No sense in multi-storey project

Ifrequently walk past Canterbury West station. At the end of Station Road West, towards Beverley Meadow, there used to be a piece of land that lay waste for 20-30 years. I am delighted it has been finally developed and now used as a temporary car park. This is while the new proposed multi-storey is being built on the existing council car park at the St Dunstan end of Station Road West.

But is this development really necessary? Why is the council so keen to go ahead with it? It has become a local vanity project.

Together with the new temporary car park, present station parking needs seem to be sufficiently met. At no time of day or night have I seen more than 30-40 cars using the ‘overflow’ temporary car park.

What is really needed in the longer term is a comprehensive development scheme for the whole of Station Road West. The existing station facilities are inadequate for the volume of passengers generated by the High-speed, service and it will only get worse with more commuters.

The real solution should be an out-of-town Canterbury Parkway station.

The existing station facilities cannot be changed because of their architectural merits. But a larger booking hall, waiting rooms and retail facilities are much needed. These should be developed by Network Rail on its existing dedicated car parking spaces. Under this, there could be parking for taxis, solving the present taxi congestion. The city council should create a dual-level multi-storey building above the newly created temporary park. The existing car park could then be redeveloped for retail.

A comprehensive plan for the whole of Station Road West would require imagination and a working partnership between the Council and Railtrack but I doubt it will get off the ground. Once planners get a fixed idea in the heads, there is no changing it.

Can we also forget the idea to build a footbridge from Roper Road to West Station? I can’t imagine who would use it. For pedestrians from the northern part of Canterbury, the quickest way to the station is either to walk down Whitstable Road or across Beverley Meadow and under the rail tunnel. A footbridge would be too long as it would have to go over some rail sidings as well as two tracks. It would require lifts and/ or elevators for travellers with mobility issues, making the costs of such a bridge prohibitive.

And what’s happened to the Kingsmead proposals? I’ll still stick to my first prediction for this development. It will be 90 per cent student housing with a low-cost supermarket, a newsagent, a fast-food takeaway, a laundrette and a very small two-screen self-operated cinema with a coffee bar upfront.

I predict most of this area will lay fallow for years to come because of a post-brexit economic downturn that will hit Canterbury and Kent hard.

This is a further reason why the council should not borrow millions from such a body as the Public Works Loan Board for its Station Road West car park. Although it may be able to get the money at a very low rate of interest, there are other more urgent schemes for which the council should use such cheap loan money.