‘Not everyone will reach top speed just yet’ Continued from page one
take a little longer than BT’s publicity sug- gests. Maidstone, Loose and Snodland are in- deed among the latest places to benefit in the company’s £2.5 billion roll-out programme. Upgrades to exchanges are to be completed
by this time next year. But it does not neces- sarily mean everyone served by those ex- changes will be moving into in the internet fast lane. “Not straight away, “ clarified BT regional spokeswoman Emma Littlejohn. Street cabinets, for the electronics and fi-
bres, have to be built. “We can’t guarantee everyonewill be connected to those cabinets to start with.We don’t have new cabinets in every area.” She added: “Ultimately our aim is to bring
super-fast broadband to everyone. But this is the start of the journey, it’s part of an ongoing process.” BT is investing £2.5bn to make faster speeds available to two-thirds of the UK by 2015. Ms Littlejohn added: “The final third is challenging andwe can’t do it alone.We be-
Continued from page one
the site, the proposal would give rise to notice- able adverse environmental effects of HGVs along the route through Tovil, at the junction of Straw Mill Hill and Farleigh Hill/Tovil Hill, and within Straw Mill Hill. “These effects relate to the intrusive visual and
Maidstone Mayor Cllr Brian Mortimer talks to exhibitor Diane Sergeant fromMaid- stone Visual Arts Network
Art showcased
at Town Hall PHOTOGRAPHERS, painters, musicians and others with a creative flair were at an art ex- hibition at the Town Hall. The event, which welcomed
art organisations and members of the business community to display their creative talents, was organised by Cllr David Pickett. He said: “I wanted to fly the flag for arts and culture in Maidstone. It is the first showcase we have put on, and hopefully we will do it again at a later date in a bigger area. “It is a chance for people to network together.” Twelve organisations at- tended, including Maidstone Youth Music Society, who per- formed songs. Local artist Gra- ham Clarke opened the event with Maidstone Mayor Cllr Brian Mortimer.
Road closure PART of Sittingbourne Road, Maidstone, will be closed on November 7 for six nights. The closure affects the sec-
tion between Holland Road and Hatherall Road. Diversions will be in place.
One to two? A PROPOSAL has been lodged for the conversion of former NHS consulting rooms, now a single dwelling, into two homes at 49-50 Marsham Street, Maidstone.
Demelza disco A 1980s discowill take place at Sandling Village Hall, Sandling Lane, in aid of Demelza House. The event is on Saturday, No- vember 12, 7.30pm-11pm. For tickets call Maidstone Family Church on 01622 695604.
14 Town
Youth group gets Hazlitt set piece MAIDSTONE Lions Club donated £2,900 for the Har- mony Youth Theatre Group to hire out the Hazlitt Theatre for its annual concert. The show, entitled Gypsy Magic, was due to run
from October 19 to 22 and featured youngsters from theMangravet area of Maidstone. The club aims to give youngsters in the area an ac- tivity to encourage social aid and aworthwhile hobby.
Whitmore flat conversion
APLAN has been lodged to convert a vacant residential building into four self-contained flats at 48 Whitmore Street, Maidstone.
other sensory impacts of the relatively frequent passage of HGVs, rather than cumulative noise. There would be consequent harm to the quality of the residential environment of Tovil, and to the setting of the Conservation Area by way of vehi- cles entering and leaving the site directly oppo- site its boundary.” Mr Phillimore noted that planning approval has already been granted for 272 houses on land to the rear of the site, owned by Pat and Pam Burke (see story below). KCC member Cllr Ian Chittenden, who also rep- resents the borough for South ward, said: “This was an excellent team effort with local council-
HOPEShavebeenraisedthat Maidstone's old landfill tip could one day be the site of housing development. If the former Tovil tip land at
Walnut Tree Farm, Farleigh Hill, is ever to be used for homes, thousands of tons of decompos- ing household waste must be treated or removed first. According to a councillor, it would cost the council a “for- tune” to clean up the site to a satisfactory standard after about 20 years of landfill tipping. A potential solution arose four years ago when business
lieve a partnership approach is theway to do it. It is a Government issue and an industry- wide issue.” She said the current rollout might seem to favour urban areas but BT is “absolutely committed” to helping rural areas too. Openreach chief executive Liv Garfield
said: “No-one is keener than us to extend these super-fast speeds to rural areas and so we will be bidding for public funds to help extend these services even further. The chal- lenge is a tough one but byworking with the public sector it is within our reach.”
Crushing blow to waste proposal
lors, Tovil Parish Council, Tovil Action Group, Valley Conservation, the North Loose Residents Association and local residents all working to- gether. “I am particularly pleased that themain reasons outlined by the inspector concentrated on the dra- matic change to Tovil parish over the last 30 years, from a commercial paper manufacturing area to a residential area. “Had the appeal been lost, it would have set
back the improvement to the area that has taken place in recent years and is ongoing. Also, the ex- cellent work undertaken by Valley Conservation, helping to improve our local countryside, should not be forgotten.” KCC member Malcolm Robertson, who is also
on the borough council, said he was “ecstatic” about the decision. He was the KCC planning com- mittee member who moved refusal back in Janu- ary, which was marginally voted through by the committee, against the advice of planning officers.
...but hopes build for neighbouring homes
couple Pat and Pam Burke agreed in principle to buy the polluted land from Maidstone Council. But the housing dol- drums put a brake on the plan. A recent officer's report said:
"The downturn in the residen- tial property market has meant the proposed remediation works have been deferred until an improvement in the market, and the buyer can no longer meet the originally agreed ter- mination dates set out in the contract." Now, however, the Burkes have been given more time to
decontaminate the site. In July, the council agreed to renew out- line planning consent for hous- ing, originally granted in 2001. A total of 272 homes have been agreed in principle. And earlier this month, cabi-
net member for corporate serv- ices, Cllr Eric Hotson, agreed to extend the termination dates to 2014, by which time the clean- up must be completed. If the sale falls through, the council would “expose itself to signifi- cant on-costs” under its Envi- ronmental Protection Act duties, the report added.
Nursing home bridge link THE PilgrimsWay Nursing and Residential Home at 10 Bower Mount Road, Maidstone, has applied to construct a bridge to link the nursing and residential elements. The 2m-wide glazed bridge would link
the first floor of the nursing home with the ground floor of the residential home. The design statement said: “Social serv-
ices have indicated to the applicants that the facilities would operate better with a safe link between the premises. “At present, staff need to transport resi-
dents in wheelchairs from the residential care home, around the site and through the car park when they need to visit the nursing home.
“Functions for patients and residents and facilities such as hairdressing services are provided in the main nursing home.” Maid- stone Council will decide on the application.
20/20 storage extension DHL Food Retail has applied to erect a new 3,000 sqm storage building at the 20/20 Business Park, Laver- stoke Road, Maidstone.
You can e-mail the Downs Mail —
info@downsmail.co.uk
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