Local Development and COP26 – Time to protest

 

Local Development and COP26 – Time to protest

A quick glance through the local press in Medway shows the problem that we all face wit regard to Development.

The first item shows the success of making protests visible by going onto the streets, with banners and placards, and clearly demonstrating our objections. This was in relation to proposals to build on former tennis courts in Second avenue in Gillingham. “For the third time, councillors have turned down controversial plans to build homes on the site of a former tennis club”.

The next article refers to the development on the Hoo Peninsula where Medway Council will spend £170 million of Government cash developing 10 000 new homes and infrastructure on the peninsula. This massive development on green space includes housing, major road development and a renewed rail connection. The rail connection includes anew station and considerable land usage for car parking. However, this development by Medway Council, does not include a rail link into Medway. The rail link will take people directly to London, via Gravesend!

The development of Chatham Riverside continues with plans to convert Mountbatten House into apartments. Medway Development Company hopes to convert the offices into 164 flats and build an extension, MDC hopes to issue a planning application to the Council later this month.

Medway Council has now decided to abandon the procurement process to find developers to build 550 homes on the former Civic Centre site in Strood. This site is of hostoric importance to Medway being the site of the former Aveling and Porter factory which amongst other things build the first petrol driven traction engine. Aveling was of course married to one of Karl Marx’s daughters. But such history is lost on our narrow sited civic leaders, The Council spend millions of pounds on raising the ground level as a defence against flooding. The proposal being put forward is for a boxpark with retail outlets?

This development was part of the plans to develop Strood Waterfront with more than 1000 homes. These proposals also threaten a social housing community close to Strood station which may not fit in with the Council’s vision.

It is very clear what that vision entails. It is NOT to meet the housing needs of Medway. All the publicity and advertising for these properties stress the location of the sites as ‘being close to the stations’ and ‘having easy access to London’. The aim is to build luxury type accommodation for people whose work and social life is based on London and who will treat Medway as a base out of which to move. It will, no doubt, boost the rate income for the council, but not bring any benefit to the residents of Medway.

I did not find any references to other developments of concern. There is still an on-going campaign against the orchard Project involving major loss of natural environment, there is also an ongoing battle to save Capstone Valley. Nor have I mentioned the plans to build on Eastcourt Green, a small area of urban green space within an area that is devoid of such space and suffers from many ailments connected with pollution and air quality. Nor have I mentioned other areas proposed for development but causing concern because of loss of green space, environmental dangers, loss of habitats and areas of special scientific interest.

In all of this I have due regard to the housing needs of the people of Medway. However, the developments that are taking place are aimed at meeting Government statistics and demands, providing profit for developers. What is needed is a comprehensive plan, similar to the one adopted in the period after the war, when the local Councils built Council Housing Estates, such as Twydall, which were well panned, including amenities needed by people, and were affordable for local people.

However, housing development was not the only issue raised in this edition of the local press. I have mentioned the road, rail, housing development on the Hoo Peninsular. As an aside, it is of interest that Medway Council has rebranded its commercial arm as Kyndi. There is also a further report on the Thames Crossing with a headline that states that the new tunnel won’t solve congestion issues at the crossing. This multi-billion pound road tunnel between Gravesend and Essex would still leave Kent’s existing major road arteries with up to 20 000 excess vehicles a day. The Dartford Crossing would still be over capacity. It is estimated that the new crossing will double the amount of traffic crossing between Kent and Essex. Apart from the new road and its connection to the existing network, there are no plans to improve the road network in Kent. This will have a serious effect upon urban areas, such as Gillingham, which already has a major link running through the heart of the Town serving as an alternative to the A2M2. As mentioned a little earlier, Medway already has a serious problem with pollution leading to health problems in a variety of aspects. We have here a link to Health Services in Medway where, as with other more working class areas of Kent, such as Thanet, Margate, Sheppey, Hoo, the Health Provision within the NHS is being downgraded, with provision becoming more concentrated in the more prosperous areas of Kent.

All of this brings me back to where I started, with the success of the people from Second Avenue Gillingham who have successfully protested to hold back development in their area. There are groups of protesters around those developments which for a variety of reasons are unacceptable. What I believe we need is to bring all these together and have a joint campaign in support of our environment. However, this is not just a local matter. The problem we face locally is simply part of a global problem. What I have outlined is part of the cause of the climate change which is having a serious effect throughout the world. A frightening map that I have seen shows the areas of Kent that will be lost to the sea unless something drastic is done soon. There is a local group which is seeking to build for the COP26 meeting in November. This is the intergovernmental body which will review progress on Climate Change measures and make further proposals for the future. Only two countries has met the targets that they voluntarily set for themselves at the last COP meeting.

Both the local and global issues are of great importance, they are not separate, but united. They are not confined to one aspect of life but cover all aspects of life. Protests work, but they need people to come together, discuss issues and act together. This article aims to show the relevance of these activities here in Medway and to show the importance of linking these local issues to the Global activity. It is an invitation for you to join with us.