Hundreds of people have taken part in a protest march to stop 2,000 homes being built on open land.
As many as 340 protesters walked two-and-a half-miles through Canterbury to the University of Kent to hand over a letter outling their objections the mass housebuilding plan.
It comes as land in Blean, next to the university’s city campus, has been earmarked for 2,000 homes in the city council’s new draft Local Plan, sparking a fierce backlash.
The cash-strapped university’s new vice-chancellor has this week thrown her support behind the controversial plans, arguing the site is “one of the best options locally to provide the housing stock needed”.
But the local Save the Blean group, an action group made up of residents, students, conservationists and farmers, took to the streets today (May 25) to object to the proposals.
Julia Kirby-Smith, chair of the protest organisers, told KentOnline: “It was a very well attended and organised demonstration.
“We marched through the streets of Canterbury and members of the public took leaflets we offered to find out more about this issue.”
The protest had begun with a rally at the city’s Dane John Gardens where Ms Kirby-Smith told protesters: “We are a grassroots, non-political organisation that has grown out of a groundswell of public dismay, at the University of Kent’s proposal for 2,000 houses on farmland between Canterbury and Whitstable.
“This would effectively be a new town in a car-dependent location in the countryside.”
The protest has been supported by groups such as The Kent Wildlife Trust.
It says the project “threatens” three local villages - Tyler Hill, Blean and Rough Common - as well as “quality agricultural land, multiple heritage sites and an important nature corridor between East Blean Woods National Nature Reserve and RSPB Blean Woods.
The development is earmarked in Canterbury City Council’s draft Local Plan and the issue had been discussed in a heated public meeting at the city’s Westgate Hall on Tuesday.
Chris Packham, presenter for the TV programme Springwatch, also opposes the development and had this week publicly urged people to join the demonstration.
The land is next to the Canterbury campus and the university argues that the site is one of the best options locally to provide the housing stock needed.
Professor Georgina Randsley de Moura, vice-chancellor, said in a letter shared with KentOnline earlier this week: “We would not have put our land forward if we were not certain that any future development could be done in a sustainable, respectful and responsible way.
“We want to maintain this as best we can at a time when sector finances are severely stretched.
“We want to make this work to provide a welcome boost to the regional economy and meet housing needs while showing that new housing can - and must be - delivered with the highest sustainability standards in mind.”
