‘Plan ahead against urban sprawl’


EXTENSIVE house building around the Park Wood area could turn into urban sprawl, a councillor has warned. Cllr Tony Harwood, who chairs the cor- porate services scrutiny committee, was commenting on a recent Neighbourhood Action Plan aimed at improving the quality of life in ParkWood.


CHILDREN aged two-and-half to five are learning to speak Mandarin at a Maidstone nurs- ery, and are thought to be the youngest in the country to be learning this language. Many nurseries teach French


or Spanish but at Little Learn- ers Nursery in Boughton Lane, pre-school children are learn- ing Mandarin. Manager of Little Learners, Hayley-Louise Oliver, said: “With the Confucius Class- room and Mandarin lessons being so positive and popular at New Line Learning Acad- emy, it seemed a good idea to encourage pre-schoolers to ac- quire new language skills. “Children learn simple words such as hello and good-


bye and by playing with a range of toys. Nursery children recently


learnt about the Chinese New Year watched a performance about celebrating this tradi- tional festivity at NLL Acad- emy. The event included kung fu and lion dancing.  Little Learners’ purpose-


built premises are within NLL Academy’s building.


He advised against focusing too much on


the existing estate. “There’s a big new com- munity as well on the edge.We need to plan in some of the infrastructure issues. It has not been designed with a master plan for that sort of development.” He mentioned a further big application on the playing fields in LansdowneAvenue be-


Classes could be country’s first


hind the police headquarters, in addition to the homes on the former police garage site. Cllr Harwood said: “That south edge of Maidstone is beginning to resemble the urban sprawl south of Ashford. It does worry me about the facilities requisite with the number of properties that are within that patch.”


Hospital leads way in keyhole surgery


A SURGEON at Maidstone Hos- pital has performed keyhole surgery to a worldwide internet audience. A laparoscopy was under-


taken by Dr Amir Nisar, con- sultant surgeon and director of the International Minimal Ac- cess Centre for Surgery


Counter top theft A WALLET containing cash and cards, left on the counter at Screwfix Ltd, Haslemere In- dustrial Estate in Sutton Road, Maidstone, was picked up by a man who left the shop with it. He was described as white,


aged 30, 6ft tall and of medium build with dark brown, spiked hair. He wore a dark coat and was believed to have been driv- ing a white transit vehicle.


Bell Farm update


DownsMail In touch with your parish Barming Council


A RESIDENT asked if there was any update regarding the land at Bell Farm Gardens, which had been purchased by Taylor Wimpey. Chairman Cllr Fay Gooch said she had been in- formed that completion of the deal was expected within the next few weeks and there were no immediate plans to build on the site. Development may occur in three to four years al- though no planning application had been submitted. PCSO James Austin reported


a parking issue in Maryland Drive with parents dropping their children off at school. The school had asked parents not to park in Belmont Close and this had moved the problem. A meeting was being arranged and the PCSO intended to assess the situation at peak times. Mem- bers suggested a warning leaflet could be placed on windscreens of cars which were blocking drives. There had been one crime


since the last meeting – crimi- nal damage to a car in South Street. With regard to the Barming Community Hall project, Derek Nicholson from Prime Building Consultants, who are dealing with the planning stage, asked for a steering committee to be created to help develop the de- sign. Two councillors were ap- pointed. Aresident had asked to have a


glass recycling bank in Barm- ing. Ian Paterson from Medway Valley Rail Partnership had raised concerns about vandal- ism if it were sited at East Far- leigh station. It was agreed that there were already recycling banks close to Barming and no further facilities were required. Flooding at the A26 crossing


had been reported to Kent High- way Services who would inves- tigate.


Long-term parking was oc-


curring in Bull Orchard, exacer- bating parking issues around Key Stores. Maidstone Council’s officers had previously stated that parking was transient, but this was now not the case. The situation would be monitored as the parking enforcement de- partment may need to be in- volved again. It was reported that the car


park at East Farleigh station had been tidied up by Network Rail. However, pine furniture had now been dumped and would be cleared. The contract for the village


hall extension had now been signed, which should be com- pleted by September. Members agreed not to renew


the £25 membership subscrip- tion for the Kent Men ofTrees.


Safety railings RAILINGSoutside Loose School to help safeguard chil- dren were being considered and Steve Sheppard, constituency assistant to Helen Grant MP,


Loose Council


said he would keep members updated on progress. Mr Sheppard was also work-


ing with Kent Highways Serv- ices on the speed limits in Busbridge Road. PCSO Richard Chainey had received more calls about in- considerate parking by parents close to the school, and the school would send out a letter about this. The chairman of the Walnut


Tree Lane Residents Association had written about the potential danger when leaving the King George V playing field car park onto Walnut Tree Lane and it was agreed to seek advice from KHS. It was unlikely the request for a salt bin at the mouth of Walnut Tree Lane and the A229 would be provided as there was one near Copper Tree Court, but the clerk would look into KHS providing a bin at the recess area next to Albany Funerals. Following an incident involv-


ing a golfball, it was agreed to put a ‘No golf’ sign at the main gate to the field. Members agreed not to take


part in the Explore Kent Walk- ing Festival 2011, but Cllr Hood said he was organising his own walks for a leukaemia charity. Parish clerk Jan Capon ex- plained procedures for the May elections. A policy for charging for use ofthe Brooks Field was dis- cussed and it was agreed to ask for organisations to be invited to donate £50 per day to cover the wear and tear. Use by charities


(IMACS), also based at Maid- stone Hospital, at theHoly Fam- ily Hospital Telemedicine in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The interactive webcast


aimed to educate surgeons and students in laparoscopic sur- gery techniques. Dr Nisar said: “Laparoscopic surgery is relatively new to Pak- istan. Not only does it benefit patients by being so minimally invasive, it’s a great deal more cost effective.” In five different talks over


four days, Dr Nisar told col- leagues about the leading role Maidstone was playing interna- tionally in laparoscopic surgery and the facilities at IMACS. Dr Nasir also performed live sur- gery in three teaching hospitals in Lahore.


would be considered and sub- letting of the field would be charged. The clerk would write to Loose Amenities Association about this. It was agreed that a committee should be formed to run the Big Lottery project for Brooks Field and meet as soon as possible. The conditional grant offer of £10,000 was accepted and the clerk recommended that a pub- lic consultation be arranged. The clerk said Bill Harris had


started work on the Brooks Field /Kirkdale wall and a risk as- sessment had been carried out. The meeting heard that peo-


ple using the loft at the pavilion should be made aware of poten- tial dangers. Chairman Vianne Gibbons


said that the caretaker had taken the ‘manual handling’ course. Members agreed to the ap- pointment of Jackie Ballard as the new auditor for the parish council.


Following a meeting with KHSand the environment com- mittee, Cllr Roy Hood reported that a cultivation licence would be needed if trees were to be planted near the highway. He also mentioned possible


work on non-maintained land and problems with knotweed. The meeting agreed to enter


this year’s Kent Men of Trees’ Trees in the Village competi- tion. A bench in memory of a young village person who had died tragically had been in- stalled in the churchyard.


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