Hugh Robertson protests formally against the proposed Kent International Gateway development

Hugh Robertson, the MP for Mid Kent, has today taken the unusual step of responding formally to a local council over a development proposal.

He has taken this step because of his complete opposition to the application and its potentially devastating impact. A copy of his letter is below.

KIG Comments
Maidstone Borough Council
The Gateway
King Street
Maidstone
Kent
ME15 6JQ
January 2009

Kent International Gateway

As the local Member of Parliament, I would like to register my total opposition to the Kent International Gateway planning proposal scheduled for the land adjoining Junction 8 of the M20.

There are any number of possible grounds for objection but my three principal concerns are as follows:

(i) The land is part of a Special Landscape Area adjoining the North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is in close proximity to the Bearsted Green Conservation Area. It should, therefore, not be developed at all and certainly not for a heavy industrial rail/road freight interchange of this size.

(ii) The villages of Bearsted and Thurnham, two of the most picturesque in Maidstone, are totally unsuitable neighbours for such a facility and would be irrevocably blighted. It would also degrade the quality of life for all local residents to an unacceptable extent.

(iii) Although this may fall outside the Committee’s remit, I cannot see how Junction 8 of the M20 is a suitable position for a rail/road freight interchange. Logic would dictate that any such facility should be situated at the end of a motorway and Maidstone’s already congested motorways could not stand the extra traffic. I note that the Secretary of State, in approving Howbury Park in Dartford for a national and regional distribution site, agreed with this in stating that the KIG site was unsuitable.

Please will you make sure that the Committee is aware of my total opposition?

All my very best wishes.