Transport plan ‘going nowhere’ Continued from page one


the elected representatives, nor for the people.” KCC leader Paul Carter said:


“I have serious problems with this and the process. It is put- ting the cart before the horse and potentially creating a ‘de- veloper’s charter’.” He questioned whether or not Maidstone would be contribut- ing some of the Section 106 in- come received from new homes towards the road infrastructure, and whether or not other sources of funding had been identified, adding: “With elec-


tions coming inMay, there is no way I am putting my name to Maidstone Borough Council in- creasing car park charges! But we cannot do all this ourselves – the money is simply not there.”


Members also agreed the plan


fell short in its recommenda- tions for a bus lane in Sutton Road, which could exacerbate problems. “If we do not deal with the congestion from the Wheatsheaf to Armstrong Road, this would be a waste of mil- lions of pounds,” said Cllr Cooke. “The money designated for a bus lane could go a long


MAIDSTONE’s recycling initia- tives have gained a silver star from the county’s Greens – but the party believes councils could still do better. Out of Kent’s 13 local author-


ities, eight fell below the na- tional average of 43% – with Ashford being the worst, with just 14% of household waste re- cycled.


Maidstonewas one of the bet-


ter ones, with a 44.6% success level rating it above the national average and only marginally be- hind county leaders Tunbridge Wells, (46.7%) and Tonbridge & Malling (45%).


Steve Dawe, press officer for


Kent Green Party, said of the DEFRA statistics: “Bearing in mind that the national average amount of waste per household is still about 431 kg per year, there is a long way to go. “They certainly could do bet-


ter if they tried.” Mr Dawe said he thought councils were missing some valuable opportunities in not raising their recycling ambi- tions. He said: “Recycling can create jobs, cut avoidable im- ports and reduce the waste of fossil fuel energy, but not one of the local councils in Kent has


way towards creating a Leeds- Langley bypass.” Cllr Clive English said: “This


is not integrated and it’s not a strategy. “It includes proposals that


will make things worse. There are so many things wrong with it.”


The JTB was unanimous in re- ferring the draft back for further consideration and Cllr Carter stressed: “Please make sure the plans are affordable. If not, there is no point having a plan.” The final sign-off for the draft strategy will fall to the KCC cab- inet member.


Borough’s ‘silver star’ for recycling


adopted a zero waste approach to dramatically increase recy- cling and re-use.” Along with Ashford, the dis-


tricts below the national aver- age were Gravesham (24%), Dartford (26.7%), Thanet (26.9%), Sevenoaks (31.9%), Swale (32%), Medway (37.9%) and Dover (41.5%). Canterbury (43%) was on a par with the na- tional average. "Eight councils have im- proved their position; three are exactly the same; and Canter- bury and Thanet are both down slightly,” addedMr Dawe.


Granite surface


is replaced DOZENS of granite slabs, laid as part of Maidstone’s £2.7m showcase High Street regenera- tion project, have been dug up following complaints. Diggers removed the slabs


from the King Street bus stop. The bus stop, outside Cole-


man House, has now been resurfaced with black Tarmac. The council says the blocks


will be re-used when work gets underway on the lower half of the High Street in the spring. Cabinet member for eco- nomic and commercial devel- opment, Cllr Malcolm Greer, said: “It should put a stop to unnecessary falls and reduce the need and cost of cleaning engine oil from the lay-by.” The council was forced to


take action after receiving more than 40 complaints from people who missed their step. The council conceded it needed to take action after 14 residents lodged personal in- jury claims with the council.


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