King Charles III England Coast Path: Isle of Sheppey
Find out about the progress of improving coastal access – including maps, process and timing – in Kent.
Map of the stretch
Natural England has begun to investigate how to improve coastal access along a 51km stretch of the Kent coast around the Isle of Sheppey.
Officers from Kent County Council and Swale District Council are providing Natural England with expert local advice and helping to make sure there is full consultation with local interests during the development of the route.
Stage of progress
Stage 4: Determine
On 22 January 2020, Natural England submitted a collection of reports to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs setting out the proposals for improved access to the coast round the Isle of Sheppey.
The period for making representations and objections about the reports closed at midnight, Wednesday 18 March 2020. The reports are still available to view.
Objections are forwarded for consideration by an independent planning inspector appointed by the Secretary of State. The inspector will make recommendations to the Secretary of State in respect of each one.
Natural England may not make any further changes to the reports as a result of the representations and objections, but will make comments about them for consideration by the Secretary of State and, in the case of objections, the appointed person (an inspector from the Planning Inspectorate).
The Secretary of State will consider all the representations and objections before making a decision about Natural England’s reports. The reports in the collection may get approval at the same time. Some of them may need further consideration.
You can see the current status of the collection in the table.
| Report number and title | Stage 4 | Stage 5 (approved) |
|---|---|---|
| IOS 1: Kingsferry Bridge to Alsager Avenue, Rushenden | 12 November 2020 | |
| IOS 2: Alsager Avenue, Rushenden to Oak Lane, Minster | 12 November 2020 | |
| IOS 3: Oak Lane, Minster to Hen’s Brook, Eastchurch Gap | yet to be determined | |
| IOS 4: Hen’s Brook, Eastchurch Gap to Palm Trees Holiday Park | 12 November 2020 | |
| IOS 5: Palm Trees Holiday Park to Warden Road, Warden Point | 10 August 2022 | |
| IOS 6: Warden Road, Warden Point to Isle of Harty (east) | 12 November 2020 | |
| IOS 7: Isle of Harty (east) to Mocketts, Isle of Harty (west) | 12 November 2020 | |
| IOS 8: Mocketts, Isle of Harty (west) to Windmill Creek | 10 August 2022 | |
| IOS 9: Windmill Creek to Ferry Road | 12 November 2020 | |
| IOS 10: Ferry Road to Swale Station via Kingsferry Bridge | 12 November 2020 |
Next steps
Stage 5: Open
Once the Secretary of State has approved 1 or more of the reports, Natural England will start work with Kent County Council on preparing the route for public use.
The first step will be to contact owners and occupiers of the affected land to discuss the design and location of any new infrastructure which is required such as signs and gates.
When preparations are complete, new access rights will be brought into force along the route and adjoining spreading room.
Find out more about the England Coast Path
See information about all stretches in preparation around England’s coast.
The coastal access scheme gives details of the process being followed to improve access to the coast.
Contact the coastal access team
Contact Natural England with any comments, suggestions or queries you have about improving coastal access.
King Charles III England Coast Path delivery team (South east)
Natural England
Floor 9, International House
Dover Place
Ashford
Kent
Email southeastcoastalaccess@naturalengland.org.uk
Telephone 020 8026 8045
See the map below for information about progress on improving coastal access in other parts of the south of England.
Last updated 10 August 2022 + show all updates
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Page updated to show lengths IOS5 and IOS8 have been approved.
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Added table showing the reports which make up the collection. Page updated to show that 7 of the 10 reports have received Secretary of State approval.
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Page updated to show this stretch is now at stage 4.
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Changed expected date for publication of the reports to early 2020.
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Removed the sentence giving a date for when access is expected to be ready. Publication of the report is expected in winter 2020.
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Date amended: access expected to be ready in 2020.
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Updated page to show stretch has moved to stage 2 and 3: develop and propose
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First published.