We are a campaign group called NUTS TO THE WALNUTS. We were established in November 2021 following the last “exhibition” undertaken by Cascade Communication on behalf of Areli. The planning proposal centred on a very large housing development being placed in the middle of our town. A few of us, who did not know each other at the time, left the exhibition very dissatisfied with the way the consultation had been run. There were approximately seven staff present and most of these had been employed for the day from a marketing agency. The people present knew nothing about the area and acknowledged that they had never visited Orpington before. There was only one member of staff from the developer ARELI , in attendance. There were no three scale models available, just plans on paper. It was not clear as to the number of buildings proposed or their heights. This event was mid week during the working day so many people may have been unable to attend. Shortly after attending this event two of us contacted each other through Facebook and we decided we wanted to do something about the way the “consultation”had been carried out.
After discussion we decided to set up a Facebook Group to discuss our concerns and raise awareness about the proposed development with local residents. People began to become aware of the development and our Facebook Group and began requesting to join our Campaign.
Over the course of a year our Facebook Group has grown and currently we have over 2500 members and we continue to grow!