Thurnham Parish News
Cynicism over police pledge
SOME parish councillors remain unconvinced by a Kent Police claim that major cutbacks will not undermine the service. They had just been addressed by Graham Hat-
field, a member of the project team behind a new policing model for the county. Kent has to find £50m savings over the next
four years – about 20% of its budget – under the Government's crackdown on spending. But Mr Hatfield had a positive message for councillors despite confirmation that the county is about to lose 500 officers and 1,000 civilian support staff.
Meetings normally held on the third Monday of each month at the Marriott Tudor Park Hotel. Public welcome.
CHAIRMAN: Richard Morley CLERK: Sherrie Babington 01634 867173
He said Chief Constable Ian Learmonth had stressed neighbourhood policing must be the force's "bedrock" and that the number of commu- nity officers would actually rise by about 50%. Mr Hatfield said one way to achieve this was a reduction in officers involved in emergency re- sponse. Another is by taking officers out of HQ in Sutton Road and putting them on the front line. Also, sharing services with Essex had already proved to be a more efficient way of operating. But Cllr Richard Smith said it seemed odd that
levels of service could be maintained with such large overall staff cuts.
Where are the enforcers?
A PARISH councillor has criticised Maidstone planners over their enforcement policy. Cllr Pat Sandford said: "Maidstone Council is quite happy to
Frustration that ‘the horse has bolted’ in Caring Lane
APLANNING condition on the controversial G-Forces ex- pansion in Caring Lane was like "shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted", a councillor claimed. The web management company was granted consent to extend its premises provided the visibility splay at the en- trance to Corben Business Park is in place by the time ad- ditional employees start to work there. But Cllr Pat Sandford said the most dangerous time is
when construction vehicles are moving in and out, and he claimed it is currently inadequate. He thought it was a point that should be raised about all planning permissions, not just G-Forces'. "Why do they put the cart before the horse?" he asked. Chairman Dick Morley said planners had given "tremen-
dous leeway" on a site the parish believed should not be developed.
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serve enforcement orders but reluctant to do anything about them." He was referring to plastic green-
houses on a site at Clayswood in Thurnham Lane, which were the sub- ject of an enforcement notice, but that action has been overtaken by a subse- quent resubmission, said Cllr Sand- ford. He added: "If you keep on defying the council long enough you will win the day. If you keep putting in different ap- plications and keep appealing, eventu- ally you will win – and that's just unacceptable." Cllr Sandford had also requested the
clerk to ask MBC why nothing had been done about getting a gypsy site in Caring Lane vacated, despite an 18- month deadline having expired last November.
Cllr Richard Jacques said he
was delighted to hear what these changes could deliver but he re- mained "a little cynical". Taking out £50m in four years and im- proving services implied there were £50m of savings to be had in the first place or that people were not doing their job properly. But Mr Hatfield said: "Any de-
sign plan looks great on paper, it's the implementation that is telling. I hope you will be able to reflect in 12 months and say 'they didn't do such a bad job in view of the savings they had to make'."
Praise for PCSO PCSO Lyndsay Woods was praised by chairman Dick Morley for her time covering the patch. "I thank you for your care and attention to the parish," he said. She reported only one crime in
the previous month, of damage to a wooden fence at the Thurnham end of PilgrimsWay.
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