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Crunch time for £50m college plans

A crowd of more than 100 turned up for a site meeting, but many left as they couldn't hear what was being said. Picture: VERNON STRATFORD
A crowd of more than 100 turned up for a site meeting, but many left as they couldn't hear what was being said. Picture: VERNON STRATFORD

TODAY is decision day for Mid-Kent College and its £50 million plans for a new super-campus.

Medway Council meets tonight to discuss proposals to close the colleges in Horsted, Chatham, and City Way, Rochester, and build a bigger campus on the Lower Lines in Gillingham.

If plans to relocate are supported, Mid-Kent College will stand alongside the University of Kent at Medway, The University of Greenwich and Canterbury Christ Church University.

Tonight’s meeting promises to be lively after tempers flared at a site meeting at the weekend.

More than 100 people turned up on Saturday but some left in disgust as they could not hear what planners and officers had to say after no-one brought a loud speaker and the one microphone available did not work.

Many people are unhappy about the move, claiming the site chosen for development is an historic green space, set aside in the Medway Local Plan as public open space, and should not be used for development.

Others do not like the proposal to replace the Horsted site with a large housing development, but council officers say they have only had 48 responses opposing the plans and more than 530 postcards supporting it.

One angry resident who was able to hear councillors and officers was Jane Smith of Medway Road.

She said: "This isn’t about education, it’s about these people lining their pockets.

"We do not want to lose this land – our children play there – and if it is built, where will all the students park? The roads around here are already busy."

The plans have already cost the college £1.2 million and they do not intend to appeal if planning permission is refused.

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