Concerns over transport plan

Highways bosses have been accused of failing to produce a joined-up transportation plan for a 750-home development on the outskirts of Canterbury.

It follows a frosty meeting between the parish council and Kent County Council over the Thanington Park scheme, which has already been given planning approval.

Councillors left the meeting frustrated and disappointed, saying there had been a fruitless discussion with no answers as to how the A28 would cope with the extra traffic generated by new housing.

They claim the city council and county council have no idea what each other is doing.

Now parish councillor and Hilltop, Iffin, Merton and New House Lane Action Group secretary Dave Smith has fired off an angry email to the city council.

In it he says: “There was a general feeling of deep disappointment that there seemed to be a total lack of detail or co-ordination between the city and county councils on the handling of the highways issue on this topic.

“On almost all aspects and questions, no details could be given. Here we are one year down the line from the approval of the planning application, and the points raised prior the approval have not been resolved, or even made available for discussion.

“There seems to be a total lack of wishing to engage with local concerns, or even a depth of understanding of these concerns and local issues.

“I have had exactly the same general feedback from discussions on the Mountfield Park application re this subject. Which makes it even more worrying.

“After 43 years as a chartered engineer working on major projects, I cannot recall a situation so dysfunctional or poorly co-ordinated as this seems to be.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Nick Eden-green, who also attended the meeting, says he was equally dismayed and has emailed his concerns to the KCC’S cabinet member for environment and transport, Matthew Balfour.

He writes: “It seems wholly irresponsible to pursue major development unless and until robust plans are in place, tested, costed and fully funded.”

He later told the Gazette: “It was a pretty heavy meeting but I find it utterly extraordinary that there does not seemed to be a joined up plan.

“Neither the city council and county council seem to really know what the other is doing.”

But city council spokesman Rob Davies rejected any suggestion of a lack of co-ordination.

He insisted the city and county councils worked “very closely and successfully” on the draft Canterbury District Transport Strategy, setting out the approach up to 2031.

He added: “On Thanington Park in particular, we have been working with KCC on delivery of the infrastructure linked to the permission, such as the off-slips and transport within the site. We are also working with them on the Cockering Road site, shaping the transport measures on the run up to the application coming in.

“Our understanding is that the meeting between Thanington Without and KCC was to discuss issues only linked to Thanington Park, not the general district transport strategy, which is not what they were there for.”

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A artist’s impression of the Thanington Park scheme and right, questions have been asked about how the roads would cope with the development