The Kent International Gateway was a proposed logistics hub and strategic rail-freight interchange (SRFI) next to the

M20 motorway The M20 is a motorway in Kent, England. It follows on from the A20 at Swanley, meeting the M25, and continuing on to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports at Dover. It is long. Although not signposted in England, ...

east of

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

. The project was controversial because it was a major development in a

special landscape area A local landscape designation is a non-statutory conservation designation used by local government in some parts of the United Kingdom to categorise sensitive landscapes which are, either legally or as a matter of policy, protected from developme ...

close to several historic villages. Following a

public inquiry A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal ...

that ended in December 2009, the

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government The secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, also referred to as the levelling up secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the overall leadership and strategic direction o ...

rejected the proposal on 5 August 2010.

Proposal

The proposed development would have been built in a corridor between the village of

Bearsted Bearsted ( , ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish with railway station in mid-Kent, England, two miles (3.2 km) east of Maidstone town centre. Geography The village was historically concentrated around Church Lane a ...

, the

and the

High Speed 1 High Speed 1 (HS1), legally the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of a line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe; ...

rail line. Comprising in excess of near junction 8 of the M20, it was intended that the site would cut motorway freight traffic by utilising the rail network and creating a distribution hub in a key location between the Kent coast (with its proximity to continental

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

) and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

which is approximately 45 miles to the north-west.Freight depot battle stepped up

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, 29 October 2007 In addition to operating up to 13 freight trains a day (removing an estimated 60 million kilometres of HGV journeys from the roads each year), the site would have looked to employ 3,500 people. The proposal was claimed by its proponents to be aligned with the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

's (and the previous

Strategic Rail Authority The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for Rail transport in the United Kingdom, the railway industry. Its motto was 'Brita ...

's) ''strategic rail freight interchange policy'' which seeks to encourage the removal of road freight in favour of rail. However, the Secretary of State ruled in his decision letter that, "The policy support that the proposal might otherwise enjoy from the SRA’s SRFI Policy is significantly reduced on account of the site’s distance from London and the M25." The proposed development was also thought by some to be broadly in line with the Labour government's

Thames Gateway Thames Gateway is a term applied to an area around the Thames Estuary in the context of discourse around regeneration and further urbanisation. The term was first coined by the UK government and applies to an area of land stretching east from ...

strategy which was intended to promote business and residential expansion from London into north Kent and

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, however this was not a claim made by the scheme's proponents and in any case that strategy was principally focused a few miles to the north. Approximately 40

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, the majority of whom represent London constituencies, indicated their approval of the proposed development as a means of reducing freight congestion on the M20 and M25 motorways. MPs urged to drop support for KIG
by Paul Francis,

Kent Messenger The ''Kent Messenger'' is a weekly newspaper serving the mid-Kent area. It is published in three editions - Maidstone, Malling, and the Weald. It is owned by the KM Group and is published on Thursdays. History The ''Kent Messenger'' grew from ...

, 21 May 2008 The

planning application Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

was rejected by the local planning authority,

Maidstone Borough Council Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it with ...

, and a public inquiry was held into

Axa Axa S.A. (styled as ''AXA'' or GIG in the Middle East) is a French multinational insurance company. The head office is in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. It also provides investment management and other financial services. The Ax ...

's appeal of this decision between 13 October 2009 and 23 December 2009. Following the public inquiry and review of the resulting Inspector's report, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government,

Eric Pickles Eric Jack Pickles, Baron Pickles, (born 20 April 1952) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar (UK Parliament co ...

, rejected the appeal and refused planning permission for the development on 5 August 2010.Letter from Department for Communities and Local Government, 5 August 2010

Objections

Since the site is located principally in a designated

in the lee of the

Kent Downs The Kent Downs is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in Kent, England. They are the eastern half of the North Downs and stretch from the London/ Surrey borders to the White Cliffs of Dover, including a small section of the London Boroug ...

(an

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...

) and with close proximity to the historic

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

villages of

, Thurnham,

Hollingbourne Hollingbourne is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is located on the southward slope of the North Downs to the east of the county town, Maidstone. The parish population is around 900 and has th ...

and

Lenham Lenham is a market village and civil parish in Kent situated on the southern edge of the North Downs, east of Maidstone. The picturesque square in the village has two public houses (one of which is a hotel), a couple of restaurants, and a tea ...

, the project received extensive criticism and objections from local residents and

.Stop KIG
Campaign Group Website (2008) The

Campaign to Protect Rural England CPRE, The Countryside Charity, formerly known by names such as the ''Council for the Preservation of Rural England'' and the ''Council for the Protection of Rural England'', is a charity in England with over 40,000 members and supporters. Forme ...

was also a key supporter of the local objections. Following a public exhibition, the Kent International Gateway proposal attempted to mitigate the environmental concerns by adjusting its design to reduce the impact of the buildings and allocating one-third of the total site area to landscaping, woodland retention and new wildlife habitats. In May 2008, the then leader of

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs most of the county of Kent in England. It is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council h ...

, Paul Carter, wrote to the Members of Parliament who had supported the proposal to ask them to reconsider their support on the basis Kent International Gateway had not provided sufficient evidence that the distribution hub was needed or viable. At the same time, the government's decision in late 2007 to approve the

Prologis Prologis, Inc. is a real estate investment trust headquartered in San Francisco, California that invests in logistics facilities. The company was formed through the merger of AMB Property Corporation and Prologis in June 2011, which made Prologis ...

Howbury Park rail–freight interchange at

Slade Green Slade Green is an area of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It lies northeast of Bexleyheath, northwest of Dartford and south of Erith, and east-southeast of Charing Cross. Historically Slade Green was part of th ...

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Char ...

was cited by campaigners as evidence that demand for a similar such scheme at Bearsted no longer existed. However some commentators noted that the approval of the Howbury Park development, despite the objections of the local councils and its

green belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

location, may yet set a precedent for further government approvals for green belt development sites in south-east England.Government urged to support KIG
''Bexley Extra'' 4 April 2008

References

External links

Maidstone Council KIG planning portalKent International Gateway at Kent Chamber of CommerceStop KIG
{{coord , 51, 16, N, 0, 36, E, display=title Transport in Kent Axa Logistics in the United Kingdom Railway freight terminals in the United Kingdom