Kent Wildlife Trust will march with protesters to “Save the Blean”

At 2pm on Saturday, 25th May representatives from Kent Wildlife Trust will be joining protesters as they march from Dane John Gardens to the University’s Registry on Darwin Road to hand deliver a letter to the University of Kent’s management urging them not to continue plans for the housing development on a huge greenfield site in the Blean.

The charity is also officially backing the campaign and preparing a response to the public consultation which closes on 3rd June.

Canterbury City Council has published its draft Local Plan, which sets out where development will take place up until 2040. Part of the process of creating the plan involves putting a call out for sites. Kent University have put forward fields they own between Tyler Hill, Blean and Rough Common which equates to more than 100 hectares of land.

The University is proposing a new 'rural settlement' on a greenfield site in the heart of The Blean. This sprawling project threatens three local villages - Tyler Hill, Blean and Rough Common - as well as quality agricultural land, multiple heritage sites and an important nature corridor between East Blean Woods National Nature Reserve and RSPB Blean Woods.

The area earmarked is twice the size of the central, walled part of Canterbury. The Blean is an area of ancient woodlands, heritage sites, the Sarre Penn Valley and the villages of Tyler Hill, Blean and Rough Common sited to the north of Canterbury. Locals say the plan is unworkable as well as hugely detrimental to biodiversity and the environment.

Kent Wildlife Trust’s Wilder Blean Landscape Manager, Helen Pitman says: “We are reviewing the recent inclusion of the proposed 2,000 home development in the Blean allocated in the Canterbury City Council’s draft Local Plan. The proposal sits on a greenbelt site, which is situated between two nationally significant areas of ancient woodland, both designated as having special scientific interest and home to threatened wildlife. As local landowners, we have concerns about how these proposals will impact wildlife and are in the process of submitting the charity’s response to them.

“Representatives from the trust have met with the “Save the Blean” campaign group and other stakeholders and plan to work together to ensure that nature is considered and prioritised and we will be joining the march on 25th May.

“Our planning team has also shared additional concerns about a similarly sized development near our South Blean reserve in the Dunkirk Parish. The team are working on their response to these and intend to speak with Swale Borough Councillors about the proposal in due course.”

Save the Blean campaigners say the area already suffers from poor drainage and regularly floods, due to the extensive clay soil. Covering the area in concrete will only make this worse. The process is likely to involve widening roads and turning Rough Common into a major arterial traffic route into Canterbury.

The group also are worried about the threat to public services saying the development would turn three distinct villages into a giant suburb on the outskirts of Canterbury and that it would dramatically increase traffic across the north of the city, and heap pressure on Canterbury's already overwhelmed GPs, schools and public services.

Residents were not consulted before it appeared in the draft Local Plan and the proposal goes against all of the University's stated objectives around community, sustainability and biodiversity.

In addition to Kent Wildlife Trust, the charity CPRE Kent (The Countryside Charity) is also backing the campaign.

Campaigners are urging people concerned about the development to make their views heard by responding to the Canterbury Local Plan public consultation. Details on how to take part can be found on the Save The Blean website here and you must respond by 5pm on Monday 3rd June.

Follow the campaign to find out more: sign up to the mailing list at www.savetheblean.org or follow Save the Blean on Facebook.