Air-raid siren’s silence to end soon


DON’T dive for cover if you hear a wartime siren in Marden...it’s just the local history group sounding off! After four years of searching and hours of


restoration work, themembers hope to have the siren up and working in the coming months. They are in the process of repainting - in


original Brunswick green - both the siren and the long, metal post on which it will sit next to the award-winning heritage centre at the village library, provided they get planning permission. History


group


ing aircraft attacks. Post-war, the siren was sounded to rally retained firemen but then it was scrapped as personal pagers and mo- bile phones alerted them. As its post was still in place, the hunt for


a replacement siren was launched about four years ago, led by society member Colin Whittle. On his travels as a coffee supplier he came


chairman David Mc- Farland believes it will be a major attrac- tion for wartime memorabilia enthusiasts and other history buffs. “It will increase the allure of the vil- lage,” he added. The plan is to fire up the siren’s distinc-


tive, high-pitched drone on no more than three occasions a year, for six minutes each time, on key dates yet to be decided, but possibly VE Day and Battle of Britain Day.


Marden, like most rural communities, had its own siren to alert residents to impend-


Light industrial plan TWOlight industrial units could replace a scrap yard at Gain Hill Yard, Claygate Road, Laddingford. The application byWynspear Holdings claims: “The cessa- tion of open storage of scrap ve- hicles and the transfer to containerised storage does re- flect a reduction of visual im- pact in the countryside. “There is a much smaller overall impact on the site and a far greater restoration of the site to grassland with a full reten- tion and preservation of exist- ing mature tree screen to the site.”


Maidstone Council will rule on the planning application.


Hotel plan still on A REDVELOPMENT of The Shant Hotel in East Sutton is still on, nine years after it suf- fered major fire damage. A planning application to re- develop the site to provide a hotel, pub, restaurant, parking and garaging following a blaze in September 2002 has now ex- pired. But a fresh application has been submitted to renew this permission.


Heli-good activityday! AIR activity was the theme of a big gathering of Beavers at the Scout HQ in Sandling, Maid- stone. More than 100 youngsters had


the chance to clamber aboarda helicopter, buildmodel space- craft andoperate a flight simula- tor as well as other air-related activities.


Picturedwith the helicopter,


flown in for the afternoon by Tonbridge leader Ed Miles, are the Staplehurst Huron Beavers with their helpers.


16 South Visit Downs Mail’s website — downsmail.co.uk


AN old-style K6 red telephone kiosk, originally sitedin Benenden, will be lo- catednear the history group’s heritage centre, which was namedArchive of The Year 2010 by Family History maga- zine.


across a broken siren on an outbuilding at the Hythe MoD range. Consent to remove it was given and a firm in Bethersden rebuilt it. Last September, there was a practice run. “We fired it off when we had a Battle of Britain hog roast and a Spitfire


flying over. It was quite moving, especially for the elderly people, when the siren went off,” said Mr McFarland. But it is also quite noisy – 122 decibels, compared to 70-80dbs from a pneumatic drill. He added: “I have been round all the near neighbours, explaining it would be only two or three times a year, and they were mostly enthusiastic – perhaps they were being polite. Most knew what it was all


Marden History Group member Colin Whittle andchairman DavidMcFarland with the restoredsiren


about.” The parish council has already given its


approval and Maidstone planners are due to decide later this month.


Collier Street home wanted KEN Bowra has applied to turn a former sheephouse into a single family dwelling at Martins Farm Oast, Collier Street. In 2004, the applicant was given permission to use the building


for tourist accommodation, but he now claims this is not viable. According to his planning statement: “It is appreciated that eco- nomic issues are not generally recognised as valid planning argu- ments, but the fact is that the returns (likely to be less than £100 per week for a holiday-style let) do not justify the outlay [for utilities]. “The building can legitimately be occupied all year round by per-


sons who would be entitled to make use of the property as a resi- dence (albeit temporarily). Logically, there cannot be any intensification of use that would arise simply by labelling the prop- erty a single residential unit rather than a holiday let.” Maidstone Council will rule on the application.


Acoustic fencing would help cut A229 noise


A PROPOSAL has been lodged to erect 2.4m-high acoustic fencing and replacement gates at a residential home in Hill Place, Linton Hill, Linton. The applicant’s design state-


ment said: “The front of the house runs parallel to the A229 and is only 25 metres from busy passing traffic. No doubt the sit- ing was advantageous in the


17th and 18th centuries when the road was a track, and the house served as a working farm, but now that it is a family house and the road is extremely busy, noise pollution is disturbing. “Even a fence of this height


will be scarcely noticeable by the few pedestrianswho use the adjoining pavement, or indeed passing traffic.”


Floral Apostles and cream teas at church A FLOWER festival themed on The Apostles will be held in St Mary’s Church, Langley, during the weekend of August 12-14 It will be open from 10.30am to 4pm on Friday and Saturday and


from noon to 4pm on Sunday. Refreshments, including cream teas, will be available, with proceeds going to church funds.


Garden chancers THE warm weather has at- tracted thieves to local gar- dens. A large barbecue on wheels


andwooden garden furniture – a table and four chairs - were taken from gardens in Goudhurst Road, Marden. In Church Street, Loose, hanging baskets were stolen from the front of a property and in Leeds Road, Sutton Valence, a wooden bird table and garden shrubs and their pots were taken from a front garden.


Conversion plan A PLAN has been lodged to convert a dwelling in Dalkeith, Maidstone Road, Staplehurst, into two self- contained flats for supported living accommodation.


Care home change PERMISSIONwas granted for Trinity Court, Station Road, Staplehurst, to become a res- idential care home for adults with learning disabilities. It was previously used to pro- vide elderly care.


Shed plan refused APROPOSAL to convert a re- dundant stable and cattle shed in Bletchenden Manor Farm, Bletchenden Road, Headcorn, into two separate homes has been blocked. Maidstone Council’s deci-


sion notice stated: “The re- tention of the cattle shed building for residential pur- poses is considered to be con- trary to policy in that this building is not of sufficient architectural or historic inter- est to merit a redevelopment to residential use.”


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