CAMPAIGNERS braved the snow to launch a campaign against turning a village field into a park and ride site.

Villagers joined parish councillors and protestors from Protect Kent to urge people to write to Canterbury City Council and voice their concerns over the inclusion of Faulkners Lane in Harbledown as a possible site for the city's shoppers and workers.

Councillors are considering three other options: enlarging the existing site at Wincheap, building an extra one at Cockering Farm, Chartham, or simply keeping the provision as it is, with Wincheap, New Dover Road and Sturry Road.

Building on the Harbledown site is believed to be their preferred option and could provide 600 car parking spaces, but campaigners say it is a protected greenfield space and should never have been considered.

Janet Larkinson, chairman of Harbledown and Rough Common Parish Council, said: "This proposed site is protected as an Area of High Landscape Value; it is grade one quality agricultural land; and it is part of a larger area of countryside which has a diverse wildlife interest.

"It can only be accessed via narrow country lanes, and depending on the direction of approach it will mean traffic passing either directly in front of a junior school or right by Bigbury Iron Age Fort, a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

"The council's own appraisal of Harbledown in 2007 concluded that the key characteristic of the village is its unspoilt rural setting, which this site is an important part of. Views from the village, particularly from the National Trust's Golden Hill will be devastated by the development of the site."

The council is backed by charity Protect Kent, the country's branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

Senior planner Brian Lloyd said: "We remain to be convinced that there is a need for additional Park and Ride to serve Canterbury, and to be shown that it is the best way to address congestion issues in the city.

"Even if a case for it can be made, it seems perverse to tarmac over acres of attractive countryside, either at Harbledown or Cockering Farm, when additional provision can be made on council-owned brownfield land at Wincheap.

"The council's own consultants have concluded that Wincheap is a very good location for additional Park and Ride, given the proposed new slip roads onto the A2. Common sense must surely prevail."

Council spokesman Rob Davies said all comments on the proposals, part of the council's 20-year-plan for the district, were welcome.

He said: "We know there is a lot of public interest in the fourth park and ride issue, and encourage people to let us know what they think."

Comments should be sent to the council by Friday, March 12 and can be submitted via the website, www.canterbury.gov.uk, emailed to planning.policy@canterbury.gov.uk or sent to Planning Policy Team, Canterbury City Council, Military Road, Canterbury, Kent CT1 1YW.