On the same evening as the Executive of our City Council made the decision to sell Kingsmead Field to developers (Thursday, 11th October), the Canterbury Society held a meeting to present their vision for the future of our city, an important part of which was, ironically, the provision of more open space.
The Society’s ambitious Vision was created in coordination with local residents’ associations and covers all aspects of city life: the economy, housing, transport, heritage and conservation, open spaces and play places, the natural environment and biodiversity, culture and leisure, community safety, and city governance.
The
most important principle lying behind the Vision is the bottom-up approach it
incorporates. The consensus from residents is that planning in Canterbury has
so far been top-down and that its management has left a great deal to be
desired. A glaring example was the failure to carry out any traffic studies in
connection with any of the numerous developments of the last few years. The
reduction of congestion in the city is one of the top priorities for residents,
alongside the associated need to tackle air pollution. The focus throughout the
Vision is accordingly on enhanced public transport, green design and
sustainability.
Another
key concern was thrown into sharp relief by the Council’s decision on Kingsmead
Field. Not one of the Executive who voted is a resident of the city and not one
is a member of the political party which has a clear majority of councillors in
the city wards. Local residents are therefore keen to set up a far more
representative Canterbury Town Council to make decisions concerning the city.
They also wish to use the new Localism Act to have councillors engage more with
local communities. Projects like the current one in Westgate, which involve city
officials advising local groups, are the way forward.
Housing also represents a pressing concern in
Canterbury. An enormous number of homes have already been crammed into a small
area, but a large percentage of these are occupied by students. This puts
pressures on house rents and prices. Although more housing is needed, the
Canterbury Society is against the city acquiring huge estates on the high
value, scenic lands to the south of the city. Here good soils would be lost and
developments there would contribute enormously to traffic congestion, as it is
unlikely they would be self-sustaining. Developing a real community with all
the necessary facilities on brownfield sites at Hersden would be far
preferable.
Canterbury Society members put a great deal of work
into their document on the city’s future and are making sure it reflects local
residents’ views. It should be submitted to the Council in November after
incorporating points from last night’s discussion. We will be following the
progress of the Vision with interest and hope that Canterbury City Council will
take its proposals to heart. It certainly represents a clear picture of the
future city residents would like to live in and plots a realistic path to
fulfilling those aspirations.
