Sporting action for all as Olympic torch comes to town


MEN and women all over Maidstone are being invited to walk, run, cycle and swim as part of the town’s Olympic flame festivities. A “Maidstone Mile” evening


fun run for all ages will take place on July 20, starting and finishing in the High Street. Anyone can take part, running for their own particular cause or charity, on a route that takes


Planning notes Extension plan


lacks ‘respect’ A PROPOSED front garage ex- tension at 2 Elveys Cottages, High Street, Yalding, has been blocked.


Maidstone Council’s deci-


sion statement said the “inap- propriate low-pitched roof design, its prominent position and the use of a different roof- ing material” would “fail to re- spect the character of the original property” and thus cause harm to the Yalding Conservation Area.


Oast holiday homes


plan is back again A SCHEME to convert an oast- house into four holiday units and four commercial units at Rankins Farm, Linton Hill, Linton, is still on the agenda. The proposal was accepted


three years ago but expired without development taking place. Applicant Bedri De- dushi has applied to renew this consent.


Village hall home ROBERT Schroeder has ap- plied to build a replacement detached three-bedroom home on the site of the former Kingswood village hall at Gravelly Bottom Road, Kingswood.


Machinery storage A NEW agricultural building for the storage of machinery was given the go-ahead for the Tanner Farm Caravan Park in Goudhurst Road, Marden.


in Week Street, St Faith’s Street, Fairmeadow and the High Street. Competent swimmers can


take part in a “Maidstone Mile” open river swim from the Arch- bishop’s Palace to Tovil, start- ing at 7pm. To mark the passing of the Olympic torch, both Maidstone and Tonbridge and Malling Councils have joined forces to


arrange the first Maidstone Triathlon on Sunday, June 24. This will comprise a 400m


swim in Leybourne Lake, a 21km cycle to Mote Park and a 5k run in the park, all for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Re- search. Seventies pop star Alvin Star- dust will headline a concert at Leeds Castle on the evening of Thursday, July 19, where the


THE courtroom almost burst it seams when court officials, lawyers and representatives of the pro- bation service and Crown Prosecution Service crowded intoMaidstone’s Court No 1 to pay trib- ute to one of the town’s longest-serving magis- trates, Michael Rowe. Mr Rowe, who was stepping down after more


than 30 years service, has been chairman of the bench in both the adult and youth courts and also a member of the advisory committee for the ap- pointment of magistrates. A staunch supporter of Citizens Advice, hewas awarded the MBE in 2004 for services to the com- munity.


Originally appointed to serve Tonbridge and Malling in 1981, Mr Rowe was elected chairman of the Mid-Kent bench in 2004 and, just a year later,made chairman of the newly formed Central Kent bench. Its current chairman, Lynda Jones, said: “We


owe Mike a huge debt of gratitude. It cannot have been easy to integrate three benches with 300 magistrates across a large area of Kent into one co-


THERE was standing room only at the Maidstone Older Person’s Forum, held at the town’s Hazlitt Theatre, when members were joined by MPs Helen Grant and Tracey Crouch and local councillors, as well as speakers on the subjects of cancer and de- mentia. The main presentation was


a three-hander, with Kate Sergeant from the Alzheimer’s Society, Eliza- beth Pilgrim from Guideposts Trust and Sue Scanlan from the Invicta Advocacy Net- work explaining the work they do in relation to demen- tia and how to go about get- ting help.


torch will spend the night after passing along the A20 and Har- rietsham. The next day, it will pass through Mote Park to the town centre via King Street and the High Street, then on to a royal barge at theArchbishop’s Palace to the landing stage near the new football stadium, where it will go by car to Chatham and theMedway Towns.


Benchmark for magistrate Michael


hesive and happy bench.” Justices’ clerk Malcolm Dodds paid tribute to


Mr Rowe’s “firmness, authority and fairness”, and said it was hard to imagine anyone who could have given more to the community. Mr Rowe, who was presented with a cheque


and certificate to mark his retirement, said he had calculated his last day was around his 900th day in court – which was “quite a sobering thought and probably equates to the value of a detached house in terms of value to the community”. Although presiding over the bench was princi-


pally a serious matter, he recalled a couple of amusing incidents – such as when a defendant turned up in court dressed only in a duvet and the time someone tried to claim they were exempt from paying poll tax because they lived in the “In- dependent State of Aylesford”. Mr Rowe, who lives in Offham, where he is a churchwarden, intends to take a holiday to Nor- way with his wife Eileen, to see the Northern Lights, before returning to more voluntary work – starting as a volunteer for the Olympics.


Standing room only at forum


Tracey Crouch, MP for Chatham and Aylesford, spoke about her work on the Commons all-party commit- tee on dementia and how she came to be involved in this and older persons’ issues. From Marie Cure Cancer


Care, Amanda Mendzil spoke about the work of the cancer charity andMrs Grant gave a talk on life as a new MP. Also attending the meeting,


held in conjunction with Vol- untary ActionMaidstone, were Chris Garland, leader of Maidstone Council, mayor Cllr Brian Mortimer, cabinet member Cllr JohnWilson and other MBC councillors. Councillors John Perry,


Lydia Spearink with a coach trip drawing of herself


22 South


MAIDSTONEmodel Lydia Spearink found herself well and truly in the spotlight when TV cameras followed a group of celebrities to an artist’s retreat in rural Italy. Lydia (27), who has worked as an artists’ life model for the past eight years, was on her second visit to The Retreat in LeMarche region of north- east Italy last year when a coach-load of famous faces rolled up for a surprise life-drawing session. Among them were comedians Canon & Ball, “EastEnders’” Charlie Slater and Nick Cotton and former royal aide Paul Burrell. The celebrities were taking part in a new C4 TV programme “Celebrity Coach Trip”, which was aired in January. In it, the group were shown how to develop their drawing skills with the help of artist John Skelcher who runs courses at The Retreat. Lydia said: “I am naturally self-confident or I


MP Helen Grant and Cllr JohnWilson at the forum


Peter Spearink and Joan Buller from Staplehurst parish also lent their support to this borough-wide event.


Spotlight falls on Lydia as art proves to be a model career


wouldn’t be in this job, but it was a bit strange having TV cameras focused on me and such a lot of well-known people looking at my naked body!” Lydia, the daughter of Staplehurst parish Cllr


Peter Spearink, lives in Grecian Street and travels all over the UK and abroad to pose for artists. This year, she has a month planned in Bruges


and trips to Italy and Scotland, although most of the work is in the South East. A former pupil of Angley School, Cranbrook,


Lydia studied art at college and does a lot of work with Kent’s adult education art department. She first got involved in modelling when her former GCSE tutor needed a portrait model. Lydia said: “I do a lot of work with schools


across Kent, as well as for local art groups and one-to-one sessions for individuals. It has cer- tainly broadened my horizons and helped me see the world.”


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


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