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Campaign group The Sittingbourne Society calls for better access to town at 383 home development in Crown Quay Lane
06:00, 12 May 2021
Developers are seeking permission to build an extra 100 homes on a new development in Sittingbourne town centre - but a campaign group has warned of accidents if pedestrian crossings are not installed alongside it.
The plans, to build the houses and flats on land to the west of Crown Quay Lane, are part of a wider project to erect 383 homes, which gained approval in 2019.
The latest application sent to Swale council outlined proposals for 102 homes, including 84 houses and 18 flats.
The brownfield site is close to the Sittingbourne Eurolink estate and less than 500m from the town’s train station.
The new application is a “redesign” of a previous one which raised issues, including the need to shield residents from air pollution and noise from the nearby Eurolink Way, to protect ecological areas and mitigate against flooding, as parts of the site fall within at-risk zones.
However, in a planning statement, the developer stated it offered key benefits including “much needed” affordable housing, pathways to Sittingbourne Retail Park, new trees being planted, and an increase in biodiversity.
A letter to the local authority from The Sittingbourne Society, a group founded in 1977 to oppose a planning project at the time, outlined no objection to the plans, but called for a condition to be put in place to avoid any traffic problems.
Member Malcolm Moore said: “Although we have no objections to the principle of this development we remain concerned about the problems the residents will have gaining pedestrian access to the town centre shopping area.
“At the very minimum we suggest that the pedestrian crossing arrangements at the Mill Way/Eurolink Way need to be approved.
“We hope that pedestrian lights can be installed on Eurolink Way on the east side of the junction. Otherwise it will be necessary to cross three busy roads to access the town. This will inevitably lead to more accidents.”
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