News Junction 8
downsmail.co.uk Protests atwarehouse plans
MORE than 350 people turned out in a united show of opposition to plans for warehousing on farmland off M20 Junction 8.
Surprisingly, the meeting at the Great Danes hotel – next to the pro- posed Waterside Park development – was hosted by KCC, not Maidstone Council, which is the planning au- thority, to gauge public opinion. But while representatives of both the borough council and Gallagher Properties, the applicant, declined to attend, there was little doubt that far from being weary following the suc- cessful fight against the nearby Kent International Gateway proposal, resi- dents remained resolute that the plan should be rejected. Words heard from the floor and the panel – which included representa- tives from KCC planning, CPRE, Maidstone Joint Parishes Group and county council leader Paul Carter – about the development were “ugly”, “inappropriate”, “damaging”, “spec- ulative” and “out of keeping” with the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. MP Hugh Robertson sent a video message from his tour of Beirut, of- fering his continued commitment to save the “green lung” provided by farmland around Junction 8. He told the meeting he was opposed to urban sprawl and the damaging impact on Leeds Castle and the surrounding vil- lages the plan would have. KCC’s planning policy officer An- drew Roach told the meeting the county council had sent a “robust” letter to Maidstone Council opposing the application, backed by clear plan-
“If this land has to be developed then higher
value uses like offices or houses would be beer than the tin sheds of a storage yard, which are intrinsically ugly, and the impact that would have for visitors to Leeds Castle and the like.
Kingsley Hughes, Bearsted
ning policy and the support of some of the top planning consultants in the country, as well as the report of the in- spector who blocked the KIG scheme in August 2010.
John Horne, representing some 23,000 voters to the south and east of Maidstone as chairman of the Maid- stone Joint Parishes Group, said the development would change the whole topography of the site, with some 740,000 tonnes of sand needing to be quarried over two years to make it even workable. He said: “This would involve around 100 lorry trips a day, every day, for two years for two speculative tenants.” He said the proposals were “alien” and “objectionable”. Taking to the floor, KCC leader and local county councillor Paul Carter called on everyone at the meeting to write to Maidstone Council “citing the 101 reasons why development shouldn’t be allowed”.
“A quick glance at the commercial property available in Kent shows there is no shortage.We’ve fought KIG but it
seems every way you turn we are under aack.” Kingswood couple A20
Woodcut Farm development area
M20 Junction 8
Waterside Park develiopment area
Woodcut Farm falls on part of the former KIG site and is bounded by Crismill Lane to the west, Musket Lane to the east, Ashford Road to the south and the M20 to the north. The proposal is for a 52,000sqm development of warehousing, offices, parking and landscaping. An applica- tion is due to be submitted.
Waterside Park is bounded by Old Mill Lane to the west, the Maidstone Mercure Great Danes Hotel to the east, the A20 roundabout to the north and River Len to the south. The proposal is for 105,000sqm of warehousing and office, with a crèche and café. A planning application has been submit- ted to Maidstone Council.
We’ll fight this all the way, say residents
A DEVELOPER hoping to create a business park on land near Junction 8 of the M20 faced the wrath of op- ponents at a public exhibition at the Mercure Great Danes Hotel. Roxhill Developments wants to cre- ate a commercial business park on land at Woodcut Farm – part of the site rejected for the Kent International Gateway three years ago.
Roxhill, which has just obtained planning consent for a similar devel- opment in Aylesford, says the 28- hectare site could provide 52,000sqm of employment space, offering op- portunities for local companies to ex- pand, rather than relocate.
Roxhill has an option to buy the site from local landowners James Leggat & Son should planning permission be granted – although it is not antici- pated an outline plan will be put for-
Frank Jagger and Denis Spooner object to the scheme
ward before February at the earliest. However, residents and parish councillors are already gearing up for a second fight to save the valued open space.
One resident warned the Roxhill team: “This is going to cost you an awful lot of money because we will fight it all the way.”
Opponents of the scheme include the Bearsted and Thurnham Society and members of both Bearsted and
Thurnham parish councils. Cllr Denis Spooner, chair of Bearsted Parish Council’s planning committee, said: “If either Waterside Park or Woodcut Farm or any other area of land in this area is developed, it will open the floodgates for ware- housing and industrial development to be built around Junction 8 and on the KIG site.”
Cllr Spooner has written to Maid-
stone’s chief planner Rob Jarman on behalf of the parish council, urging the borough to press on with its local plan to avoid even more speculative proposals coming forward. He wrote: “The parish council firmly believes that the local plan must provide long term protection to this area of countryside as a val- ued local landscape and … to safe- guard this valued area of open
countryside from development.” But Jason Dalby, managing director of Roxhill, said: “A new business park in Maidstone would play a key role in attracting businesses and jobs into the area. It will also provide opportuni- ties for existing local companies to ex- pand without having to relocate, keeping skills and jobs within the Maidstone area.”
The Leggat family have been dairy farmers at Woodcut and Thurnham Court farms for many years and the late James’ sons Nick and Colin own a substantial amount of land around the M20.
Brian Clifford, vice-chairman of the Bearsted and Thurnham Society, said: “We fought a long, hard battle over KIG and are ready to do the same again. We are determined this latest proposal will not succeed.”
Maidstone East Edition January 2014 31
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