If I were to tell you one place in Kent was recently described in a national magazine as in “general decline”, awash with the homeless, and a potential “no-go zone where authority fears to tread”, what would be your first guess as to where this could be?

I won’t pander to stereotypical views of some of the county’s towns, but I would hazard a guess Canterbury isn’t the first on your list of prime suspects.

Canterbury? That big, bustling, culture-rich medieval-meets-modern city? Where magnificent architecture looms from every angle? Where every nook and cranny within its ancient city walls is drenched in fascinating history? Whose breathtaking gothic Cathedral towers above a steady stream of locals, tourists and students creating a vibrant cross-generational melting pot? Surely not?

Yet that is precisely how The Spectator chose to describe it recently in an article snappily entitled ‘What happened to Canterbury?’. It is as damning a character assassination you’ll be likely to read.

“I felt it was lazy journalism by a person who's probably never been to Canterbury,” says Chris Cornell, cabinet member for economic development and inclusion, on Canterbury City Council.

“Taking the quote of a councillor who left the administration two years ago [the article quotes Nick Eden-Green who described parts of the city centre in 2023 as a “second-class Las Vegas”] and doesn't even live locally anymore was just evidence that they haven't seen some of the regeneration, which has happened in our high street over the last couple of years.

“But a lot of it is just factually incorrect.”

And he is quite right.

Wrote The Spectator’s Lloyd Evans: “The lucrative parties of French schoolchildren and day-trippers have largely gone, partly because Ashford International, the Kent stop of the Eurostar, was shut and never reopened after Covid. The local economy has suffered as a result. The remaining businesses are coarsening the appearance of a city which is as important to the Anglican communion as Rome is to the Catholic Church.”

So let’s start here.

Yes, Canterbury has been hit by many of the same problems facing every single high street in the country - big name retailers taking a nose-dive, a shift in our shopping habits from bricks and mortar establishments to online stores and all the economic challenges that brings.

Canterbury, however, is uniquely placed in the county. Because, despite these claims, it continues to pull in the crowds. The result being that empty shops are frequently filled. A March report into the city centre by the Canterbury Business Improvement District (BID) revealed just 7.8% of city centre stores were vacant. The national average is 14%.

“Occupancy of both Whitefriars and Riverside is high,” says Cllr Cornell. “We have a large number of established chains who are choosing to make Canterbury their home. We’ve seen The Ivy restaurant move in and prove extremely popular, while the success of the Christmas market is evidence of a real buzz about the place.”

When the big stores have cleared out - think Debenhams and Nasons - that has caused a headache because there is no natural successor keen to move in anymore; the evolving retail scene means the demand for huge, sprawling floor space no longer exists. Which means some significant rethinking is required on how to restructure and market privately-owned retail buildings for a changing landscape. Parts of it will, indeed, look “scruffy and neglected” while this transition takes place.

Especially as development of those two sites is among the many being held up by the moratorium on development imposed by pollution at Stodmarsh (an issue you can read about, in depth, here).

Let’s cut the place some slack.

Yes, there had been a mighty drop off in schoolchildren from the EU coming to the city a few years back - due to post-Brexit changes which meant pupils in EU countries were unable to travel, as they had done before, on national ID cards (rather than passports). But that situation has been resolved, and the “coachloads of French and German schoolchildren have returned”, says Cllr Cornell.

In fact, the latest figures from inward tourism champions Visit Kent paint a very different picture than that depicted in the article, with a rise in visitor numbers across the district, compared to pre-pandemic 2019 - up by 4%. Which, given the district pulls in more than eight million visitors, is not to be sniffed at.

The opinion piece criticised the Cathedral for some of its masonry looking “tired and haggard”. And that it dared to charge people to access it.

It added, in reference to some scaffolding around the ancient building: “The poor wreck looks like a crippled old man being worked on by medics who know his full health will never be restored.”

Crikey.

The bulk of Canterbury Cathedral dates back to the 12th century. There is, as a consequence, the very real risk some of its masonry is, indeed, showing its 900-year age. Well, it would, wouldn’t it? I suspect if the walls were pulled down and replaced with some bespoke double-glazing, there may be a bit of a fuss.

The Spectator sketchwriter adds: “Various sections of the building were being repaired and the overall view was marred by scaffolding rigs and mechanical lifts. Some of the spruced-up stonework is brand new, but elsewhere the masonry seems sad and haggard. Many original carvings have been worn smooth by centuries of wind and rain.”

Who’d have thunk it?

The Cathedral’s upkeep doesn’t come cheap - according to its financial figures for 2023/24, it spent £3 million last year on upkeep of the buildings and grounds. Nor does it just start if a crack appears - it’s an almost daily undertaking.

Little wonder it charges, at this time of year, £19.50 to enter (it’s £30 for Westminster Abbey, by way of comparison).

Not that it bothers The Spectator’s correspondent - he told staff on the door he wanted to privately pray in it (“I lied about my faith so snuck in for free”, he boasts).

Yes, it’s not cheap to enter - but it is heavily discounted if you live in the district and free if you’re attending a service or on Universal Credit. Let us not forget it is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the globe’s most magnificent buildings. Canterbury - and Kent - would not be forgiven if we left it to rack and ruin.

But perhaps the crowning glory of this hatchet job is this Trump-esque comment: “Few cops were visible in the city centre. But what does that indicate? A happy, peaceful community or a no-go zone where authority fears to tread?”

His implication is heavy. But come on - Canterbury is far from perfect, but a “no-go zone” it is most definitely not. In fact, according to police figures, its crime rate is lower than average for Kent. Although, in truth, it is higher than the national average across similar areas - and violent crime has risen. But not to the extent painted here.

Canterbury is, let us not forget, the district with the second biggest population in Kent (estimates put it at around 159,900). Only Maidstone (184,200) exceeds it. Add to that the several million visitors it pulls in each and every year.

No area in the world - let alone the country - has managed to take a large population and magically rid it of antisocial behaviour or crime. But a ‘no-go zone’? Canterbury? Give me a break.

“It’s just rubbish,” agrees Cllr Cornell. “We've got an active and strong relationship with the local police and a clear plan for how we deal with the night-time economy in particular.

“The police are not the only solution that we have to dealing with it. We have a variety of licensed premises being really proactive and putting good security on their doors and investing in various initiatives.

“We're a student city and if they really thought it was a ‘no-go area’ we would have the universities banging on our door. They're not.”

It rounds off the article by saying how, as night falls, the homeless take to the streets and start harassing tourists. Poor folk down on their luck daring to ask for a few pennies in a heavy footfall area? Come on, The Spectator is better than that, surely? Homelessness is not a Canterbury problem - it’s broader, wider and, let’s not pretend otherwise, has been an issue on the streets of every city for decades. Successive governments have talked big and failed to resolve it.

So why is this article so troubling? Because The Spectator claims to have 100,000 subscribers. Many of whom now will be thinking that Canterbury is down on its knees - with rampant crime and tourists being bothered by homeless folk as soon as the sun dips beneath the horizon. If they were pondering a trip here - spending cash to boost our local economy - they may now think twice.

And, let’s be honest, that is a grossly unfair picture to paint.