Calendar help THE 2012 Staplehurst Calendar will be launched at the annual village art and craft exhibition at the URC Margaret Howard Hall and School Room on the weekend of October 15-16. Priced £4, Ken Collins’ pen


and ink drawings will this year feature Staplehurst foot- paths and include places of in- terest nearby. Also, thanks to the co-opera-


tion of Staplehurst Footpath Group, a complete map of foot- paths will be shown. The proceeds will be shared equally between All Saints Church, Staplehurst Free Church and The United Re- formed Church.


Forestry storage A RETROSEPCTIVE applica- tion has been lodged to store and maintain agricultural ve- hicles and machinery in an ex- isting farmyard and buildings at Wierton Hall Farm, East Hall Hill, Boughton Mon- chelsea.


Applicant Richard Curteis,


from Aspen Tree Services, says the storage is used in connec- tion with a forestry business.


Road closure TRAFFIC will be diverted when part of Biddenden Road, Headcorn, is closed for four nights from November 1.


Busy Sherrie takes on fifth job PARISH clerk Sherrie Babington’s busy life just got even busier. She brings a wealth of experience to her new job as clerk to Linton Parish Council as she already acts as clerk to four other parishes. The married mum of three (pictured),


who lives in Walderslade, Chatham, is clerk to Leeds, Detling and Thurnham parishes, as well as Hoo St Werburgh in Medway.


Previously, she has worked in financial


roles for Kent County Council and Rochester City Council. Mrs Babington was selected by Linton


after 40 people expressed an interest in the role. She has replaced Mike Stevens who stepped down at the end of September after 20 years as clerk. He said: “It will certainly be a big change and I willmiss it. I decided after 20 years, that was long enough. I have never been so busy in my life. I ammoving house and it was a convenient time to put the two together.”


A PETITION with more than 200 names calling for the protection of the Greensand Ridgewas pre- sented to Maidstone full council. The ridge – a strip of land south of Maidstone


that extends across Boughton Malherbe, Ul- combe, Sutton Valence, Linton and Yalding – is under pressure from developers because, unlike the Kent Downs, it is not categorised as anArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). In August, permission was granted for a new seven-bedroom home to be erected in open coun- tryside at Liverton Hill, and petitioners fear that a proposal for Wierton Place, Boughton Monchelsea, could be damaging to the unique


Request to reduce


size of nursery A LARGE mixed-use develop- ment in Headcorn could be re- duced in size. A proposal to build a new doctors’ surgery, children’s nursery and 25 affordable homes in Grigg Lane was given planning permission in May 2010. A plan has now been lodged


to reduce the size of the nurs- ery.


Applicant Colin Begeman, of Cascade Partnerships, wrote in a letter to a Maidstone Council planning officer: “The nursery owner has stated that the ap- proved nursery is too large for her needs and consequently is more expensive to build than it needs.” The councilwill decide on the application.


Petition to save Greensand Ridge from developers


landscape of the Greensand Ridge. An application was submitted in April to re-


place a nightclub and apartments with a total of 24 homes. Presenting the petition was Jonathan Gershon,who said: “Residents reject the idea that this is a brownfield site. It is very much in the heart of the countryside and needs to be treated that way in the council’s policies.” He also raised concerns about the number of travellers setting up in this area. The petition was referred to the cabinet and scrutiny committees. TheWierton Place applica- tion will be determined by Maidstone Council at a later date.


Round-up of gypsy-traveller news around the villages Gypsy:We don’t take advantage of system


A 29-YEAR-OLD gypsy who has been given permission to remain in Staplehurst with her five children insists she is “not taking advantage” of Maidstone Council’s lack of gypsy policies. The council said it can only defend appli- cations such as Charlene Powell’s to station three caravans at Stilebridge Stapleyard, Stilebridge Lane, Linton, when it has pro- duced its list of vacant and alternative sites for the Development Plan Document (DPD), which may not be released until 2015.


A NEW hub for gypsies is de- veloping in Wagon Lane, Pad- dockWood. A gypsy family has applied


for retrospective permission to station two caravans and a tour- ing caravan at The Stables, Wagon Lane, PaddockWood. And travellers have moved


into neighbouring site Green- acres, installing asmany as five mobile homes and four touring caravans without planning per- mission. Ward member Cllr Rodd Nel- son-Gracie has been exerting pressure on Maidstone Council to issue a stop notice to prevent


So the planning committee had little choice other than to grant planning permis- sion to allow her to remain there for the next four years, particularly after hearing planning officers claim that there is good screening and little visual harm caused by the presence of Ms Powell. She told the committee: “I have five chil-


dren – three are in full-time education. Be- fore we came to Stilebridge Lane, we have never had stability. “I have had a nervous breakdown for not


further caravans being sited il- legally in Greenacres. The new residents of Greenacres are ex- pected to submit a planning ap- plication. Cllr Nelson-Gracie said: “The council is waiting for informa- tion from the Environment Agency to do with flooding, which would help them find a planning reason to issue a stop notice.”


Maidstone Council is consid-


ering enforcement action, sub- ject to appeal. Applicants for The Stables scheme,Mr and Mrs Beeny, pre- viously lived at Epsom in Sur-


Horse dealer seeks site for another home HORSE dealer Bob Lee has applied to station an additional mo- bile home at Fairway, Church Hill, Boughton Monchelsea. In February last year, the gypsy was given planning permis-


sion to set up a mobile home, touring caravan and stable block for his 20 horses on grazing land.


being able to give my children what they need. I have a 12-year-old son with atten- tion deficit disorder and he needs medica- tion. He is settled here, and so am I. He has never had a home and neither have I. “We are not taking advantage of the situa-


tion. We are willing to do anything we can to stop us being seen from the road. I will do whatever I can for the sake of my chil- dren.” But Cllr John Wilson said: “There seems to be one set of rules for the man in the


Travellers set sights on new hub in Wagon Lane


rey and Flimwell in East Sussex before moving toWagon Lane. The Environment Agency has voiced concerns as the area was flooded in 2000. But agent Alison Heine, rep- resenting the applicants, said in her supporting statement: “As has been agreed on appeal, many siteswere cut off by snow for several days at a time over the last two winters in Maid- stone. “If the area around Wagon


Lane were to flood again as it did in 2000 the families would just sit it out until the flood water receded and the roads were safe to use. Inspectors have generally accepted that gypsy-travellers are resilient people.”


Maidstone Councilwill deter- mine the application.


street, and one for gypsies.” Cllr Tony Harwood was in favour of the scheme. He said: “With this sort of temporary use it will go back to being a field.” The committee voted in favour of granting temporary planning permission.


Westminster visit POLITICIANS in Maidstone have outlined their frustra- tions over traveller issues to MPs inWestminter. Local MP Helen Grant, council leader Cllr Chris Gar- land, planning committee chairman Cllr Richard Lusty and Coxheath ward members Cllr John Wilson and Dennis Collins met up with MP Bob Neill, Secretary of State for Communities, to voice their concerns at the borough council’s inability to prevent unwanted gypsy develop- ments in the borough.


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