Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘Catastrophe’
Careful what you wish for, developer tells opponents
The boss of housebuilder Corinthian is warning that attempts to thwart or delay the Mountfield Park development will have “potentially catastrophic consequences” for the rest of Canterbury.
John Trotter claims that if his firm’s 4,000-home development on the city’s southern edge does not proceed smoothly then it will expose the district to numerous other planning applications as the council will still need to meet its target of 16,000 new houses before 2031.
Mr Trotter made his comments amid attempts by environmentalists to stall the development by demanding Communities Secretary Sajiv Javid carry out a judicial review into Canterbury City Council’s approval of the Mountfield application in December.
He told the Kentish Gazette: “While we are confident that the Secretary of State has not acted unlawfully by not calling-in the application, it is worth highlighting the potentially catastrophic consequences of delaying the commencement of development at Mountfield Park.
“Canterbury’s planned housing numbers would nevertheless have to be delivered, and if Mountfield Park is delayed, the city council will be vulnerable to hostile applications for residen- tial development on unplanned sites.
“These inevitably sporadic unplanned development sites will generate far more traffic than Mountfield Park and will be unable to deliver the level of investment in sustainable transport and employment, infrastructure, new schools and parkland which Mountfield Park will bring.”
Mr Trotter added that a protracted legal battle will have “a consequential negative effect” upon the long-term effectiveness of Corinthian’s Mountfield Park travel plan.
The plan involves giving residents electric bikes, new and improved cycle routes, a direct bus service to the city centre and a “green bridge” for cyclists and pedestrians over the New Dover Road. Corinthian is also planning to include walking and cycling trails throughout the development and linking Canterbury to Bridge, and wants to set up a carsharing database.
But environmental campaigner Emily Shirley argues that the impact of the site on pollution and congestion in Canterbury has not been properly calculated.
Mrs Shirley, who lives in Bridge, and Michael Rundell, from Wincheap, have called on Mr Javid to formally “call-in” the decision on air pollution grounds.
“Virtually everyone is against the Corinthian application because it is quite simply unsustainable,” Mrs Shirley said.
“About 100 people a year die in Canterbury because of air quality. This application will make matters worse by adding at least an extra 28,000 extra vehicular movements to our already severely congested roads.
“We need our green open fields and countryside, not just to grow food and for recreation but also for homes for our dwindling wildlife. We also need it to preserve the setting of our World Heritage Site.
“After all, it is the World Heritage Site and its setting that underpins our healthy economy. Let us not strangle the goose that lays the golden egg.”
Corinthian received outline planning consent for the whole site and full approval for the first phase of its development at the city council’s special planning committee meeting in December.
It says it has already started receiving inquiries from people interested in the Mountfield Park properties.
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