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Canterbury protestors lead march against 2,000 new homes
KentOnline / KMTV
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27/05/2024
The council want to use University of Kent countryside for homes, shops and offices.
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00:00
The University of Kent has landed itself in controversy after giving permission for land
00:04
they own to Canterbury City Council to build 2,000 houses, shops and offices in the heart
00:09
of the Bleen, a rural countryside and ancient woodland only three miles north of the city
00:15
centre.
00:16
Protesters say what would essentially be a new town on areas like Tyler Hill, Bleen and
00:20
Rough Common could have an extremely detrimental effect on the wildlife and woodland.
00:24
The University of Kent say they are committed to biodiversity and environmental issues but
00:29
the people behind me don't believe them.
00:31
Save Our Bleen aim to stop 2,000 homes being built in the Bleen countryside just outside
00:36
of Canterbury.
00:37
The public consultation is open until the 3rd of June so this Saturday 25th concerned
00:42
citizens alongside Kent Wildlife Trust marched from the Dane John Gardens to the University
00:47
of Kent's registry, crossing through the city centre for a total of two miles.
00:52
So we're calling the march in order to really raise awareness for the University, how people
00:58
feel, but also to urge them to work with us.
01:01
They've got a new VC in place, we urge her to show some bold leadership and actually
01:06
work with us, with residents, with the council and other stakeholders like Kent Wildlife
01:11
Trust to come up with a better solution and use this land in a different way.
01:17
Other issues with the site include the landscape, which suffers from poor drainage and flooding,
01:22
several heritage sites including an Iron Age settlement and the increase of traffic and
01:26
people through the area.
01:28
This is all against what the University themselves have stated for their sustainability policy.
01:33
The development company, Allison Young, have been quoted as saying there is an economic
01:36
need for the sites to be delivered to ensure the future success of the University.
01:41
The University has been known to have financial issues, shutting down several courses on their
01:45
Medway campus to save money.
01:47
The 2,000 buildings in Bleen aren't the only expansions planned by the council, with
01:51
the Brooklands Farm area in Whitstable earmarked for 1,400, leading people like Emily to also
01:57
join the march against the council's plans.
02:00
We know what's down there, there's so much rare wildlife, birds, fish and I've
02:07
had a report from the Environment Agency speaking about eels being up there and if both developments
02:15
go ahead or either one, they will kill those streams with concreting, the streams won't
02:23
be filled from aquifers, it's a really dangerous thing that they're proposing to do.
02:31
Even if the march has ended, the council's plans are still set to go ahead and would
02:35
take until 2040 to finish.
02:37
Finn McDermid for KMTV.
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