Town parking could be cut Invicta among


A TOTAL of 171 town centre car parking spaces will be lost if Maidstone Council gets plan- ning permission to demolish the King Street multi-storey car park.


Downs Mail reported last year


that the council’s cabinet had agreed to demolish the 239- space car park after structural engineers said it was in need of urgent repairs to prevent it from collapsing. A planning application seeks


to replace the 1970s building with a surface level 68-space car park. A supporting statement said: “The existing structure is a rather imposing monolithic


Stolen diggers


are recovered TWELVE mini diggers, worth about £200,000, have been re- covered by police after being re- ported stolen. Police received a report that


the diggers had been stolen over the weekend of December 8-9 from a site on the Parkwood Industrial Estate, Maidstone. In the early hours of Decem-


ber 11, following up on intelli- gence that had been received, the diggers were found in a trailer on the A229, north of Staplehurst. Officers stayed on site until shortly before 7am, when three men arrived. Themen, aged 50, 22 and 32 from Sittingbourne, Maidstone and Staplehurst re- spectively, were arrested on suspicion of theft of motor ve- hicles. They were later released on bail pending until 26 Febru- ary. A fourth Sittingbourne man


(34) was later arrested and bailed. A 33-year-old woman from Staplehurst was also ar- rested on suspicion of handling stolen goods, and bailed. Detective Sergeant Neil Kim-


ber from Kent Police said: “This type of vehicle has been used by criminals targeting cash ma- chines and it is quite likely that by recovering the vehicles and arresting the suspects so quickly, we prevented other of- fences being committed.”


River suicide A POSTMAN died after jump- ing into the River Medway near Maidstone’s Millennium Bridge. The body of Stephen Inglis


(48), from Richmond Way, Maidstone, was found by a passer-by on February 8, 2012. An inquest in the town heard


Mr Inglis had been depressed for much of his life and was thought to have made a previ- ous suicide attempt. He had been signed off work


and was due to start therapy at the time of his death. Assistant deputy coroner


Roger Sykes recorded a verdict that Mr Inglis took his own life.


34 Town


pacity will be sufficient for the needs. However, continued rev- enue from the site in these times is highly desirable. “The layout of the site has


building of mainly concrete construction that many con- sider to be somewhat visually unpleasing. “Recent surveys undertaken by


MBC have shown that the town hasmore than adequate car park- ing provision, so a reduced ca-


been arranged to maximise the number of car parking bays available to facilitate a new bet- ter-positioned access point to the site from King Street.” Demolition of the car park is estimated to cost £500,000, while repairs to extend the life of the car park by a further 10 years would have come to £700,000. The council’s planning com- mittee will determine the appli- cation.


Charity gift gets Tony mobile A TEENAGER withmobility problems has thanked a charity that helped to buy him a newtricycle. TonyWright (14), who goes to Five AcreWood


School in Boughton Lane, has spina bifida, meaning his spinal chordandsurrounding bones have not developed properly. Although he can walk he finds it difficult to travel long distances andwill usehisnewtriketo helphimget around. The Rotary Club of Maidstone donated £200


towards the tricycle and Kent charity KASBAH, which supports the families of children with physical and learning disabilities, donated an- other £200. The rest, just under £100,was paid forby Tony’s family afterheoutgrewhis previous tricycle. Tony (pictured) said: “This bike is lovely, thank you somuch for everything. I will use it for shopping, exercise and lots of other things. Iwill not be going up the skate park with it. I’ll be going to Nan’s when the weather is better and helping Mum bring the shopping home. I will not ride fast down hills or do stunts on it.”


Three-year ban for drink-driver A FANT man has been disqualified from driving for three years for drink driving. Michael John Smith (33), of Terminus Road, pleaded guilty after


being stopped in his Ford Transit van in New Road, Chatham, on September 22. A urine test showed he had 136 mgs of alcohol in 100 mls of urine. The legal limit is 107. Magistrates disqualified Smith from driving for 36 months and


fined him £260. He must also pay £85 costs and a £26 victim sur- charge. Disqualification can be reduced by nine months if he com- pletes a course approved by the Secretary of State.


Hospital jobs for local people


MORE than 500 people have al- ready found work at Maid- stone’s new state of the art medical facility at Newnham Court. The £80m Kent Institute of Medicine and Surgery (KIMS), close to J7 of the M20, is set to create 400 jobs in the long term, but statistics from Vinci Con- struction show the construction phase has already provided a boost to local employment. Some 544 people have been inducted on the project during the first eight months of con- struction, with 30% of those carrying out non-specialist services on the site living within 10 miles of the project, and just under 50% travelling less than 20 miles. Maidstone council’s cabinet member for economic and com- mercial development, Cllr Mal- colm Greer, said: “I amdelighted


UK top ten for GCSE results


A MAIDSTONE school was among the top 10 in the coun- try in last year’s GCSE results. According to data published


by the Department for Educa- tion in January, Invicta Gram- mar School was the only school in the Maidstone area where 100% of pupils achieved five or more A* to C grade GCSEs including English and maths.


Invicta, in Huntsman Lane,


also scored highly in the Gov- ernment’s new English Bac- calaureate benchmark, which involves pupils achieving five or more A* to C grade GCSEs in- cluding English, maths, a sci- ence, a language and a humanity such as geography or history. Sixty-seven percent of Invicta pupils achieved this target. At Cornwallis Academy,Lin-


ton, 55% of pupils gained five or more A* to C grade GCSEs including English and maths. At Linton Park School the figures were 71% and 29%. Maidstone Grammar, Barton Road, had a 97% pass rate in the first category and an im- pressive 85% met the English Baccalaureate criteria. At Maidstone Grammar for


Girls in Buckland Road the numbers were 99% and 52%. Maplesden Noakes in Buck- land Road achieved 55% and New Line Learning Academy, Boughton Lane, gained 40%. Oakwood Park Grammar got


99% and 44%; St Augustine Academy gained 39%; St Simon Stock Catholic School, Oakwood Park, achieved 57% and 9%and Sutton Valence got 82% and 47%. Finally, Swadelands in Lenham achieved 58% and 5% and Valley Park, Huntsman Lane, got 60% and 3%. Across the whole of Kent 61% of pupils achieved five or more A* to C grades and nationally the figure was 59%.


Teaching plan MICHAEL Turner has applied to convert an office in Arm- strong Road, Maidstone, into a classroom. His planning application is to


that the KIMS project is already providing jobs for residents in the borough, and look forward to the completed centre providing further opportunities.” When the new hospital opens, probably in early 2014, it will provide the only cardio- thoracic and neurosurgery terti- ary care beds in Kent. It will provide private med-


ical care and support for the NHS by providing treatments to Kent residents for which they currently have to travel to Lon- don hospitals. Up to a quarter of its capacity will be available for NHS treatments.


Visit Downs Mail’s website — downsmail.co.uk


teach a group of up to five chil- dren, who need assistance with basic core academic skills, in a vacant ground floor office in Kings Row. Maidstone Council will de- termine the application.


Pharmacy agreed MAIDSTONE Council has granted planning permission for a new pharmacy at Penen- denHeath PostOffice in Boxley Road. Consent was also granted for a new shop front and rear extension that will enable the post office to be moved back and a central area created for the pharmacy.


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