Ferries repeat history
MORE than 100 years of history have been markedwith the launch of a new ferry serv- ice on the Maidstone stretch of the Medway. GreenleafLeisure Ltd launched its “Jubilee
boats” on the weekend of the Queen’s Dia- mond Jubilee, and shortly plans to start a daily commuter service toand from the town centre. The service has been named not only in honour of the 2012 Jubilee celebration, but also in memory of Jubilee Briggs, the man who worked the Maidstone ferry for more than 50 years, from 1897until the mid-1940s. Jubilee, so named because he was born on QueenVictoria’sGolden Jubilee in1887, ran the service from the Horseway, byAll Saints’ Church, to the opposite bank of the river at
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there is a possibility we might need them for some future purpose. “There have been occasions when
the borough has got rid of something only to find it could have been of use.”
Council leader Chris Garland de-
nied that was the case and has called upon the LibDems to produce exam- ples.
The council’s strategy for freehold ownership has switched in favour of leasehold ownership. “The strategy is for a move towards longer leaseholds or freehold disposal to the commu- nity, where the tenant or new owner becomes responsible for the prop- erty,” says the report. Cllr Eric Hotson, cabinet member for corporate services, said: “The plan
Lock Meadows, roughly where the newMil- lennium bridge is now situated. The service provided a short cut from Upper and Lower Stone Street to the west side of the town at a cost of a penny and, be- cause of his long associationwith the boat, it became known as the Jubilee ferry. Greenleaf has launched its Jubilee boats
from the same location and, over the bank holiday, allowed visitors to cross the river on one of its new electric solar shuttle boats for the original price of just 1p. Jubilee boats hope to start their daily com-
muter shuttle service from town toTovil and the Maidstone East and Barracks Stations within a few weeks.
Council probes asset sales
is merely an update on our existing plan and our policy has not changed. The Liberal Democrats who attended the [corporate services and overview scrutiny] committee supported the plan. Selling Chillington House is not on the cards at present. We need to consider a range of options for its via- bility.” CllrWilson added: “Iknowweneed
to raise capital funds but we need to be much more thoughtful about what we do. “In the case of Chillington House,
we need to investigate whether it could be taken back as part of the mu- seum, or used as office space. I am not anti-disposal, but we must think about the future of the borough, not simply offload everything willy- nilly.”
Overflowing drains Continued from page one
Cassie said: “It’s unrealistic to expect small chil- dren to stay indoors and not play outside. We also have a small puppy who needs to go out. While the garden was in that state, we had to bath him each time he came back in.” Blocked sewers have been causing problems
in nearby Ashford Drive and Broomfield Road, but the difficulties in Peter Pease Close have been particularly extreme. The close is served by its own pump, which residents believe has burned out on at least one occasion because itwas unable to handle the ca- pacity. Now, Orbit sends engineers out twice a week to ensure the sewers are clear and main- tain the pump in working order. Cassie said: “We have been told that this is
Orbit’s first rural build so, in effect,weare guinea pigs for this pumping system.
“We have also been told Orbit are now seeking planning permission to install amuch better three-phasepumpwhich should be able to cope with the volume of sewage.” Maggie McCann, development director atOrbit Homes,
said: “The sewage pumps originally installed at Peter Pease Close have the capacity to servemuch larger hous- ing schemes and we have the same pumps in use at other larger schemes where no issues have been reported. “The sewage pumps at Peter Pease Close have been re- placed three times due to problems experienced. To ease the situation, we are installing even more powerful sewage pumps, which will be in place by the end of July and we have ensured that specialist cleaners have at- tended and cleared any affected areas. “We have also been working with residents to make
them aware of the importance of not putting non-dis- posable items such as wipes, nappies and in one case a t-shirt, down the toilets. In the meantime, since the end of Maywe have arranged for our contractors to check the pumps every two days to ensure they are running smoothly and there are no blockages. We have had no further issues since that time.”
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