Councillors vote to grant planning permission for a 11,900 sqm "winery" at Highland Court Farm.

Kentish Gazette, Sat 22 July 2023

The KM's story on how the planning application at Highland Court Farm will now be considered again.

Dover District Council have turned down plans for a hotel at the site near Deal, which has numerous rare species of plant and wildlife. Campaigners are now calling on the council to reject a proposed surf lagoon.

Canterbury City Council have unanimously voted in favour of a Biodiversity Emergency declaration following a debate on a petition of over 1,000 signatures. The debate was introduced by Sian Pettman, starter of the petition and one of the people behind the Save Kingsmead Field campaign. The next stage in adopting the declaration will be a report to the council on 19 October.

The application for large warehouse space south west of Highland Court Farm was legally challenged. It will be reconsidered at a planning meeting later on Tuesday.

Council formally approves creation of 7-member working group and a redraft of the whole Local Plan, with another "Regulation 18" consultation period in early 2024. No specific changes announced yet, other than removal of City Centre zoning/circulation plan.

People who live, work or study in Canterbury are being encouraged to sign a petition asking the City Council to made a "Biodiversity Emergency Declaration". The petition emphasises how many species in Kent are at threat of extinction, the poor state of river and groundwater supplies, similar poor condition of many of the county's SSSIs and the risk of habitats being fragmented through development. 420 people had signed the petition by 28 June, and it has now passed the 1,000 signatures needed for a debate at a council meeting.

Chris Katkowski KC, a barrister with huge experience of local plan "Examinations in Public", spoke and answered questions during a recent Community Planning Alliance event.

Kentish Gazette, Wed 31 May 2023

The government has approved lorries that can be up to 2.05 metres longer than existing vehicles. The aim is reduce the overall number of trips, but there are concerns about safety and damage to road surfaces.

Kentish Gazette, Wed 24 May 2023

"KCC Highways, where possible, are not now looking to amend the network to accommodate more cars. … instead, they are looking to see how people could travel more sustainably from new sites and asking developers to provide the infrastructure" … “The hope is in future it will be more inviting and easier to walk and cycle short trips than to use the private car and public transport will be more accessible with reliable journey times". On council planning decisions: "The only realistic chance of an appeal being upheld on highway grounds is if highway safety is directly compromised and this has to be robustly evidenced.”