Fears over development plans for J8 ‘unfounded’, residents told £60m site means jobs, not new KIG
A PLANNED £60m warehousing facility near the M20 would bring hundreds of jobs to the Maidstone area. Its promoter – local construction company Gallagher –
By Dennis Fowle
has allayed fears that it would be anything at all like the Kent International Gateway scheme, which was so forcefully re- jected by nearby residents and the Government. Gallagher has presented proposals for a new retail distribu- tion/logistics park, just south of junction 8, to Maidstone Council. The council needs to identify an extra 10,000 jobs in Maidstone
as it finalises its Core Strategy up to 2026 and Gallagher believes this project would produce between 800 and 1,500 well-paid op- portunities, especially for young people. The 40-acre site (17 hectares) is between the Mecure Hotel (for-
merly Ramada) and OldMill Road. As previously revealed in Downs Mail, Gallagher originally ear- marked this site as a business park. But with demand for offices now low it has changed course to meet the strong demand for a dis- tribution centre in the heart of Kent from businesses such as Tesco and M&S. Gallagher plans to reduce the elevated area of farmland by up to
40ft so that the development is not visible from the A20 and Bearsted area. “This is well removed from the KIG proposal,” said Gallagher managing director Nick Yandle. “We are not talking of a massive rail/road interchange covering
200 acres of high profile land of special landscape value. “KIG did prove the need for logistics/distribution – but it chose
a totally unacceptable site. Our plan is much smaller, on a suitable site and will be largely hidden. It will be a £60m investment into Maidstone’s economy. “Businesses want to be near motorway junctions and, in Maid- stone, J8 is the only one stillwith good traffic capacity. Lorries will
DETLING aerodrome has emerged as the po- tential key to unlock two major problems. No 1 Maidstone needs a site for warehous-
ing but there is huge opposition to land being earmarked for employment near junction 8 of the M20. The airfield industrial estate could be the answer. No 2 A roundabout is desperately needed
on the A249 to resolve traffic issues for the County Showground and local residents. De- veloping the airfieldmight offer a solution. Consent for such a scheme could be made dependent on a roundabout being funded by the developer. Local authority funding alone is highly unlikely in the present economic climate. There are no firm plans yet but the pro-
posal has the support of neighbouring parish councils as well as the showground manage-
MAIDSTONE Council has been accused of doing a U-turn on a policy of protecting land at the centre of Kent International Gateway plans. The council spent £1.7m op- posing the KIG proposal for a rail/road freight interchange on land north of Bearsted, culmi- nating in a lengthy public in- quiry in 2009. One of its main arguments was the value of the landscape between the A20 and the M20 and between junction 8 and Thurnham Lane – it is designated a Special Landscape Area (SLA). But now the council wants to allocate 11 hectares near J8 for warehousing or other com- mercial development, and to delete the SLA status as part of its Core Strategy for the next 15 years. This has infuriated residents
Site of the rejected KIG scheme and, inset, the area proposed for the new £60m warehousing facility
...or could airfield scheme be the answer?
ment, but only if tough conditions are at- tached to any development scheme. Thurnham Parish Council has been at the forefront of opposition to 11 hectares close to J8 being identified for warehousing and other industrial use in Maidstone Council's draft Core Strategy. Senior member John Horne said Thurn-
ham and Detling councils had put forward the airfield as an alternative. The agent for the airfield’s industrial estate landowner, EJ Mackeldon & Sons, has rein- forced that view by making a “very strong ar- gument” that it would be a more appropriate location, midway between the M20 and the M2.
Cllr Horne stressed the aerodrome must
not be seen as the “dustbin” for Maidstone's unwanted developments. Stringent condi-
‘Don’t throw away £1.7m KIG cash’
who fought so hard to protect land south of the M20 during their long-running KIG cam- paign. Their mouthpiece, Bearsted & Thurnham Society, has ex- pressed “deep concern” in a re- sponse to the draft strategy. “It is in direct contradiction to
the line that the borough coun- cil put forward at the KIG plan- ning appeal only two years ago,” the society said. The strategy proposes to strip
the area of its SLA status and to designate it “white space” – so potentially open for develop- ment. The residents’ society says the council “robustly defended” the SLA designation at the KIG in- quiry. “Nothing of substance has changed since then.” Indeed, it adds, at an open meeting with the council’s cab-
inet earlier this year, leader Cllr Chris Garland and his colleagues gave a commit- ment that land at J8 would not be earmarked for development and that land south of the M20 would be given the strongest protection it could provide. The society concludes: “The council should stand by the case it argued at the inquiry at a cost of £1.7m. “To do otherwise would be to
waste the treasure it invested in fighting to protect the area and betray the public commit- ments it gave a few months ago and on which residents based their votes in last May’s elec- tions.” The society also argues that
the council has enough land with planning permission for commercial development to last it for the next 15 years.
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tions would be needed, including a round- about serving the airfield, the County Show- ground as well as White HorseWoods. The level of buildings would have to be lowered to blend in and the site properly landscaped, particularly as it is in themiddle of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). RogerMoore, the showground’s ex- ecutive manager, said a priority was im- proving access and safety onto the A249.He said: “A roundabout there would be a big asset for the showground and for residents. The right turns onto the A249 are difficult to navigate when traffic volumes are high.” The idea was discussed at a recent meet-
ing of the A249 action group. Mr Moore said the airfield should not be dismissed just because it is in an AONB. “Wewould not want to see the environment
negatively affected. It is hardly the most attractive industrial estate now,” he said. Meanwhile, local firm Gal-
lagher Properties has an option to buy land at Old Mill Road near M20junction8.Ward councillor Nick deWiggondene said: “They are prepared to take on that piece of land and they have plans for distribution.” Agreeing with a parish coun-
cillor, he said he too had heard rumours that Tesco wanted a site there. But chairman Cllr PeterWaite
said: “People are flying kites. It is all speculative stuff.” Cllr Horne concluded that warehousing is not something Maidstone needs. “It has a low- wage economy. This is the curse it has had for ages. “It has a large commuting population.We need a large, or- ganic industry that will help communities.”
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come off theM20 to the roundabout and straight into this site. Local impact will be minimal.” Mr Yandle added: “Demand for office space is currently very low and when it returns Gallagher can probably pro-
vide space for another 2,000 jobs on our Eclipse Park, near junction 7. On top of that the new private hospital near J7 will also be a major employer.”
Access would probably be off the A20 roundabout, preserving a small part of the South East Maidstone Strategic Road, should funds ever be found to build what was once seen as the Leeds/Lang- ley bypass.
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