Council ‘missed out on £1m Next bonus’ Continued from page one
a priority, but my priority is to control de- velopment by getting a core strategy as soon as we can. CIL can follow quickly on.” Cllr Tony Harwood, a member of the plan-
ning committee who was vehemently op- posed to the Next scheme, said: “The obvious point is that £100,000 does not begin to cover the independently assessed 2.13% hit on town centre trade that such a large out-of- town format with free parking will inflict. “The main catchment for the out-of-town mega-store will be urban Maidstone and its suburbs and villages, all to the south of the M20, so traffic and congestion levels on the approaches to the Eclipse site will increase. “Further, such a large glass fronted,
£5.5m ‘must be cut
brightly-lit retail unit so close to the Bearsted Road will profoundly change (for the worse) the character of leafy Vinters Park and Penenden Heath. “Polarising light by day and artificial light
by night will pose a particular problem for local residents at Vinters Park and local wildlife.” Cllr Denis Spooner, chair of Bearsted’s planning committee, said the controversial decision to allow the building of the huge home store on land originally designated for office space could set a dangerous prece- dent, particularly in relation to the upcom- ing plans for the Notcutts site. He told the parish council: “This is the kind of story which makes the front page of
off borough budget’ MAIDSTONE Council faces a future of cuts, ac- cording to council leader Chris Garland, who forecasts that £5.5m needs to be trimmed off the bill by 2018. Savings of £1.8m must be made for 2014/15,
when Maidstone loses 12% (£660,000) of its gov- ernment funding and inflation and contractual increases take effect. A reorganisation of senior officers, which in- volves changing their titles to heads of depart- ment, has taken place and will save £135,000. The majority of next year’s savings, about £500,000 a year, will result from Maidstone’s new waste management partnership with Ash- ford and Swale councils. Cllr Garland said: “We have identified £1.33m
of saving so far, and now need to find another £473,000 for 2014/15.”
DOZENS of people turned out to support competitors in Laddingford’s first ORC Triathlon. The event was organised by local hair- dresser Neal Turner to raise funds for Great Ormond Street hospital. Some 80 competitors started with a 400-metre swim at Tonbridge School pool, followed by a 14-mile bike ride and a three-mile run around Laddingford. The prize-giving ceremony was at The Chequers pub, home of the “ORC” (Ot- ters, Runners and Chasers). Triathlon coach Mike Russell helped to
set up the event and train entrants. Dozens of people gave their time and talents for free – including a taxi driver andmasseur – and themedalsweremade by the children from Laddingford School.
the Estates Gazette and gives out the signal to developers everywhere thatMaidstone is a soft touch. “In so far as the Notcutts site is con- cerned, I do not see how Maidstone can now resist granting permission for a mas- sive retail development there as well, as it is already an existing retail space.” Because the granting of the permission
goes against the local plan, it could yet be called in by the Secretary of State and dealt with by public enquiry. However, with both the local authority
and the developer effectively coming from the same side, any opposition would have to come from local residents, the parish councils and the town centre management.
Pub hosts village’s first triathlon
Team Chequers: Sophia Brothers, Ella Charlton, and Tracey Leaver
First placed male was Michael Thom-
son in 1.10.18, with first male veteran Phil Solomon finishing in 1.11.54. First ladywas Jess Owen in 1.15.14 and
first female veteran was Liz Moore, in a time of 1.31.21. Emily Robb’s team were the team win- ners in a time of just 1.05.42.
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