New KIG plan is 'a cynical ploy'
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A campaigner attends a
protest against KIG. It is feared residents won't have time to
respond to the latest details before October's public
inquiry.
by Alan Smith
ajsmith@thekmgroup.co.uk
Changes to the Kent International
Gateway (KIG) plan at Bearsted are expected to be confirmed
today.
Developers announced in June that
an updated proposal for the giant road-rail freight depot was
on the cards, with reduced warehouse space and a more detailed
survey of its environmental impact.
The amended plans are due to be
submitted to Maidstone council today. A planning inquiry into the
KIG proposal, including these latest plans, will be heard in
October.
Campaigners are likely to have to
wait until next week to see the plans, when they are loaded on to
the council's website and advertised in the Kent Messenger.
As soon as they are available,
we'll have a summary of the plans at kentmessenger.co.uk
Dr Felicity Simpson, chairman of
the Maidstone branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England,
urged objectors to examine the changes as soon as possible and to
be sure to send in further letters of objection.
She said: “If there are no
objections after the amendments, the developers will maintain that
they have mitigated everyone’s concerns by the changes.
“People need to let the inspector
know that trivial changes make no difference to their overwhelming
opposition to the scheme in total.”
The public will have just 21 days
to make any comment on the changed plans if KIG keeps its deadline
and advertises the changes today as promised.
Brian Clifford, chairman of the
Bearsted and Thurnham Society, said: “It is by no means clear why
KIG is submitting amended plans more than two years after lodging
the original proposal.
“We view this as a cynical ploy
directed for the benefit of the inspector, certainly not for the
local residents, as nothing has changed in relation to the building
locations nearest to the main residential areas of Bearsted.
“Nor is there any change in the
rail proposals or noise, air quality or sky glow impacts, or in
fact any of the other issues that are of enormous concern to local
residents, or to the surrounding area.”
As the KM went to press, Maidstone
council had not received KIG’s amended plans. Spokesman Roger Adley
said: “Once we have them, we shall post the details on our website
as soon as possible.”
Friday, July 03 2009
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