Protesters carry on the fight after woods decision blow Continued from page one


Another


at County Hall. Afterwards, group founder Sarah Cooper said: "We have lost today's battle but we have not lost the war.We have not lost our will to carry on. I still feel pas- sionately about saving the wood." Meanwhile, Gallagher's team were pleased to have got over a major hurdle. Several county councillors said it was a finely balanced issue and the outcome had been uncertain until the vote. The company said it will backfill and re-


plant after each working phase; will move protected creatures to alternative reserves; and will create an area of managed wood- land twice the size of that lost. Nick Yandle, Gallaghers' chief executive


(pictured), said afterwards: "We set out to be good at what we do. We are not one of the multi-nationals who slash and burn. This is our patch, we are not going to soil our patch. The promises we have made will be upheld." Earlier, Barming parish councillor Peter Budgen said the walls of his house in North Pole Road have cracks as a result of blast- ing. He said noise and animal habitat issues needed looking at again before residents were subjected to "25 years of pure hell".


p aris h councillor, Chris Hall, said: "We can't un- derstand how, with such over- whelming opposition from resi- dents, that the application can proceed." KCC received two petitions signed by nearly 1,200 plus 1,400 letters of objection. In support, there were 24 letters and a 61- name petition. Harry Rayner, chairman of the Tonbridge


and Malling committee of CPRE Protect Kent, said Gallagher's plan was "the least worst option available in the circum- stances". He believed it was better to extend Her-


mitage Quarry, with all its existing infra- structure, than to set up an isolated alternative. He added he would rather have conditions imposed by KCC than by the government's Planning Inspectorate.


Operating limits CONDITIONS imposed on Gallagher's ex- tension would include noise and dust con- trols; the same operating hours as at the existing quarry - 7am-6pm, Mon-Fri and 7am-1pm on Sat; and the same lorry move- ments - an average 300 per day and no more than 600 on any one day. There would be a tree screen 15m-70m around the proposed site. A management board would oversee the site’s restoration.


‘We’re sick ofit’ MAX and Val Power have lived in Barm- ing for 46 years - within earshot of the quarry operations for half that time. Mrs Power, of North Pole Road, said


there are occasions when the settee shakes and the TV wobbles after a blast of explo- sives. "To be quite honest we're sick of it," she


said. Another resident, Patricia Blackshire


said: "A lot of people have moved here be- cause of where it is situated (near Oaken Wood), but the company just wants to take more and more ragstone. "In my opinion, this (application) is more about lining someone's pocket."


Milking praise for new brewery


A NEW brewery in the Mallings area is spreading the word about classic Kentish hops as far north as Lancashire and Yorkshire. Hundreds of pints of beers such


as KGB - Kent Golding Bitter - have been downed by discerning real ale drinkers 'up north'. The beers from Kent Brewery,


based in an old dairy at Birling Place Farm, obviously travel well. Regulars at Huddersfield's Grove


Inn are among those who have been sampling the delights of the Porter, Pale, Black Gold and Cobnut. Landlord Ian Hayes drove the 500-mile round trip to pick up bar- rels. And he was back for more ear- lier this month. “It’s popular stuff round here,” he said. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Pennines, a Manchester bar has been stocking KGB alongside 110 other beer varieties, including exotic spiced ales, oatmeal beer and hard-to-get imports from around the world. And organisers of a


beer festival in Preston ran out of Kent Brewery products a day before the event was due to end. Kay Drummond, of the Bitter Suite free house, said: "Our festival started on Thursday evening and by Friday at 4pm


we had sold 16 of the 24 barrels we had. If you had looked in our cellar on Saturday night you wouldn’t have thought we were a pub; there were no bar- rels in there. All we had was bottles in the fridge!" She added: "We go all over


the country for our beers and nobody had had these before. They went down really well." Toby Simmonds has only


Toby Simmonds and Paul Herbert with barrels of their latest brew


The cryptically-named KGB is made with the leg- endary Golding and Fuggles hops - the former being first cultivated in the "Malling quarter of the district" during the late 1700s, according to a contemporary ac- count byWilliam Marshall. Hewrote that John Golding snr, of Ditton Court, Ditton, was the most likely mem- ber of the family to have discovered the Golding hop.


in Birling took a call from a guy at our local Camra branch last month. He wanted to know what beers would be available on May 22. She wasn't sure. But then he asked if there'd be anything from Kent Brewery. When she said 'yes,


Toby explained: "The barmaid at the Nevill Bull


definitely' he said that's all he needed to know and he booked the Camra meeting for that night."


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


Bring back trams Dear Sir - Now, surely, is the op- portunemoment before any more millions of pounds are squan- dered on cosmetic parctices, in these desperate times of chronic petrol shortages and overcrowded motorways, to bring back electric trams to Maidstone. Apart from the obvious eco-


nomic and environmental advan- tages that would result, a huge tourist attraction would be cre- ated, uplifting the townand high- lighting the amenities of our river.


been brewing at Birling since February, after previously util- ising spare capacity at a friend's brewery for a few months last year. He and business partner Paul Herbert have already had great feedback about their ales - and a firm endorsement from the Campaign for Real Ale.


The fun of the fayre ROLL up for the Grand Summer Fayre being organised by Maid- stone Mencap on Saturday, June 11, 1pm-5pm, at Cobtree Hall, Mote Park. It will be opened by MPHelen Grant. Attractions will include arena displays, side shows, children’s games, a carousel, bouncy castle, barbecue, real ale tent and grand prize draw. Entrance free. Call 07903 196333 for more details.


Gardens to visit OPENgardens inWest Mallingon Sunday, June 12, will be Little Went, 106 High Street;NewBarns Cottages, Lavenders Road; and Went House, 83 Swan Street. Combined admission £5, chil-


dren free.


Wheelie bin abuse THREE youths making off with a wheelie bin from a property in Epsom Close, West Malling, be- came abusive when challenged by the resident, but eventually walkedaway, according to police. When the bin was retrieved it


wasfound to containa quantity of copper wire. It ispossible that the offenders may have come from Alma Road or Fartherwell Road.


You can write to us at: Downs Mail, 2 Forge House, Bearsted Green Business Park, Bearsted, Maidstone, ME14 4DT or e-mail: info@downsmail.co.uk


Whereas a wide spacious mil-


lion-pound arena at the bottom of our High Street would be irre- sistable to skateboarders and the like. Iwholeheartedly endorse Leslie Oppitz’s concluding remarks in his ‘Lost Tramways of Kent’. An alternative transport system is fast becoming imperative. James Bailey’s vision (Town,


April) of Maidstone’s riverside being transformed into a platform for local artists is also a splendid idea and can only be a further ad-


ditional tourist attraction. Let’s bring back some real char-


acter to the town with these ex- citing ideas, to replace somuchof what has already been lost for- ever, even if it means turning the clock back.We have already gone too fast forward.


Irene Betts


Sutton Road, Maidstone


Cats’ eyes mystery Dear Sir - Once heralded as a great road safety measure with


the added attraction of being en- vironmentally friendly, the cats' eyes really were useful, but where have they all gone? I have heard that a new solar-


powered type is being intro- duced, which sounds a good idea, but why have the existing ones been removed? Now many driv- ers appear to rely on full head- lights instead and that simply dazzles oncoming motorists. Ron Stubbs Silverdale Maidstone


You can e-mail the Downs Mail — info@downsmail.co.uk Malling 19


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