Movie club focuses on juniors A FILM club for youngsters living in the centre of Maidstone is looking for new members. The Maidstone Community Support Centre in Marsham Street is showing a film every fortnight for seven to 11-year-olds who live nearby. Centre manager Richard Swainston said: “The Saturday morning Filmclub is our way of saying ‘hi’ to our near neighbours. “After the screening, there will be refreshments and an opportu-
nity to discuss and review the film. The sessionwill finish at noon. “We will ask for a contribution of £1 per Saturday.”
Now town will have a Turner gallery
ARESIDENTIAL cellar is set to be converted into an art gallery and café at 52 Union Street, Maidstone, after artist Craig Turner was given planning permission.
Takeaway boost
to pub’s trade THE Swan pub at 437 Loose Road, Maidstone, has been given permission to add take- away food to its offering. Maidstone Council’s plan-
ning department said food could only be served between 10am and 12.30am Mondays to Saturdays, and from midday to midnight on Sundays.
Combined effort on
vehicle crackdown A TOTAL of 18 untaxed vehi- cles were removed from the streets of Maidstone in a three- day crackdown. Operation Cubit was a joint operation by Maidstone Coun- cil in partnership with Kent Police and the DVLA. Two drivers paid on-the-spot fines.
The Blu Ray projector, 10ft screen and surround-sound has been funded with a grant from the Barbara Saunders Trust. Mr Swainston added: “Mem- bership is for those living just a shortwalk from the centre. For a list of streets, more informa- tion and a membership appli- cation form, visit the centre, call 01622 690639 or go online at
www.mcsc.org.uk.” The next film, on Saturday, September 31, will be chosen by centre staff, then young members will choose together from the thousands of age-ap- propriate movies available through the education charity Filmclub (
www.filmclub.org).
Drink driving JANET Elizabeth Pezzato, 41, of Poplar Grove, Allington, pleaded guilty to drink driving inWateringbury. On August 1, she drove a Peugeot 206 along Red Hill with a reading of 87mg of alco- hol in 100 ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg. Magistrates disqualified Pezzato from driv- ing for 18 months, fined her £350 and billed her £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
Council unhappy at plan to grow housing by 20%
MAIDSTONE Council has criticised the Govern- ment for suggesting that it may have to increase the number of houses it provides by one-fifth. Officers and councillors from all sides lined up
to denounce the Government’s Draft National Planning Policy Framework. Chief among their criticisms was a proposed
“20% contingency” in housing that all councils would be obliged to meet. Development control manager Rob Jarman responded: “This, in effect, increases the total number of housing units by 20%, but such totals have been the subject of years of consultation and planning.” The document also calls for informality in de-
cision making: “Any guidance needed to support the new framework should be light-touch and could be provided by organisations outside Gov- ernment.” Mr Jarman, who labelled the framework “not fit
Sporting prisoners aim high to boost hospice funds
for purpose”, argued strongly against this ap- proach: “Light-touch is a vague term but, more- over, non-government organisations tend to act as pressure groups. “The good point about Government policy is
that it is, in essence, neutral. “Development management is dominated by appeals and judicial reviews; it is, in effect, quasi- legal and therefore national Government policy needs to be clear and robust, and so an element of detail is required.” This officer stance was broadly supported by
the Lib Dems, while council leader Chris Garland (Tory) felt the document “drives a horse and cart through what we are trying to do with the Local Development Framework,” which is currently being produced by the borough. Consultees have until October 17 to provide feedback on the draft framework.
INMATES became gym-mates to raise hundreds of pounds for Demelza House children’s hos- pice.
Maidstone Prison’s sports
field was transformed into a mini-Olympics stadium to stage a range of events, including high jump, shot putt, basketball
– and a spot of welly-throwing! Each prisoner paid one pound to enter and spectators contributed 50p to the fund. It raised a total of £105.50. Community engagement managerMartin Dacey said: “It was the one-year anniversary of us integrating the whole
prison and the prisoners put a proposal to the management, via the Prison Council, to hold a fundraising event forDemelza.” Mr Dacey said the money raised would be added to the £1,800 which the prison had al- ready donated to Demelza House over the past 18 months.
He added: "It is uplifting to
see prisoners from all walks of life working together to organ- ise and participate in this fundraising event for Demelza House. This promotes the citi- zenship that some may never have demonstrated whilst in so- ciety.”
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