MINUTES
MEETING OF THANET DISTRICT CPRE

7 December 2002

Dunkeld House, Leslie Road, Birchington

1a. Members present: Mr Mairs, Chairman; Dr Cohen, Vice-chairman; Mr Bridge, Mrs Cohen, Mrs Harding, Mr Luck, Dr and Mrs Neden, Dr Quested, Mrs Randall and Miss Westgarth.

1b. Also present: Mr Bellingham, Mr Clayson and Mr Collingwood.

2. Apologies: were received from Mr Vilette.

3. Minutes of the last meeting: These were accepted as a true and accurate record.

4. Matters arising: Regarding the Richborough incinerator saga, there had been no change in situation since the previous meeting. There are still two possible developments, and Kent County Council is still against them both, said Dr Cohen, who has faxed evidence of this.

It was the same with Manston airport, no significant developments having occurred other than the fact that, as noted by Mrs Neden, operator Wiggins had for the first time made a profit, through the sale of 26 acres of land. That sale was made to keep Wiggins afloat, said Dr Cohen. In the long term, he continued, Manston had a life of no more than 15 years as air traffic from other sites would rule out further expansion.

The public inquiry into the Westwood Cross project was still proceeding, following Thanet District Council’s interference in compulsory purchase agreements, reported Mr Mairs. Mrs Neden added that two of the three subsidiary arms of Chelverton, the developer behind the scheme, had gone bankrupt.

The meeting unanimously condemned Thanet District Council’s decision to allow Margate Football Club to expand into Hartsdown Park. Dr Cohen reported that eight acres of parkland would be lost despite the fact that plans for a casino had been withdrawn. Mrs Randall said she

had spoken to a representative of the Open Spaces Society who had promised to send TDC a letter opposing the plans to take parkland.

Mr Mairs said he thought the application would be ‘called in’ by the Government as it went against the Thanet Local Plan, but Dr Cohen (who is, of course, a TDC councillor) assured him this was not the case, saying that full council had the power to overturn the Local Plan at will. "The Local Plan doesn’t mean much," he said. Mr Mairs said he would look to clarify the matter. The issue of compensatory land was raised – perhaps eight acres of new parkland would have to be ‘created’ to offset the loss to the development. Again, Mr Mairs said he would look into this.

The consultation period for the Department for Transport aviation White Paper had been extended to the end of March, said Mr Mairs, who asked all present who felt strongly about the issue to write to the Transport Secretary. Several said they already had.

Mr Mairs informed the meeting that he had submitted a response on behalf of the District, arguing against the ‘Cliffe compensation’ proposals entailing the partial flooding of the Stour and Wantsum valleys, on the basis that it would be a waste of money, change the character of the local environment and sacrifice high-quality farmland, lead to loss of rural community and possibly have a serious effect on the Pegwell Bay Special Protection Area.

Other matters: Land at Brooke Avenue which had reportedly been set aside as a small nature reserve appears to be up for grabs again, reported Dr Quested.

Mr Bridge had noted that plans for an ‘academy’ were being put forward by Kent County Council for the last portion of farmland on Pysons Road.

Mr Mairs said that, according to the Isle of Thanet Gazette, TDC had made little change to its Local Plan despite 3,149 responses from the public, some 2,500 of them regarding Westwood. TDC wants 4,200 new homes to be built in the Plan period and believes that Manston airport will be ‘moving’ a million passengers and 250,000 tonnes of freight a year by 2011. It had also been decided that the Thanet industrial estates should lose their "old-fashioned industrial warehouse plant image" and look instead to developments such as nightclubs.

Mr Clayson will be attending a CPRE Kent local plans workshop, in preparation for the battle ahead.

Dr Cohen told the meeting that the Thanet Nature Conservation Umbrella Group had lost its TDC funding but then proudly declared that it had received £500 from the Thanet Community Development Trust. Some of this money had already gone towards the purchase of 100 trees, as well as to administration costs.

Mr Bridge informed those present that TDC chairman Barry Coppock had spoken of his desire to have meetings with local groups so he could listen to their concerns. Although Mr Coppock will be retiring shortly, he apparently intends to report what he hears back to council. Members present felt that such meetings would probably not achieve very much.

Mr Luck asked if anything had been heard from the National Trust regarding Pegwell Bay. The answer came that nothing had been heard from the National Trust regarding Pegwell Bay.

Mr Bridge told the meeting that the Green Party wanted local candidates for the next elections. He had the address of a meeting for anyone interested.

Finally, members heard that Mr Bernie Baldwin had lost his appeal against prosecution for tipping on Pegwell Bay cliff-top. Also, his house had burnt down.