Homes would


increase chaos PLANS for 17 homes at a Kings Hill junction have raised objec- tions from residents and coun- cillors. An application for the houses


at the corner of Sandow Place and Beacon Avenue has been submitted to Tonbridge and Malling Council. The scheme already has outline approval. Residents and parish council-


lors said more houses would make parking and traffic prob- lems even worse in an area that is already crowded with cars. Messages of objection from neighbourswere left on the bor- ough council’s planning page. A resident of Elan Close said:


“We have an ongoing battle with parking on the walkways due to restrictions at the play area at Beacon Drive. Where will visi- tors to this site park? On some days we cannot get to our park- ing or garages because of cars parked near the entrances.” Another resident said Sandow Place was already over runwith cars, the road being far too narrow for parking. Lodging its objection, the parish council predicted resi- dents from 10 of the new plots would park in Sandow Place and Beacon Avenue, causing congestion. There were con- cerns that the through access from Sandow Place to New Road would become a short cut.


Art on show THE Rotary Club of Malling is presenting the Kent Affordable Art Show at Tearnden Farm, Bethersden, when local artists will offer their work for sale at affordable prices. The show is in a 17th century framed barn on Saturday and Sunday, June 16 and 17, with free admission. Opening times are 10am to 6pm on Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday. Paintings, sculpture, pottery


and more will be on show and there will be opportunities for “budding” artists to have a go. Refreshmentswill be available. All commission profits will


go to Rotary’s global campaign for the eradication of polio. For details go to www.rc- malling.org.uk/kass.html.


Kings Hill move ONE of Europe’s leading heat- ing technology manufacturers is establishing a centre of ex- cellence at Kings Hill. Vaillant Group has taken 11,500 sq ft in 6 Alexander Grove, where it will provide training facilities for engineers and showcase the company’s product range. The company employs more


than 850 people in the UK and exports to more than 60 coun- tries. It is establishing a series of centres of excellence in the UK as part of its strategic ex- pansion and investment plan.


School is told to improve


AN Ofsted team who visited Halling Primary School in Feb- ruary said ineffective leader- ship meant little improvement had been made since the previ- ous inspection. Although achievement at the school was found to be satisfac- tory, improvements required to help pupils make progress more quickly had not been made. Achievement in English had improved, but it had declined in maths. Pupils made a good start in the reception class, but this was not built on as they moved through the school. The quality of teaching was said to be satisfactory, with


teachers providing practical ac- tivities and opportunities for pupils to work together. How- ever, improvement required to ensure that work was matched to abilities had not been made. Pupils were polite, consider-


ate and welcoming. They en- joyed school, attendance was good and they arrived punctu- ally. The majority of parents and carers said their children felt safe and well looked after. Recent changes had been


made to the teaching of literacy and numeracy, with assess- ments being made more often, and increased monitoring of teaching and learning. How-


ever, the full range of informa- tion was not being used to eval- uate the school’s effectiveness. Inspectors said the school needed to improve the quality of teaching and raise achieve- ment by setting challenging tar- gets for all groups of pupils. They should ensure teaching


is consistently good or better by July, with teachers assessing pupils’ abilities, setting them appropriate work and monitor- ing the learning of all pupils so that misconceptions could be corrected quickly. The school was judged to be inadequate overall, and given notice to improve.


Cubs clean up to


help environment THE East Peckham Cubs grabbed gloves and rubbish sacks to take part in a litter-pick in the village as part of their promise to help the environment. Seventeen youngsters, accompa-


nied by leaders, four residents and two community wardens collected eight bags of rubbish in just 90 min- utes. Equipment and high-visibility tabards were provided by Tonbridge and Malling Council, who also took away the collected litter. The clean-up started at the Scout


HQ in Whitebine Gardens and finished at the playing fields in Pippin Road.


AYLESFORD’s parking prob- lems could be eased while keeping the two public car parks free to users. Following a review of park-


Working together to ease parking problems users.


ing in the village, Tonbridge and Malling’s director of plan- ning, transport and leisure, Steve Humphrey told council- lors that the residents’ desire for priority parking was mutu- ally exclusive with their objec- tion to charges. He suggested the solution


was “some innovative partner- ship working” by the borough and Aylesford Parish Council to share the £55,000 cost of ex- tending the eastern car park, adding 40 extra spaces. The two councils would also


split the maintenance cost of the two car parks, which would help them to remain free to


A PROLIFIC sex offender has been jailed for four years after breaching a sexual prevention order by sexually assaulting and grooming a young girl from Larkfield. Daniel Joslin (30), previously


of Canterbury, admitted at Lon- don’s Old Bailey, two counts of sexual grooming, breaching a sexual prevention order, engag- ing in sexual activity with a child and four counts of distrib- uting indecent images of chil- dren.


Currently, the borough spends £22,000 a year on the car parks, with the mainte- nance of CCTV cameras a large part of the cost. Mr Humphrey said: “I have


no doubt that the parish coun- cil considers these car parks to be really important assets for the future vitality of the village. I hope therefore that you will be keen to work in partnership with the borough council to overcome the difficulties and challenges in a way that is mu- tually beneficial.” The parish council had agreed to consider the princi- ple of a contribution towards the cost of extending the east- ern car park. On-street proposals have been drawn up for eight loca-


tions in the village. These in- clude double yellow lines at Powell Close and Unwin Close junctions with Rochester Road, similar restrictions


in


Rochester Road near the Old Church and village club, and in Station Road near the old bridge, and the removal of a disabled bay in Bush Row. New double yellow lineswere proposed for a large stretch of Forstal Road, with a bus stop clearway and adjustments nearby to allow weekend park- ing.


An existing 20-minute limit


in the High Street would be ex- tended to one hour and single yellow lines near the steps would be removed. The proposalswere due to be discussed by the joint trans- portation board on June 11.


Sex offender jailed for assault on teenager The court


heard how Joslin (right) attempted to befriend the 15-year- old girl in Larkfield on social net- working sites. This later escalated into sex-


ual activity with the victim and culminated when he emailed her more than 100 photos and


Visit Downs Mail’s website — downsmail.co.uk


films depicting images of child abuse. Joslin had attempted to use


many false names in order to evade identification, but the net closed around him when the victim’s mother reported the matter to police and officers traced his computer and social networking accounts. Investigating officer Det Con Michael Brown said: “Joslin is a prolific offender who has groomed and assaulted a vul- nerable child.”


Malling 21


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  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48