Lib-Dems warn of ‘missing 975 homes’
LIBERAL Democrat councillors in west Maidstone have been walking their patch to spread the message about the prospect of nearly 1,000 new houses in the area. The three ward members covering Alling-
ton – Cllrs Malcolm and Cynthia Robertson and Dan Daley – and their supporters are hand-deliver- ing letters to 3,200 addresses. They want to make residents
aware of a “missing figure” in the draftCore Strategy documents, on which the borough council is cur- rently consulting. Cllr Mr Robertson said: “The
map associated with February's Cabinet meeting, which showed 975 houses in the Allington and Barming area, has failed to make it into the documents.”
The simplifiedmap merely has a large star illustrating the area of proposed develop- ment. But Cllr Robertson added: “Developers have the map with the numbers on and are
rubbing their hands in glee. “People only looking at the verbiage need
THE Core Strategy has a target of 10,080 homes for the period 2026- 2026. The homes will be distributed between Maidstone, Harrietsham, Lenham,Marden, Staplehurst and Headcorn. Anew strategic employment location is proposed in the vicinity of
newly defined town centre. It also proposes a green and blue infrastructure network that
links open spaces with rivers and streams; and introduces protect- ed green wedges that bring the countryside into the heart of Maid- stone.
£78m hospital still set to open on time despite hold-up on construction start
THE start ofwork on a £78m private hospital on the edge of Maidstone has been put back six months. A hiccup with bank funding caused the hold-up but the Kent Institute of Medicine & Surgery (KIMS) still aims to admit its first pa- tients in 2013. “The current programme targets anOctober opening date," said James Dickmann, devel- opment director of KIMS. The groundworks at the Newnham Court
site, off Bearsted Road,were originally sched- uled to begin this summer butMr Dickmann told the Downs Mail last week: “The ground
has yet to be broken, though we are hopeful to do so by Christmas." The hospital is expected to provide spe- cialised procedures and care in areas such as cardiology and neurology for both privately insured and NHS patients. KIMS will offer services forwhich patients would otherwise have to travel as far as Lon- don.
Maidstone Council's economic develop-
ment manager, John Foster, said the scheme would bring “huge investment and high-qual- ity jobs with the potential for other busi- nesses to cluster round it”.
to be alert to the fact they are planning to build 1,000 houses up here.” Residents have until midnight on Friday, October 14, to comment online at http://maidstone-consult.
limehouse.co.uk/portal or alter- natively at:
M20 junction 8 and amedical hub is proposed around the approved private hospital near junction 7 (see below left). The Core Strategy proposes to regenerate older buildingswithin a
Town Hall weekdays, 10am- 4pm, until October 14
Maidstone Disability Forum, Community Support Centre, Friday, September 30, 10am- noon
Mote Park Café, Friday, Sep- tember 30, 12pm-3.30pm
Switch Youth Café, Tuesday, October 4, 3.30pm-5.30pm.
Recycling changes have worked well
MAIDSTONE Council says its new recy- cling system is proving a success, with the borough’s recycling rate close to 50%. Since early this year, the council has
cut its general waste collection from weekly to fortnightly, and taken away food waste every week for recycling at Blaise Farm Quarry, Kings Hill. Overall, the borough is collecting 11%
less waste from the kerbside. For the first quarter of 2011, the recycling rate in Maidstone was over 45%, an improve- ment of 15%. Boxley parish council chairman Martin Pepper said: “It’s nice to get some feed- back on the hard work of residents.”
Email your vote for your favourite to win! Isla
Pretty as a Picture Finalists
After an overwhelming response to our Pretty as a Picture competition, in conjunction with Maidstone Photofactory, here are the top three entries that polled the most votes.
The free contest has been open to children aged three months to three years and attracted over 1,200 votes and more than 40 free portrait sittings at the Headcorn studios of Maidstone Photo Factory. Downs Mail readers have been able to view all entry photographs and vote for their favourite.
Now the top three battle it out to win £500 worth of photography & prints. Voting for the finalists ends on October 24th, with the winner announced a fortnight later. Strictly one vote per email address, duplicate entries will not be counted. *All those who had a sitting can return to Maidstone Photofactory to collect their free 6x4 print.
Vote for your favourite “Pretty as a Picture” winner by following the link from
www.downsmail.co.uk or email the name of your winning choice to
info@downsmail.co.uk
DownsMail 26 East
email the name of your favourite to
info@downsmail.co.uk Support YOUR local paper — and we can support YOU - advertise on 01622 630330
Summer
Lainey
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64