LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


Parking ticket pettiness Dear Sir – Iwas in the car park at Maidstone Market recently and could barely believe my eyes. A parking attendant was squatting down alongside a silver Ford Focus, parked in a disabled bay, looking all around and underneath, before she slapped a ticket on the car and walked off. The car was displaying its blue badge but


was parked slightly over the white lines. However, the lines were so faint, they were barely discernible. The car wasn’t causing any problems and


there were other vacant spaces. I don’t know if it was the driver or the passenger of the car who was disabled, but I think thewarden’s actions were appalling. I would like to draw other people’s atten-


tion to just how petty the parking attendants can be so they can be on their guard. Instead of charging this person, the council would have been better employed re-painting the white lines more clearly. Fred Hadler,Worcester Road, Shepway


Geoff Kitson, transport and parking services manager for Maidstone Council, said: “We introduced this penalty a few years ago in response to complaints from customers. If a vehicle parks outside the white lines, it im- pedes on the adjacent bay and on other road users. As in all parking matters, the driver has the right of appeal and can set out any mitigating circumstances. If the lines were badly marked, we would take that into consideration.” A full list of parking penalties is listed at www.patrol-uk.info


New library is disappointing Dear Sir – What has happened to the first class library service thatMaidstone once en- joyed in the superb Springfield reference li- brary and the Faith Street lending library? If you thought they would be replicated in the recently-opened Heritage Centre com- plex, you will be gravely disappointed. The new library is an open-plan hi-tech


shed with no separation of function at all. Computer use is well catered for, but for


those who require a dedicated area where they can spread their papers on plain tables, consult their books and study and write in peace, there is no provision– amajor failing for any reputable library. A further cause for concern is the placing


of a children’s play area in the middle of the library, highly visible and audible to all. Early learning for children is admirable


and desirable, but the shrieks and yells of uncontrolled children racing around the book stacks is neither. G French,Marion Crescent, Maidstone


TWO good causes were each presented with £2,500 by the outgoing mayor of Tonbridge and Malling, Cllr Brian Luker, from his charity fund. Leybourne Grange


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


Museum double standards Dear Sir–Ihave just read your article in theMay edition about the opening day for the Maidstone Museum and I am as- tounded that the borough council has been able to give itself planning permis- sion to obliterate the facade of the oldmu- seum. I feel sure this buildingmust have listed building status, and any proposal to build the “metal box” in front of this very at- tractive old building by a member of the public would have attracted an automatic refusal of planning permission. Later in your edition I found an article “Door blocked”, concerning the refusal of listed building consent for the replacement of awooden front porch with another made of oak in Bearsted as it “would fail to preserve the special interest of the Grade II listed build- ing, as the loss of the existing door would result in the loss of an important historical fea- ture”. In my opinion, this objection would have been justified in refusing the extension of


the museum over the facade of the museum. To grant permission for this development smacks of double standards by the borough council. Mike Muggridge, Norman Close, Maidstone


Long wait for blue badge Dear Sir – My friend, realising that her blue badge was about to expire, has discovered that it takes at least 10 weeks for County Hall to renew them. It also takes seven days to send out the re-


newal application form, although you can collect one at the borough council’s Gate- way, next to Boots the Chemist. KCC no longer sends out reminders, so be-


ware, and start the renewal process three months before your badge expires. Youwill need a new photograph and the cost is £10. Be warned. RonMold,Fauchons Lane, Bearsted


Lots of pressure, no change Dear Sir – With reference to the article in the May edition, headed “GPs fighting to keep control of their resources”, I couldn’t allow the response from the Department of Health to go without challenge. While Maidstone & Malling group’s deci-


sion to merge withWest KentWeald group was taken at a local level, this was due to the pressure put on both groups for a num- ber by the Strategic Health Authority. All over the country there are groups of practices of a similar size, who have been pressured to merge with larger groups by their health authorities, and it is very diffi- cult to believe that each of the health au- thorities involved did this without any guidance or pressure from the DoH. Another interesting rumour is that there is a


group of practices in the Swale area of a simi- lar size to Maidstone&Malling group. It could not find a larger group to mergewith, and has


Mayor presents charity cash


Riding School for the Disabled and Platform 51 (formerly the YMCA) were themayor’s nominated charities. Charity events included a murdermystery evening at Hadlow Manor,


a pudding evening at Ightham Mote and a karting challenge at Buck- more Park. Cllr Luker said: “It has beenmy great pleasure and privilege to be able to support these charities during my year as Mayor of Tonbridge and Malling. Thank youto themanywonderful individuals and organisations in the community who helped raise money.”


been told by the SHA that it must become an authorised Clinical Commissioning Group. Obviously it must be much more financially viable than Maidstone & Malling. Unless the larger group comes up with a robust set of “lo- cality rights” that gives practices responsibil- ity and ownership of services for their locality, I fail to see how a management group cover- ing 65 practices, and based in a central loca- tion will be any different from the PCT structure we had before. An interesting project would be to com-


pare themanagement costs and structure of the old PCTs and SHA with that of the new NHS Commissioning Board, CCG manage- ment and the other organisations that are being created, to see howmuch has changed in reality. In these days of austerity, I’m not con- vinced that the management salaries in the current and new organisations (paid for by us, the taxpayers) will reflect well on the value being required by a lean and effective NHS, bearing in mind that the NHS will have to make huge economies to manage their existing and future budgets. It would certainly not surprise me if An-


drew Lansley is not the Health Secretary in two years time, as I think he has been well and truly “Yes Ministered” by the civil ser- vants at the DoH. The changes that are being enacted are so bureaucratic that it will be very difficult indeed for the changes he originally envisaged being implemented successfully and the blame for any failures in those changes will be laid squarely at his door, rather than themandarins at the DoH. Jerry Cooke, North Street, Barming


School told to raise standards


DITTON Junior School is not taking enough action to im- prove its performance, accord- ing to Ofsted inspectors. The inspection team visited


the school in January this year, to see if the school had made the improvements it suggested at its previous inspection in No- vember 2010, when itwas rated satisfactory. They found writing in Key


Stage 2 had improved, but at- tainment in English was still below the national average, and attainment in reading had been falling steadily over four years. There was a sharp drop in at- tainment in maths, which was


significantly below average. Activities lacked challenge,


and there was not enough op- portunity for pupils to work in- dependently. Some elements of teaching


were effective – teachers made links across subjects and tried to make lessons interesting. However, pupils were given the same work regardless of their abilities, which meant a lot of pupils were not challenged. Pupils’ behaviour was good. Actions had been taken to ad-


dress the areas for improve- ment, but the impact of these actionswas notmonitored care- fully enough.


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