We must use M20 junctions well MailMarks
SHOULD Maidstone Council endeavour to attract new busi- nesses to our area by allocating land close tomotorway junctions in its current emerging develop- ment strategy? These are the type of locations businesses have indicated they want – and this is the offer Maid- stone must make. In the current international economic
crisis, now increasingly impacting on the UK, I see the only real solution as building up our country’s business base so we trade more successfully with the rest of the world. I was brought up to believe I lived in a first-world nation. In recent years I have increasingly questioned this, and after vis- its lastwinter to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the truth really hit home. Since then I have spent two weeks in German Rhineland and have been so impressedwith the quality of life and booming business parks linked to just about every town I saw. No wonder the Germans want to protect
their own economy from the financial hor- rors of so many European countries. We have to relate all this to our own town of Maidstone. Increasingly I fear for the fu- ture of my children and grandchildren if the national and local economy continues to weaken. We need more local businesses bringing prosperity and good jobs to Maidstone – and these businesses have been telling Maidstone Council for years they need to be near motorway junctions. We have junctions5,6,7and8ofthe
M20 serving Maidstone, and we must use those areas wisely to improve our chances of a prosperous future for the borough. There will be sensitive sites and decisions to be made. I do not favour, for instance, an enlarged shopping centre near J7 if it will damage town centre businesses. That seems crazy. But I see a massive difference between
all the horrors KIG wanted to impose on us, with a massive rail/lorry interchange stretching from J8 to Bearsted and Thurn-
Police appeal
after robbery KENT Police is appealing for information after a robbery in Maidstone. A 30-year-old woman was walking along an alleyway off Queen’s Road, Maidstone, at 3.35pm on Tuesday, August 7, when a man approached her from behind and grabbed her handbag from her shoulder. He ran off and turned left out
of the alleyway on to Queens Road, towards the A20. He is described as a white
manofmediumbuild,5ft 7in tall, aged in his 20s with short, dark brown hair, and waswear- ing a white T-shirt, dark track- suit bottoms and trainers. Anyone with information is
asked to call Detective Consta- ble Madeline Brackley on 101 quoting crime reference YY/014172/12, or, if you would prefer to remain anonymous, call Kent Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Take a walk in castle wonderland
WALKERS are invited to take part in a flagship fundraising event for the Alzheimer’s Society, which takes place in the grounds of Leeds Castle. TheMemoryWalk takes place on Sunday, September 30, with a choice of
three routes – 3km, 5km, and 10km – in 500 acres of beautiful parkland, which contain a variety of rare wildfowl. An Alice in Wonderland-themed tea party will greet finishers, as well as games, food, livemusic and a raffle. Theevent is to raisemoney for local services supporting peopleaffectedby dementia, their families and their carers. Therewill be prizes for the best costume, the best hat, best Alice band and
the top fundraisers. For more details, or to register, go to the website at
www.memorywalk.org.uk or call 01403 276649.
DENNIS FOWLE - President Kent Campaigning Journalist of the Year 2001 email:
dfowle2011@aol.com
ham, and some of the proposals currently in the pipeline to attract new businesses to that area. One day I still hope we shall see the south-east Maidstone strategic road (the old Leeds/Langley bypass) link to the J8 roundabouts with an associated business park. We live in a very tough economic world
now and it is a vital time to get our priori- ties right. Much hinges on how enlight- ened Maidstone Council is with its blueprint for our future. These are impor- tant times.
Indebted to Malcolm MAIDSTONE said a fitting thank you
and farewell to Cllr Malcolm Robertson at his civic funeral in All Saints’ Church. So often we do not know how much a person is revered until death. His old friend Cllr Dan Daley spoke for us all in his fitting tribute. Many points rang a bell with me – none
more so than how Malcolm could study a complex document and pull out so quickly the most significant points. I am indebted to him for this when he helped me with editorial work for this newspaper.
Hospital horrors GOVERNMENT agreed with the ridicu-
lously massive cost of the public funding initiative (PFI) finance to build the new TunbridgeWells Hospital at Pembury. Government is worried that NHS trusts saddled with such grotesque repayment costs are failing to meet them. Now Gov- ernment is sending in lawyers and audi- tors to seven such trusts to try to find solutions.
There is only one answer. Gov- ernment agreed this style of fund- ing, and now Government must pay the piper – no matter how un- palatable in these desperate eco- nomic times. The 250,000-strong population of
the Maidstone area has good rea- sons to be angry. We do notwant to be in the same
trust area as Tunbridge Wells; Tunbridge Wells wanted this new hospital – not Maidstone.We did not want core services like women’s and children’s and emer- gency and orthopaedic surgery stolen from Maidstone to support the business case for a distant TunbridgeWells Hospital; andwe do not want reduced hospital services, cancellations and lower quality due to eco- nomic crises in the trust. Governments have a lot to answer for to the people of theMaidstone area.
Come to Cobtree I VISITED Cobtree Park, Aylesford, dur-
ing the summer holiday with two young grandchildren and was very impressed with recent improvements. The new play area for youngsters is spa- ciously laid out, and there is good enter- tainment for children up to the age of about 10. Previously I had seen the park mainly as a great walk among magnificent trees. Now Maidstone Council has funds for
more improvements, including a form of museum to the wonderful zoo run by Sir Garrard Tyrwhitt-Drake until a few years after the World War II. I have a boyhood photograph to prove I was there with my younger sister and brother. It was such an exciting place for me in those days, with a little railway ride up the hill from the Chatham-Maidstone road. The lovely little cafe there was also
doing a good tradewith hot and cold food. There are too many in Maidstone who do not even know how to get to this lovely park. Just go past the entrances to the Vil- lage Hotel and Kent Life and the magnifi- cent gates open up on the right. It is well worth investigating.
Driver in court DANIEL Moss (21), of Sussex Road, Shepway, was given a suspended jail sentence at Mid Kent Magistrates’ Court for dangerous driving. Moss, who denied the of-
fence, was convicted of rid- ing a Yamaha motorbike dangerously on the A2 Lon- don Road at Sittingbourne on August 4, 2011. Magistrates sentenced him
to 120 days in prison, sus- pended for 12 months, and disqualified him from driv- ing for 18 months. Moss was given a three- month curfew to remain at home between 8pm and 6am and was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months and pay £700 costs.
Offices to flats HAYWARDS Estates have- been allowed to convert of- fices in Globe House, Pudding Lane, into three flats.
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