Future of Canterbury park remains uncertain after council committee postpones vote

Following a Canterbury city council meeting this Wednesday the future of one of the town’s large

green spaces – Kingsmead field – is still uncertain.

The park that separates the University of Kent campus from the rest of the town has been subject to a 4-year-long twist as local campaigners have been fighting for the area to gain a so-called village green status in order to secure its existence in perpetuity.

 The status, which the Policy and Resources Committee decided they did not want to vote on yet, would mean that the park is protected for decades to come.

Local resident Joyce Epps lives near the field and has fond memories of it. She said: “The wildlife in this area could disappear without it, and it’s so important to have a space to connect with nature. If the city council could keep the open space and move any development elsewhere that would be lovely.”

 The twist started in 2011 as University of Kent put in a planning application to build a development that would cover a third to half of the field – this would have included a conference center, a hotel and a car park.

 Due to the natural division Kingsmead creates between the campus and the residential area the application created ripples in the local community and the campaigning against the plan brought the university to their knees and they withdrew the application.

 

 However, the battle of Kingsmead is not over yet. The university recently published a draft of a master plan; the future of the university campus. The document shows ambitious suggestions to turn Kent into a “garden campus”as the slogan goes, but on a map featuring the possible future look of the campus a tiny arrow – barely visible – points towards the Kingsmead field. Next to the building is the following sentence:

 “Conferencing hotel as a pavilion in the park.”

 One of the campaigners, retired philosophy professor Richard Norman, is as puzzled by the comment as we are. He said: “What on earth does that mean? A pavilion would be a tiny little thing; a conferencing hotel would be huge!

 “If they really mean to preserve the natural settings and the parkland then that’s great and we can work together, but I think there are conflicting voices within the establishment and at the university there are people who would still like to keep open the option of a conference centre in the future.”

The university seems to be hanging on to the idea of a conference complex in the middle of Kingsmead field, hence the future of the park is in the hands of the council and their upcoming vote. A decision for village green status would mean that Kingsmead will continue to serve the community as the important open space it is.

 New Perspectives have contacted the University but they are yet to respond.