Protect High Halstow: Our Countryside, Wildlife & Future

A small rural community is standing up for its future. We need your help.

High Halstow is a rural village on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent, surrounded by farmland, open countryside and important habitats for wildlife.

Our community now faces planning decisions that could fundamentally change this landscape and our village for generations.

In March 2026, Medway Council approved an outline planning application for up to 760 new homes on land east of High Halstow.

High Halstow Parish Council believes that decisions of this magnitude must be properly scrutinised and supported by robust evidence.

We have therefore begun a legal challenge – and we need your help to continue it.

High Halstow and the surrounding countryside on the Hoo Peninsula.

Our community told us to act

After Medway Council approved the planning application, we didn't believe that nine Parish Councillors should decide alone whether to take the extraordinary step of pursuing a Judicial Review.

We asked our residents.

343 people responded to our community survey.

The results were overwhelming:

333 supported pursuing Judicial Review

Residents were then made aware that taking a Judicial Review through to its conclusion could potentially cost the Parish Council around £80,000.

Even knowing the potential financial implications:

323 still supported proceeding

And when we asked whether residents would personally help fund the challenge:

322 said they would contribute

Based on the contribution ranges selected, the survey indicated potential community support of approximately £30,000.

Our residents gave us a clear mandate.

We listened – and we acted.

The legal challenge has already begun

This isn't a fundraiser to investigate whether there might be a case.

High Halstow Parish Council has already committed significant public funds to taking professional legal advice and progressing the Judicial Review process.

We have:

✓ Instructed specialist solicitors

✓ Instructed a barrister

✓ Funded the initial stages of the legal process

✓ Issued a formal Pre-Action Protocol Letter to Medway Council

The Pre-Action Protocol is an important stage in the Judicial Review process and gives Medway Council the opportunity to respond to the proposed legal challenge before proceedings progress further.

The Parish Council has committed funding to take the Judicial Review through its initial stages.

However, if permission is granted for the case to proceed to a substantive Court Hearing, the legal costs could increase significantly.

That is where we need your help.

We have taken the challenge this far.

Your donations can help give our community the resources to take the next step.

What are we trying to protect?

This isn't only about houses.

High Halstow sits within the distinctive rural landscape of the Hoo Peninsula.

The countryside surrounding our village supports farmland, wildlife and habitats that form part of the character and identity of this area.

Development on this scale has the potential to create lasting changes.

We believe questions concerning the impact on wildlife, ecology, landscape, agricultural land, highways, infrastructure and existing communities deserve proper professional scrutiny.

Some of the countryside and wildlife habitat surrounding our rural community.

For those who don't live in High Halstow, you may never have visited our village.

But this campaign raises a much wider question:

Should small communities have the ability to properly scrutinise decisions that could permanently change their countryside?

We believe they should.

And that is why your support matters.

The Medway Local Plan – another crucial challenge

The Judicial Review is only one part of what lies ahead.

Medway Council's emerging Local Plan will determine where tens of thousands of new homes and associated development could be located across Medway in the years ahead.

The Plan will be independently examined by Government-appointed Planning Inspectors.

High Halstow Parish Council intends to participate in that Examination and ensure the evidence affecting our community and the Hoo Peninsula receives proper scrutiny.

We are also working alongside Save the Hoo Peninsula and other communities where our objectives align.

Simply turning up at a hearing isn't enough.

We need evidence to challenge evidence.

That means having access, where necessary, to planning professionals, legal representatives, highways specialists, environmental and ecological experts and other technical specialists.

It may mean commissioning independent reports and putting expert witnesses before the Inspectors.

Large developers and public authorities have access to substantial professional resources.

Small rural communities rarely do.

We don't believe the strength of a community's case should be determined simply by who has the deepest pockets.

Where will your money go?

Every pound raised will be ring-fenced to support the legal and professional work associated with these planning matters.

Your donations will help fund:

• Judicial Review legal representation if permission is granted for a Court Hearing
• further work by our specialist solicitors and barrister
• professional representation at the Medway Local Plan Examination
• independent expert witnesses
• planning and development expertise
• ecology and environmental specialists
• highways, transport and infrastructure expertise
• independent technical studies and reports
• preparation and presentation of professional evidence

The exact requirements will depend upon how the Judicial Review and Local Plan Examination progress.

High Halstow Parish Council will provide updates as the campaign progresses and will be transparent about how money raised is being used.

Community Tree Planting 

322 residents said they would contribute to crowdfunding.

Based on the amounts residents indicated they would be willing to contribute, the survey suggests our community could potentially raise approximately £30,000.

For a small village, that represents an extraordinary commitment.

Now we need to turn that commitment into action.

If you were one of those 322 people, please make the contribution you pledged to support.

If you didn't participate in the survey but believe our countryside, wildlife and rural communities deserve proper representation, please stand with us too.

And if you live elsewhere in the country but believe communities should be able to protect the places they care about, we would be incredibly grateful for your support.

Every donation matters

You don't have to make a huge donation to make a difference.

£10 from hundreds of supporters becomes thousands of pounds.

£25, £50 or £100 can collectively help pay for hours of specialist professional advice.

And larger contributions could help us commission the independent technical evidence and expert witnesses that may prove critical.

This campaign isn't about expecting a handful of generous individuals to bankroll a legal challenge.

It's about hundreds – hopefully thousands – of people standing together and each doing what they can.

We are not against new homes

We want to be clear about this.

This campaign is not about opposing development for the sake of it.

We recognise that new homes are needed.

But development must be sustainable.

Infrastructure must be properly considered.

Environmental impacts must be understood.

Wildlife and habitats deserve proper consideration.

And decisions that could permanently change existing communities should be supported by robust evidence and reached through a lawful and transparent planning process.

That is what we are seeking to ensure.

Our community has spoken

• 333 residents supported pursuing Judicial Review.
• 323 continued to support proceeding when advised of the potential cost.
• 322 said they would personally contribute to crowdfunding.
• The Parish Council acted on that mandate.
• We instructed solicitors.
• We instructed a barrister.
• We funded the initial legal work.
• We issued the Pre-Action Protocol Letter.
• Now we need your help.

We are a small community facing decisions with potentially enormous and permanent consequences.

We have come too far to allow a lack of resources to prevent our community from being properly represented.

If you care about protecting our countryside...

If you care about securing domestic food supplies...

If you care about wildlife and the environment...

If you believe rural communities deserve a meaningful voice...

Or if you simply believe major planning decisions should withstand proper independent scrutiny...

Please donate today.

Whatever you can afford will help.

And if you cannot donate, please share this campaign. A share could put our appeal in front of someone who can.

Our village. Our countryside. Our wildlife. Our future.

Help us protect what cannot simply be replaced once it is gone.

Thank you for standing with us.

High Halstow Parish Council