Public exhibition of KSP's expansion plans

Simon Reynolds said “You will be aware that the former Site Director of Kent Science Park, Robert Williams, as guest at a Parish Council meeting way back at the beginning of the year, gave an undertaking that we would consult further with the Parishes once we had formulated our proposals upon receipt of all the relevant consultants reports.”

"We reached that position on Friday 6th August, just in time for submission deadline to the EIP Panel Programme Officer and, now wish to make arrangements with the Parish Council's for a consultation event where we can introduce and explain the various aspects of the proposals, as well as field answers to the Parishes questions.”

Simon Reynolds suggests that “The whole Area Action Plan boundary proposals will be up for discussion, the Science Park expansion, the Southern Relief Road, the Motorway Junction, the housing areas, the recreational area, the vast S106 list of schools and facilities, the landscape mitigation etc.”

There is to be an evening event on the 1st September, aimed at the 5 Parish Council's and their representatives and advisors, which allows for the various elements to be explained and discussed in some detail. This was originally going to be open to the public as well, but was changed because as Simon quotes “proved less useful in understanding what is being proposed” and “given the large public catchment could have proved too difficult to manage”

The public and press are however invited to a manned exhibition the following day on  2nd September at the Woodstock Club, opposite the park from 9am to 6pm. We did ask for this to be extended into the evening but alas this request has not being accommodated, and I’ve already had many complaints, but we have no control over the opening times. It would also appear they the Kent Science Park are not going to be advertising this event, so please let as many people as possible know about it.

Simon Reynolds also said “We have to date, avoided entering the on-going debate over the future of the KSP in the local press, but are aware that the speculation over them will have caused interest, concern and, a degree of anxiety to those residents who would have wished to have been given information and had certain fears allayed earlier than now.“

I just like to remind Simon that it was his marketing propaganda in the article of 19th May in the East Kent Gazette that kicked off the on-going debate in the first place, oh what a short memory we have.

He then goes on to say “The consultation event is meant to serve as a pre-cursor to the statutory route of consideration and consultation that the proposals may or may not follow and, whilst it is not our intention to convert people who have their own valid views of what we are proposing and their positive or negative impacts, we are happy to enter into dialogue and debate from which point people are able to make a more informed judgement of them.”