The Inspector's Report from the Local Plan Public Inquiry has now arrived at Medway Council—more than two months before the Inspector's target date of 26th April!
The Inspector's conclusion on Rochester Airfield (sic) is summarised as follows:
"The most contentious aspect of the Deposit Plan is undoubtedly the proposals in Policy S11 which involve the closure of Rochester Airfield and its redevelopment for a Science and Technology Park, along with housing, open space, and associated areas. This proposal attracted by far the majority of the objections, totalling over 3,300 objections from over 1,600 individuals and organisations. In principle, I have concluded that this is a soundly-based proposal which would accord with many key elements of national, regional and strategic planning policy. However, I consider the Plan gives insufficient weight to the importance of the existing Rochester Airport, and recommend a redevelopment option which allows the development of a smaller Science & Technology Park, but with the retention of a general aviation facility and omission of the housing element."This is, in effect, a solution very much like the compromise Options C and C1 proposed in the WS Atkins study. It is not an ideal outcome but is a lot better than the airport closure and full development of the site that the other political groups—and one of the two independent members—voted for last year. The Conservative group would still prefer no development at all, but are relieved that the Inspector's recommendation would keep the flying capability and would much reduce the scale of industrial development and eliminate all the originally-proposed 200 houses.
Incidentally, the Inspector separately proposes that the Woolmans Wood Caravan Park should be covered by the airfield policy.
Of course, the Council is not obliged to go along with the Inspector's recommendation and can vote to ignore it. That is almost certainly what will happen, so the saga is still far from over. As nothing can happen to the airport site in the short-term, what is really needed is a further shift toward the Conservatives in next year's local elections: we must have enough seats to give us overall control. Then and only then can we protect the airport site from those who wish to proceed with total redevelopment.
These are the results of the survey I and my colleagues in the Davis Estate Residents Association, Chatham (DERAC) conducted as soon as it became known to us that Rochester Airport was being threatened with closure. It was the first we had heard of this intention by the then Labour-run Medway Council, and we had just two weeks for objections to be lodged.
So, we first produced a letter to all residents on the estate with a simple two tick-box reply method for up to six members of each household (that should be enough, we thought; but could supply extra reply slips on request). There was an almost unanimous vote to keep the airport, with just half a dozen votes to close and two who did not vote either way, although they had entered their names on the reply slips.
| Road: | Reply Slips: | Total Votes: | Votes to Keep: | Votes to Close: | No Vote: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amethyst Avenue | 6 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Barberry Avenue | 13 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| Binland Grove | 7 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Concord Avenue | 13 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 0 |
| Crescent Way | 6 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Field Close | 3 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Greenway | 9 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| Highview Drive | 13 | 23 | 21 | 2 | 0 |
| Hill View Way | 4 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Holland Road | 12 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| Hook Close | 23 | 48 | 47 | 0 | 1 |
| Hurst Close | 4 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Hurstwood | 14 | 42 | 42 | 0 | 0 |
| Kemp Close | 16 | 36 | 31 | 5 | 0 |
| Madden Avenue | 6 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| Thorndale Close | 14 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 0 |
| Vale Drive | 21 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 0 |
| Watson Avenue | 8 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| West Drive | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Woodhurst | 12 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals: | 206 | 450 | 441 | 7 | 2 |
| Percentages: | 98·0 | 1·6 | 0·4 | ||
| From elsewhere | 19 | 77 | 76 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals: | 19 | 77 | 76 | 1 | 0 |
| Percentages: | 98·7 | 1·3 | 0·0 | ||
| Combined Totals: | 225 | 527 | 517 | 8 | 2 |
| Percentages: | <98·1 | 1·5 | 0·4 | ||
The next stage was to prepare a letter of objection to be signed by residents and lodged at Medway Council's offices by the deadline, which was only a couple of weeks away! With help from other interested organisations—particularly the Popular Flying Association—we were able to lodge well over 1,000 objections in time to meet the deadline. This was by far the largest objection to any of the proposals in the deposit Local Plan 1999.
Pictured at the right is the Conservative Party's Save our Green Fields Battlebus on its visit to Rochester Airport during the 2001 General Election campaign.
Even now, with the Public Inquiry re-started and now effectively complete, the local constituency Conservative Party has prepared a petition, and this is going round not only the immediate area but all around the Medway Towns: that is how widespread the interest is in this matter. As the petition forms are completed, they are gathered up by John who presents them at just about every full Council meeting. Below is the wording of the petition, along with the address that John gave to the full Council when the first completed forms were presented to the Mayor:
Thank you Mr Mayor. I have a 95-signature petition objecting to the proposed closure of Rochester Airport.
This issue is still a vitally important one, not only to those living near the airport, but throughout the Medway Towns, and this is reflected both in the petition (whose signatories live all around our Towns) and in the local press, where the issue is still very much alive, especially in the Letters pages.
Mr Mayor, I know that you and the Mayoress recently visited the airport for their Wings and Wheels event, despite inclement weather, and I do hope that you both enjoyed it.
It‘s a very good resource to have, ready for the future where it will become so much more important than many of us yet realise. Mr Mayor, let me now read the very short, straightforward wording of this petition:"Petition to save Rochester Airport.
On 11th January 2001 Labour and Liberal Democrat Councillors on Medway Council voted to close Rochester Airport and build on the site, despite massive public opposition to this plan.
We the undersigned deplore the decision to cover Rochester Airport with concrete from end to end and urge the Medway Council to take urgent steps to overturn this decision which is an affront to democracy in Medway."Thank you Mr Mayor.
Both John and Ron continue to keep a close eye on what is going on regarding all aspects of the airport and its future, and John is Medway Council's representative on the Rochester Airport Consultative Committee (RACC) and was even seen on Meridian Television recently (as I write this in early March 2002) when the then newly-formed Action on Davis Estate (ADE) gave their response to the Inspector's proposal.
Some months before this John met and spoke briefly to the Inspector of the Public Enquiry when he visited the airport early in October 2001, and also attended the RACC meeting on 26th October 2001—the first of many such meetings. John also keeps in regular contact with the Pilots And Friends of Rochester Airport (PAFRA).