Fancy planning town’s future? MailMarks


WHO would be a borough


councillor just now, trying to sat- isfy everyone’s demands plan- ning the town’s Core Strategy for the next 20 years or so? What a nightmare. It’s tough coming up with the proposals, gathering local opin- ion and trying to placate objec- tions. And then the key player, the Govern-


ment, keeps moving the goalposts. It will have the final call through a required pub- lic inquiry.Alocal council can be damned on planning if it acts quickly – and damned if it delays to meet all needs. Maidstone Council thought it was well advanced last autumn on its huge task of planning about 11,000 new homes in the period 2006-2026, as well as changes in the road infrastructure and meeting future employment needs. But by the end of last year, the Govern-


ment was rejecting just about every Core Strategy proposal across the country, mainly because its national need for hous- ing had grown substantially. Maidstone had to react – and now it knows the local target will have to increase. The council now talks of a working tar-


get of 14,800 dwellings for the period 2011 to 2031 – an average of 740 a year. This is about 200 a year more than the previous target and building levels over recent years. The Government may be persuaded to listen to a strong case for a build some- where below this level. The council also sees the release of some greenfield sites as necessary because the reasons for the previously-established moratorium no longer apply. It still sees M20 J8 as a site for strategic employment development – at least while work on identifying employment land demand and supply is completed. The new housing tar- getwill increase resident labour supply by 7,600 workers. Lobbying against a possible new “village”


Furniture plea STAFF and volunteers at a Maidstone charity store are ap- pealing for donations of furni- ture to help the PDSA. Anyone with good quality furniture can call the shop on 01622 620487 to arrange a free collection. The PDSA can only accept furniture that has the fire-warning label relating to the 1988 regulations.


Donations can also be taken to the shop at 26/27 High Street Maidstone. For details, call Lizzie Rogers on 01622 620487.


Firm on the move HAVAS Shared Services Ltd has moved into its new offices at Hermitage Court, Hermitage Lane, Maidstone.


The company has taken a 10- year lease on the 5,300 sq ft of- fice building built by Gallagher Properties after 48 years at Con- corde House in Maidstone.


House conversion PLANNING permission was granted to convert a five-bed- room house into three flats at 30 Ashford Road, Maidstone.


46 Town


DENNIS FOWLE - President Kent Campaigning Journalist of the Year 2001 email: dfowle2011@aol.com


of 5,000 houses south east of urban Maid- stone and employment at J8 is already ac- tive, but the council has to find answers for the Government’s planning rules as well as a path for Maidstone that satisfies the ma- jority of residents – a tough one.





What a way to give birth THE story of the baby born on the Maidstone-bound train at West Malling had a lovely ending – but I am very wor- ried about the start, after the woman’s wa- ters broke at her home in Borough Green. Themother was sent away by themater-


nity unit at Pembury Hospital because she was not considered to be in labour. She had tomake the complex journey from the hospital with train connections to get to a relative’s home at Cuxton. This is far from the first time I have


heard a worrying hospital story like this. I appreciate the increase in pressures on a maternity unit now consultant-led hospi- tal births are no longer, so sadly, available at Maidstone. But this NHS policy should lead to very sympathetic “in labour” deci- sions,with patients’ fears and needs to the fore. I worry hospital pressures are com- ing first. That is wrong and dangerous.





DIY holidays from now on THIS is not a travel column, but with


holidays so importantmy opinion may be helpful. We have cherished memories of a holi-


day of a lifetime when a 14-day Celebrity Infinity cruise took us to such unlikely places as the Antarctic (reaching Paradise Bay), round Cape Horne, the Falkland Is-


lands, Patagonia (Ushuaia and Puerto Madryn) and Montevideo. My mistake was not makingmy


own flight and hotel arrange- ments – and being part of a huge group when I booked 19 months in advance with major UK adver- tisers, Reader Offers. We did not look forward to the 13-hour-plus flight


from


Heathrow to Buenos Aires. Then a week before departure, without consultation, our documents arrived with a plane change at Frankfurt, adding about four hours in both directions. Many flew di- rect, but the unlucky also went via Paris, Madrid or Amsterdam. Most were shattered on arrival at about


10am at the Inter-Continental Hotel, Buenos Aires, where rooms had been booked, but were not available until 4pm. About 200 fellow passengers with luggage packed the reception areas, several asleep on the floor. There were furious com- plaints to Reader Offers at the time – and two weeks after I sought an editorial com- ment from the company there was no re- sponse. There were other issues. In future Iwill try to ensure I get exactly what I want as I make my own bookings.





Get well soon, Kate MANY will have been alarmed by Kate


Bosley’s worrying cycling accident in Tenerife which left her unconscious and in intensive hospital care for about two weeks. Later encouraging news is that she is recovering. Kate is the very committed chief execu-


tive of our Heart of Kent Hospice and Maidstone owes her a great debt of grati- tude. She deserves our support in so many


ways, especially in helping to raise the £3.8m a year now needed to run the hos- pice. Her sponsored cyclingmarathons are just part of her great commitment. May she soon be fully restored to robust health.


Primary school enters special measures


A TOVIL primary school has been placed in special measures after receiving an inadequate re- port from Ofsted.


Archbishop Courtenay Church of England Primary School in Eccleston Road was deemed inadequate (grade 4) by inspectors in terms of the achievement of its pupils, the quality of teaching and leader- ship and management. For the behaviour and safety of pupils the school received a grade 3, which means improvement is required.


Inspectors said leaders had failed to tackle serious short- comings identified at the last ‘satisfactory’ inspection. They criticised a number of areas, in- cluding assessment of children’s abilities, before saying: “Pupils cannot read, write or calculate well enough”.


On a positive note, inspectors recognised that pupils were safe and well cared for, were given opportunities to develop well morally and spiritually and got on well with pupils from differ-


ent backgrounds. They also said the new school building, which opened in February 2012, was providing a stimulating working environment.


Inspectors noted the school had increased the number of pupils on its books since mov- ing to the new site last year. The school has a higher than average number of pupils with disabili- ties and special educational needs and the proportion of pupils eligible for additional funding, for free school meals or because they are in care, was double the national average. Sue Rogers, director of educa- tion at KCC, said: “Throughout the 2011/12 school year the local authority and diocese worked closely with governors to bring about improvements at at the school and there is a shared disappointment in the Ofsted outcome. “However, staff and governors are committed to working with KCC and the diocese to bring about rapid improvement. A number of actions have already


been taken, including the ap- pointment of an acting head teacher who started at the school in January.


“The school has invited par- ents to a meeting to discuss the outcome of the report, answer any questions they may have and to share the plans for swiftly addressing the concerns raised in the Ofsted report.”


Special measures means the school is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and those in charge of the school are not demonstrat- ing the ability to make improve- ments.


Trees to be removed PEVEREL Retirement has been given planning permission to fell four protected Lawson cy- press trees at Barden Court, St Luke’s Avenue, Maidstone. The applicant said three of the trees were dead, with the other almost dead. Maidstone Council granted planning permission on condition that all four trees are replaced with the same species.


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