TV studio turns fans away
ANGRY gig-goers have lashed out at the Maidstone Studios after being turned away from recordings of aTVcomedy show. SROAudiences invited people
Homes plan for
church hall THE Victorian church hall in the centre of Boxley has been earmarked for conversion into two homes. Built in the 19th century as a school, the hall, which fronts on to The Street, has fallen into disrepair and would require “significant works” to bring it up to current standards, says a planning document. Plans to convert the hall into
two homes, and retain the at- tached cottage, with minor al- terations, have been submitted to Maidstone Council. “The conversion to residen-
tial dwellings provides a sus- tainable solution to the use of this attractive building which otherwise would fall into a fur- ther state of disrepair”, said Diocesan Architects, residential property managers for the Can- terbury diocese. Proposals include dividing
the building into two two-bed- room properties, each with its own entrance, and the existing cottage would be retained. A shared parking area would
be provided in the existing parking area. Existing features would be re-
tained and alterations would be kept to the minimum, using materials to suit the site within the Area Of Natural Beauty and Boxley Conservation Area. It describes the existing building as very damp. “It cur- rently has minimal community use and is falling into a further state of disrepair,” says the doc- ument. Boxley churchwarden Gill Munson said the application had been submitted but the parochial church council did not wish to make any comment.
to apply for free tickets for Jo Brand’s Great Wall of Comedy, being recorded in Maidstone. The event was advertised in
the Downs Mail, as well as on various internet websites. Successful applicants were advised to turn up early, with entry subject to studio capacity. However, while they were ad-
vised that staff would admit guests from 6.30pm, with the doors closing strictly at 7.10pm, those who turned up at 6.30pm found the studio already full. More than 100 fans who
turned up at the allotted time for the Monday night recording were turned away. One man who had spent £30
on train tickets and taxi fares to get to theMaidstone venue said: “It’s disgraceful. The doors were opened at least an hour before the advertised time. Offeringme tickets for another night is no good – what if the same thing happens again?” An irate fan from Loose said:
“It wouldn’t have been so bad, but they emailed me repeatedly between issuing the tickets and the date to check that I and my three friends would be attend- ing, as they wanted to re-allo- cate the tickets if not.” A spokesman for SRO said:
“We do over-issue tickets by a percentage to compensate for in- evitable no-shows, and seating for ticket holders is allocated on a first-come first-served basis. “We always send out more tickets than there are seats, but we try very hard to balance this so that we have a full studio without disappointing anyone, and base the number of tickets we send on the number used at the most recent recordings of a show. Sometimes, we have a handful of empty places, and sometimes we don’t manage to squeeze everyone in.” He said people who were turned away had been given priority status when applying for tickets for future shows.
Choir raises
roof – and cash A WELSH male voice choir helped raise £2,550 for charity when they performed at Maid- stone Girls Grammar School. The 30-strong RhayaderMale
Village pub could be re-opened ULCOMBE’s last remaining village pub could be saved under a new scheme put forward to Maidstone Council. The Harrow Inn has been closed since December 2005, but owners Philippe and Karen Debax-Latour were last year refused permission to convert it into a home, due to the impact on the community of the loss of the only pub in the centre of Ulcombe. They had argued that the pub was unable to compete with pubs in neighbouring villagesandthat therehadbeenlittle interest in buying the property from them as a going concern. Butarevampedschemeproposes subdividing the grade II listed prop-
erty to retain the pub and creating a roof conversion and extension for residential use. It is also proposed to create 11 parking spaces to the rear,with 10 of
these for pub users. A supporting statement said: “A recent survey un- dertaken in Ulcombe stated that 16 households would use any public house on a regular basis which strengthens the argument for a desti- nation pub where there is adequate parking provision. “Professional advice confirms theHarrowis inherentlyunable tocom-
pete successfully againstbetter andmoreattractivefacilities within the locality in the context of a declining market, and that it does not have a future as a viable public house. “This proposal offers the opportunity for finance, investment and a last chance to become economically viable.”
Voice Choir performed to a packed audience in the concert in aid of Diabetes UK and the MGGS PFA Fund. The choir was supported by Bearsted groups Mixed Bless- ings, Short Back and Sides and Barbishop, who provided a mixed repertoire of songs to add to the hymns andmelodies performed by the choir in Welsh and English. Welsh cakes and bara brith were served at the interval.
Classic car date CLASSIC cars and their owners will gather on Bearsted Green on Bank Holiday Monday, May 27.
The fee to enter a vehicle is
£5, half of which will go to the Kent Air Ambulance. Every en- trant will receive a programme and a souvenir plaque. Space is limited to 200 cars,
and places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information email
philcher@btinternet.com
Candidates battle for county council seats
VOTERS will go to the polls in May to vote for their Kent county councillor. All 84 seats are up for grabs in the county,
with the exception of Medway, including nine in Maidstone. Polling takes place on Thursday, May 2,
and polling stations around the countywill be open from 7am to 10pm, with the count- ing taking place at several main venues thereafter. County councillors use local knowledge
to help the council make decisions on the essential services provided, including edu- cation, roads, social care, youth services and libraries. Kent County Council is one of the largest councils in the country and provides more than 300 services for about 1.6 million res- idents.
32 East Nominations do not close until Friday
April 5, and candidates may withdraw until the followingWednesday, but, as the Downs Mail went to press, the following people had been nominated to stand in the town’s nine key seats. Maidstone’s Tory council leader Chris Gar-
land is standing for the county council in Maidstone South, in place of Cllr Alan Chell, while two of the town’s LibDems, Brian Mor- timer and Derek Mortimer, are also fighting seats on the county council – in Rural North and Rural South, respectively. Maidstone Central (two seats) Rob Bird (LibDem)*, Paul Butcher (Con), Dan Daley (LibDem)* Maidstone North East Annabelle Blackmore (Con), Ian Chittenden (LibDem)*
Maidstone Rural East Jim Grogan (Lab), Geoff Samme (LibDem), Jenny Whittle (Con)* Maidstone Rural North Mike Beckwith (Lab), Paul Carter (Con)*,Brian Mortimer (LibDem) Maidstone Rural South Eric Hotson (Con)*, Derek Mortimer (Lib- Dem), Stephen Taylor (Lab) Maidstone RuralWest Martin Cox (LibDem), Paulina Stockell (Con)*
Maidstone South Brian Clarke (LibDem), Chris Garland (Con), Geoff Harvey (Lab) Maidstone South East Gary Cooke (Con)*, Malcolm McKay (Lab), David Naghi (LibDem) *denotes existing member
You can e-mail the Downs Mail —
info@downsmail.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64