Historic England to take no action against Cllrs for unauthorised works on Royal Military Canal

On March 19th we informed you that Shepway Green Party Cllrs were under investigation by Historic England, for committing an offence which breached s2 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979

After nearly four months Historic England have concluded that they’ll be taking no action against the said Cllrs.

The planting of 420 young trees, known as whips, was undertaken on the North Bank of the Royal Military Canal back in Oct/Nov 2020, opposite Princes Parade, but Scheduled Monument Consent (SMC) had not been granted by Historic England, so the tree planting works did not fall under the provisions of the standing consent so the works were unauthorised.

Cllr Martin (pictured) and others  had good reason to believe they were authorised by the Council to plant the whips. As such Historic England concluded that the Council bears principal responsibility for the unauthorised works.  They believe an alleged qualified Council officer made a blunder in either overlooking the need for SMC or misinterpreting the requirements of the Standing Consent.

Because the offence was an isolated incident, and harm to the Royal Military Canal  was not considered to be “significant“, Historic England will not be taking any further action against the Cllrs.

Historic England say they’ve received assurances from Folkestone & Hythe District Council that they will put in place protocols that will prevent such an incident from happening in future.

The Shepway Vox Team

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