Maidstone & Malling’s No 1 - 88,000 copies - 4 editions Maidstone Town Edition August 2012 No. 184 Downs Mail
foils trickster THE Downs Mail saved the day for a Barming man who almost fell victim to a con woman. Anthony Angel, who lives in
St Andrew’s Road, was doing his garden when a woman ap- proached him saying she had had her handbag stolen, which contained her house keys. She needed money to get a lock- smith to open her front door. Fortunately, Mr Angel had
just read a warning about the- woman in the Downs Mail. He said he was unable to help and she walked off up the road. Police are investigating the incident.
Today’s forecast:
Wet with some fun FORmany, this year’s Kent Show was a complete washout.
Thousands of visitorswere turned away on each
of the three days at the Kent County Showground, Detling, due toheavy rain transforming the parking area into a mudbath. Cars were parked on the A249 as visitorswent to dangerous lengths to en- sure their journeyswere notwasted. Counting the costwasKentAgricultural Society,
whosaid ithad lostmorethanaquarterofamillion pounds from holding the event. But not everybody was wet and miserable. Among the happy attendees was Harrietsham’s Chris Bone, who was given a top award for best sheep exhibit by former Newsround presenter and Countryfile host John Craven. See page 33 for a full report.
Foster a child, get a home CCTV staff ‘sold
A NEW system of choice-based lettings in Maid- stone is encouraging residents to join the armed forces, get stuck into some voluntary work or fos- ter a child. The council is looking at scrapping the points-
based scheme for the allocation of social housing and replacing it with a new bandings system. But the proposals are causing controversy among memberswho believe the system will be abused by families fighting to get to the top of the list. A borough council report discussed by the housing consultative board has recommended putting people in a higher band based on their “community contribution”. This would be a broad category that would in- clude: employment, volunteer/charity work, membership of the Armed Forces (within the last five years), and providing foster care.
THE iconic Tabernacle in Mote Park has been saved and will be restored and opened as a youth sports centre, thanks to a £31,490 grant from Sport England. The Mote Cricket Club last
year received other grants of £21,000 to stabilise the derelict buildingwith a new roof and re- stored walls. The money will provide a large changing area and classroom, toilets, shower and a small kitchen. The grant also covers the cost of coaching aids such as a video
camera, screen and computer to help develop young cricketers, rugby players, footballers etc. “We plan this will be the first
step in major improvements to this important site,” said Dennis
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First class care at home A draft document, outlining the proposed allo-
cation scheme changes, compiled by the council’s Andrew Paterson, states: “The intricacy of the present scheme increases the risk of it being ap- plied inconsistently and/or inequitably.” Although there are a number of social housing providers in the borough, the council is still re- sponsible for managing the housing register. Points are awarded to individuals or families, based on their level of need and circumstances. The new scheme seeks to streamline the regis-
ter, and plans to house homeless people in the private sector are designed to free up social hous- ing for other applicants, while reducing the like- lihood of people claiming to be homeless in order to obtain a house or flat. The current scheme has led to “points chasing”,
says the report, with applicants deliberatelyP4 Restored Tabernacle to get new role as youth centre
Fowle, chairman of The Mote CC development committee. “We will now liaise closely
with Maidstone Council on an exciting scheme to build amag- nificent new pavilion, im- proved access, internal road tracks and at least 200 car park- ing places. “Kent County Cricket Club
haswritten to support improve- ments and a return of first-class cricket to the ground. We see the site becoming a significant centre, too, to benefit the
P6
down the river’ STAFF who moved to Medway along with Maidstone’s CCTV security service have been sold down the river, it has been claimed. Six staff who moved from the county town to the new control centre in Strood when the serv- ice switched in April are now facing swingeing cuts in their hours and wages. Supervisors could lose £800 a month if their hours are cut from 58 to 37 each week, ac- cording to Paul Alcock, chair- man ofMaidstone’s town centre management committee. He said: “This was always one of our fears.” Mr Alcock claimed that Med-
way’s bid for the town centre CCTV monitoring, which came in 20% under the TCM’s own price, was based on a reduced service. Since taking on the contract, staff have been work- ing up to a third more than their contracted hours in order
P6
Doctors vote to hold NHS budget
P10
Stones return home after 11 years P12
Holiday time at Mote A host of free events will take place at Mote Park during August. For more information on the at- tractions, as well as other news, see the council-sponsored 12-page Borough Update in the central pages.
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