When: 2-4pm, Saturday 25th May
Where: Starting in Dane John Gardens in Canterbury, walking through the city to the Westgate, up Whitstable Hill, and across to the University’s Registry on Darwin Road.
What: A protest march organised by Save The Blean in partnership with Kent Wildlife Trust and CPRE, in response to the proposal to build 2,000 houses, shops and offices on a vast greenfield site owned by the University of Kent.
Families, locals of all ages, drumming, singing, bubbles, vox pops, placards, hi-vis vests, hopefully a tractor!
Purpose
Protesters will deliver a letter to the University of Kent’s management, urging them not to continue plans for a massive housing development in the Blean.
The University is proposing a new ‘rural settlement’ ie a town on a massive greenfield site in the heart of The Blean. This sprawling project threatens three local villages — Tyler Hill, Blean and Rough Common — as well as quality agricultural land, multiple heritage sites and an important nature corridor between East Blean Woods National Nature Reserve and RSPB Blean Woods, both Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
Why is this happening?
Canterbury City Council has published its draft Local Plan, which sets out where development will take place up until 2040. Part of the process of creating the plan involves putting a call out for sites, where local landowners can submit their land to be included for development. Kent University has put forward all of the fields it owns between Tyler Hill, Blean and Rough Common — more than 100 hectares of land.
Why are locals protesting?
The area earmarked is twice the size of the central, walled part of Canterbury. The Blean is an area of ancient woodlands, heritage sites, the Sarre Penn Valley and the villages of Tyler Hill, Blean and Rough Common sited to the north of Canterbury. Locals say the plan is unworkable as well as hugely detrimental to biodiversity and the environment.
The area already suffers from poor drainage and regularly floods, due to the extensive clay soil. Covering the area in concrete will only make this worse. The process is likely to involve widening roads and turning Rough Common into a major arterial traffic route into Canterbury.
The development would turn three distinct villages into a giant suburb on the outskirts of Canterbury. It would dramatically increase traffic across the north of the city, and heap pressure on Canterbury’s already overwhelmed GPs, schools and public services.
Residents were not consulted before it appeared in the draft Local Plan and the proposal goes against all of the University’s stated objectives around community, sustainability and biodiversity.
Follow the campaign group to find out more about protests and actions: sign up to the mailing list at www.savetheblean.org or follow Save the Blean on Facebook.
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