Confusion over footbridge CCTV
DISMAY was expressed over a mix-up with a CCTV camera that the council thought it had paid £4,500 towards for sole use. Eight years ago, the parish council was under
the impression that it had put themoney towards a dedicated camera for Tovil Footbridge, with the rest coming from Maidstone Council’s concurrent functions grant. The camera kept disappearing, leading to a re-
quest for an explanation from Chris Stewart, sur- veillance controller for Maidstone Council. He told shocked parish councillors that the camera on the footbridgewas, in fact, provided by developer Barratt Homes as part of a Section 106 agreement associated with a nearby development, and that it was shared with other parishes, hence its disappearance. When the parish council originally agreed to help fund a camera, the agreement was made with
‘Fed up’ with lack of Bydews enforcement
THE parish council called for urgent action to resolve the Bydews Farm enforcement issue. In June, an application to raise a garden to create a ter-
raced area in East View, Bydews Granary, was blocked by Maidstone Council,who ruled that “the scale, height, proximity to the boundary and topography, results in an unacceptable detriment to the living conditions of the residential occupiers of the adjoining property in terms of overlooking, loss of privacy, and the resultant over- bearing impact”. The applicants have six months from the decision date to appeal against Maidstone Borough Council’s refusal. The four borough councillors present at the meeting –
Ian Chittenden, Clive English,Michael Hogg and Derek Mortimer – agreed to work together to put pressure on Maidstone Council to take enforcement action against the original unauthorised and, therefore illegal, works involving the change of garden levels and importation of materials which took place over four years ago.
Quiet on the crime front
PCSO MattWilliams said Tovil had been relatively quiet in terms of criminal activity, with only four reported crimes during August. “Most of the youngsters who usually hang around here
have instead been in the town centre,” he said. However, Borough Cllr Mike Hogg said there had been instances of shopping trolleys being dumped and people yelling abuse in Wharf Road at around midnight. There was also a claim that drugs were being dealt out of cig- arette packets on Tovil Footbridge. PCSOWilliams responded: “A lot of people don’t like
to contact us or don’t think it’s relevant, but they really do need to report these things.”
Parish council backs new-look Church Street housing scheme - page 38
an officer pre-dating Mr Stewart, who arrived in his position six years ago. Mr Stewart told the parish council: “There ap-
pears to be an anomaly. The problem is that you presume you have a camera that is there all of the time, but there is no other parish that has one camera all to itself. “There are parishes with a shared system and unless you have been sold a pup, that is the sys- tem.
“This camera will continue to come and go.
Why this never reared its head earlier, I don’t know. People have just presumed the camera will always be there. “We need to find out what contract was origi-
nally signed.” PCSO Matt Williams said: “The camera is al-
ways handy to have in case things occur.” The council resolved to look further into the issue.
Bridge Mill issues VARIOUS issues concerning the newly refurbished chil- dren’s play area at Bridge Mill Way open space have been re- ported to the manufacturers and installers. The equipment and installa-
tion is still under warranty so that Maidstone Borough Coun- cil is not liable for the costs of these repairs.
Blind donation IT was agreed to donate £100 to Kent Association for the Blind, which is based in College Road, Maidstone.
THE council has already turned its attention to the 2012 fete after the success of this year’s event. Though the turnout of around 500
Rain can’t dampen summer fete This year’s event, which took
was lower than last year, perhaps due to rain on the day, Cllr Derek Mortimer was pleased. He said: “It waswet but successful. The turnout was lower than last year but when it rained the refreshment tent was re- ally busy. “We are definitely going to have a
fete next year towards the end of August. What I want to do the next time around is to start organising the event from next month, rather than leaving it toMarch next year.”
place on the August Bank Holiday weekend, included stalls run by in- dividuals as well as several chari- ties, children’s rides, a live band, displays by the JAG dance academy, local beer and home made cakes, strawberries and cream. Cllr Mortimer added: “The Ap- plause Theatre Company was well received, and residents could put on period costumes and act out scenes and have their photos taken. “The whole event was supported
by more local residents than we have had before, so thanks go to them.”
14 Town
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