Many years ago I pointed out to a meeting of Redhill noise protesters who wanted no hard runway or the airfield closed what had happened to West Malling when the noise lobby got it closed. A large green open space became a HUGE industrial and housing estate with traffic rumbling through the surrounding rural roads. It didn't convince them; completely obsessed with their short term aims.
Interestingly, during a very dry summer, the layout of the field drains could be seen. Apparently during WW2, the runway was lengthened and some of the drains' connections to the southern ditch destroyed, exacerbating the flooding problem.