Slow broadband threat to business New police vision
THERE are "real risks" that rural areas of Maidstone could miss out on the broadband revolution. And it might seriously undermine the ability of village-based businesses to survive, a borough council scrutiny committee was told. But a councillor, who is vice-chairman of Marden Business Forum, warned about the prohibitive cost of hooking up to high- speed broadband. "It comes at a price - and the price is high," said Cllr David Burton. KCC rural regeneration manager Liz Harrison said large swathes
of rural Kent struggle to even access email, never mind the higher level services offered by broadband - and this is particularly true of farming communities. She said many of the county's rural areas do not have very good broadband infrastructure. Kent's rural economy is worth £5.5bn - out of a total £19bn - but about a third of its rural businesses do not have the standard two-megabyte connection that enables email and online shopping. And KCC has decided that four megabytes is ac- tually a more realistic target. In Korea, the standard is a massive 250mb, added Mrs Harrison. "What we feel is important is an affordable solution for busi- nesses in rural areas. There is a real risk that rural areas could be left behind," she said. She added: "We are trying to ensure that we don't end up in a sce-
nario where the productivity of rural businesses – and their com- petitiveness - is really hampered because of the broadband situation." KCC is looking at how the Kent Public Service Network (KPSN), which works to develop a shared ICT platform to deliver services to partner organisations, can be opened up to homes, with the help of the primary school connection. Cllr Burton asked for that point to be included
in a report to Maidstone Council. "I don't think it is widely known that there is an infrastructure to build on," he added. Meanwhile, Mrs Harrison pointed out that two
years ago "not much noise" was made about the issue at Kent Rural Board meetings but now they want to talk about broadband and planning at every meeting.
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public-facing role will be “maintained if not enhanced”.The ex- isting six command units - one is Maidstone and Swale - are being reorganised into just three - West Kent, East Kent and North Kent & Medway. The changes will be implemented by the end of this year. Ch Supt Nix, who will runWest Kent, said the new set-up "is
going back to what we used to do" on proactive policing. "You own the patch, you own all of the problems - crime, anti-social behaviour, community engagement - you own the lot. "It will take us a little time to get our heads back round that
but when I had a beat, when I first joined nearly 26 years ago, I owned that patch and I took it personally if something hap- pened on that patch. "We have that in pockets now; we have certainly got that in neighbourhood policing, and the idea is this will enhance that even further.” Ch Supt Nix will be responsible for Maidstone, Tonbridge & Malling, Sevenoaks and TunbridgeWells. He said: “Maidstone will stay as a custody centre and patrol
centre and it will enhance its neighbourhood capability. “It will also have detectives, the crime groups, based at Maid-
stone. “It's not yet defined but I have a view that Maidstone is the di- visional headquarters. This will be the centre of operations for west division. It's the busiest, it's the biggest. The County Town needs to be the divisional HQ,” he added
FORMER Maidstone mayor Cllr Denise Joy was “astounded” at the size of some businesses in the Marden area follow- ing a recent rural tour. She cited Scarab Sweepers in Pattenden Lane as an ex- ample of a big organisation that “stood out from the others”.
KENT’S rural regeneration manager Liz Harrison said some “very good headway” is being made on tackling the housing short- age. A draft protocol focuses on achieving affordable rural housing by “creating an en- vironment where schemes can progress quicker and remove some of the barriers”.
12 South
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