£38,000 appeal Planners praise homes
for new bells THEHollingbourne bell ringers want to raise £38,000 to buy two more bells for the tower at All Saints’ Church. The tower currently has six
bells, whereas a “proper” bell tower has a minimum of eight, according to an announcement on Hollingbourne Parish Coun- cil’s website. The bell ringers hope to collect
the cash over two to three years through fundraising events and grants, and are looking to the Friends of Hollingbourne’s His- toric Church and bell-ringing charity KCACR (The Kent County Association of Change Ringers) for support. They plan to promote their appeal at the village fete on June 15. Bell ringer Roland King said
the new bells could encourage more people to join the bell ringing team at Hollingbourne, which practises on Monday evenings. Hollingbourne school has shown an interest in the project, the bell ringers said. The Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the existing bells and the plan is to buy the new ones from the same company, which was founded in the 16th century. To get involved in the project
or learn more about bell ring- ing, email Roland King at
Rolandtking@aol.com.
A PROPOSAL to build 12 new homes in Lenham was praised by the planning committee. Members voted unanimously
in favour of Rogate’s proposal to create four freemarket four-bed- room detached homes and eight three-bedroom homes for over 55s behind the medical centre in GroomWay. Local ward member, Cllr Tom
Sams felt the allocation of 14 spaces for nine of the dwellings would lead to parking pressures in GroomWay and Old Ashford Road.
THE third annual Joshua’s Creche at Pen- nies Day Nursery, Newn- ham Court, has raised more than £500 for the Pembury Portage char- ity.
Committee member, Cllr Ian Chittenden was sympathetic. He said: “I really like this de- velopment. Nothing is more than two storeys high and there is plenty of amenity available. I know 1.6 parking spaces per home sounds a lot, but itwould be nice if we could get back to giving each property two park- ing spaces again.” The council’s decision to
grant planning permission means the developer will now need to purchase 33% of the land from the parish council,
Toybox raises cash at creche
The nursery started Joshua’s Creche inmem- oryofoneof theirbabies, who died as a result of health problems he had had from birth. The charity provides specialist toys and equipment for needy children,
and fun days and a Christmas party for youngsters and their families. The event also raffled a toy box donated by Dan Hayman Carpentry of
Bearsted.Nursery managerMichaelaMuller said: “It’swonderful that so many people decided tohelp out this year, thismoney couldn’thavegone to a better cause.” Photo showstoybox winners, siblingsRebecca, Emily and Thomas, en- joying their prize.
who would use the money to pay off the loan outstanding on the community centre at the bottom of GroomWay. Loans totalling £300,000 were
taken out to fund the commu- nity centre, which opened in 2004. There are 17 years still re- maining on this bill, which makes up £20,000 of the coun- cil’s annual £57,000 precept. Committeemember, CllrMike
Hogg said: “The developer should be praised for a good de- sign that fits in with the local area.”
Canteen plan VALLEY Park School has ap- plied for the permanent re- tention of a pre-fabricated modular kitchen and can- teen unit that is located on the site.
Permission was originally granted for the building to be located at the school, in Huntsman Lane, Vinters Park, in 2002. Maidstone Councilwill de- termine whether it can now remain there permanently.
Access gate LESLIE Needham has ap- plied to install a field access gate at Primrose Cottages, Otham Street, Otham.
4 East
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