Newsdesk

College victory a triumph for the district

28th February 2003

Leading Green Party campaigners, Geoff Meaden, Emily Shirley and Steve Dawe played leading roles in the successful challenge to Canterbury College's greenfield campus proposals. Geoff Meaden, however, cautions against too much euphoria as this landmark victory is being celebrated by all the groups and individuals involved:

"We have protected the special landscape setting of Canterbury on this occasion. Only with eternal vigilance will we succeed in permanently protecting Canterbury from urban sprawl. Proposals to build a business park south of Canterbury and developments periodically proposed in Rough Common, Blean and Tyler Hill may still be brought forward for Council consideration. "Protecting grade 1 & 2 farmland from a College campus is a good start. We need this land to increase organic food production, since we import about 70% of the organic foodstuffs we eat. I cannot see any prospect of regenerating tourism unless we preserve the land around the City, maintaining its special character. The 'Green Tourism' of the future is heavily dependent on the retention of natural features, agricultural land and upon the extension of walking and cycling networks. "The Green Party welcomes the College's decision to pursue re-development of their existing site. We hope that new facilities in the district will be sited in Whitstable and Herne Bay, which have no Further Education or Higher Education teaching facilities at present."

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FURTHER INFORMATION: Dr Geoff Meaden on 01227 456806 or 01227 767700. Contact address for this release: 33 St.Stephens Road, Canterbury CT2 7JD. Comment on other matter can be obtained from Steve Dawe, Press Officer, East Kent Green Party, on 01233 645167 & 07904 382203.

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20th June 2005