Shed floored WORKhas just been completed on a massive chicken shed in Staplehurst, which will house more than 134,000 birds. The flooring for the 2,575 square metre shed was laid by agricultural flooring specialists Connop & Son Ltd, from Leominster, Hereford, using a bumper consignment of 250 cubic metres of ready-mix con- crete, supplied by Gallaghers of Maidstone. The specially-designed mix, which included Kentish rag- stone aggregate and polypropy- lene fibres, was laid using a laser-guided screed and the monster pour had to be com- pleted in just one day.
Theft setback MINDLESS vandalism and theft threatened to put paid to a burgeoning village business. Frances Shaw, who runs Vil-
lage Footcare in Yalding, left her car at Yalding Station to at- tend a business meeting up in London. But she returned to find both
the driver’s and passenger side windows of her car completely smashed and her sat nav stolen. Frances, who runs a mobile footcare service, said: “This was an inconvenience to me and all the clients I had booked in, as I couldn’t get the repairs carried out for three days.”
Olympiad banner unveiled
A LITTLE piece of history has got Maidstone in stitches. For the first sixmonths of this
year, nifty needleworkers from all over Maidstone have been busy stitching away to create sections for the town’s new Cul- tural Olympiad Banner. Forty two groups, represent-
ing music, dance, theatre and the arts, from across the bor- ough were brought together by the Maidstone Area Arts Part- nership and the Maidstone Vi- sual Arts Network to create the textile hanging. It featured in the Olympic Torch celebrations in the town on July 19 and 20 and now hangs in Maidstone Museum. It was unveiled by the mayor,
Cllr Rodd Nelson-Gracie, after a concert given by five arts organ- isations in Kent, representing dance, music and poetry. The
official ceremony was followed by marching the banner to Maidstone Museum. Sue Pritchard, who master- minded the project and carried out much of the stitching on be- half of the groups, said: “There is astrongculturallifeinthe Maidstone area and the banner was designed to reflect this.
Care home conversion consent PLANNING permission was granted to convert a care home in Leeds Road, Langley, into a single dwelling. Maidstone Council’s planning committee voted unanimously
in favour of Chris Chapman’s application to turn The Hawthorns into a four-bedroom bungalow. The supporting statement requested the conversion because “it
was deemed that this property was no longer viable as a care home and was only used as a stop-gap while refurbishment works were carried out on other care homes in the Maidstone area”. There is a lack of demand for a care home the size of The Hawthorns, it added.
Thanks go to all the stitchers for their needle skills, to the mu- seum for giving us the class- room facilities for our monthly workshops, and to Maidstone Borough Council for funding the raw materials.” Organisations and individuals reflected in the banner include the Bearsted and Sutton Va- lence Choral Societies, the Craig Turner Gallery, Graham Clarke, the community arts group Lighten Up, Knit and Stitch, Maidstone Film Society and the Willington Players. The banner is based on the cladding of the new wing of Maidstone Museum. Sue said: “The banner will be-
come a part of Maidstone’s his- tory, commemorating the summer games and the county town’s part in the Olympic torch relay.”
Changing roles LOOSE Cricket Club has been given permission to convert a storage barn into changing fa- cilities and install practice nets. The scheme involves the re- location of cricket and football pitches.
Maidstone Council granted planning permission on condi- tion that operating hours are re- stricted to 9am-10pm.
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