Protesters are locked in a furious row with the National Trust over plans to turn acres of idyllic Green Belt countryside into a sprawling car park for a moated manor house.
Ightham Mote, near Sevenoaks, already has 232 parking spaces but the conservation charity wants to double capacity by moving the car park to a nearby area of natural beauty.
A planning application submitted to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council by DHA Planning on behalf of the Trust states the new car park would be located in a field to the east of the existing area.
The National Trust also wants to restore the north drive, reinstate a walled garden, remove the temporary visitor reception building and build a replacement reception, shop, glasshouse and bothy with associated landscaping and drainage works.
Protesters are locked in a furious row with the National Trust over plans to turn acres of Green Belt countryside (pictured) into a sprawling car park for moated manor house Ightham Mote
But the proposal has been criticised by locals – some 700 of whom have now signed an online petition against the expansion plans.
Nearly 100 neighbours have commented online in opposition to the planning application for the Grace I listed mansion, which dates back to the 14th century and lies within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Doug Flint, 76, who bought his East Mote Oasts home on the Ightham Mote estate from the National Trust in 1982, said purchased the property because of the ‘beautiful scenery’ which surrounded it.
But the grandfather-of-three said he will now have a view of a ‘supermarket-sized car park’ which will reportedly be just 50 yards from his house.
The retired engineer said: ‘It’s the local people who are furious about it and coming out strongly against the plans as a special area is set to be spoilt.
‘We’re really not happy as we only found out at the end of last year. I just couldn’t believe that they would do something like this.
‘Everyone thinks the car park is in the wrong position and the nail in the coffin is that they’re going to be using a beautiful field on the Green Belt to install a supermarket-sized car park. I know visitor numbers are increasing but the roads are already packed.
‘We live around 50 yards from the proposed development and have been here for 37 years. Now we are in our 70s so we will probably be dead by the time they finish building it.
Pictured: The proposal submitted to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council by DHA Planning on behalf of the National Trust
‘But it was sold to us as being in an area of outstanding natural beauty with beautiful scenery and now they are trying to ruin it by taking half the field away.
‘We rely on the National Trust to give us access to the drive and upkeep the bushes so whether we win or lose, we are in trouble because they could make our lives slightly uncomfortable as we are beholden to them despite owning the land.
‘Why can’t they find other places for the car park rather than a field recently used for farming, for example, the field which is currently used as overflow and could easily be converted according to local builders.
‘They have obviously got a lot of money to do all this work and friends in the various organisations to help but I think the National Trust will be surprised by how negative the response has been.’
Nick Davey, who started the campaign on Change.org, said: ‘To all environmentalists out there, the National Trust are planning to destroy good farming land at Ightham Mote and build a five-acre car park.
‘The field is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty located in Green Belt land. This cannot be right environmentally, and particularly considering its impact on climate change.
‘We should be discouraging cars rather than enticing more cars into an environmentally fragile environment such as Ightham Mote.’
Shipbourne Parish Council, a village less than a mile east of Ightham Mote, has requested that the application is refused.
Councillors claim it does not comply with planning policy and have expressed concerns surrounding the ‘impact of the proposals on the local road network, the impact of the incursion into the AONB and the Green Belt and on the enjoyment of the local extremely well used footpath network’.
Cllr Jennifer Bate, of Shipbourne Parish council, believes the car park ‘will not sit in its environment, it will scream’.
She added: ‘Parishioners hold their environment close to their hearts and are upset by this proposal.
‘It not only impacts on their enjoyment but also impacts on the whole of the AONB.
‘I am in full accord with the Parish Council’s position and will be very upset if this proposal goes ahead. As a frequent visitor to Ightham Mote I value its hidden nature, and the proposals challenge this wonderful characteristic.’
Ightham Parish Council voted five to four in favour of the development, stating the estate is ‘a great asset to the village’.
The National Trust said they had to make the ‘tough decision’ as it is the ‘only one which allows us to reinstate and protect the walled garden and North Drive’.
Developers believe a case of very special circumstances, which is necessary to build on the Green Belt, has been ‘clearly demonstrated’ in order to ‘improve the historic setting’ and ‘enhance the visitor experience’.
More than 178,000 people visited the manor in 2018-19, a number which the Trust, who acquired the estate in 1985 and spent £10million restoring it until 2006, predicts will increase to 225,000 over the next decade.
But customers are met with an ‘impractical, constrained, scattered and confusing’ car park which is ‘too small’ for the growing number of visitors, according to the planning application.
A survey found on 31 days of the year, visitor demands exceeded provision and required the use of overflow parking with traffic backing up to nearby Ivy Hatch village.
A National Trust spokesman said: ‘Our plans to move our car park at Ightham Mote from the 18th century walled garden to a new location is part of a larger project to join the medieval mansion with its natural surroundings, and preserve it for future generations.
‘In order to do this we have to relocate parking, and after considering various options, the plan we have submitted to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council is the only one which allows us to reinstate and protect the walled garden and North Drive.
‘As a conservation charity, this has been a tough decision to make, and we recognise the strong feelings both for and against our plans.
‘We have had a number of specialist studies undertaken, and if the planning application is approved, we are actively committed to mitigating the effects on the landscape and wildlife, as well as ensuring we use sympathetic materials such as grass and gravel rather than concrete and tarmac.
‘We will also look to increase biodiversity in some areas, such as increased tree and hedge planting.
‘As part of the planning process, members of the public as well as key organisations such as Natural England, Historic England, the Environment Agency, Kent Downs AONB and local councils have had an opportunity to share their views on our plans.
‘The application is now with the borough council, which ultimately has the final decision.’
The moated manor house is believed to date back to 1320, with its first known owner Sir Thomas Cawne, a knighted captain during the 100 Years War, moving in in 1360.
Planning proposals are expected to be considered by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council on Wednesday.