DownsMail In touch with your parish


Bearsted Council New councillors


THREEnewparish members had been elected by the recent vote. The parish welcomed Paul Black- more,Barbara Dunford and Denis Spooner. Chris Dyke was re- elected as chairman and Paul Young reinstated as vice chair- man. It was also agreed to merge the


open spaces and transportation committees, and merge the elders and youth committees to form a community committee. Several applications had been received for the summer playscheme at Madginford Hall on August 1 -12. The opening hours of the


parish office were to change to 9am to 3.30pm daily.


Bredhurst Council Village update


REPORTS were received from representatives of village organi- sations at the annual parish meeting. Chris James, head teacher of Bredhurst primary school, was disappointed that the main road was not gritted well during the winter snow and therefore there was no option but to close the school. He also expressed disap- pointment at the lack of police support with closing the road for the annualMay Day procession. At the annual parish council meeting, Cllr Charlie Hewitt was re-elected chairman with Cllr Vanessa Jones re-elected vice- chairman. The permanent build-out for


traffic calming in Dunn Street was now completed. Thanks would be sent toCountyCllr Paul Carter for his contribution. Formal thanks were given to MaidstoneCllrWendy Hinder for her donation towards refreshing flowers in Hurstwood. Aletterwouldbesentto Fairview Rangers noting that not all parking for football was being directed to The Bell public house. As stated previously, this was a consideration to keeping the rights to play on the field.


Broomfield and Kingswood Council


Zone launch


THE Cold Calling Zone was launched by Lorraine Hemphrey from Maidstone Neighbourhood Policing Team. The eventwas at- tended by around 80 residents. Doors stickers would be pro-


vided to every parish household and signs would be erected at ap- propriate locations. Literature on other schemes had been prepared and details would be included in the June edition of the parish magazine. Regarding the parish affordable housing at Peter Pease Close, Kingswood, the clerk reported


50 East


that several of the houses were al- ready occupied, with more peo- plemoving in all the time. Orbit had confirmed that there


was only one single-bed flat left for shared ownership which was currently being advertised. Sev- eral telephone calls and emails thanking the parish council had been received from successful ap- plicants. The opening ceremony and burying of the time capsule pre- pared by children from Kingswood Primary School would take place on Thursday, July 7. Sir Richard Pease, brother of Peter, had confirmed his atten- dance.


Maidstone Council had con- firmed that Duck Pond Lane was now officially registered in that name. New name plates were on order. It was noted that Maidstone Council would be removing dog waste bins across the borough from June 20. Litter bins would still be retained and emptied by MBC and could be used to dis- pose of bagged dogwaste. The parish currently had no lit-


ter bins andmembers resolved to apply immediately toMBCfor lit- ter bins to be installed in place of the dog bins.


Detling Council Turned down


WITH regard to the re-applica- tion for a single-storey building for teaching of spiritual therapy at Oakhurst, Scragged Oak Road, it was agreed the council’s origi- nal objection still stood because it was in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. A resident was concerned


about Purplehill Works, White- hill Road, which was said to be in an appalling condition.Weldrite UKLtd, which conducted a pres- entation for the parish council in February, had yet to resubmit its application to Maidstone Coun- cil.


Jean Roberts and GavinMcLag-


gan stepped down as parish councillors. Chairman Cllr Geoff Cosgrove thanked themon behalf of everyone for their public-spir- ited efforts and contributions. New councillor Chris Evern-


den, of Scragged Oak Road, was welcomed. The council was still assessing


the potential for installing solar panels on the roof of the village hall. The feed-in tariff was guar- anteed for 25 years, not 40, as stated in last month’s report. Borough Cllr John Horne, who represented Detling and Thurn- ham, had decided not to stand in the local elections.Hesaid: “Detling is special and I hope I have been of some assistance.” The chairman thanked him for all his hardwork and support over the years. The Detling Design Statement would not be adopted by the bor-


ough council in the near future as there was no legislation to sup- port this, although this may change with new neighbourhood laws. The statement was in- tended to be part of statutory doc- uments that have to be taken into account when planning ques- tions arose. The council asked Maidstone Council to post it on its website with a note that there had been widespread consulta- tionwith the residents of Detling. It had been reported that some


dog walkers had not cleaned up after their pets in Horish Wood. The chairman emphasised the duty of residents to keep the wood clean. Dog mess could be placed in a bag and put in the general rubbish bin in the wood. Another member of the public


raised concerns over possible safety hazards caused by cars parking at the bottom of Hockers Lane near the junction withWare Street, and by lorries entering and leaving the waterworks, again on Hockers Lane. Cllr John Clayton was dealingwith the situation. Plans by Kent Highways to re-


duce the speed of cars entering Hockers Lane from The Street had been approved by the parish council. The plan involved ex- tending the kerb furthest from the church by 3.4metres, forcing drivers from The Street to slow down.The parish council would now request Kent Highways to proceed with this. Funds will come from KCC. It was agreed to find grant money to purchase the pond be- hind the five acres of land re- cently acquired by the council. It was decided to run a competition to name this new field and de- cide a winner at the October parish meeting.


Road resurfaced COUNTY Cllr Gary Cooke was pleased that his persistence had paid off and Mallards Way had been resurfaced. Additional salt bins would be located at the end of summer. This should help to keep Dering- wood Drive much clearer during the winter and keep traffic flow- ing.


Downswood Council


ough Cllr David Marchant - “an excellent councillor


Cllr Cooke paid tribute to bor- for


Downswood and Otham” - who did not stand for re-election. A small gift was presented to vice-chairman Cllr Robin Bevan, who was standing down, for all his hard work during 16 years of service. A comparison quote for the


‘EnchantedTree’Christmas motif for £1,920 plus carriage, had been obtained. An order had been placed to replace worn timers and sockets. As previously agreed, any concurrent functions deficit will go towards lighting for The Spires shops area.


To contact Downs Mail just phone 01622 630330 The tree warden was requested


to look at the oak tree donated by the KentMessenger as it was not showing any signs of life. There had been an increase in


shed break-ins in the area and various reports of increased ac- tivity with low loaders/vans in the area. The Spires medical centre had confirmed itwas prepared to con- tribute £120 a year towards litter picking. As requested by Maidstone Council, a seven-day consulta- tion notice had been displayed on the noticeboard closest to the existing bench in Deringwood Drive. The cost of installing a new bench would be £100. Maidstone Council would be


going ahead with the fence around theBMXtrack in the Old Church Road woods on health and safety grounds. No objections were made to planning applications for a garage at 85 Murrain Drive and pruning of seven sycamores on land adja- cent to 68 and 69 Foxden Drive. Steven Waring had agreed to


judge the garden competition at the end of June. Prizes for the first three would remain at £50, £25 and £15.


Consideration would be given


to purchasing dwarf daffodils, crocus and snowdrops for plant- ing in the autumn by the Downswood stone.


Harrietsham Council Clean up thanks


THE parish council thanked all members of the community who helped out on the parish litter pick. The following planning appli- cations were considered: Avon- bank, Holm Mill Lane, change of use of redundant buildings to holiday lets – recommend ap- proval; 45 QuestedWay, conver- sion of bungalow to two chalet bungalows, plus detached garage – recommend approval; Unit 1, Roebuck Business Park, Ashford Road, change of use from class B1 to mixed use of motorcycle re- pairs, MOT testing, sale of motor cycles and accessories – recom- mend refusal.


Sports containers


Hollingbourne Council


IT was reported that the cost of storage containers, similar to that used by the football club, had soared to £2,000 for a 20ft one and £2,400 for a 30ft one. It was agreed this was far too expensive and the chairman agreed to seek cheaper options. Members were reminded of the health and safety implications of items being stored in the roof space. On the first day of the road clo-


sure, Greenway Court Road had been as busy as expected, with two lorries causing long delays.


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