Villages’ views HOLLINGBOURNE


councillor John Cobbett: “In view of the promises made by our local elected representatives, I suggest there is clear public support for no development and the council has no mandate for even considering it. “There are empty warehouses


at Parkwood and Aylesford plus empty offices and vacant shops in Maidstone town cen- tre. The borough council should concentrate on rejuve- nation of the town, rather than spoiling the countryside which was “saved” two years ago at vast public expense. Downswood Parish Council chairman, Roz Cheeseman said: “It beggars belief there is even thought given to such a devel- opment, bearing in mind the costly fight against AXA’s pro- posed KIG development.”


Parishes could swell GREENFIELD sites in rural areas could be built on as part of Maidstone’s bigger plan for the future. The draft Core Strategy has set


a target of 1,130 new homes to be built in five main rural cen- tres – Harrietsham, Headcorn, Lenham, Marden and Staple- hurst.


Marden and Harrietsham would get the lion’s share of the new development – 320 and 315 houses respectively – with 195 earmarked for Staplehurst, 190 for Headcorn and 110 for Lenham.


Locals have their say on Core Strategy proposals ‘Keep J8 free for tourism’


parish


MAIDSTONE Council officers have been accused of lacking imagination, ambition and fore- sight in their plans for the future of the borough. The proposals to develop an in- dustrial park warehousing and office space at Woodcut Farm, near Junction 8 of the M20, were slammed as “madness” by Victo- ria Wallace, chief executive of Leeds Castle. Ms Wallace, one of the many objectors to the original KIG pro- posal that included the same land, said: “This was fantastically short-sighted. The council should have been looking for something whichwould have less impact on the environment and something the borough can be proud of – something with more imagina- tion, sustainable and which will garner local support.” However, council leader Cllr


Chris Garland said: “Holiday use has been mentioned, but what holiday company wants to set up a camp by the motorway? “If the market comes forward


and shows an interest then we may be able to go ahead with it, but so far nobody has been inter- ested.” Ms Wallace’s suggestion that


the site should be used for some- thing tourism-relatedwas backed by 14 parish councils when she spoke at a meeting of the Joint Parishes Group. She said: “This site is the entrance to the tourism collateral of the borough, bor-


stand why we spentmillions op- posing KIG and now say this is a suitable site for commercial de- velopment. The people of Maid- stone have made their views very clear.There is no mandate for de- velopment on this site. To desig- nate the site for commercial use would be a betrayal.” Maidstone Council carried out


VictoriaWallace, chief executive of Leeds Castle


dered by an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the gateway to theWeald.To put a brownfield industrial site in the middle of productive farmland would be insane.” The council identified 25 hectares of land near the mo- torway junction to be developed as “employment land”. Officers ruled out alternative


sites at Detling Airfield, Her- mitage Lane and Park Wood in favour of theWoodcutFarm site – the subject of a multi-million pound battle against the Kent In- ternational Gateway freight hub. Anger was voiced by politi-


cians on both sides of the fence, particularly in Bearsted, where residents are still recovering from the two-year fight against KIG. Cllr Nick deWiggondene,who represents Detling and Thurn- ham, said: “No-one can under-


a six-weekpublic consultation on its core strategy last September. The Joint Parishes Group sub- mitted a “comprehensive re- sponse” after employing a planning consultant. However, former Maidstone councillor John Horne, who chairs the JPG, said they had as yet received no acknowledge- ment. Mr Horne said: “We want to


make Maidstone a place where people want to come and should be open to ideas and suggestions. We arenot anti-development, just anti-warehousing. “We understand thatKCChas a


smart tourism unit, so it would seem sensible for them to con- sider the full development poten- tial of the site in a way which would enhance and increase tourism in that area.” The Core Strategy Local Plan is


the key document of the local planning policy framework. It sets out the borough council’s


vision and objectives over a 20- year period from 2006 to 2026, and it determines development over the period.


Retail centre at J7 ‘would be bonkers’


TOWN Centre manager Bill Moss has at- tacked plans to create an out-of-town retail complex at Newnham Court Shopping Vil- lage, off the M20 at J7. WhileMaidstone Council’sdraft Core Strat-


egy has singled out the area as a specialist medical campus – a private hospital is under construction – it also contains provision for additional retail development when there is not amore appropriate site elsewhere in the town. Mr Moss is paid for bymainly town centre businesses to aid the viability of the centre of Maidstone. “It is total bonkers that they are talking about building a retail park there,” he said.


Referring to the £3.9m outlay on the High


Street project over two phases, he added: “The councilhas spentmillions ofpounds on improving the town centre and hasmade an absolutely fantastic job of it. “To even consider putting a retail park that


would direct people away from the town to somewhere one-and-a-half miles away makes absolutely no sense.We have a very strong re- tail economy inthe town, sowhyput it at risk by encouraging people to not go there? “If there is an opportunity to object for-


mally, then the Town Centre Management board will decide the way forward. I have no doubt they will put in a strong letter of objec- tion.”


While the cabinet is in favour of keeping open the opportunity of retail development


18 Town


at J7, there is cross-party opposition to the proposal within the borough council that could quash the idea. Councillors Clive Eng- lish (Lib Dem) and Paulina Stockell (Conser- vative) have gone on record as saying it could devastate the town centre, and any decision on the Core Strategywould have to be agreed at full council. Cllr English said: “The wording they have


in place at the moment leaves it open for someone like Next to use it as a large out-of- town retail location. The consequence of this type ofdevelopment is that town centre busi- nesses could go bust, like they have in Ash- ford.” But head of planning, Rob Jarman, argued


that major retailers used different criteria for their out-of-town stores and they would not conflict with town centre shops. He said there was evidence thatMaidstone residents “leaked spend” by shopping in other towns and the aim was to keep them in the borough. A shuttle bus from J7 to the town centre would help keep both sites vi-


Diversity ‘is the solution’


BILL Moss says Maidstone Council should allowempty shops to have different uses. He said: “I have no doubt we are over-


shoppedinMaidstone.Wehavetoask whether theempty retail space couldbeused for something else, for example a doctor’s surgery or a dentist.”


able, he said. Council leader, CllrChris Garland, insisted


that any future retail development would re- place, rather than add to,what already exists at Newnham Court. No retail development would be larger than 500 sqm- the size of an average petrol station - he added. “The policy is quite specific,” he said. “It


will enable the replacement of existing retail so there will be no conflict with the town cen- tre, and there will be no future retail devel- opment over 500 sq m, which is very small. “If we do allow a retail development at Junction 7 itmust not conflict with the offer in the town.” Fellow Conservatove member, Cllr Stock-


ell, was not impressed. She said: “It’s a great idea to offermedical facilities here – but not shopping.” Despite the centre of the town having an abundance of empty offices, Mr Moss be- lieves creatingmore offices near J7 would be a better idea than a retail development. He added: “They can put an equestrian centre, a swimming pool, a leisure park or of- fices there; they could put virtually anything else apart from retail there, and we would support it, because it would not impact onus. “We have thousands of square feet of of-


fices in the town centre that nobody wants. They are all verydated, and peoplenowwant high-tech offices. Long-term, I can only see them remaining empty before they are de- molished and become residential.”


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