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Tuesday, 25 July 2006
MP's delight at decision on Lowfield Street proposals
Dartford MP, Dr Howard Stoate, has reacted with delight at the news today that the Lowfield Street planning application - including the controversial road through the park – has been turned down by the Government.

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Dr Stoate & residents celebrate
“I am obviously extremely pleased – and also very relieved – that the Government has seen fit to reject this application. It is a vindication of the Save our Park campaign and great news for Dartford and the thousands of local residents who backed the campaign, and who weren’t prepared to sit back and watch the destruction of our park. Make no mistake about it, this was an ill-conceived and ill-judged application, and the Government has done exactly the right thing by turning it down. Not only would it have ripped the heart out of our park, but it would have done little to revitalise the town centre as a whole.”

“The Council and the developer are paying the penalty for trying to railroad this application through, despite the near universal opposition of the community. If we learn one thing form this whole process it is that you have to consult the community – in a meaningful way – before embarking on a redevelopment of this scale and importance.”

“The tragedy is that although we have won the battle against this application, the town centre is still crying out for regeneration, and are in effect no further forward than we were three years ago when this application was first put forward.”
 
“As someone who has always recognised the need for the regeneration of Lowfield Street if our town centre is to flourish in the future – sensible, balanced development that is, which has the support of community - I find this very sad. The challenge now is find a way forward from this debacle and to come up with a scheme which satisfies the commercial needs of our town centre, but also genuinely enhances the character and appearance of Dartford. And this process has to begin by consulting the community and finding out what it is they want for our town centre.”
 
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© 2008 Dr Howard Stoate - Member of Parliament for Dartford
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