The Blean Biopark incorporates regenerative agriculture, habitat creation, country park facilities, eco-tourism and smaller scale sustainable housing development. This vision is backed up by estimated revenues for the University of Kent and would allow the University to develop its research, teaching and funding plans in the fields of ecology, sustainability, food and farming.
The Save The Blean team gave a presentation about the Blean Biopark at Tyler Hill Memorial Hall in May, and the slides can be viewed here for further information.
We are continuing to work with the University on plans for the Blean Biopark and are hopeful that this will be taken forward as a positive alternative to the large scale car-led housing development that is currently proposed.
What the local community have said
At the end of 2024 an independent social researcher, Rachael Reilly, carried out a participatory social research study in the villages of Tyler Hill, Blean and Rough Common. The aim of the research was to listen to the voices of local residents, campaigners and community leaders to understand what is driving their concerns and the impact of the development proposal on their lives. Too often the views of local communities are drowned out in technical planning processes and ‘consultation’ is restricted to the rigid confines of the statutory planning system. Residents who do raise their voices are dismissed by politicians and the media as ‘nimbys’, ‘blockers’ and ‘naysayers’ who hold up developments and stall economic growth and there has been little attempt to understand their viewpoint and perspective. This report aims to present an alternative perspective to this narrative.
Read the short reportRead the long reportRead the executive summary
What can you do?
We anticipate another public consultation on Canterbury’s Local Plan in Autumn 2025. We hope that ours and the local community’s concerns have been taken on board, and that less environmentally damaging development sites have been explored for inclusion in the local plan. Whether this is the case remains to be seen. This next consultation will present opportunity to show support for, or raise concerns about, the proposed development plan for Canterbury.
Whilst we wait for this next consultation you can still make a difference by writing to your MP. You can also sign up to our speak up for nature mailing list for updates and find out more about the campaign groups fighting to save these previous spaces via their websites and social media channels.