Canterbury

The backdrop
Canterbury is the only city in Kent. As a World Heritage Site and the centre for the Church of England, it is a major tourist attraction with enormous historical heritage, as well as three universities. The River Stour passes through the city before entering the Stour marshes. The wider district covers a large area of the North Downs, the Forest of Blean complex and the coastal resorts of Whitstable and Herne Bay.

Chairman
Vacant

The issues
For decades, debate has raged as to whether a reservoir should be built at Broad Oak, north of Canterbury. Mid Kent Water (subsequently merged with an earlier separate company South East Water as a ‘new’ South East Water) had put the scheme in its plans, but it consistently gets pushed back over the planning time horizon. Our analysis casts serious doubt over whether the reservoir would actually work.

Where we are now
The Local Plan was adopted in July 2017.
Regulation 18 consultation took place over 12 weeks from March to June 2024. Although CPRE Kent had some campaign wins (deletion of a proposed new settlement at Cooting Farm, Adisham, and deletion of the eastern bypass and associated housing), 2,000 homes are now being proposed on land owned by the University of Kent at Blean. You can read our objection here
In other matters, Canterbury City Council resolved to grant planning permission for an industrial viticulture complex in the Kent Downs National Landscape at Highland Court, south of Canterbury. CPRE Kent and Natural England were not permitted to address the committee.
A pre-action protocol letter/legal challenge by a member of CPRE Kent resulted in the council reverting the scheme back to committee, when once again it was resolved to grant planning permission.
CPRE Kent took the decision not to proceed as the lead complainant, based on our prospects of winning (and the financial implications). The claim was, however, continued by a CPRE member.
On November 20, 2023, Mrs Justice Lang of the High Court gave permission to proceed to a full hearing on all grounds of the claim. Judgment was handed down on May 24, 2024. It confirmed a breach of the council’s constitution that directly impacted CPRE Kent and Natural England’s ability to speak at committee but that the claimant was not prejudiced by this (as a CPRE Kent member) and that members of the committee were correctly advised on all planning matters.
You can read more about this case here