Bus stop plea
at rail station COUNCILLORS in Yalding are pressing for buses to stop at the village railway station. At present, buses travelling between Maidstone and Goud- hurst pass through Laddingford – but not along Hampstead Lane to the station. KCC has refused a request for
a diversion, but parish council chair Geraldine Brown said: “This would be the logical thing to do. The station is the route out of the village for peo- ple without cars.” Since timetable changeswere introduced, members heard that buses were regularly found waiting for up to five minutes at various stops in the village. “Thiswould be plenty of time
for them to divert to the sta- tion,” said Cllr Ken Gough. Members also thought there would be more value in the buses using Jarman Lane, not Forge Lane, to connect to Ben- over Road.
Confirmation date THERE will be a confirmation service forWeald Deanery with the Bishop of Dover in Staple- hurst Church at 7pm on Tues- day, July 16. Anyone interested in joining
a preparation group should speak to Rev Brian Curnew on 01622 860403 or Rev Chris Lavender on 01622 867253.
Call for changes at junction
WEST Farleigh councillors are to plead again with KCC to im- prove the junction at the top of Teston Lane. Residents repeatedly report
“near miss” incidents between pedestrians and traffic. However, while there have
been several crashes, because there has never been a fatality the location is not considered a highways priority. Last month, Sheila Burkhardt
was almost hit by a car whilst trying to cross from her house to the pavement at the other side of the road. Only a few days ear- lier, her daughter had come close to being hit when a van mounted the pavement to avoid an oncoming car, the parish council heard. Tim Hill, from the Old School House, said he too had been caught by the wing mirror of a van at the junction of Teston Lane with Lower Road, even though he was on the pavement. Discussions have been taking
place for years about the safety of the junction. More than a decade ago, for-
mer parish council chairman Don Goodwin offered to donate a piece of land to help widen the junction, but his offer was declined by KCC. “It would appear someone has
to be killed before we can get something done,” said parish
Several accidents have happened at the Teston Lane junction
council chairman Bruce Scott. Representatives of KCC are
due to meet the parish council to discuss another ongoing problem – the water eroding Teston Lane and associated risk of ice in winter – and members agreed to raise the problems of the junction. Cllr Scott said: “A simple and relatively cheap solutionwould be to change the right of way, making the turn left to Teston Lane the main road, with a “halt” for those cars wanting to continue along Lower Road. This would serve to slow down the speed of traffic approaching that junction.” Borough Cllr John Wilson
said: “This has been a danger- ous corner for decades. If enough people feel strongly about something, they can effect change.” Cllr Wilson urged villagers to put together a petition for con-
sideration by the Joint Trans- portation Board and alluded to the recent implementation of a 30mph speed limit in Charlton Lane – something else KCC had resisted for many years. He said: “Anything has to be
worth a try. It’s a very dangerous junction.” Cllr Scott said the volume of
traffic using Teston Lane was becoming problematic at peak times, with queues stretching back to Lower Road. However, Cllr Wilson argued against traffic lights, saying: “Evidence has shown that if you improve the flow of traffic, more vehicles will use it. If you leave it as it is, peoplewill tend to find alternative routes.” Members are hoping the high-
ways authority will agree to lay- ing an anti-skid surface on Teston Lane as well as reinstat- ing the road which has been badly eroded in recent months.
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