LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


My Pembury experience Dear Sir - I read with interest your article with regard to patients being sent to Pembury A&E rather than Maidstone and thought I would share my recent experience in this re- gard. Last Tuesday (November 15), I received a


phone call at 11.50am fromAylesford School Sports College informingmethatmy14-year- old daughter, Freya, had had some sort of fit and had fallen unconscious at her desk. Iwas told that an ambulance was taking her


to Maidstone Hospital. I was working at my local pre-school in Eccles at this time but was due to finish at noon. Having no car of my own available tome, my colleague offered to take me to Maidstone Hospital. At around 12.10pm we were driving through Aylesford High Street when Ayles- ford School rang me again to say that the teacher accompanying my daughter in the ambulance was told that they were now going to Pembury Hospital. My colleague and I did not know how to


get to Pembury and as time was of the essence felt it necessary to drive to my fa- ther’s house in Loose as I knew he would know the way and had a car. We eventually got to Pembury at around 1.15pm. Once we arrived the directions for parkingwere atrocious and we were directed to the staff underground car park. There were no clear directions to the main reception as obviously we were in a staff car park. Luckily, a member of staff was able to di-


rect us but this meant having to walk through the hospital to find our way. When I did meet up with my daughter, her teacher said she had been seen by a triage nurse and was told to wait to be seen by a doctor. In the meantime the teacher had to phone


the school to be collected by anothermember of staff. My daughter was eventually dis- charged around 4.30pm. Obviously ifmy daughter had been seen at Maidstone Hospital then the time taken for meto get there and to enable the teacher, who accompanied my daughter,would have been a lot less - as Maidstone Hospital is only a 5- 10 mins drive away. Luckily,mydaughter is fine but we have no


way of knowing whether this could happen to her again.


Karen Humphries, by email


Cricket is well established Dear Sir -With regard to the continuing saga of cricket on Bearsted Green, I remain in- credulous that people choose to buy proper- ties around The Green knowing that cricket is played there and has been for generations, and then proceed to complain about it. I assume that the cricket club has insurance


to cover damage to residents' vehicles and property - if not, it should - so if somebody did not want the risk of a cricket ball hitting car or window, perhaps they should have thought about it and bought a property some- where 'safer'. Given the price of property around The Green I'm sure they'd have had a number of options. It's rather like people buying a house sur- rounded by tall trees and then setting out to have them removed on the failsafe basis of 'health and safety'. Nick Singer, Birling Avenue, Bearsted


J8 sandstone quarry concern Dear Sir - In your December 2011 edition you have an article about the proposed develop- ment at M20 J8 by Gallagher, who plans to develop a large warehousing complex in the area.


Part of the text says: “Gallagher plans to re- duce the elevated area of farmland by up to


36 East


You can write to us at: Downs Mail, 2 Forge House, Bearsted Green Business Park, Bearsted, Maidstone, ME14 4DT or e-mail: info@downsmail.co.uk


40ft so that the development is not visible from the A20 and Bearsted area”. Is this state- ment just a euphemism for “we want to ex- tract the sandstone in the area and create a sandstone quarry, which will later be turned into an industrial storage depot.”? At the junction of Old Mill Road and the


A20 you have what used to be the Caves Café (in the 1950s) and behind this is a small sand- stone quarry that, in the 1960s, was used as a lorry park for some company vehicles. In the sandstone behind the café you had a system of caves that covered quite an area. When they start extracting the sandstone it


will be interesting to find out the extent of the caves and if any interesting artefacts turn up. It is hoped they don’t extract toomuch sand- stone or the site could be flooded by the River Len, which borders the southern side of the site.


RGLuck, Fernhill Road, Fant


Against new tree proposal Dear Sir - I read with interest a recent article in your publication (East, December) that I was not alone inmy anger and dismay at the lamentable tree felling on the Church Land- way, Bearsted. However, it appears that the parish council


isn’t finished with trying to remove any green space in the village. A recent conversation has drawn my attention to rumours of a pro- posal to fell the trees on the public footpath between Roseacre Lane and St Faith's Lane. This potentially involves the removal of the large sycamores on the basis they are not na- tive! What utter poppycock! These are well- established trees and can be found anywhere in the region. This is an attractive strip of woodland,


which is important to both wildlife as well as maintaining the rural atmosphere of the vil- lage (which sadly is fast disappearing). The parish council has already made a complete hash of felling trees on this path in the past. We must stop the parish council’s contin-


ued intent on destroying the feel of the vil- lage.


JohnWilshire, by email


Dear Sir - Bearsted Parish Council is at it again and is planning to cut down yet more trees in the village. This time it is the sycamore trees on the footpath between St Faith’s Lane and Roseacre Lane. It is cutting them down be- cause it thinks of them as weeds; they are not weeds but mature trees. I amagainst this out- rageous plan. Rosemary McMurdo, Pimpernal Close, Bearsted


Use our shops and buses Dear Sir - As ever, your wonderfully inform- ative publication (East, December) has just dropped through my letterbox, and I have comments on two subjects. Firstly, page 6, "Christmas on your doorstep". It is all very well the Town Centre Management quote from Bill Moss extolling the virtues of Maidstone. I happen to agree with him, in the most part. However, I recall that some time ago Cllr Richard Ash admitting that he and his wife always travelled to TunbridgeWells to shop as Maidstone had nothing to offer them.How can we take a pride in our town when our elected (and paid) representatives cannot bring themselves to so do? Secondly, page 20, "Rising concerns about


bus changes". I have never seen ex-council- lor JohnHorne on a bus. Probably because he does not catch one very often, unlike those of us who do actually rely on the service to get around. I know he cannot use them very often as the number 8 service changed its route in Sep-


tember. It was widely advertised both in town, with new timetables, and on each bus stop in the affected area. I can only presume he either did not read the bus stop notices, or bother to pick up a timetable from the Arriva offices. I agree that the bus service to our village is appalling and I have written to you and Ar- riva on many occasions about this. Indeed, you were kind enough to print a letter of mine on this subject a few months ago. What a shameMr Horne did not take up the cause when he was in a position of power, despite those living in his ward (Thurnham) being most affected. As ever, our paid representa- tives have failed to concern themselves with the subjects that concern us in the real world. Jeanne Gibson, Birling Avenue, Bearsted


Still waiting for yellow lines Dear Sir – For a long time, residents of Foley Park have been begging for double yellow lines to be put in Tudor Avenue. There have been many “near misses”


where cars have been parked opposite the T- junction into Norman Close, on the bend at the bottom of TudorAvenue and on the brow of the hill off Sittingbourne Road. All of these make it virtually impossible to see oncoming traffic. With all the money being spent on re- vamping the High Street, I would have thought some money could have been set aside to correct this very dangerous situation. It was promised it would be done last Janu- ary!


Must we wait for a serious accident or a fa-


tality to occur before we get some action? Call me cynical, or could the reason for the delay be because the majority of cars parked there are council employees’ vehicles? Lynn Jung, Saxons Drive, Foley Park, Maidstone


Conman warning Dear Sir - I live in a road just off Boxley Road, Walderslade, and on a Sunday afternoon a man knocked onmydoor, offering to remove all the leaves frommy gutters for £20 and re- turn to clean the windows each month for £12. He had a young lad of about 12 with him


who held his ladder. He removed the leaves and said he’d be back to clean the windows in a couple of weeks. A couple of weeks later he returned, knocked on the door and said: “Can you give me the £12 first, I’m working down the road at a neighbours and need the cash. I’ll be back in half an hour to clean your windows.” I didn’t have £12, just a £20 note and held


it out and asked for change. He took the £20 and said he’d be back with the change. He jumped into his white vehicle and sped


off. I never saw him again! I realise now that it wasmyfault for giving


him the £20 note and I have informed the local police, but I would like to warn other residents of this conman. The man looked a bit rough and could have been anything be- tween 50-60 years of age. He drives a white car with a ladder inside. JP Gifford,Walderslade


Please discard waste in bins Dear Sir – I live in Chapel Lane, Bearsted. It is a lovely place to be, but it is being ruined by dog walkers who allow their pets to foul on grass in front of the cottages and throw dog mess bags into the hedges, often hanging off the branches. I am asking dog walkers to discard dog


waste in the proper place. Name and address supplied


Have you got news for us? Phone our News Desk on 01622 734735


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