Village sports ground approved
A LARGE sports ground in Mar- den has been given planning permission – eight months after a similar scheme was refused. Maidstone Council’s planning committee granted outline per- mission for a new site off Maid- stone Road, just north of the railway line, for the village’s cricket, hockey and tennis clubs. In October, after receiving a 637-name petition in protest at the scheme, the committee voted against it, due to its large scale and intensity in the open coun- tryside. It involved the creation of a cricket ground with nine playing pitches in a square, two multi-purpose artificial pitches (one floodlit) suitable for hockey and football, a hockey practice area, cricket nets, a clubhouse, four floodlit hard-surfaced ten- nis courts and car parking (60 spaces with a 40 space overflow
area) on a 8.39-hectare site, owned by Alan Firmin Ltd, cur- rently farmed as apple orchards. However, the committee voted
to support the revamped pro- posal after the following changes: Reduction in proposed devel- oped area, equating to 4.5 hectares of additional landscap- ing. Provision of community orchard. Hockey practice area deleted. Reduction in number of floodlit tennis courts to two. Courts would also bemoved north ofmulti-use pitches. Car park relocated eastwards to a position north of the club- house. Clubhouse is now smaller and L-shaped. New layout avoids the need for formal diversion of public
Help shape our health service by Dennis Fowle
LOCAL residents have a chance to help GPs shape their future health services. They are being encouraged to comment on a prospectus of priorities recently published by the new West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which can be found on
www.westkentccg.nhs.uk. Dr Bob Bowes, chairman of
theCCG,said: “WewantWest Kent to be a healthy place and the prospectus will help resi-
dents understand how we plan to achieve this.” The prospectus explains how
the CCG will use the £471mil- lion budget to buy health serv- ices for the 500,000 population of West Kent (Maidstone, Tun- bridge Wells, Tonbridge & Malling and part of Sevenoaks). The public can join an online health network or a patient par- ticipation group at their GP sur- gery. Email the CCG on
westkent@nhs.net or call 01732 375200.
Maternity department ‘working well’ REPORTS that its maternity department was closed to new pa- tients more often than almost all other British hospitals have been challenged by theMaidstone and TunbridgeWells NHS Trust. Figures in national newspapers showed 166 closures in 2011
and 2012, the third highest in the UK. The trust says this was be- fore September 2011, whenwomen’s and children’s services were reviewed. Since then all consultant-led births have been cen- tralised at TunbridgeWells Hospital. “We have had no closures at all since reconfiguration,” said a trust spokesman. “It is all working well.”
Polytunnels plan A PLANNING application has been submitted for two poly- tunnels at Roughlands Farm, Goudhurst Road,Marden. A supporting statement says
the structures would be in a field next to existing planting areas and used for the growing of iris flowers. It said: “Iris of Sissinghurst
has been operating for a decade. It was originally based in Siss- inghurst but the site was too small so they moved to Marden approximately eight years ago. “The business specialises in bearded and non-bearded iris, grown in particular for flower shows. Iris of Sissinghurst has grown for the show gardens and the marquee at Chelsea for the past eight years.” Maidstone Council will de- termine the planning applica- tion.
Sullivan, engagement officer and Ian Paterson, CRP project officer
Rail line breaks the million barrier Matt Fraser, MaidstoneWest manager with Mike FitzGerald, Carol
MOREthan onemillion passenger journeys were recorded on theMed- wayValleyRailLine inthe 12 months to March 31 2013 – the first time that the one million barrier has been broken. Since 2005/6 the number of annual journeys on the line has increased by 52%. “This is tremendous news,” said Kent Community Rail Partner-
ship chairman Mike FitzGerald. “Much of this increase is down to the work of the partnership in gaining improvements to stations and marketing the line in the communities it serves.” “Southeastern andNetwork Rail have also done sterlingwork. New
trains and direct services from MaidstoneWest to St Pancras are help- ing to turn the line into an indispensable part of Kent’s transport in- frastructure” he added. “Just think howmany car journeys have been avoided by encouraging people to use Medway Valley services?”
right of way. The cricket and hockey club
will fund the scheme by selling off their 4.2-hectare base in Al- bion Road for housing. But Mr McCarthy told the committee he was still opposed to the scheme. He said: “It is un- necessarily large for a cricket and hockey club that has 350 members. It is too big for a vil- lage, and more fitting for a large town. This scheme takes the club away from the centre of the village. “The new site is further away,
across a railway line and over a busy road, which will get even busier if it is accepted.” Cllr Annabelle Blackmore, a
local borough member, said: “This site is north of the railway line. If this line is breached there will be further developments north of the railway line and the
village will be sprawling in all directions.” Mike Baxter, chairman of the village hockey club, said it had a large catchment area as there were no other hockey clubs in a south-easterly direction until Hastings. However, he also said the majority of members lived within five miles. Cllr Tony Harwood, a commit-
tee member, said: “I moved for refusal last time on the grounds of the intensive character of de- velopment. The applicants have gone a long way towards ad- dressing these concerns. “Marden is under such pres-
sure for new development that if we turn this down, residents might rue the day they objected, as this would safeguard a largely green site.” Outline permission was granted with nine votes in favour and three against.
Pie-throwers are world champs
PIE-throwers from all over theUK converged on Coxheath for the annual World Custard Pie Championship. A total of 22 teams took
part in the event, which has been taking place around the world for the past 47 years. The winning team, Pie ‘N’ Smash (pictured) from Loose, beat The Shrimp ShackShoot- ers from London by 72 points to 46,withCoxheathteamThe Grannies taking thirdplace on points. The best-dressed team, judged by Duncan Wells of Page and Wells, was Stupid Deaths, a group of friends originally from Staffordshire. The event raised £600, which will be shared between the Coxheath
Youth Summer Project, Coxheath Scouts and the local charity M4S, which supports familieswith disabled children in the Maidstone area. Two of the organisers, Brian Mortimer and Mike FitzGerald, are now
waiting to find out from the Guinness Book of Records if they have suc- ceeded in breaking the record for the number of pies thrown,making a direct hit, in one minute. They managed 59 direct hits, and the video of the event has been sent off for verification. Mike said: “Itwas a great day and a great event enjoyed by all. Teams keep telling us they will be back next year!”
New home refused DANNY Streeter’s planning application for a new chalet bungalow adjacent to Au- tumn House, Headcorn Road, Sutton Valence has been re- fused.
Maidstone Council’s deci-
sion notice said insufficient justification has been pro- vided to justify a new dwelling in the countryside.
Caravan consent CATHRYN Meddemen has been given permission to site a mobile home at Ewell Manor, Ewell Lane, West Farleigh, until the end of 2014. The static caravan will be
used as temporary accom- modation during construc- tion of a new dwelling on the site.
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