LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


New supermarket wanted Dear Sir – In respect of your front-page arti- cle about the town’s boundary expansion (May), it is all well and good building homes for those who need them, providing they are affordable. But when is one of the big supermarket millionaires going to build another super- market to take all the extra people moving in and around Sutton Road? We only have Morrisons, and since the creation of the new homes, which have al- ready been built on two plots off Sutton Road, it has become absolutely chaotic in and around Morrisons and surrounding roads. More houses means more people, at least


two per household, plus their cars (some have two), which will make it even worse trying to get into and out of Morrisons, as well as trying to drive past the supermarket to get to other destinations, and the petrol station. This causes tailbacks even now. I dread to think how bad it will become


by Christmas. At present we have people coming from as far as Loose, Staplehurst, and Headcorn to use this one supermarket. There always seems to be land for houses


Family flee fire AFAMILY of six escaped after a smoke alarm alerted them to a blaze in their Maidstone home. Fire crews from Maidstone


and Larkfield used breathing apparatus to enter the house in Sittingbourne Road. The fire is believed to have started after an electrical applian- cel left charging ignited the con- tents of a cupboard. The residents alerted Kent


Fire and Rescue Service at about 10.40am. Watch manager Danny Turner


said: “Without a smoke alarm, this fire could have remained undetected and prevented the family from being able to evac- uate their home.”


Milestone for club THE Stone Street Club in Maid- stone celebrates its 125th an- niversary this year. The private members’ club, in Lower Stone Street, is holding the second of two members’ family days to mark the an- niversary on Sunday, July 15.


A NEW reading initiative at Maidstone’s New Line Learning (NLL) Academy sees the school fall silent each morning for 15 minutes as staff and students “Drop Everything And Read” (DEAR). The initiative – to encourage students of all ages to read more – has proved a massive success with students and teachers. The school has monitored the scheme since it started in Sep- tember and has found pupils have benefited from increased reading comprehension, amore varied vocabulary and im- proved confidence in speaking and listening. NLL’s state-of-the-art building


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


to be built; surely there is some land some- where that can be purchased and planning permission given for another supermarket. They would make a very good living from it, and it would alleviate some of the pres- sure on the one in Sutton Road. Why hasn’t one of the big four thought of applying for planning permission? Come on Maidstone Council, help the residents in and around Sutton Road. Have talks with the big four and see what can be done. You know it makes sense, make the lives of the residents living near Morrisons a little eas- ier. When the supermarket car park is full the overflow is outside our houses. Name and address provided.


Road closure not the answer Dear Sir –With regard to the suggested clo- sure of Knightrider Street, what a marvel- lous suggestion! Perhaps the council would like to buy all the property in the road, then they could build an emergency lane. This would stop vehicles mounting the pave- ment, which is illegal, to allow emergency vehicles through. The traffic management system on the


bridge cannot copewith the flows now – we have to put up with lorries and buses


pumping fumes, kids with bass speakers in their cars at full volume, and they tell us Maidstone is a wonderful place to live. Not in Sheals Crescent. CllrMalcolm Greer and the rest should be ashamed of making stupid statements. Mo- torists must ask, where is the bypass for the county town? It’s time for residents of Sheals Crescent


to get together and be militant and stop the flow of heavy traffic. James Burnham, Sheals Crescent, 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 from 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


Child porn found in flat


A PRISONER who had rented a flat in Maidstone has been sen- tenced to an additional 14 months in jail by Maidstone Crown Court, after admitting numerous offences involving child abuse images. Andrew Krone (39), previ-


ously of St Philip’s Avenue, Maidstone, admitted 21 counts relating to the making, possess- ing and distribution of indecent pictures of children, and one count of possessing extreme pornography. The court heard that after renting a room in Maidstone, he left before paying his rent. On clearing out the room after his departure, the landlord found indecent images of children and contacted Kent police. Officers searched Krone’s lap-


top and hard-drives, which had been left in his room, and found 23,378 indecent images of chil- dren, graded between levels 1 and 5 in severity, 10movies de-


Pupils benefit from reading time


allows staff to create a comfort- able atmosphere for reading by adjusting the lighting and play- ing soft classical music. Golding Homes have also supported the initiative with a £1,000 donation for new books. Literacy co-oordinator,Nicola Simmons, said: “It iswonderful to see so many positive interac- tions between students and staff, whether sharing, recom- mending or discussing books to read. We hope DEAR will de- velop our students into lifelong readers and learners.” NLL celebratedWorld Book Daywith a fancy dress day to raise money for more books.


face additional inquiries relat- ing to child abuse images. Krone was imprisoned for


Andrew Krone


picting extreme pornography and 707 indecent movies of children, graded between levels 1 and 5 in severity. Krone was later arrested in Scotland and remanded for as- saulting and causing injury and permanent disfigurement to a victim and a further offence of assault and robbery. While on remand, he was brought to Maidstone by Kent Police to


CRICKET teams from Maid- stone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trustwill be batting their best in a charity cricket match to raise funds for the Maid- stone Day Centre. A team from the IMACS (In- ternational Minimal Access Centre for Surgery) based at MaidstoneHospital, captained by surgeon, Professor Amir Nisar, will face the trust man- agers’ team, which this year will be headed by the chief ex- ecutive Glenn Douglas. Everyone is invited along to


watch – and have a go for themselves. Professor Nisar said: “We


three years and four months in November 2010 for the assault and robbery offences and has subsequently had an additional 14-month term added on to his existing sentence for the inde- cent image offences. He will have to sign on the sex offend- ers register for 10 years. DC Nicky Griffith of the child exploitation investigation team at Kent Police said: “Krone is a dangerous individual who sought to blame other people for his activities, claiming other people had been accessing his computer. “However, by tracking his ac- tivities online, and with the as- sistance of a number of witnesses the truth was estab- lished – that the offences of downloading and distributing indecent images of children were conducted by him.”


Teams bat it out to help day centre


hope lots of people will come along and watch us play and take up the opportunity to try cricket for themselves, as we will be holding other matches on the day for novices, juniors and ladies. “All of the money raised


will go to charity and the mod- est entry fee includes the clas- sic cricket tea of sandwiches, cakes and drinks.” The match, on Sunday July 1,


at St Mark’s Recreation Ground, Frant, aims to increase aware- ness of heartburn and Barrett’s Oesophagus, while raising funds for the day centre, which helps local homeless people.


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