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Parking charges may be brought in


THE parish council may fund a parking atten- dant to issue penalty tickets for those who park for too long in the car park in Church Street.


Councillors are looking into reducing over- crowding following reports that the car park is full up by 9am, meaning shoppers have nowhere to go. Maidstone Council’s parking attendant in- spects the public highway as far west as Church Street for illegal parking. Members are considering asking the author-


ity to continue a little further to the car park, which is private property, and issue notices when necessary.


Money could be raised through issuing per-


mits to those who want to pay for overnight parking. Another option would be for the parish council to issue its own warnings. Parish council chairman Cllr Clive English said: “We could do soft enforcement, which is putting notices on vehicles. But after a while this would wear off because people would realise that nothing would come of it. “It’s always the same people parking there.” It was felt that clamping would be too ex-


treme as ameasure. Councillors resolved to get the views of Maidstone’s parking services de- partment over enforcing the area.


Plea to dispose of


‘ugly’ steel box COUNCILLOR Glyn Charlton called for the improvement of a silver stain- less steel box at the top of Burial Ground Lane. The box is connected to an Auto-


matic Number Plate Recognition cam- era and has been sitting at an acute angle for over a year since coming into contact with a vehicle. Cllr Charlton said: “It looks ugly at the entrance to Maidstone. It would probably take one man a couple of hours to improve it.” Another member simply asked: “Why can’t they take it away?”


Success as play area cash is raised


THE project to upgrade play equipment at Bridge Mill Way is definitely on after the parish council secured all the necessary funding. The £80,000 scheme will provide a series


of new pieces of equipment for the play area as well as a football goal. KCC has provided £36,000 through its Playbuilder scheme, with Maidstone Coun- cil agreeing to foot the rest of the money from the funds provided by developers for use in the immediate local area. This will be the first time that Tovil has benefited di- rectly from such funds. The debate then moved to the costs of maintenance and regular inspections. Under the terms of the agreement with Maidstone Council, the parish council would take over the management of the land.


Over five years, this would require an out-


ongoing maintenance.” Cllr Glyn Charlton added: “The risk we


are taking as a parish council is that the pre- cept will have to go up to pay for this. We have to accept that over the years – and I am talking 20 years – there is going to be an el- ement of the precept required to pay for this.”


However, it was pointed out that several


other parishes in Maidstone manage their own play areas without “breaking the bank”. It was also pointed out that Tovil had been prepared to put £5,000 into the capital cost of the project, but Maidstone Council’s gen- erous donation has made this unnecessary. Parish council chairman Cllr Clive Eng-


lay of around £5,000. Cllr Sylvia Cuthbert said: “My concern is that it could land us with a lot of money for


THE council has agreed to increase the parish pre- cept by almost 24% following the cut in concur- rent functions funding from Maidstone Council. The 2011/12 precept will be raised from £47,940 to £62,940, subject to the expected 30% reduction of the borough grant.


CONCERN was raised over the state of the footpath on the Fant side of the River Medway from Tovil footbridge towards Ton- bridge Road. A boundary fence has left a six-inch gap between the edge of the narrow footpath and the fence. The route is popular with schoolchildren and residents, and there was fear that users could sustain a foot injury by


lish said: “It would be a bit rough to say to Maidstone Council, which is providing a lot of money, that it should pay for inspections and maintenance as Tovil Parish Council


Precept rise due to borough funding cut It would mean an annual cost of £49.87 for a


Band D property. Parish council chairman Cllr Clive English said:


“We don’t want to get into the same situation as other parishes, who didn’t plan ahead, as we are proposing, and end up with two years of massive


Footpath gap could be filled


slipping into the gap which is often covered by vegetation and sometimes snow. The developer that built the


fence had absolved itself of re- sponsibility, and KCC said it would only look after the foot- path – not the land directly next to it.


The parish council resolved


to find out how much it would cost to infill the land.


increases in the amount of money they’re having to raise. “If we have over-estimated


what we need to raise next year, then the precept in the follow- ing year will be lower.”


has decided to install a differ- ent surface from the one that Maidstone itself would install.” Tovil has opted for a loose surface which is considerably less expensive than a solid sur- face and will not take funds away from providing upgraded play equipment. Members voted to take over


the land and press ahead with the scheme on condition that certain safeguards and guaran- tees are given, to the parish council’s satisfaction.


New hope for footbridge litter bin


KCC Cllr Alan Chell will be asked to help fund as much as £3,500 towards litter bin provision. This could include a long-awaited concrete bin by the Tovil foot- bridge which was recently refused by Maidstone Council. Another alternative is for Maidstone Council to grant funding to the parish council which would purchase its own bin.


14 Town


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