Broomfield and Kingswood Parish Council

[ Back to: Home Page | News ]

Parish Input at the KIG Public Inquiry

(10th November 2009)

Introduction:

I am Councillor Beth Hendy, Chairman of the Broomfield and Kingswood Parish Council and I would like to thank you for the opportunity to address you here today on behalf of the Council and our residents, the vast majority of whom have collectively expressed their strong opposition to the KIG application.

Input:

We are a small rural Parish situated approximately three miles south east of the proposed KIG development.    

Some might ask why we want our voices heard at this Inquiry.    Surely we live at a sufficient distance from the site not to be adversely affected?   If this is the case, they could not be more wrong.  

We have in the past been given clear assurances that we would not suffer noise or disruption from the M20 motorway or the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, but this has not proved to be the case and our once peaceful country existence has already been marred in this respect as we now suffer constant background noise from both the road and rail installations.   There is no doubt in anyone’s mind locally, that the KIG development, situated adjacent to the road and rail links, would cause additional, 24/7, noise pollution.      

In one important respect, we in Broomfield and Kingswood are, at present, very fortunate in that our night sky is still reasonably dark.  To maintain our relatively unpolluted darkness, our Parish, along with our neighbours, has foregone the opportunity to have street lighting.  This self-denial would be in vain if KIG, with its giant lighting towers, operating 24 hours per day, were to come into being.

However, these issues, though important, are peripheral to the main reason for my addressing this Inquiry.   Primarily I would like to draw your attention to the poor road infrastructure that serves our and neighbouring Parishes.   The only routes in and out of the villages of Broomfield and Kingswood are three unclassified country lanes, two of which are single track and with few passing places.   None have any street lighting or pedestrian footways.

These lanes are already heavily used by vehicles of all shapes and sizes to access nearby trunk routes including the M20, A20, A274 and the B2163, as well as neighbouring Parishes.   The roads are busier than might be expected in this rural locality, particularly at peak periods and they are well known locally as being ‘rat runs’.

Our Parish access roads are particularly badly affected when the M20 is closed for any reason, including the not infrequent ‘Operation Stack’, when drivers seek alternative routes.    On these occasions the road infrastructure around the M20, including our lanes, very quickly becomes gridlocked.   KIG would unquestionably have the same effect, but on a permanent basis.

Also of concern is that these roads are used daily by heavy goods vehicles accessing Parish farm units and a large, nearby cold storage complex.   These include foreign lorries.   Frequently drivers are misrouted by their SatNavs and, ignoring clear signing regarding weight restrictions and routes being unsuitable for heavy vehicles, find themselves stuck fast in one of our country lanes. Inevitably, some inhabitants have already suffered damage to their property, including fencing, gates and embankments, and there is considerable inconvenience and often lengthy delays caused to residents and other road users, including emergency vehicles.   

As local residents with long-term knowledge and experience of our access lanes and the problems that already exist, we say unreservedly that KIG would adversely impact on our poor road links.

The point I wish to make in the strongest of terms is that there is absolutely no doubt in our minds that the huge increase in vehicle movements associated with KIG would serve to further increase traffic numbers using our unsuitable and already overused country lanes, by drivers seeking to find alternative and perceived quicker routes away from the A20 and other roads around the proposed KIG site.

We do not profess to be experts and it has been difficult to understand the huge volume of documentation, policy, law, etc. that has come our way in respect of this application.   We are just ordinary people who, by choice, live in a rural area in the hope of enjoying a quiet life away from the hubbub and noise of urban sprawl.   The proposed, vast KIG development would result in the industrialisation and destruction for ever, of this beautiful area of open Kent countryside.       

Therefore on behalf of the Parish Council and our community as a whole I ask you in making your recommendation, to consider very carefully the appalling and adverse impact that the KIG development would have on ours and our children’s lives, health and well being – KIG has the potential to ruin the quality of life for thousands of local people.  

We at Broomfield and Kingswood thus urge you to recommend against this unwanted and inappropriate KIG application.

Thank you for your time.  

Beth Hendy

(Chairman)
Broomfield and Kingswood Parish Council