for humans are not going down well with locals. The Fenbell

00:14Conservation Project plans to sell this grassland to developers and the proposals for 44 homes

00:20are set to be approved by Medway Council later this month. The owners of the zoo say the

00:26sale is to secure the sustainability of the project alongside the pub they also have following

00:32debts which built up over the pandemic.

00:34Some of the locals boycott the pub and it's very interesting when you look on Facebook

00:39and these people are calling for people to boycott the Fenbell. You know, boycott the

00:45Fenbell and put these people out unemployed and shut the place down. They have made it

00:50very personal. They have not objected about houses, they have made it a personal attack

00:58on us as a zoo. And that, it makes me very angry.

01:05Venable Park has been here for the last 10 years and they have plans to continue to expand

01:09its offering both within the zoo and into the community.

01:14So what we have now done is we've been working with a multitude of schools across Kent and

01:17Medway, targeting just under 12,000 different students, handing out curriculum specific

01:21resources that tie in all of these wonderful things that we do here. So unfortunately the

01:27selling of this land is going to give us the financial backing that we need to continue

01:31pushing these projects on.

01:33Medway Council says there's a huge demand for new homes in the area and a local plan

01:38that's set to come in in the next year would see a little less than 1,700 homes needed

01:43a year. But these proposals near Orhallos have received more than 50 objections from

01:48locals. Nick, who's a parish councillor and lives directly opposite the site, has concerns

01:53that the local infrastructure won't cope if the build goes ahead.

01:57Well, I can tell you St Mary Hoo community does not consider the Fenbell Zoo to be a

02:02community asset. It's a community nuisance. It brings lots and lots of people in locally

02:08who chuck their litter out the car window, who chuck their dirty nappies in the car park,

02:14who contribute nothing at all to our community.

02:19In my view, as I say, 44 homes is massively excessive. We do have to remember the Fenbell

02:24is a business. Businesses make decisions. My job is going to be to represent the residents

02:30on Wednesday night. I will be lobbying my council colleagues on the planning committee

02:34to come up with something. You know, we would like to please everybody, but then it's the

02:40usual case of, you know, you can't please everybody all of the time.

02:45Proposals for 44 new homes on that bit of land behind me is proving to be nothing but

02:49controversial. Residents saying if it gets planned permission, well, their quality of

02:54life will be impacted. The zoo saying it'll leave them in a difficult financial position

03:00if it doesn't get that approval. Gabriel Morris in Medway.