City needs to grow to progress

Last week’s Kentish Gazette had four articles on proposed housing developments in and around Canterbury, which got me to thinking about why this should be.

A look back into the history of Canterbury and its place in Kent in ‘An Historical Atlas of Kent’ (published by Phillimore in 2004) helped to provide some of the answers.

In 1801 Canterbury had one of the largest populations in Kent, surpassed only by Rochester and the London suburbs of Charlton, Deptford, and Greenwich, then part of Kent.

Its importance was such that the first passenger rail station in the world was built at Canterbury West in 1830, the Stockton and Darlington railway being only used for freight!

Canterbury sent two MPS to Westminster up to 1879 and was its own local authority well into the 20th century.

However, by the 1901 Canterbury’s population had been surpassed by several of the coastal towns in East Kent, and Maidstone had been chosen as the home for the new Kent County Council established in 1889.

In the 20th century Canterbury continued to be a garrison city and centre for healthcare and education with the new Kent & Canterbury Hospital built in 1937 and the University of Kent in the early 1960s.

However, Canterbury still lagged far behind in one vital area, namely population, which had continued to decline relative to other areas in East Kent, so that now it needed the help of Whitstable and the surrounding areas to send one MP to Westminster!

Canterbury still desperately needs more people, or more precisely a larger permanent population, which can only be achieved by building more houses.

The good news is that with all the facilities it offers, people want to come and live in Canterbury, and large construction companies are willing to build the houses needed to accommodate them.

So rather than oppose these developments we should welcome them, but ensure they are built to a high standard, are environmentally friendly, and are provided with adequate infrastructure.

Otherwise, Canterbury will decline even further and finish up as just a tourist attraction, like Lavenham, once the wealthiest town in England.

In my long lifetime the world has changed at a frightening pace, but history teaches us that if we don’t keep up, we will continue to decline.

So perhaps if I get a mobile phone for Christmas and join the ‘talk while I walk brigade’ it might stop me ageing - or is that just wishful thinking?

Mike Armstrong

Queens Avenue, Canterbury

Every week in the Gazette we hear of further plans for new housing.

It’s time Ben Fitter-harding and his council explained to the public what new infrastructure is being provided for the increased population of the Canterbury area.

There are myriad services that will be needed for the 20k new houses to be provided by the council and the NHS, not least school places, teachers and doctors. If Cllr Fitterharding and his party have done an impact analysis on the infrastructure needs they are surprisingly quiet about it.

They seem to be following the lead from the current government, I.e. make a decision, worry about the impact later. We are being kept in the dark. We deserve better. Watch where you put your “X” next time.

Gordon Ford

Upper Harbledown, Canterbury

Picture: Jeremy Baker Residents are angry the post box in Rough Common Road, which has been decorated for Christmas, is being downgraded