Rear extension plans get listed approval – at the third attempt


PLANS for a rear extension to a terraced house in Loose have been granted listed building consent – at the third attempt. Maidstone Planning Committee origi-


nally shrugged off neighbouring concerns of overlooking and loss of privacy to grant permission for the rear of a terraced home in Randalls Row, High Banks to be in- creased by 4m width, 2.5m depth and 3m height. But the listed building consent was twice


deferred, on the second occasion for a “cooling-off” period to allow officers to


construct a valid reason for refusal. Councillors felt the conservation officer’s


report suggested the proposal would not enhance the listed five-home terrace. However, at the most recent meeting, the


main force behind the two deferrals, Cllr Clive English, admitted that refusing listed consent, having accepted the regular plan- ning application, would be hard to sustain at appeal. He said: “In hindsight, perhaps we should have refused the planning applica- tion. Perhaps I was over-focused on how


the report was written. For that, I have to apologise.” Applicant Peter Bradley emphasised to


the committee that only two of the five ter- raced homes in the block have not had rear extensions. He added: “Along the row, all of the houses are different. There is no standard across the back. “I can understandwhy you’d like to con-


serve the front of the buildings, but not when there is no set line at the back.” His plans were accepted with eight councillors in favour and two abstentions.


Village’s tough stance on gypsy plans


BOUGHTON Monchelsea Parish Council has given 16 specific reasons for objecting to three separate gypsy applications on land near the primary school, west of Church Hill. A proposal to place a total of six caravans


on three plots have been submitted to Maid- stone Council. Another plot, Fairway, was granted consent to become a caravan site in February 2010 and a fifth is used for the keeping of chickens. A petition, which had 658 signatures by the time the Downs Mail went to press, has


Curves girls pink it up for


been set up to fight the developments. It will be presented to Maidstone’s full coun- cil meeting on December 15. The parish council, which has formed an


action group to battle the applications, has also sent Maidstone Council more than 1,600 words of negative feedback on each proposal. It said in a statement: “The proposed de-


velopment, especially when considered cu- mulatively with other developments at the location, would cause significant and irre- versible harm to the character and appear-


ance of the open countryside and the area generally.” The parish council went on to pinpoint a section of Government Circular 01/2006, which encourages local authorities to pro- vide accommodation for gypsies: “Para- graph 54 provides that there should not be a high concentration of pitches in any one area, especially where they place undue pressure on the local infrastructure. “The applications refer to 17 persons


(eight adults and nine children) living at the combined sites. These numbers, added to


cancer charity CURVES at Senacre Square held a successful Breast Cancer Awareness Month, raising £2,400 through various fund- raising efforts. These included raffles, a “name the teddy” competition and Pink Fridays, culminating in a Girls Night In that saw hundreds of women packed in to SenacreWood Junior School to enjoy a night of fun, pamper- ing, 20 stalls and an auction of promises. Phillipa Gill, owner of the women’s fitness centre, thanked staff, members and


volunteers for helping to raise the sum. She said: “We offered to waive our normal service fee


THE number of new homes in a Yalding develop- ment could be more than doubled due to the eco- nomic situation. In July 2003, planning consent was given for


five homes (two three-bedroom and three four- bedroom) to be built in Curleys Yard, a former light industrial site at the rear of the Two Brewers pub in Lees Road. But applicant Hyfield Estates now wants the development to consist of twelve two-bedroom houses, comprising six semi-de-


MAIDSTONE MP Helen Grant has praised a new booklet about domestic violence. It provides practical help and advice for victims, their friends and fami- lies as well as listing services and organisations that can offer assistance. Mrs Grant said: “Christmas is probably the time of year when family tensions run high and domestic violence rears its ugly head. The timing of the publi- cation of this directory of serv- ices couldn’t be better and will really help those in need. I con- gratulate Maidstone Domestic


during October for anyone join- ing in exchange for a donation to Breast Cancer Care.”


Size of Yalding development could be doubled


tached homes and six terraces. The design and access statement said: “The cur-


rent planning permission for five large ‘executive’ style homes was developed during a period of fairly robust economic growth and the local econ- omy was able to support this sort of residential development. “Since the collapse of the global economies it is


no longer a viable proposition in pure commer- cial terms or in the interest of the village to pro-


MP praises domestic violence help


Violence Forum and the bor- ough council for taking this ini- tiative.” Police statistics show that nearly one quarter of violence in the borough is domestic. After a visit to the multi- agency forum, she said: “Hav- ing spent 20 years as a family lawyer, I have witnessed first hand the devastating effects that domestic violence and abuse has not only on the victims, but throughout the whole family. “It is a crime that often goes undetected as victims live in fear of the perpetrators. ”


vide houses of this type. “A discussion was held with


the parish council in 2009 that indicated a very strong need for smaller, more affordable houses that would provide accommo- dation for local people. It was a result of this discussion that be- came the driving force behind the concept development.” Maidstone Council will rule on the planning application.


the numbers of travellers resid- ing at the neighbouring site, amount to an extremely high concentration of travellers com- pared with members of the set- tled community. “Paragraph 70 of Circular 01/2006 makes ref- erence to human rights. Whilst gypsies have the right to a place to stay, a balance between this right and the rights of the long- standing residents and the chil- dren of the village to enjoy the homes and school which they have done for decades must be struck. The rights of the settled community are being under- mined.” The correspondence also in- cluded a claim that: “The vil- lage infrastructure will not accommodatewhat is, in effect, a new hamlet,” as well as con- cerns over ecology, prehistoric earthwork and school distur- bance.


Mote Park facelift gets council’s OK


MAIDSTONE Council has com- mitted more than £500,000 to- wards the revamp of Mote Park. The improvement project can progress to the implementation stage following a cabinet deci- sion to sign a contract accepting the offer of a £1,870,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. That commits the council to contributing £576,438 from its capital programme. Tender documents will be is-


sued in January. The improvement project in- cludes new footpaths, car parks, repair of the lake cross- ing causeway and a new bridge.


Footpath improvement in West Farleigh WEST Farleigh now has another 80 yards of footpath thanks partly to a £1,500 grant from KCC Cllr Paulina Stockell. The extension to KM21 takes ramblers down almost to Teston


Bridge without the need to walk on the busy and unpavemented B2163. It is a permissive path, courtesy of Rookery Estates.


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