Local Plan: Developers' cash should stay in town

I was angered and dismayed to find that the draft Local Plan explicitly stated that developers' contributions (once called S106, now called CIL - Community Infrastructure Levy) would flow OUT of Herne Bay.

There was no mention of CIL money flowing out of Canterbury or Whitstable, and no mention of CIL money flowing IN to Herne Bay. So we were going to get screwed.

I decided to ask our beloved councillors what they thought. Only one of them answered. Cllr Peter Lee apparently has no idea how Herne Bay residents would feel about this, and will wait for the outcome of the consultation. Incredible. 

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Councillors have refused to back calls for cash raised from new housing estates planned for Herne Bay to remain in the town.

At a meeting of the town's area members panel, made up of city and county councillors, campaigners said contributions from developments included in the new local plan should be spent on projects in Herne Bay. Local resident Ros McIntyre said:

"There are five new estates planned for around Herne Bay but money from them is earmarked for a crossing at Sturry and a relief road at Herne. Why has improvement money been channelled from Herne Bay to Canterbury and why is there no provision for a bridge at Blacksole?"

Phil Rose, from the Friends of the Downs, asked councillors to raise their hands if they were against the scheme to divert the money to other projects, adding:

"Money that could and should remain in Herne Bay is already being earmarked for projects out of our town."

But West Bay councillor Peter Lee said it was too early to have a view. He said:

"We haven't had any consultation yet and we don't know what people's views are. I am sure there are plenty of people who use that road who will be all for it."

Panel chairman Gillian Reuby said the money would not all be spent on the road schemes - some was for affordable housing and education contributions. She added:

"The infrastructure isn't at Canterbury, it is at Herne for a relief road and Sturry, the route most people from Herne Bay will use to go to Canterbury."

HB Times 30th May 2013

Survey shows huge support for Sainsbury's

Sainsbury's plans for a £40 million out-of-town shopping complex at Herne Bay have received the thumbs up from residents.

According to figures released today (31st October) by developers, 84 per cent of locals support the scheme at the Altira Business Park. This follows a display of the plans at the Premier Inn's TableTable restaurant earlier this month which attracted nearly 600 visitors.

Nigel Wakefield, development director at developers Terrace Hill, said: "We are obviously delighted with the response. We would like to thank the people of Herne Bay for the interest they have shown in our plans.

"We are now working through the comments before submitting a planning application to the city council. We are fully committed to delivering our plans, which represent a real opportunity for increased supermarket shopping choice and local job creation.This could act as a catalyst for further investment in Altira Park and Herne Bay town centre."

The scheme at Beltinge includes business starter units and a footbridge across the Ramsgate to London railway line at Blacksole Bridge.

By Friday, October 19, 682 comment forms had been completed. 11 per cent objected to the idea. The remaining five per cent were undecided.

Herne Bay Times

Is a superstore super news?

A huge Sainbury's and petrol station on the edge of Herne Bay - this would be on the ill-fated and currently languishing Altira site.

There's no indication in the press reports as to where exactly, but I assume it would be east of the existing developments at Altira, between the A299 Thanet Way and the railway line.

Big news for a small town, and not all of it good news.

Up:

• employment opportunities for Herne Bayers (and for anyone else who can travel along the A299)
• their salaries would inject money into the local economy
• Herne Bayers who usually shop in a supermarket will have one nearer to home - time saved, fewer miles travelled, reduced pollution
• a decent supermarket can give the town a lift, making it more attractive to people and businesses looking to relocate
• the superstore would take Altira up to the occupancy level which would oblige Kitewood to make good on its contractual obligation to build a pedestrian bridge at Blacksole
• ... do feel free to suggest more

Down:

• having a single large employer leaves the town vulnerable to the eggs-in-one-basket problem... think Pfizer
• Sainsbury's would be exporting their profits to Galactic HQ, wherever that is, and converting it into shareholder dividends
• the small petrol stations in town couldn't hope to match Sainsbury's prices and discounts
• the small food retailers - butchers, bakers, greengrocers and so on - would be in serious jeopardy, and they're having a hard enough time as it is
• ... do feel free to suggest more 

Then, of course, there is the impact on the CDA - the Central Development Area proposal to convert the William Street car park area into a small-scale clone town. This has been a shining example of greedy stupidity (on the part of both the Council and the developers) from the outset, and has centred on building a large new supermarket next to, er, a medium-sized old supermarket. The Council and the developers egged eachother on into believing this was great plan, and are now shaking their heads in bewilderment, having run into the brick wall of commercial reality.

Even before "austerity" became a freshly recycled buzzword, times were hard in retail. Any major operator thinking of investing millions in a store that they would want to last for a decade or two, would want a healthy catchment area, and they would want it to themselves. Why move in next door to one of your major competitors? And if Morrisons up-sized and moved into the new store, who would want their cast-offs?

For these (and probably a number of other good reasons), the negotiations between the Council and whoever was interested faltered and fell, leaving the whole project in suspension, and everything around it in confusion, uncertainty and blight. If Sainsbury's open a superstore on the edge of town, that will restrict the number of operators who might be interested in the CDA.

If we broadly divide the national chains into "upmarket" and "budget", Sainsbury's fall into the upmarket end. Commercial reality dictates that another upmarket operator in the CDA would have to compete directly with Sainsbury's for their customers. On the other hand, a budget operator would be serving a different "market segment", and might be able to make a go of it. A budget supermarket will do little if anything to lift and regenerate the town centre.

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Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s have drawn up plans to build a superstore on the outskirts of Herne Bay three years after talks to build a town centre store. The supermarket chain is looking to build a 95,000 square feet store - equivalent to nine football pitches - and filling station at Altira Park.

They were thought to be one of three supermarkets looking to build at the Kings Road car park as part of £35 million plans to regenerate the town centre. However, the latest plans were revealed by property developers Terrace Hill who announced the Altira Park development as part of a six-month report.

They said they had signed a pre-letting agreement with Sainsbury’s and hope to submit plans to Canterbury city council at the end of the year. They added that they wanted to complete the development midway through 2014.

Herne Bay coastal manager Chris West said he had not been aware of the development but said it was not likely to detract from plans for a supermarket in the town centre. He said: 

"It is difficult to comment until we can look at the plans and decide whether it will be a good thing for the town or not."

However, he did cite Tesco on the edge of Whitstable as an example of an out-of-town supermarket which had not hindered the town centre.

However, one resident has voiced concerns saving the regeneration of the town centre needs to be the priority. Geoff Wimble, 64, of Sea Street, said: 

"I’m not impressed to be honest. Over the last 20 years they have hastened the degeneration of this town with the closure of recreation and caravan sites. When we were told we were getting Sainsbury’s in the town we were happy but it was shielded by Canterbury city council and Southern Water because it was a flood risk.

If that’s the case then the whole regeneration footprint is a flood risk, they are blocking out what they don’t want to deal with. It would have been good to open it in the town centre but they dropped out of the deal when they couldn’t get the Stagecoach site."

HB Gazette 14th June 2012 - Jamie Bullen jbullen@thekmgroup.co.uk

Public meeting: Kitewood development at Hillborough

A public meeting next week will discuss plans to redevelop land between Hillborough and the Altira Business Park. Residents and stakeholders living around the site, which has been earmarked for more than 1,300 homes, are being urged to attend to have their say and learn more about the proposals.

Reculver and Beltinge Community Hall, Reculver Road, hosts the meeting from 7pm next Wednesday, the first of its kind since the scheme was first confirmed in August.

Laura Calder will speak on how people can get their views across as the planning process progresses. The 47-year-old IT business consultant, from Sanderling Road said:

"I want to try and help residents articulate their concems. Should something like this get the go ahead, it needs to be done in the right manner with the local community being consulted on what they want to see."

The £240 million scheme has been drawn up by Kitewood Estates and would be delivered in three phases. Facilities would also include a primary school, shopping centre and a long-awaited footbridge across the railway at Blacksole Bridge.

The first phase of the development, costing £60m, would build 375 homes and extend Altira Business Park. Work could begin by the end of 2012. The primary school and shopping centre would be built in phase two alongside another 500 homes, while phase three would see the final 500 homes constructed.

Kitewood director Mike Dolan welcomed news of next week’s meeting after a public exhibition at Reculver Primary School last month - www.hillboroughextension.com. He said:

"We’ve put forward our own ideas but if people have their own views, we’re keen to work together on a package that allays some of their fears and moves the development forward in a positive manner."

HB Gazette 6th Oct 2011

Click for more: Kitewood

 

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Kitewood Hillborough Extension

Property developer Kitewood has unveiled plans to develop a new primary school, shopping centre and up to 1,375 homes on the outskirts of Herne Bay, on land between Hillborough and the Altira Business Park in Broomfield. This idea first surfaced in July 2010, when everyone was up in arms about the increasing risk of death on Blacksole Bridge. Click here to read up on the back-story, and find out who the bad guys are.

The plans for the proposed development will go on show during a public exhibition at Reculver Primary School

• between 12 noon and 8pm on Wednesday, August 31, and
• between 10am and 4pm on Saturday, September 3.

Kitewood have also set up a website to keep people updated on the plans, and say they intend to compile reports on the feedback and use them if proposals need re-shaping. Visit: www.hillboroughextension.com

The 190 acre, £240m scheme is planned in three phases.

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Phase 1

• Would use the land which lies to south of the railway line and north of the Thanet Way, all of which is controlled by Kitewood.  The land adjoins Altira Business Park at Bogshole Lane, and is crossed by the un-made Maystreet Road which goes over the railway line at Maystreet Bridge.
• Phase 1 land covers 25.5 hectares (63.3 acres):
  • 6 hectares (15 acres) of the land for employment use as an extension to Altira Business Park, providing 300 new jobs.
  • 12.5 hectares (31 acres) for 375 houses.
  • 7 hectares (17.3 acres) for landscaping and public open space.
• Will include a footbridge over the Blacksole Bridge railway crossing, and a new link road between Altira Business Park and Sweechbridge Road which will enable access to the Thanet Way at both the Margate Road and the Heart in Hand Road junctions.
• Planning application in early 2012 - if it's successful, work could begin as early as the end of 2012, and finish in 2016.
• Kitewood say: "It will cost in the order of £60 million - an enormous vote of confidence in Herne Bay".

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Phase 2

• Would use land which lies to the north of the railway line and extends to the existing commercial and residential areas of Hillborough, all of which is controlled by Kitewood.
• Phase 2 land covers 27.4 hectares (67.7 acres):
  • 4 hectares (10 acres) of the highest area of land to the west of the site would be used for a new primary school (to be donated to CCC) and a shopping centre.
  • 16 hectares (39.5 acres) for up to 500 houses.
  • 7.4 hectares (18.3 acres) for wildlife habitats and parkland.
• Realignment of Sweechbridge Road to the north of the railway to improve the existing dangerous layout.
• Preservation of the historical pedestrian and cycle links via Maystreet Bridge.
• Design of a traffic system to discourage non-local traffic from passing through Hillborough.
• Kitewood anticipate Phase 2 happening between 2016 and 2026.

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Phase 3

• Would use land lying to the west of phase two and north of the railway line.
• Development of this land would require an additional bridge over the railway because the Maystreet and Sweechbridge Bridges wouldn't be sufficient.
• Approximately 16 hectares (39.5 acres) could be developed to provide an additional 500 houses if the need exists.
• 7.7 hectares (19 acres) would form an extension to the central park on the higher ground in the middle of the scheme.
• The two wooded areas on the northern part of the site would be retained for landscaping and wildlife purposes.
• The central part of this land would be landscaped and planted with trees.
• Pedestrian and cycle links and possibly a bus link would also be provided to Osborn Gardens, Churchill Avenue and Highfield Avenue, enabling residents of Beltinge to access the site whilst preventing traffic from entering Beltinge.
• It is not anticipated that Phase 3 would start before 2026.

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If you have any comments on this proposal, you can add them below, or you can visit www.hillboroughextension.com, or contact your councillors or MP.

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Blacksole Bridge solution?

Here's a thought: our beloved Council might be able to pluck victory from the jaws of self-inflicted defeat by the careful use of some of its special powers. Not super-hero special powers, you understand, but good old-fashioned statutory powers.

Applying some judicious pressure to our friends at Kitewood (masters of Altira) might just encourage them to get cracking on their promised bridgework. It could be argued that it would be perfectly reasonable of CCC to set about resolving this knotty problem by slapping a compulsory purchase order on a strip of land running from the end of Mickleburgh Hill through to the roundabout in the middle of Altira Tumbleweed Park.

click it to big itThis 200 yard new road (and bridge) would provide a clear run through for traffic to and from the Thanet Way, and provide the option of making the existing Blacksole Bridge and the curve of Margate Road pedestrian only (or pedestrian and bicycles). Smooth-flowing traffic, and safe passage for people - what's not to like?

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Crucial bridge must be built soon for safety's sake

How dare Kitewood try to hold the city council to ransom. As MP Roger Gale said, they have already had £1.3 million knocked off the asking price for the land at Margate Road, they agreed a bridge would be built, whoever agreed to the condition that this wouldn't be built until 17,000m² is occupied should be ashamed of themselves.

They obviously don't walk or drive along Margate Road and over Blacksole Bridge, or they would see for themselves how dangerous it is, both for pedestrians and vehicle drivers. I drive this way almost every day and have had several "near misses", with cars swerving to avoid pedestrians that can't be seen on the blind bend - bad enough during daylight, but night time is far worse, especially as people walk home after spending the evening at one of the two restaurants. The majority of pedestrians do their very best to make themselves as small as possible to stay safe but it's such a dangerous section of road, with no room to manoeuvre if vehicles are coming from both directions at the same time.

Mr Dolan of Kitewood says "there is not money in the pot to build the bridge now", but presumably they had the money to purchase the land at Hillborough and it would appear they also have the money to pay for the building materials and labour costs involved in developing that site, should planning consent be given. I would like to see the council stand firm and turn the tables on Kitewood and play them at their own game, withhold even considering planning permission for Hillborough until the Blacksole pedestrian bridge is built, but as the agreement was that Kitewood will build the bridge when 17,000m² is occupied, I guess they couldn't do this legally. Kitewood, however, could make a goodwill gesture and build the footbridge now.

I also hope the council ensures that, before they allow development at Hillborough, the infrastructure is in place to support 700 new homes. It's bad enough to allow building on such a scale, but are there sufficient schools, health facilities, safe road links, mains water and sewage facilities that can cope adequately with the extra burden to be placed upon it? And I would hope there will not be another ludicrous condition in the plans that favours Kitewood and doesn't consider the safety of the people who occupy that area, current and prospective. Hopefully a resolution will be found very soon, that will value the safety of people above financial gain, for a change.

Christine West, Beacon Avenue, Herne Bay
HB Gazette letters, 15th July 2010

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No build. Pre-billed.

Heart-warming, really. Our Councillors are falling over themselves to give this developer money and great deals. Latest wheeze: use the "people's project" label to coax a better price from Network Rail, so that Kitewood can build the Blacksole crossing for less.

We still don't have the bridge we've paid for. The councillor thinks that if we re-invent this shambles as a "people's project", Network Rail will offer a discount. And that we would be able to pass that discount on to Kitewood without Network Rail noticing or minding. So that Kitewood could build the bridge for less than they've been paid. And keep the change?

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"Community" Bridge at Blacksole

A footbridge alongside narrow Blacksole bridge could be built within a year if a building project wins planning permission, a developer has suggested. Property firm Kitewood is legally obliged to build a separate pedestrian walkway once enough of its nearby Altira business park is in use. However take-up at the site has fallen short of the 17,000 sq m target to trigger construction of the much-needed footbridge.

Campaigners say the improvements are vital since the building of housing between the bridge and Thanet Way the opening of a pub and hotel and the relocation of the driving test centre, which has led to more pedestrians and traffic.

Kitewood bosses say if their proposals to build housing and industrial units in Hillborough wins support from the city council, they would spend £2 million on a walkway alongside the bridge and build a replacement overpass. This figure includes the £600,000 fee to Network Rail to build over the railway line.

Without the 40-acre Hillborough project, Kitewood claims there is no commercial reason to splash out on a new bridge until the threshold at the Altira site is met which could be five years away. Speaking at a meeting called by ward Cllr Peter Vickery-Jones last Wednesday, Kitewood director Mike Dolan said:

"If supported by planners, Kitewood will immediately undertake a legal obligation to build a new bridge within one year. It is the grant of this consent for this development that will create value to fund the bridge."

Cllr Peter Vickery-Jones wants to set up a community trust to make it a people's project:

"Kitewood can afford to wait until the market picks up, but the dangerous situation on the bridge cannot wait. The only alternative is to adopt the bridge as a community project and there are a lot of people committed to this.

I have already invited an independent bridge company who will come back with costings. Then we can approach Network Rail in the hope that we can get the wayleave figure of some £600,000 reduced as it is now a community project.

I am hopeful that the current indicated cost of the bridge of £1,350,000 will be reduced enough by the community approach to make it an attractive option for Kitewood to fund the bridge."

Herne Bay Times 15th July 2010

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Caveat: it's not always clear when Cllr Vickery-Jones is speaking in his official capacity, and when he's just sharing his own private thoughts out loud. Even when the paper quotes him as "Cllr V-J... ", it can turn out that what he's saying is not official at all, just the musings of one man's mind. So he could just be flying a kite, or this might actually be the official policy. I would love to know which, but the last time I asked this particular councillor a straight question, he took 6 months to fail to answer it at all, so perhaps you, dear reader, would care to ask Cllr Vickery-Jones whether the "people's project" is now Council policy.

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Altira

Sounds like a star, works like a black hole.

One point three million pounds... vanished.

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By the north-east Kent coast, in the fine town of Herne Bay,

nestling between the railway line and the A299,

lies the undersubscribed Altira Business Park.

It has a potential 46,450 m² of commercial space.

The contractual trigger for building a new Blacksole Bridge is having 17,000m² leased. They have leased some plots - Premier Inn, DSA, etc - totalling about 2,500m², but are still short of the required 17,000 m² . Otherwise we would have a new bridge.

Mind you, in their soft focus vision of the future when the business park looks full, there's no sign of a new bridge. An oversight, presumably.

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Empty promises: just rinse and recycle

Kitewood, the creators of Altira Tumbleweed Park, want to recycle their unused "Blacksole Bridge commitment" as a lever for winning another planning consent, thus reducing their average costs to half-an-imaginary-bridge per consent.

The photo accompanying the Gazette article shows the outline of the area covered by the planning consent Kitewood want. It's huge.

The tilted angle gives a foreshortened view, which doesn't really do credit to Kitewood's territorial ambitions.

click it to big it

In refusing to build the new bridge at Blacksole, Kitewood are entirely and exactly within the letter of their contract with CCC. The bridge-building is triggered by  a certain level of occupancy, and to my mind CCC were completely daft to allow this clause anywhere near the contract. (Apart from anything else, it's open to abuse. In some Mediterranean countries, construction tax is levied only when the building is complete: result - a lot of 98% complete, but fully functional, buildings.) The new bridge was (rightly) viewed as a necessity to ensure our safety in the face of increased traffic. The level of traffic started increasing from Day One of Altira's development, so it would have made sense to build the new bridge right at the beginning.

What boggles me (and I only learned it from this Gazette article) is that Kitewood have already trousered a £1.3m up-front subsidy! Despite their best efforts, they've not met their occupancy targets, and that presumably hurts them in the wallet. But they're under no contractual obligation whatsoever to build the bridge. Yet. They've got their (our?) £1.3m, and nobody has mentioned giving it back. They're laughing! They must have thought our negotiators were idiots. I do.

And now Kitewood are offering to enter into a legally binding agreement (just as they already have for the Altira development) committing them to building a new bridge IF (and only if) they are given planning consent for a very large development. In Kitewood's shoes, I would be falling over myself to strike deals with Canterbury - win a million quid and do sweet F.A. is a great start! It's very easy to paint Kitewood as being the bad guys in this long and sorry tale, but they are actually just playing by the rules that CCC set and signed up to.

I'm afraid the villains of the piece appear to be those officers/members in CCC who drew up, and signed off, the dismally flawed S106 agreement. They really screwed up.

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Safety fears over delay for planned pedestrian bridge

Developers have been accused of "holding a gun" to the heads of city councillors in a row about a pedestrian footbridge in Broomfield. At a special meeting on 7th July, Kitewood - which owns the Altira Business Park in Margate Road - said it would build a new bridge over the nearby railway crossing within a year, but only if it was given consent for a 700-home development in Hillborough. Kitewood director Michael Dolan called for councillors and planning officers to support the proposal, describing it as a "trade-off".

The unofficial meeting, which dismissed the idea of traffic lights on the current Blacksole Bridge, was called by Bay councillor Peter Vickery-Jones following years of concerns over safety. Due to a condition agreed by the city council, Kitewood - which negotiated £l.3 million off the purchase of the land to pay for the bridge - is not obliged to build it until 17,000 square metres of the site is occupied. Mr Dolan told the meeting this could take as long as four or five years. He said:

"There is not the money in the pot to build the bridge now but it’s not for want of trying. There has to be the generation of wealth first. And for that there will need to be planning consent for further developments. I can promise we will enter into a legally bound commitment to press forward with this bridge if we receive support for the housing scheme at Hillborough. The uplift in the value of the land will provide funds to build a new bridge within a year. And you can have any lawyers you want draft that commitment up and we will sign it."

Bay MP Roger Gale slammed the situation, saying:

"A harsh man would say Altira have already had their money as £1.3 million was knocked off the asking price for the land. The reality is someone at the city council put this ludicrous condition into the plans which says you will have your bridge when 17,000 square metres is occupied. But that could be in four to five years, in which time one or two people could be killed. And if that happens the county council, city council and, most importantly the developers should be held accountable. You could say it looks like they’re holding a gun to our heads. They are saying 'we will give you our undertaking to build the bridge if we get consent' - and there’s the gun."

Kitewood confirmed it is committed to building the bridge when the 17,000 square metre limit is passed. City councillor Peter Vickery-Jones said he was disappointed with the Kitewood proposal, but understood the reasons for it:

"There has to be an opportunity for the developers, and I'm all for getting the situation resolved as early as possible. I would hate to think something would happen on that bridge and I hadn't done my utmost to address the problems. But this proposal is undeliverable. Every planning application has to be judged on its own merit. It's a shame we've found ourselves in somewhat of a hostage situation."

HB Gazette 8th July 2010

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Blacksole Bridge is a daily risk

Call for footbridge at crossing

A busy road bridge has been described as a "death trap" by a Beltinge walking group. Blacksole Bridge, which links Altira Business Park and Beltinge, has no footpath, but is the only pedestrian access across the railway line. Veronica Kemp, who organises the Beltinge Happy Strollers' weekly walks from the nearby Miramar Care Home, is greatly concerned by the risks pedestrians face on a daily basis as they cross the busy bridge. She said:

"When the business park was granted planning permission in 2003, among the conditions was the construction of a shared walking and cycling bridge. This was agreed to be done when 17,000 sq metres of commercial floor space had been completed, but currently only 2,500 sq metres have been completed."

Miss Kemp, of The Horshams, has watched traffic levels increase across the bridge since 2003.

"The bridge has been a danger to cross for years, but ever since more people have been using Altira Business Park and more buildings have gone up, the situation has got a lot worse. Why the council ever agreed planning permission before this was dealt with I can't imagine. I personally refuse to cross the bridge now that it has become so very busy, and before very long there is going to be a very bad accident there."

The park has also been earmarked as a site for hundreds of new houses to be built, alongside more commercial and retail premises. City council spokesman Rob Davies confirmed provision of a new bridge still remains a condition of the original planning permission for Altira Business Park's development. He said:

"The applicant has put forward a new proposal to provide traffic management on the existing bridge through a traffic light system, as an alternative to a new bridge. This would be a single file system for cars alongside a shared footpath/cycleway. The details are currently being considered by Kent County Council and the applicant's transport advisers."

HB Gazette 2010-02-25

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Gale's View: Blacksole Bridge

Blacksole Bridge has become an accident waiting to happen.  That is not only my view, it is a concern shared by the Bay's three County Councillors, David Hirst, Jean Law and Alan Marsh, and also by many of the City Councillors representing the Town.

The development of  new housing between the bridge and the Thanet Way, the opening of the Harvester pub and a new hotel and the re-location of the driving test centre - of which more in a moment - have led to a dangerous mix of increased pedestrian and motor traffic.  It is for precisely this reason that when the City Council granted planning consent for the development of Blacksole Farm it attached a condition requiring the construction of a footbridge alongside the road bridge over the railway.

The developer now wishes to have the planning condition lifted and traffic lights installed instead.  The reasons for this are not difficult to see: a footbridge will be expensive and traffic lights, installed by the Highways Department, will be cheaper.  Lights will not, though, make provision for the pedestrians and cyclists who now daily cross the railway at this point. I hope and believe that the Highways Authority (Kent County Council) and the Planning Authority (Canterbury City Council) will use all of the powers at their several and collective disposal to resist a cheapskate option that will not solve the problem.

I take no pleasure at all in saying that unless the footbridge is constructed in the immediate future we shall find ourselves faced with a serious injury or death.

Part of the traffic problem has been caused by the Driving Test Centre on Altira Park.  It was clear at the time that the proposal was mooted that the Driving Standards Agency was determined to blunder ahead without sufficient attention to the possible consequences for local car and pedestrian traffic.  Neither was any attention paid to the environmental impact of the additional mileage and cost incurred by instructors and candidates having to travel to Herne Bay from Canterbury and Margate to, first, learn the routes and then take the test.

In a parliamentary question tabled in November 2008 I asked the Department for Transport what estimate had been made of the effect of multi-purpose practical driving test centres on levels of (a) car and motorcycle mileage and (b) carbon dioxide emissions. The Ministerial answer from this Government was "none".  So much for "green government"!  Parliamentary correspondence on this issue has revealed that not only in the Bay but nationwide the opening of "Multipurpose Test Centres" has led to increased mileage and emissions, increased costs for those seeking to take and pass their driving tests and, as in the Bay, roads in the area clogged up by crawling learner drivers.

We have all, at one time or another, had to bear L-plates on our cars and have had to stutter through the gears and stall on hill-starts and three-point turns and have nothing but sympathy for those preparing, at vast expense, to put themselves through this ordeal.  I also have huge admiration for those brave men and women who, daily, take their lives in their hands as they coach nervous learners.  I do not believe, though, that the concentration of all of this effort at a Centre on a business park on a roundabout off a flyover adjacent to a busy dual carriageway and approached by a narrow one-lane road over a railway bridge on a sharp bend leading to a very busy pub is necessarily the best choice of site.  I wonder what genius dreamed up this lunacy and why nobody within the planning authority recognised, as some of us did at the time, that this might just not be a clever idea!

The air is now thick with the sound of chickens coming home to roost.

Roger Gale M.P. (May 27th 2009)

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Obvious need for a safe solution

Canterbury City Council Development Brief for Land West of Mill Lane, 16th February 2006, says:

Consideration should also be given to improvements at the Blacksole Bridge over the railway to assist pedestrians and cyclists using this route, it is noted, however, that provision of a pedestrian bridge is a requirement of Blacksole Farm development. Improvements to the bus shelter in Canterbury Road and provision of a bus shelter in Margate Road should also be addressed.

It was clear enough then. In fact, it's been obvious to anyone who has looked closely at a map (or walked across Blacksole Bridge) that a busy road with blind bends and no pavements needs sorting out.

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Blacksole Bridge: Obvious in 2004

Canterbury City Council, Talmead Development Brief, October 2004, says:

Margate Road bordering the site to the north poses a particular danger to pedestrians from vehicular traffic due to the blind corner with no pavements. The road is particularly hazardous for pedestrians crossing Blacksole Bridge to the North East of the site.  Blacksole Bridge does not have pavements but is the only means of pedestrian access over the railway line from the site to Herne Bay and local facilities and is currently well used by Broomfield residents via the Thanet Way underpass.

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It was clear enough in 2004. This problem was visible from a long way off, but CCC refused to see it.

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