Stop the urbanisation of our rural landscape! Please come and join the march in Folkestone this Saturday morning, 3rd December at 10.30am. See the poster below for details.
Many local people are concerned about the harmful developments proposed for this area. These include:-
Otterpool Park
Shepway District Council (SDC) have ignored local opposition and have set a course to build a new town of 12,000 houses between Sellindge and Lympne, on productive agricultural land. This is in addition to the 8,000 houses already planned to meet local needs. The new town would cater mainly for London overspill and there has been little evidence that there would be local jobs for the new population. In its plans, much has been made by SDC about the high speed rail link to London providing a good commuter service. SDC have rather ignored the damage building a complete new town, twice the size of Hythe, would cause in this area of water shortages and overstressed public services and the road network.
Lorry Park
SDC have accepted the need for a huge lorry park on 250 acres of prime agricultural land at Stanford, despite Highways England's admission that it will not prevent the need for Operation Stack in the event of Channel crossings being disrupted. In fact, the lorry park would make things worse by requiring junction 11 to be closed (coast bound) and imposing a 40mph speed limit on the motorway. These actions would cause massive disruption to the M20, the A20 and local roads. It was to avoid this happening that the lorry park was originally conceived. Once the lorry park is opened, all lorry traffic would be required to enter and park up until all lorries that had arrived earlier had been released. Depending on how quickly this can be managed by the lorry park operators, Operation Stack would be prolonged by many hours, if not days. £250,000,000 for something not needed for the last 16 months would be an obscene waste of money.
Princes Parade
Hythe is a remarkably attractive and unspoilt seaside town which attracts many holiday visitors. Part of its charm is the Royal Military Canal, which extends through the town eastwards to Princes Parade. Beside the canal is unspoilt green space enjoyed by locals and visitors and the land provides a valuable natural habitat for wildlife. SDC, which owns the land on behalf of the local community, now wants to develop it to become a housing estate and leisure complex.
Shepway District Council have decided on these development with little regard for whether they would benefit the local communities which they are supposed to serve. We should remind Shepway District Council where their duties lie. Please come along this Saturday to join with others, show your support and add your voice.
Yours faithfully,
