Thousand join fight to block housing expansion
19 Aug 2005
AMBITIOUS plans for the expansion of Kent Science Park should never see the light of day, according to at least 1,000 concerned residents. Andy Hudson, chairman of the Five Parishes Opposition Group, delivered a bumper petition to Swale House on Monday in opposi¬tion to the re-wording of the bor¬ough's Local Plan, a planning blue-print. At present, Kent Science Park is not allowed to expand outside its boundary.
If the new plan is approved in its current form this could change and lead to the building of more than 5,000 new homes and a road linking the A2 at Bapchild to the M2.
Mr Hudson said: "This summer the second draft of the plan was sent out for public consultation and now we are just trying to get Swale Council to re-word its KSP policy back to how it was."
The opposition group, fighting plans for the extension of the science park and for thousands of new homes, is made up of representatives from Bapchild, Rodmersham, Milstead, Tunstall and Bredgar and claims it has strong support from neighbouring parishes.
Members visited several public events in their hunt for signatures, with Mr Hudson alone gaining about 250.
To find out more about the Five Parishes Opposition Group, visit www.fiveparishes.org.uk.
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