Agenda and minutes

Tony Chadwick, Principal Planning Officer, Gravesham Borough Council and Laurence Tricker, Green Grid Programme Manager, Kent Thameside Delivery Board will be speaking on the plans and ideas for the land between the old and new A2, the ‘A2 Sandwich Lands’, which include the possibility of an outdoor activity centre and park and ride facility.

Tony Chadwick- Principal planner, Gravesham Borough Council

Old A2 becoming cycle way, but the road will remain because many services under the road. The land in the middle of the old and new A2’s will be available for other uses. The widest bit, near Northfleet, will remain as greenbelt.

Laurence Tricker, Green Grid programme manager.

Laurence outlined the Green Grid which is a series of inter linking paths/routeways and open spaces across Kent Thameside.  The aim is to develop a 21^st Century open space in the A2 ‘sandwich lands’ which is 24 Hectares, 300m wide at widest point.  Initial proposals are set out in presentation. The proposal is for cycle paths as well as park and ride for commuters.

Is it feasible? 84% of respondents, out of 300 questionnaires, thought it was a great idea. Have also spoken to key land owners, which include Union Railways, KCC, the Collier Furgusson Trust etc.  Revenue could be obtained from franchises, the park and ride, events etc.  Parking for commuters, to access coaches is a difficult issue locally and therefore this would be very welcome.

Q. Ron Hills: Is in favour of this, however, will cyclists be separate from pedestrians? What provision is there to stop illegal motorbikes?

A. There will be space sharing for walkways/cycling paths.  Re motorbikes, Jeskyns for example has 24 hour response for problems. Looking at ways to have 27/7 access. For example if the toll gate becomes commercial hub, it could offer 24 hour presence.

Q. When the A2 opens, will the links to the A227 be opened at the same time?

A. Yes it will.

Q. Local resident.  Jeskyns Park is not a very populated area and people have to travel with motorbikes quite a way to get there.  A2 Sandwich Lands will be much closer to the urban area.

A. When there was the linear park at the eastern end there were few problems with motorbikes.

Q. Is the park and ride a park and pay?

A. The idea is in its infancy, KCC will be putting money in and will be a commercial company to manage the park and ride.

Q What will happen if there is an accident at the site, for example if there is a BMX track?

A. From the revenue income, looking at employing 2 staff.

Q. Will there be free access?

A. Yes, but some of the area used will be commercial areas. There will be a cycle path all the way along to Shorne and beyond.

Q. Will there be any buildings?

A. There will be no buildings for outdoor activities. The only question will be over the toll gate.

Q. What provision will there be for stopping travellers accessing land while the area is vacant?

A. Collier Furgusson and Union Railway land will be given back their land before linear park gets under way. Need to get on with the project sooner rather than later to stop any abuse occurring of the land.  The site will also be a work site for the short term as well.

Q. Les Christie: on questionnaire responses – what is the breakdown of respondents according to post codes?  Will there be parking on site, for example for people visiting with cycles? When the new A2 was planned, local residents were promised landscaping, noise reduction etc. There is a concern that this development would bring 1000’s of people to the site.  How is the site going to be secured?

A. 311 respondents to questionnaires. Majority were local resident post codes.

Re parking: If the site functions as a Mon-Fri 9-5 commuter car park, might be parking in the evenings and weekends. However, need to create a green travel plan and encourage creative use of the open space.

Ray Parker: A lot of areas of Northfleet Fastrack are pulling back from and not serving.  Many households don’t have access to cars. Getting to these areas is very difficult for these people.

A. Aware of the issue and need to look at how people will get to the site.

Jane Cribbon: There isn’t much at all for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Jackie Thompson, of South East Planning Aid, will be speaking and happy to answer questions on the options for improving the Marling Cross/Singlewell area.

Funding for this work has come from planning gain from a local development, on the CTRL.  Has been involving local people in developing local improvements to the area. Issues identified by residents includes teenagers, open space is run down.  A steering group has been established.  They are developing community rooms.  There is further consultation with the community on 23^rd April in the Library.

Q. Ron Hills: Have GBC looked at Park and Ride for the Town?

A. Because of layout of town, this would not be a viable option.

Q. Regarding the Temple, where will people park for the major events that are planned here?

A. The Temple and GBC will be in discussions.  There will be restrictions on cars.  For some of the events people will come from all over the South east, but for others it is mainly local people.

The next meeting will take place on 9 July 2008, venue to be confirmed.

The next meeting will take place on 9 July 2008.  The venue is yet to be confirmed.

This meeting is due to close by 9:00 pm.