Around 50 residents of Lynsted (a parish of just 478 households) turned out on Sunday 28 November in support of the Save Kent’s Green Spaces action day.  Thirty groups across Kent gathered on the same day to protest against development on prime agricultural land in the county.

The event organisers have identified in excess of 12,000 acres of green space in Kent that are under threat - although the figure is believed to be far higher as county-wide data is not collated.

The Lynsted protestors met on the ancient ‘Coffin Path’ that leads from the London Road to Lynsted church.  

“Development on Grade 1 agricultural land in this area would sound the death knell for North Kent’s famous Fruit Belt - hence the wicker coffin stuffed with local fruit and vegetables,” commented Julien Speed, chairman of Lynsted with Kingsdown Parish Council.

The group then marched along the Coffin Path and up the London Road to join another protest in Teynham.

Lynsted is threatened with a housing uplift of 60% and a bypass that, in a survey conducted by the Parish Council, 95% of residents oppose.