Car park would ruin beauty spot

Car parks are never beautiful. They are sometimes needed, but they’re usually controversial, and when a new one is proposed it’s essential to look at all the options, and assess its impact very carefully. I don’t think that has been done with the proposed extension to the Wincheap Park and Ride. The proposed extension will convert Wincheap Meadows into a car park coming all the way to the river bank. To assess its impact you need to cross the river and look at it from the other side.

Walk or cycle along the popular Great Stour Way from Chartham to Canterbury, and the Cathedral comes into view beyond the riverside meadows and Hambrook Marshes. It is the approach to the city made famous the world over in the paintings of the Canterbury artist Thomas Sidney Cooper.

Though it has changed over the years, it is still essentially the same view of the river, water meadows, and the cathedral tower. But if the proposed extension goes ahead, a car park will be inserted into the heart of it.

No amount of screening will prevent it from ruining that iconic view. Before going ahead, therefore, it is incumbent on Canterbury City Council to think twice. First check the numbers. The city’s Park and Rides have been a success, and anything reducing traffic congestion must be a good thing. But when so much is at stake, they have to be certain whether more spaces are really needed, and if so, how many and where. If there really is a castiron case for another 278 parking spaces in that location, then they must look at other ways of providing them. The obvious alternative is to build upwards, instead of outwards to the river. Put a deck on top of part of the existing car park. That way, you can meet the need, while preserving an irreplaceable part of Canterbury’s ‘green heritage’. If ever there were a case for a multi-storey car park, this is it.