Press Releases for 2004

KENT SCIENCE PARK "OLD THINKING"

20th May 2004

Hazel Dawe, Green Party European Candidate for Kent (1), has condemned proposals to expand the Kent Science Park near Sittingbourne. She criticises the expansion of land for industrial uses when many vacant sites exist in Kent, such as those along the Thanet Way. She comments:

"The proposed expansion of the Kent Science Park is an example of 'old thinking'. Councils in Kent are guilty of adopting a 'predict and provide' approach to business expansion which is leading to greenfield sites being designated as industrial land, although the industry may never come. The Kent Science Park's proposed expansion coincides with proposals in Canterbury to create a massive 50 acre business park at Barton Farm south of Canterbury. Thanet has large vacant areas in its industrial estates which it is has had great difficulty filling. Ashford, doomed to expansion by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, has not succeeded in attracting any major new employers public or private to the town."

"The Green Party believes employment increases are more likely to occur from policies which do not eat up the landscape. These could include:

* New housing in the form of energy-efficient 'live-work' units, using derelict industrial land.

* Promotion of co-operatives to allow people with little capital to create new enterprises by working together.

* Consumers favouring employment- and capital-efficient locally-based businesses when shopping or using services, to boost local employment.

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FURTHER INFORMATION: Hazel Dawe on 01233 645167 or 07960 956272. Contact address: 10 Hillbrow Road, Ashford, Kent TN23 4QH. Local website: www.eastkent-greenparty.org.uk Hazel Dawe is a Senior Lecturer in Law at London Metropolitan University.

Note: 1. Hazel Dawe is one of 10 candidates on the Green Party list for the South East Region's European constituency. Other information on these elections can be found at www.greenparty.org.uk/southeast and on the website of the South East's Green MEP, Caroline Lucas at www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk Published and promoted by Susan Miles, on behalf of the South East Confederation of Green Parties, both at 3 Copse Cottages, Shillingford Road, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8LQ.

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