Faster link to new hospital via bus ‘gate’


ABUS 'gate' is to be installed on the housing estate next to Maidstone Hospital to speed up links with the new hospital at Pembury. The rising bollard will allow buses only to


run between Queens Road and Hermitage Lane, thus avoiding congestion on the A26. The installationwill replace a barricade in


Tarragon Road. Itwill be only the second au- tomatic bus gate in the county, the other being at Ashford.


MAIDSTONE'S Sarah Mortimer has been voted one of the world's top young ballet dancers. The 19-year-old was the only British finalist at the Genee Inter- national Ballet Competition in Cape Town and one of only six fe- male dancers to reach the finals. Sarah, whose father Derek is a borough councillor, has just grad- uated in classical ballet and dance performance at Ballet West in Scotland. Mr Mortimer said it was a "huge achievement" for his daughter to be among the best six in the world, even though she did not win the competition. Sarah was home schooled from


the age of 12. She went to Hilton Hall Dance Academy,Maidstone, most evenings, and at weekends to London Senior Ballet. She joined Ballet West at 16 to take her degree. The Royal Academy of Dance says the Genee candidates have a


The scheme was included in the recently published Maidstone Integrated Transport Strategy. Cllr Malcolm Robertson informed residents about the ‘gate’, which had always been part of the estate plan but has taken many years to implement. "It seems this is going to progress at last.


This was always in the initial planning per- mission for the estate before anything was built and is a feature of the section 106 legal


Sarah, 19, has the world at her feet


"unique opportunity to workwith and learn from world-renowned dance professionals and choreog- raphers over five days of intensive coaching sessions before compet- ing in front of an international panel of distinguished judges". Sarah has toured with Ballet


West in Scotland and China. Last year she danced the Snow Queen pas de deux in The Nutcracker throughout the 21-date tour. For this year's tour of Romeo


and Juliet she stepped in to dance the role of Juliet for one perform- ance.


Following her success in Cape


Town, Sarah said: "It was a great thrill to reach the finals. The won- derful training and encourage- ment I received from Ballet West has enabled me to achieve this important milestone inmycareer. "I look forward to continuing


my association with Ballet West as I move on to the next stage of my career."


‘Off the wall’ housing given short shrift


A PROPOSAL to replace an industrial site with four large homes in the heart of the North Downs was described as “off the wall” by one planning committee member. Weldrite UK’s application to develop housing


on the site of the former Purple Hill Works in White Hill Road, between Bredhurst and Yelsted, was unanimously refused by the planning com- mittee. The scheme consisted of two five-bed detached homes over three floors, two semi-detached dwellings and a total of 20 car parking spaces. It was backed by Bredhurst Parish Council, who felt a resi- dential development would be much less harmful to a desig- nated Area of Outstanding Natu- ral Beauty than the present industrial land use. But the committee emphati-


cally disagreed. Cllr Tony Har- wood said: “I have not seen an application more off the wall than this in a long time. “If we put executive homes in


every untidy site in the country- side, we would not have a coun- tryside. It is a very slippery slope. We are custodians of the AONB and have to do every- thing to protect it. “I couldn’t think of anything


worse than putting residential dwellings with dogs, cats, strimmers and lighting in this setting.


“Employment sites are pretty


good neighbours to wildlife – that’s been proven again and


32 East


again. Being an untidy area is not an excuse to de- velop in the countryside.” Cllr Richard Ash said: “It would drive a coach


and horses through all our policies, but is there anyway we can tidy this site up? It’s so appalling. It is like someone has fly-tipped in the country- side. It is an AONB.” Along with refusing the application, the coun-


cil agreed to look into issuing an untidy site no- tice for the land.


…but business units get approval from all THE Purple HillWorks in White Hill Road can be converted into nine light industrial units after the planning committee gave its wholehearted backing. Detling Parish Council objected to the scheme, with Cllr Christopher Evernden saying: “I am amazed that Kent High- way Services has not objected to the access arrangements down narrow country lanes. The lanes are used by cyclists, hikers and horse riders. “Lorries leave a trail of destruction and the redevelopment


into nine commercial units will greatly encourage cars, vans and lorries to use a site that is not suitable for them to use.” Representing the applicant, Mr Collins said the site targeted


small start-up companies, “because they are two cars and a van-type units, rather than ones that will use HGVs.” He added: “That is not to say there will not be HGV use, be-


cause there will be, but it will be less than the unrestricted B2 [industrial] use there is at the moment.” The committee admitted that it would never accept such a scheme in the heart of the North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, had it been proposed from scratch. But because the site already has industrial use, it was agreed


that the scheme would enhance the current untidy area and be preferable to the housing scheme proposed at the previous committee meeting. Cllr Bob Hinder said: “This is a huge improvement on what


we were presented with last time. It is a lot greener and I wel- come that. However, I do still have concerns about highways, knowing how contorted these narrow lanes are.”


agreement with the developer." He said it would provide a valuable new service to residents and added: "At least the road is not being opened up to be a rat-run for all vehicles [and] modern bus gates are very secure against abuse." Andy Corcoran, KCC traffic schemes man-


ager, said he has discussed with contractors how the proposal could be moved forward as quickly as possible.


Fawlty Towers to


help church funds OTHAMand Langley Churches stand to benefit from the classic TV sitcom Fawlty Towers when TheWillington Players perform the much-loved comedy at The Hazlitt Theatre from November 8 to 12. For tickets purchased from church member Scott Raffle (01622 863089) for the Tuesday or Wednesday shows, half the value will go to church funds.


It’s time to run again, John!


MAIDSTONE councillor John Wilson is due to run for re-elec- tion next May - but running for charity was his main concern recently. John has had


a date in his diary for the Great North Run for the past few years - and this time he did the half-marathon in 1 hour 48 minutes, clipping seven min- utes off his previous best time. He also beat his £2,000 fund- raising target for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research into blood cancers. Hiswife Brenda is now seven


years in remission. John repre- sents Coxheath and Hunton ward and is cabinetmember for community and leisure serv- ices.


Fatal van crash A VAN driver who died in a crash on Loose Road, Maid- stone, was a 61-year-old from the Gravesend area. Ernie Bailey's van was re- ported to have left the road and hit a tree. No other vehicle was involved. The road was closed for a


time between Armstrong Road and Sheals Crescent while emergency services, including Kent Air Ambulance, attended the scene. The incident happened at 12.15pm on Friday, October 7.


Club’s £2,400 grant LENHAMWanderers FC has re- ceived a £2,400 Sport England grant to purchase goals, nets and corner flags. Club treasurer Bill Taylor


also thanked Lenham Primary School for allowing it to use the playing field for home matches.


You can e-mail the Downs Mail — info@downsmail.co.uk


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