Maidstone

In Maidstone borough there is a broad variety of countryside, with a classic Wealden landscape to the south of the county town and the higher ground of the Kent Downs to the east. As with other districts in Kent, a great deal of beautiful countryside remains but development pressure is intense, even within the Kent Downs AONB.

CPRE Maidstone deals with many issues across the borough, but the following are of particular concern at the moment:

Kent International Gateway (KIG)
Kent International Gateway Ltd, a Brighton-based company owned by AXA Real Estate and DMI Partnerships, applied in November 2007 to build an enormous eight-warehouse freight interchange and associated infrastructure on a greenfield site next to the village of Bearsted, near Maidstone.

The project would cover 112 hectares (277 acres) of green land in a Special Landscape Area (SLA), designated because it lies on the edge of the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

It is impossible to exaggerate the impact the scheme would have, totally destroying high-quality countryside and seriously degrading the wonderful views west from the Downs.

The developer claims that the interchange has the potential to remove a large volume of lorry traffic from our road network, and that the site represents the best possible location for a depot of this kind. It is hard to find anyone who agrees with them. Eric Hotson, the leader of Maidstone Borough Council at the time the plan emerged, said: “KIG would create huge volumes of industrial traffic on our already busy roads and wouldn’t create the good-quality, well-paid jobs that we need to improve the prosperity of our borough”. The council’s assistant director of development, Brian Morgan, echoed the Strategic Rail Authority’s view that a road-rail interchange would need to be next to the M25, not sprawled over green land by the M20.

Local councillors and MPs have been deluged with complaints from residents, and a good website has been set up as a focus for opponents.

Dr Felicity Simpson, chairman of CPRE Maidstone, described KIG as a “horrendous proposal”. “If sustainability means anything,” she said, “it means retaining the rural countryside, not just for its own sake but also because of the contribution it can make to the quality of life of people living nearby. The proposed development is an abomination. CPRE Kent urges Maidstone Borough Council to impress upon the developers that their scheme is utterly unacceptable.”

See below to download a copy of our response to the KIG application.

Kent County Showground, Detling
The Kent Agricultural Society, which owns the 200-acre County Showground above Detling, has large-scale plans for development on the site, which lies entirely within the Kent Downs AONB.

The Detling Downs Project – which would feature a conference centre, ‘research facility’ and equine ‘centre of excellence’ – is intended to secure the financial future of the showground, most famous as the venue for the Kent County Show each July. 

While CPRE Maidstone appreciates the society’s desire to safeguard its showground, we cannot condone enabling development in an AONB. The Kent Agricultural Society would be moving too far from its remit in pursuing a scheme of this type.

The Kent Agricultural Society has yet to submit a planning application for the Detling Downs Project. When it does, CPRE Maidstone, along with the county branch, will submit a detailed response. In the meantime we have been involved in many discussions about the project with the society and local government representatives.

Download our response to a scoping-opinion application from the developers below.

Maidstone
While CPRE Maidstone’s direct purpose is to safeguard the rural parts of the borough from inappropriate development, the standard of urban and suburban environments is also crucial, since a low quality of life in town inevitably leads to greater development pressure in the countryside.

Kent’s county town is growing fast, but is failing, in our opinion, to achieve its potential. In Maidstone, as in the rest of Kent (and indeed the rest of the country) recent development has rarely been of a satisfactory standard. In particular, CPRE Maidstone feels, the town is not taking full advantage of its illustrious built heritage.

We are closely involved in the evolution of Maidstone’s Local Development Framework (LDF), and will continue to try to ensure our county town has a thriving future.

Attachments:

District Issues

• K.I.G. Kent International Gateway
• Tomorrow's Kent