Stones look to brighter future after relegation disappointment


MAIDSTONE United FC have announced that Jay Saunders will take permanent charge of the first team. He took over from Andy Ford and Steve


Butler as caretaker manager in mid-March and made an immediate impact with five wins in the final seven games of the season. However, despite being one of the in-form


sides in the closingweeks, The Stones were relegated from the Ryman League Premier


Division. Jay said: “The club’s relegation was a massive disappointment. When I took over in March many said survival was vir- tually impossible. To have come so close made it all the more harder to accept. “However, we are determined to build for


the future, especially with the return to Maidstone so close. I have already started making plans for next season so we’re in the best position to challenge for promotion.”


David Priestley holds the bot- tles that could help save lives.


Message in a


bottle


 The club has announced that Europa Sports will be the official kit and leisurewear supplier, after signing a two- year deal. Europa Sports, which is in the process of relocating to Aylesford, will be supplying Macron kit throughout the club from the first team through to the youngest play- ers within the youth and community sec- tion.


Council power bill is shrinking


THE consortium used by Maid- stone Borough Council to pur- chase electricity and gas has created bigger savings than ex- pected. A senior officer’s report said:


“The council’s current energy purchasing arrangements via a contract with Laser terminate at the end of September 2012. “These arrangements have


A MESSAGE in a bottle could save your life. That is the message fromMaidstone Lions Club who, with the


NHSWest Kent, is promoting the scheme to people with health problems. The idea is to complete a form with details of medical condi-


tions and medicines being taken, put it in the bottle and keep it in the fridge. Two stickers are included, one for the property’s front door and the other for the fridge door, so emergency serv- ices will instantly have medical details available if they are called.


Maidstone Lions will be delivering the bottles to participating


local GP surgeries where they will be available free to those who have a need. Contact the Lions on 01795841439 or m.w.lux- ton@btinternet.com for more details.


New play area for


Mote Park opens ANEWplay area for eight to 15 year-olds has opened at Mote Park, next to the park and ride entrance inWillington Street. It includes two climbing frames with ropes, a slide, a basket swing and a large round- about. The play area, which cost £50,000, has been funded by Playbuilderfunding–ana- tional play facilities scheme to help build new play spaces for local communities. Last year, young people in Maidstone were asked what they wanted the play area to in- clude and the result is the de- sign of this new space.


been very successful for the council, achieving savings of approximately £54,000 over the last two years.” In 2009, Maidstone’s property


and procurement manager, David Tibbit, said the council’s energy spend had risen to


£500,000. He had previously expressed some reservations about Laser’s performance. But the consortium, which, at


the time, represented 70 coun- cils, now tenders and negotiates prices on behalf of about 120 local authorities in London and the South East. Price advantage is sought through the aggrega- tion of demand of all the partic- ipants’ requirements. Maidstone currently spends


about £430,000-a-year on en- ergy. Itwas decided to continue with Laser based on its “recent successful performance and prospects for continued suc- cess”.


Jail for not paying council tax LEE Gravenell (27), of no fixed address, was sentenced to 28 days in prison for failing to payMaidstone Borough Council outstanding council tax bills. He had £980 council tax arrears for the period June 2, 2007 to March 27, 2008. Despite accounts, reminders, a court summons, numerous letters


and visits from the council’s bailiff, the debt remained unpaid in connection with a property in Melville Road,Maidstone.


The spirit of C&H Fabrics to live on STAFF who were made redundant from C&H Fabrics are planning to set up a new curtain and fabric store of their own. Maidstone trio Elizabeth Sawyers, Linda Gander and Frances Bakerwere among the 47 people who lost their jobs following the closure in March of C&H, which had been trading inWeek Street for more than 40 years. They expect open new shop Sew a Good Yarn in June,


on the site of a former sports shop near the Gabriels Hill entrance of The Mall shopping centre. Two other former C&H staff have been recruited as sales assistants.


Planning for no paper MEMBERS of the public can no longer view paper copies of planning documents atMaidstone Gateway. Instead, Maidstone Council will expect interested parties to view the documents on the internet. The decision was made as a cost-cutting measure as


an average of only 10 people per week were requesting paper copies.


A stroke of improvement for NHS Trust


MAIDSTONE and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is one of five trusts in the South East to show amarked improvement in the treat- ment, care and rehabilitation of stroke pa- tients in the past two years, according to a national survey. The independentNational Sentinel Stroke Survey, which reports every two years against nine key indicators on acute hospi- tal stroke care, compared the period from April to June 2010 to the corresponding months in 2008. The trust’s own muchmore recent figures


for the first three months of 2011 show that the improvement in stroke care is continu- ing. In January, February and March this year, 72% of the trust’s stroke patients re- ceived their care and treatment in a special- ist stroke bed from a dedicated multi-disciplinary team of stroke special- ists. In the same period (January to March


2011) the trust achieved, for the first time, the national target of meeting the nine key indicators for excellent stroke care, in 75% of stroke patients.


Maidstone to host


Olympic flame RESIDENTS in Maidstone will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view the Olympic Flame when it passes through the borough and stops off at Leeds Castle on Thursday, July 19 next year.


Maidstone will be one of 66 evening celebration locations across the UK con- firmed by the London 2012 Games Or- ganising Committee. On the 19th, there will be an entertainment show at Leeds Castle, where a cauldron will be lit from theOlympic Flame to mark the end of the day’s proceedings. MP Helen Grant said: “The Olympics


will create a shop window of Britain’s sporting achievements and I am pleased that Maidstone will be part of that focus. The Olympic Torch will arrive in the


UK from Greece on Friday, May 18 with the 70-day relay beginning at Land's End. Maidstone will be day 62 of the relay, with the flame travelling up from Dover and then heading onto Guildford. The Olympic Flame will arrive at the Olympic Stadium on July 27 for the open- ing ceremony.


Going digital by June 2012 TV transmission in Maidstone will be digi- tal only from June 27 2012, when the Blue- bell Hill transmitter switches off its analogue signals.


You can e-mail the Downs Mail — info@downsmail.co.uk Town 37


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