Home plan fails to secure church extension


BOROUGH councillors have blocked a plan to build a home on part of allotments next to a Barming church, despite a 118-signa- ture petition supporting the scheme. Architects Harrison Mutch Ltd’s outline application for a two-storey home on land


MP Helen gets a grilling from Loose pupils


MP HELEN Grant held a ques- tion and answer session when she visited Loose Junior School. Taking up an invitation from headteacher Mrs Jan Pye, Maid- stone’s MP was also introduced to members of the Loose Junior School Council, who then took her on a guided tour of the school and showed her some of the work undertaken by the children. Mrs Grant said: “I made the


offer of arranging a guided tour of the Palace of Westminster, including Big Ben, and this was eagerly accepted by the school. “It was really heartening to experience their enthusiasm and interest in politics and I look forward to meeting the children from Loose Junior School again when they come toWestminster.”


at Longsole Church in Long Rede Lane was backed by many because money from the resulting land sell-off would have been pumped into repairing the fabric of the more prominent St Margaret’s Church. Cash would also have been channelled to-


wards an extension/upgrading of Church Cross House in Church Lane to provide im- proved kitchen and toilet facilities that would meet disability requirements. A similar application was refused two years ago, but council officers recom-


mended that planning permis- sion should be granted because the new application was smaller and would lead to the loss of only one allotment plot. It was also emphasised that the development was on private, not public, allotments. But planning committee member Cllr Clive English said: “I am struggling to work out the consistency. I can’t see how anything has changed in policy terms since 2009 to make offi- cers reach agreement. “The argument that this is a private site so should be treated differently is wrong. In plan- ning terms, you would not be able simply to change the use of an employment site just be- cause it is privately owned, and this is no different.” The committee voted to re-


MP Helen Grant with members of the Loose School Council. DownsMail In touch with your parish


Barming Council Housing query


RESIDENTS asked if there was any further news regarding the land at Bell Farm Gardens which had been purchased by Taylor Wimpey. Discussion took place regarding the issue of infrastructure for a further 200 homes. Chairman Cllr Fay Gooch said the council would fight to keep Barming as it is with no further loss of green space. She added that Maid- stone’s core strategy was due to go to consultation and there may not be such great pressure on housing requirements. Councillors were told that the


pipes had burst in the pavilion due to extreme weather before Christmas. A plumber had given instructions on how to drain the water system down if there were any further warnings of low temperatures. It was agreed that a tree on the parish field and two self-seeded trees at Cedar Drive be removed With regard to a request from Barming Youth Football Club


MIXED Blessings will sing for the NSPCC in memory of Sheila Humphrey on Satur- day, March 5, in Holy Cross Church, Bearsted. The programme will in-


clude a variety of songs in four parts and will start at


for support to acquire land, Cllr Gooch offered to meet the club to explain that the parish was unable to assist. It was reported that the grant application for funding for the village hall hadbeencom- pleted. Work on the extension would proceed whether fund- ing was received or not. It was hoped to commence in April and for it to be be finished in August. A councillor reported that his


old washing machine had been removed from his driveway by scrap merchants without his permission. There had been an accident


by the war memorial and the police had attended. The railing and grit bin had been damaged and the sign for the church was missing.


School parking FOLLOWING a complaint of poor parking near the village school, it was agreed to involve PCSO Richard Chainey and


Loose Council Concert is in Sheila’s memory


7pm. Posh nibbles and a glass of wine will be in- cluded in the ticket price of £8.


For tickets, phone Loretta Rogers on 01622 737751 and other enquiries to Tikki Gul- land on 01622 737471.


community warden Liz Lovatt and to see if proper traffic war- dens could regularly monitor the situation. A member of the public said the situation was worse in the afternoons, with parents often oblivious to chil- dren’s safety, and abusive if challenged. After further discussion, the


clerk was asked to write a strong letter to the school, em- phasising the fact the parish council provides parking facili- ties to alleviate the school’s parking problems. Cllr Roy Hood claimed there


had been an incident where two dogs had entered land where there were four sheep and at- tacked two of them. Commu- nity warden Liz Lovatt said she would take this up with the rel- evant people. A resident thanked the coun-


cil for getting the salt bin rein- stated at the end of Copper Tree Court. A strong letter was to be sent


to a football club whose players reportedly used bad language while others were observing a period of silence for Armistice Day. It was agreed to increase the parish precept from £43,662 to £48,028 for 2011-12, which constituted a 10% rise, meaning Band D rates would go from £41.37 to £45.20. A letter had been received from Loose Gardeners’ Society,


saying it had appreciated the help and support of the parish council.


Latest member Tovil Council


ANDREW Basoah was co-opted onto the council. It was hoped to have a per- formance by the Applause The- atre Company at this year’s fete. Paul Samson would be bringing children’s rides and would also like to run a fund-raising day for the Coombe Farm and Tovil Development Group’s school building purchase. It was con- firmed that the unused section of the redundant churchyard could be a suitable venue. The blocked storm drain at Albert Reed Gardens has had a CCTV inspection and remedial work was scheduled. The proposed camera at Tovil footbridge had been ruled a non-starter because of difficul- ties supplying power. It was suggested that a camera be placed at Tovil Boatyard. Resi- dents should be encouraged to report any incidents of anti-so- cial behaviour to the police. Contractors were having prob-


lems delivering materials to the Eccleston Road entrance of the new school building. Charlie Reynolds, of Maidstone Coun- cil, would be asked about the promised traffic regulation order for the road.


You can e-mail the Downs Mail — info@downsmail.co.uk Town 39


fuse the application – by nine votes to two abstentions – on the same ground, loss of amenity, used by officers in March 2009. A total of 45 rep- resentations were made object- ing to the proposal.


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