Developers hoping to build a 4,000-home development on prime farmland are inching closer to success after submitting revised proposals .
The plans for Mountfield Park, which is south of Canterbury, were delayed following numerous legal troubles and delays, after High Court battle that ended with the city council having to withdraw its support for the project last October.
Developer Corinthian Land appears to be on the verge of securing much needed planning permission after authority planners backed the development this week.
The officers have said that there will be “no significant environmental effects arising from” the ‘garden city’ scheme. Critics still fear it will swamp neighbouring streets with congestion and that the infrastructure around Canterbury is not sufficient to support such a large development.
David Kemsley, who is a member of the Alliance of Canterbury Residents, said: “If the scheme goes ahead the areas will be chaos, the roads will be log jammed. This part of the county will be swamped with the traffic”.
He continued “The developer may have won the legal battle and they may well win the battle to get the plans approved this time around, but they certainly have not won over the hearts of the residents”.
We’re concerned this scheme will be pushed through purely on the basis that it complies with a Local Plan
Sadly, the developer doesn’t care about the residents, they run a business and probably live nowhere near Canterbury.
The base of the proposal remain the same as before, but plans for a hotel and conference centre on the farmland have now been dropped. The garden city will still have new schools, office space, community buildings, sports facilities and a health centre.
Not only that, but part of the huge site has also been earmarked for a 1,000-space Park and Ride facility, which would sit next to the A2.
Campaigners are still concerned about the heavy footprint on grade-one agricultural land which has produced food for generations. They fear that people will turn around and say ‘why have we allowed this to happen’, but it will be too late. Once the land has been built upon, it will never return to being agricultural land ever again.
Councillors will meet next Thursday to consider the proposals.
