University of Kent confirms plans for controversial development in the Blean woodland

KentOnline / KMTV

The plans which had been shelved by Canterbury City Council, will see the homes put on the private rental market, despite backlash from local residents and environmental campaigners.  Meghan Shaw reports.

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00:00Rolling hills, sweeping countryside and scenic views – soon to be no more, as controversial

00:07development plans have been picked up by the University of Kent.

00:11The acting Vice-Chancellor has confirmed that the University will plough on with these plans

00:16on fields on the north side of the University campus, despite the Council having deleted

00:21the site from its local draft plan.

00:23Plans involve developing fields in Bleen, a village on the outskirts of Canterbury and

00:28north of the University's campus into a 2,000 home estate.

00:33Well the Bleen is a wider area, it's huge, it stretches all the way from over in the RSPB

00:39right to Wilder Bleen where they've got the bison.

00:42This huge swathe of land is all connected and it's all connected by nature and if we lose

00:49essentially this connectivity we'll never get it back and so it's not just what the

00:55community might lose, it's what nature will lose.

00:58This comes as a curveball after a similar draft to develop on University land by Canterbury

01:03City Council was dropped following protests last year.

01:07A key campaign group here is Save the Bleen who rallied against the initial plans and proffered

01:12alternative development options for the University such as the Bleen Biopark involving combining

01:18recreational space with reforestation and habitat restoration.

01:23environmentalists and campaigners, this recent news is deeply concerning.

01:29People are opposing it because it destroys an enormously important strategic area for wildlife.

01:34It's part of the Bleen woodland complex and it's also, it would threaten three really distinct

01:41communities, three different villages. It would just turn it into a big sprawl of housing that would

01:45also impact hugely on the infrastructure of North Canterbury. We know that the roads here just

01:51cannot take the number of cars, probably 7,000 car movements a day that you would get with 2,000 houses.

01:58We approached the University of Kent for comment and they explained that they've been working with

02:03local stakeholders including Save the Bleen and strongly believe that this development is the best solution

02:09for Canterbury, the University and the wider South East region. They have identified a development

02:15partner and are working closely with them to bring forward a responsible, sensitive and sustainable

02:20proposal including identifying the most sustainable disposal strategy. This will include continuing to

02:27work with the City Council and County Council to resolve issues that they have identified including transport.

02:33Canterbury Council's local plan consultation is open until Tuesday, so for Save the Bleen, the fight is far from over.

02:43Megan Shaw, KMTV, in Canterbury

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