(extract from the Whitstable Times online)
A CONTROVERSIAL cycle path has finally been approved - two years after it was first proposed. Councillors voted through plans to extend the Crab and Winkle path from All Saints Close to Northwood Road at a meeting last night (Tuesday) after a mammoth two-hour debate. More than 30 supporters and objectors filled the public gallery of the Guildhall in Canterbury to hear and applaud the eight speakers who made impassioned pleas both for and against the plan. Opponent Mark Dickerson said: "Lets not forget this is a conservation area with a blanket tree preservation order. Since when did conservation mean ripping out the environment we are trying to preserve? Whitstable is shouting loud and clear. We don't want this path to follow this destructive route. Let's have a plan that truly celebrates and commemorates the railway heritage instead of building all over it."
The Rev Paul Wilson slammed the plans as misguided and mishandled and said the application was not valid because the correct forms had not been completed when it was lodged. And amateur historian Bob Winter said more surveys and work were needed and a new application should be submitted. He added: "Let's open the door marked peace and not the one marked strife."
Tony Ledger, spokesman for the Whitstable Green Lung Association, said the area needed to be protected because of its importance to wildlife. He criticised the council's report as "biased" and demanded an independent review of the case. But Ruth Goudie, from Kent Highway Services, said the route had already been included in the local plan and a raft of council policies. And it was backed by county council officials because it would link the Canterbury to Whitstable route and a proposed coastal path. She said: "We have given a lot of support financially to the applicant in the process of this application. "It has the potential to be nationally recognised." And the Rev Canon Chris Byers, a board member of the Whitstable Society and Whitstable Improvement Trust, said a lot of people in the town were excited by the scheme. "The vast majority of people in Whitstable long for this route to be there," he said. "I bear the wounds of the person who chaired the public meeting when the Green Lung first appeared with its cry that we were going to tarmac over the green lung of Whitstable. "It seemed nonsense and yet it was apparent the plans being brought forward then were awful and didn't meet the needs of residents. Since then people have listened to one another and the business of building up trust has improved.
"We are in with a real chance of giving this lovely old line, which was crucial to Whitstable in the 19th century, the chance to play a part in a greener future." David Young, Sustrans co-ordinator for the south east, said the scheme was a once in a lifetime opportunity. He admitted there were issues of overlooking to address but said a new application for the bridges providing the final link to the path would be prepared. Lawyer Janet Taylor dismissed claims the plans were not valid and councillors debated issues including the potential for increased crime and fears over cyclists and pedestrians sharing the path. Whitstable councillors argued the bridges - already granted planning permission that has now expired - should be in place before any work on the path extension started and suggested deferring the scheme to consider the bridges at the same time. But Cllr Nick Eden Green said: "There has been a huge amount of debate over this. If it was for 200 houses I could understand the heat generated. "It concerns me that people have got so worked up. Deferring would merely prolong what is an even longer agony. "Let's keep in mind this has been a long-held ambition of KCC and CCC and is part of our cycling and health strategies."
The plan was agreed by nine votes to three.
Source: Crab & Winkle Line Trust.