Riverside meadow under threat by car park plans

An important riverside meadow and wildlife habitat will be lost if plans to expand the park and ride site in Wincheap are approved, fear conservationists.

The Love Hambrook Marshes Trust says the extension would encroach on its picturesque setting, which the city council has a duty to protect.

The scheme has also come under fire from the Environ- ment Agency and the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), which says the application - including the proposed felling of 127 trees - threatens a habitat rich in wildlife.

But the authority says the extra 278 parking spaces are needed and form an integral part of the A2 slip road scheme.

It claims the impact on the ecology of the area will be “minor” after mitigating measures, including tree planting, are taken into account.

The Hambrook Marshes are particularly popular with walkers and cyclists using the Great Stour Way between Canterbury and Chartham.

The plans involve building the extended car park down to the riverbank opposite the Hambrook Marshes, which were bought by a benefactor to save them for the community.

The LHM trust has now submitted its objection to the application and is urging the council to redraw the plans.

Trustee Prof Richard Norman said: “Extending the car park in the proposed location would completely eliminate the riverside meadow and wet woodland along that stretch of the river. It would be a major intrusion onto the riverside corridor and environment.

“We object to any extension of the car park beyond the line marking the rear of the retail units.”

Barrie Gore of the Kent branch of the CPRE says the site is an area of high landscape value, designated to specifically protect the setting.

He said: “Not only would this car park breach those rules, but it will also remove a valuable green strip of land alongside the River Stour and cover it with tarmac.”