February 1: Is 21st Century Kent more than an aspirational wish-list?
Comments |
An aspirational
wish-list which will gather dust or a vision grounded in reality
that will change the landscape of Kent over the next 30 years?
KCC leader Paul Carter has
already had to rebut claims that the glossy and indisputably
well-packaged brochure “21st Century
Kent” - commissioned from top architect Sir Terry Farrell
- comes across as the former but I’m not so sure. (Interestingly, a
recent KCC report on the grand masterplan did indeed describe it as
“aspirational”).
Read "21st Century Kent" here>>>
The document is groaning with the usual
unintelligible jargon about super-hubs and super-regions and
spatial strategies that give such blueprints such a bad name.
It also has a long list of projects that
in the report’s own words “will” happen rather than “could” happen,
which rather ups the stakes should anyone be around in 2040 to
check and see which ones came to fruition. (One of the beauties of
such far-reaching visions is that very few people are around by the
time the period they cover comes to an end - and even if they are,
disinclined to bother).
There’s nothing wrong with ambition, of course
but “21st Century Kent” strikes me as awfully long on
rhetoric and desperately short on detail about how it is all going
to happen – and more importantly, who is going to pay for it
all.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THERE was a
carefully choreographed PR campaign for the launch of
21st Century Kent and the kind of fanfare you usually
get to see at the State Opening of Parliament.
But the effort that went in to delivering what
PR strategists call "key lines" was rather derailed and
overshadowed by an unexpected announcement.
While the intention of 21st Century Kent was
to emphasise the part that the High Speed Link will play in acting
as a catalyst for the regeneration of Kent, it rather went awry
with the revelation of where KCC wants to see a third
Thames Crossing - an angle that went on to dominate
the day’s media coverage of the event and of course is something
heavily geared towards tackling road congestion.
The news
certainly appeared to ruffle the feathers of Gravesham council
Conservative leader Cllr Mike Snelling, who was
clearly out of the loop and did not take very kindly to having it
sprung on him. I’m also intrigued to know how Essex county
council will view this premture “announcement” ahead of
the official release of the joint study between the two
councils.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I doubt it was
intended but 21st Century Kent has a rather glaring
omission – there is no detailed reference to what the blueprint
will hold for the County Town of Maidstone – to
all intents and purposes, Kent’s equivalent of a capital.
There’s a passing reference to the new
shopping mall on the former Fremlins site but that seems to be
about. An oversight?
Who knows but it is a rather odd. It is not
just that Maidstone is where KCC has its HQ but surely it merits as
much attention as any other part of the county? One reason might be
that for the moment, it has been overlooked in terms of high speed
rail services but that ought to have been a reason for giving it
more than just a small namecheck.
Even worse, Medway’s capacity to become a
“city” warrants several pages – which will no doubt please the
unitary authority of Medway.
Sunday, January 31 2010
The KM Group does not moderate comments.
Please click here for our house rules.