The Canterbury District Local Plan calls for 15,600 new homes to be built, with 9,916 of these on green field sites. 4,000 are in South Canterbury, by far the largest single site in the Plan.
Canterbury District has, for the past 13 years, built 50% more homes than the SE average. The Conservative run city council wants to increase our current rate of building by another 50%, and to concentrate building in Canterbury. We challenge this:
• We think that the Grade 1 farmland in Canterbury must be preserved.
• We believe the green gap between Canterbury and Bridge must be kept.
• We know that a further 50% increase in house building is not what the majority of people in our district want.
• We must preserve the historic setting of our city – it is our heritage.
• We recognise that traffic congestion and pollution is already a problem. This plan will only make this worse.
• We know that Herne Bay, Hersden and Whitstable are preferred locations as stated by councillors, stakeholders and the public, and as confirmed by the council’s own MORI poll.
South Canterbury is not the right place. It is not even what people in Herne Bay and Whitstable want. The plan is driven by the desire to pay for a new uncosted (but possibly between £20 - £30 million) 4-way junction onto the A2 in order to bring industry to South Canterbury.