We the undersigned, together with petition organisers, the Save Princes Parade Campaign, urge the Leader of Folkestone & Hythe District Council to stop all work on the site at Princes Parade pending the outcome of the Public Inquiry into the realignment of the coast road. The wildlife relocation and destructive clearance of the site is premature, harmful and pointless at this stage. The development may not be able to proceed in its current form should the inquiry reject the realignment of the road and therefore work should be halted immediately.
Why is this important?
Please join me and the thousands of people who care about Princes Parade, the environment and wildlife. Please sign this petition if you care how public money is spent as the Council are spending a fortune on works which may turn out to be completely unnecessary. Only once the inquiry has been held should a decision be made about whether to proceed with the works.
Time is Running Out for the Wildlife!
The reptile relocation has already begun, with them being carried in buckets to other areas in an attempt to mitigate the harm of the Princes Parade development. The council are currently seeking to evict numerous badgers by blocking off their setts. They will be forced to move to an area that will be a fraction of the size with 8 hectares of green space which they currently use for foraging destroyed. This has to stop NOW because the future of the highway at Princes Parade has yet to be decided. The outcome of the public inquiry could affect the whole development, meaning all this relocation work and the construction of an artificial sett would be completely unnecessary.The council is in such a rush to push the scheme through that it is acting irresponsibly and without regard for wildlife, wasting huge sums of money in the process.
Background Information
In 2019 Folkestone and Hythe District Council granted themselves planning permission to build 150 seafront apartments, a boutique hotel, commercial units and a leisure centre on a narrow strip of land they have owned for many years at Princes Parade, Hythe. This fragile development site is bordered by a narrow coastal road and the sea to the south, and the Royal Military Canal, a Scheduled Ancient Monument to the north. In the 1970s the land was used by the Council for landfill but has long since re-wilded and has become a tranquil, beautiful place much treasured by residents. It is also a haven for wildlife.
The Council’s development plans, which involve relocating the coastal road to run within a few metres of the RMC and stripping the site of its vegetation and wildlife, have met with considerable opposition from residents as well as from statutory consultees. This has led to delays. Undeterred by this week’s announcement by the Dept for Transport that there is to be a 4-day public inquiry into the re-location of the road, the Council is continuing its work to clear wildlife and vegetation from the site.
The results of the Public Inquiry must be obtained before the council makes another blunder, causing harm to both wildlife and public finances in the process.
