Canterbury City Coucil issued a statement on 9th October, announcing the withdrawal of their current plan for the extension of the Wincheap Park and Ride.
“We have been informed by Highways England that their experts cannot sign off the design of the A2 off-slip at Wincheap which was submitted as part of the planning permission for the Thanington Park development.
The developer is in the process of coming up with a series of proposals that it is hoped will address their concerns.
This means our design for an extended Park and Ride site at Wincheap, which was approved by the Planning Committee, cannot be put in place.
We intend to withdraw our plans. Also, the council, in its role as local planning authority, will be revoking the planning permission.
Once the off-slip design is agreed, we will look at the implications for the current Park and Ride site as well as the potential for future expansion.
A formal decision would be needed before any future work can begin on changing the site’s layout.”
We’re delighted that Wincheap Water Meadows have a reprieve for now. Hopefully Canterbury City Council will now take the opportunity for a fundamental rethink of the plan, and to consider alternative options.