We are the Friends of Betteshanger. We intend to provide a voice for the wildlife at Betteshanger Country Park in the face of developments that threaten both habitats and wildlife survival. We deplore this attack on Nature at a time when wildlife is seeing unprecedented declines everywhere. The Country Park, in the parish of Sholden, near Deal, was set up in the early 2000s and is the spoil tip of the old Betteshanger colliery that closed down in 1989. The pithead area of the mine, another important wildlife refuge and a sister site, is to become a housing estate. It has been largely rewilding for the past 33 years. Planning permission was granted by Dover District Council last year, despite huge opposition, for over 200 houses. Wildlife of all kinds, including Turtle Doves and the rare protected plant Grass Poly will pay the price (see planning application 20/00419). Now it is happening all over again. This time at the Country Park. Quinn Estates has plans to build a luxury hotel there, with spa and gym and a full-size surfing facility, the Seahive, that will allow up to 90 people at a time to surf on a huge lagoon. It will cover 10ha of the Park. (See planning applications 22/01152 and 22/01158 Dover District Council.) Much is being made of the benefits to tourism and the local economy of the proposed developments – but once again it is obvious that wildlife will be paying the price. Nature, as we all know, is in deep trouble everywhere. Habitats are being degraded and species lost at a rate never seen before. East Kent is not immune. The Betteshanger proposals are a prime example of why we are losing our wildlife at such an unprecedented rate and why the Government’s target of halting wildlife declines by 2030 is a distant dream.  The proposed location for the Seahive is in an area of the Park that was designated as a habitat exclusion zone when the Park was first set up. Maps from that time show that the area was for the benefit of plants, birds and invertebrates. Indeed, since that time it has remained a relatively undisturbed part of the Park with no cycling or walking tracks. A S106 agreement attached to the original planning application (02/00905) stated that Dover District Council and the owner of the Park would designate a Local Nature Reserve at the Park. Even though this was a legal obligation it was never implemented. Dover District Council is unable to explain why. We believe that the habitat exclusion zone would have been part of that Nature Reserve. This is the area of the Park where the developer now wants to build the Seahive. Please help us savethe Park's wildlife. Please sign the petition. Thank you so much