By Cllr Peter Wood, 20 April 2008
Member of the Executive, Ashford Borough Counciland
and
Chairman, Aldington & Bonnington Parish Council
Welcome to the sixth email distribution of news regarding the proposed Lorry Park on the Aldington-Smeeth borders.
I draw your particular attention to the very important paragraph in [blue] text below.
Dear All,
There has been no concrete news (no pun intended!) forthcoming from KCC since the last email newsletter. That said, there has however been a fair amount of media-oriented spin coming from County Hall. In addition, the Leader of KCC has expressed some interesting views regarding the proposed Lorry Park – of which more below. We understand that the Department for Transport (DfT) has again made it very clear to KCC that, as things stand, the UK taxpayers will not fund the Lorry Park project and they have instructed KCC to put together a business plan if they wish to pursue the case. This business plan is scheduled to be presented to the Leader of KCC (and presumably the Cabinet and Members) around mid-June, after which it will be submitted to the DfT where it will no doubt progress slowly (especially given summer holidays) through official channels. On that basis, it seems highly unlikely that there will be any sign of a formal planning application until the autumn at the earliest.
You will recall the formal, detailed letter of objection sent by Officers at Ashford Borough Council to KCC on 7th April 2008 (copies available on request). I understand that, other than a very short letter of acknowledgment, there has been no response whatsoever to the detailed queries set out in the letter. One can only presume, indeed hope, that KCC is having difficulties formulating sensible answers to the points raised.
On the media front, the Kentish Express has continued to provide extensive and balanced news and views on the Lorry Park controversy. The TV and radio coverage of the campaign has slackened for the time being, but this is to be expected. That said, it must be acknowledged that all branches of the media gave excellent coverage to the hugely successful Sellindge protest march (attendance 500 – 600 people) at the beginning of this month – congratulations to the Sellindge Residents Association, who organised it.
[blue]Returning to views put forward by the Leader of KCC, he has apparently told MPs, MEPs and County Councillors that the media has been fully supportive of KCC’s Lorry Park proposals and that most of the coverage has been in favour of KCC and that hardly any negative coverage has been received. In addition, in the context of local resistance to the Lorry Park, the Leader of KCC has claimed to County Council members that he has received “very few letters from Aldington, and quite a few from round the County supporting.”
It’s inconceivable that the Leader of our County would be economical with the truth and so one can only conclude that his Officers have kept the hundreds of protest letters and emails from him. Clearly something must be done to bring the protests to the Leader’s direct attention, and to that end Matt Baldwin of the Lorry Park Alliance has penned the following message to you all.
Dear Lorry Park Alliance Member,
Paul Carter, the leader at Kent County Council, is claiming that he has received more letters of support for the proposed lorry park between junction 10 and 11 than against. We do not believe this to be the case, but would suggest that a second round of letter writing begin as soon as possible. It has also been suggested that letters be sent to his home address, addressed to Mr P Carter, rather than Cllr Paul Carter – he is more likely to open them if he believes they are private letters, and once open he will find it harder to ignore.
Mr P Carter lives at:
Langley Park House,
Langley,
Maidstone,
Kent,
ME17 3NQ
Langley
Some suggested themes for the letters:
· Why the lack of consultation with the public over the lorry park – maybe suggesting that he pays residents a visit
· Why did he announce the vast lorry testing station at the lorry park in such an underhand way and not through the normal channels (see previous Lorry Park news email)
· When is he going to make public the rationale behind the Aldington site and publicly state where the other 15 sites are and why they were discounted
· A planning application is currently before Ashford BC for a lorry testing station. If granted, that will remove the need for a testing station at the lorry park.
Paul Carter is also likely to respond with a standard letter – many of us will have already received a copy. If it doesn’t answer any specific points put to him, write back asking that he address your points personally rather than fobbing you off with a standard reply. This really annoys him as it takes up quite a bit of his time. And if he doesn’t respond, it does leave the door open for you to write again.
In terms of getting our message across, there are two Blogs that have been very supportive of our campaign and you might like to bookmark and monitor them. They are:
http://sludgeandlorrypark.blogspot.com
http://save-kent.blogspot.com
In the interest of ‘balance’ it would be churlish not also to draw your attention to:
· the KCC Leader’s blog, which is: http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/democracy-and-elections/cabinet/leaders-blog.htm
· a blog we believe to be supported by freight industry interests and/or Monserat Properties Ltd, which is: http://www.operationstack.co.uk
If anyone is aware of other relevant blogs please let me know.
Finally, if you have not already seen it, I recommend that you read CPRE’s formal response to KCC regarding the Lorry Park proposals “Taking the Sting out of Stack”. This can be downloaded from the CPRE website: http://www.cprekent.org.uk
I will continue to keep you fully informed as matters progress. If you are aware of anyone who wishes to be kept in touch, but who has not received this email, please ask them to contact me by email so that their details can be added to the distribution list.
I must again stress that my colleagues and I are not opposed to a solution for either Operation Stack or for overnight lorry parking. However, we are opposed to these current proposals which are ill-conceived and hastily cobbled together with inadequate evaluation of alternatives and without consultation. We also consider that KCC is seeking to impose a wholly local solution to a problem that is in fact a national and pan-European issue.
Thank you all for your continuing support.
Regards,
Peter
Cllr Peter Wood
Saxon Shore Ward
Member of the Executive
Ashford Borough Council
and
Chairman, Aldington & Bonnington Parish Council
