Chantry Avenue - Hartley-Kent: The Website for Hartley

Chantry Avenue, linking Fairby Lane and Ash Road, was one of the last large roads to be built in Hartley (1976), right on the edge of the main built up area.  It is a mixture of large detached houses and bungalows, numbered 1-51 (odd) and 2-66 (even).

In 1969 the owners of "The Stoep" and "Wadsley", on the north side of Fairby Lane applied to develop 4¾ acres of their land.  Just a year before the principle of further development on the southern side of the road had been given a boost by the permission granted on appeal to build numbers 17 and 19, however it did fall in a proposed extension to the Green Belt, which was with the Minister awaiting approval.  The Dartford Rural District Council therefore refused permission because the application was contrary to both the existing district plan and the proposed green belt.  The applicants appealed saying they had too big gardens and the land was "untidy".  They thought private property was not suitable as green belt and promised to protect the views across the Fawkham Valley.  The Minister took into account the existing development of Fairby Lane and agreed it could be an exceptional case, and that design and layout could be used to protect views across the valley.  The photo below shows that to a large extent this has been achieved.

Three years later the developers returned with a plan for 36 houses which was approved, but later additions of land meant that eventually 59 houses were to be built, plus more with Fairby Lane and Ash Road addresses.  As part of the planning conditions they built a playground accessed by alleyways between numbers 30 and 32 and numbers 48 and 50.