LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


Cut speed on danger road Dear Sir – I write with reference to Paul Clarke’s letter published in theMay edition of the Downs Mail, regarding inconsiderate parking around Impton Lane. First, I blame Maidstone Council planning department for allowing the continuous de- velopment of the Alexandra Hospital. This has created more and more visitors on a daily basis to the hospital and NO consid- eration has been given as to where these vis- itors should park. More consideration should be given to


this in the future and close tabs should be kept on any further planning applications made by the hospital. Second, drivers need to ensure that park-


ing is considerate to footpath and other road users. The owner of any vehicle parked across footpaths will find notes I have placed on their windscreens, photographs are also taken of the offending vehicles and I do pass these on to Maidstone Council for the attention of the parking wardens. Per- haps more residents who feel strongly should also take action? Third, the introduction of the islands


along Walderslade Woods Road are a wel- come first step toward making this danger- ous road more safe for all users. Many drivers exceed the outrageous 60mph speed limit and before the introduction of the is- lands would overtake vehicles turning left into the side roads, often into oncoming traffic. The new islands do go some way to- wards improving the safety of this road, but there is much more that needs to be done. Mr Clarke’s suggestion of no right turn


from Walderslade Woods Road is simply stupid, and will just increase further vehicle movement along this road. In addition, the Highways Agency has not completed any traffic surveys along this road, as it is under the responsibility of KCC, rather the High- ways Agency. To my knowledge, KCC Highways have


NOT completed any surveys into the safety of this road. If they had, theywould realise 60mph is far too high, considering the high density of residential properties and the use of the footpaths alongside this road, often frequented by childrenwalking to and from bus stops and Tunbury CP school. Do you really feel safe walking along an unprotected footpath with vehicles travel- ling in excess of 60mph? Perhaps Mr Clarke should pay attention


to the outrageous amount of money Boxley Parish Council spent on reducing the speed limit of Boxley/Beechen Bank Road, which only services a small proportion of traffic and residents compared to Walderslade Woods Road, oh and not to mention the parish councillorswho live off or along this road. I’m sure if Mr Clarke has true concerns


over road safety, he would be supporting the speed reductions of Walderslade Woods Road and Impton Lane, in addition to cam- paigning for improved footpaths and parking. Sarah Pettit,Walderslade


MP wasting our money Dear Sir – I have followed with interest the recent (and I have to say on-going) story of Helen Grant’s expenses, accommodation and office arrangements as well as the ex- traordinary story of one of her aides (Tony Williams) being “short-changed” in his con- tract of employment as regards to leave and sick-pay entitlement. It has been widely reported in the media, including a short item as part of a Channel 4 investigative piece on MPs expenses and


38 East


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spending, that only after MrWilliams chal- lenged the restricted clauses in his contract that he was correctly paid the sick-pay that he wasentitledto–achallenge that was about the last thing he needed to deal with having just suffered hospitalisation with a heart-related problem. However, it is not Mr Williams’ employ-


ment contract that bothers me, it is the re- ported story (DownsMail/June, amongst others) thatMrWilliams is now fit to return to work but Mrs Grant has decided to put him on paid “garden leave” instead of al- lowing him back to work. The IPSA (Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority) website clearly con- firms that non-London area MPs have a staffing budget of £137,200 pa to meet vari- ous staff overheads, but primarily “staff salaries, employers’ contributions to Na- tional Insurance and employers’ contribu- tions to pension schemes”. I’ve looked everywhere to find where IPSA confirms that MPs can pay their staff salaries for stay- ing at home, but to no avail. So how can Mrs Grant justify this situation? If this flagrant misuse of public funds is allowable, it should be stopped immedi- ately. If it is not, then surely Mrs Grant must be asked why she is wasting tax payers’ money and be forced to pay it back imme- diately. I ampretty sure that if I helped my- self to public funds Iwould be arrested and charged.


Gerry Mansfield, by email Editor’s note: A garden leave provision


would be a clause in a contract of employ- ment where an employee is not required to attend work while they serve out a period of notice, but are still bound by all the terms of the contract. It would be normal practice for an employer to invoke this clause for an employee in a senior position or where they have access to sensitive or confidential ma- terial.


Traffic calming proposal Dear Sir –The article in the Downs Mail about the 30mph restriction on the A274 is more than welcome, despite the fact that it will rarely be enforced, but if Cllr Dan Daley is really serious about “slowing the traffic” he should turn his attention to the Five Wents junction. While interactive signs have been put up at


the Rumwood bend and theWarmlake junc- tion, FiveWents has been ignored. This is a blind junction, with no warning signs of traf- fic. There are often HGVs waiting to turn right to Boughton Monchelsea or coming from this road to travel north toMaidstone. It is also blind to traffic turning right or


left from the B2163, the end and start of the “rat run” to theM20. As thereisnochanceofabypassbeing


built in the next 30 years and with plans for increased building in the area with addi- tional traffic, it is the junction on the A274 which has up to now been ignored. One would hope that it does not take a


very serious accident at this point to get the powers to be, including Cllr Daley, to get something done urgently. M. Morecroft, Leeds Road, Langley


Leader ‘ignored concerns’ Dear Sir – Regarding your article “Tories bruised by UKIP surge” in this week’s Downs Mail, I suggest one of the reasons Cllr Chris Garland, the leader of Maidstone Council, failed to secure enough votes in the recent election was because he failed to do anything about the ludicrous amount of noise suffered by residents from a farmer’s


gas gun/bird scarer earlier this year. Themechanism fired 12 times an hour for


most of the day, and was audible over a very wide area. This was despite the representations


made to Cllr Garland, the complaints sub- mitted to the council and the fact that the farmer isn’t even a resident of Maidstone. Why on earth should anyone vote for a can- didate who ignores the wishes of his con- stituents in such a manner? Dr D J Nicholls, by email


Roundabout madness Dear Sir – I would like to say the same as Ken Goodchild in May’s Downs Mail. What idiot gave permission for the new layout at the Notcutts roundabout? Do they know about the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? The slip road worked perfectly, now there are more hold-ups, not to mention the roadworks, which are a com- plete shambles. How did that get past? On Detling Hill, when there is a show on, everyone has to go the whole length of the hill to turn round. Now we find they have taken away the sliproad from the park and ride? How much are we paying this idiot who has no good ideas at all? A Oxenham, Detling Hill


In defence of young people Dear Sir–Iwrite regarding the letter from Naomi Fenton in the June edition of the Downs Mail. Naomi, you are not alone. Years ago in Maidstone I and my friends were regularly “moved along”. I am now coming up to 62 years of age,


and I don’t find youths intimidating, threat- ening, rude or unkind. I wish I could say the same for their elders. I had a serious acci- dent in 2011 and since then have walked with crutches. Do older people hold doors for me, give up their seat for me? Very rarely. On the contrary, youngsters invari- ably do. Why can’t more people remember that


they weren’t always old and miserable, en- joyed meeting their friends and generally enjoyed life. Yes, youth is loud, brash, a lit- tle bit frightening. But, then, weren’t we all! DavidWoodcock,Willington Street, Maidstone


Bus lane would lead to jams Dear Sir – As regards the Loose bus lane plan, not all drivers going in to Maidstone are going on a little shopping jaunt or to work in the town centre or to school. Many are crossing town to go to work fur-


ther afield, so a single ordinary bus trip in and out is not an option, especially if their working hours are longer. Any bottleneck leads to long tailbacks, which can be seen anywhere you care to look, not only on motorways. Traffic lights have a similar effect. This idea is badly thought out, having


very little benefit, and will lead to severe congestion at the very time all these extra housing and business developments are being planned,which will increase the traf- fic burden on the roads inMaidstone. Sadly, it seems the town council is pursu-


ing as many housing and other develop- ment as possible, without regard to the problems for people negotiating Maid- stone’s inadequate transport infrastructure, especially when developers dangle finan- cially rewarding carrots in front of them. More high quality, reliable park-and-ride schemes strategically placed (eg south of Maidstone) with additional bus routes to cover more areas and times, not all P39


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