Supply crisis at food bank


THE autumn harvest cannot come quickly enough for one Maidstone charity, which is rapidly running out of sup- plies. The Salvation Army, which


gives food parcels to needy peo- ple, says demand has doubled during the past six months and stocks of non-perishable items are running at an all-time low.


The charity gives out food parcels to families. At the start of the year, that was about 15 parcels a week, but now it sup- plies more than 30. The change in the Govern-


ment’s welfare reforms could have played a part,with a sharp rise in demand when the changes came in in April. Many schools pass on their harvest festival donations to the Salvation Army in September or October. In the meantime, stocks at the Union Street citadel are rapidly running out. Maidstone Council has agreed to put a food collection point at its King Street Gate- way.


Other donations can be taken


to the Salvation Army in Union Street, which acts as a distribu- tion centre for the parcels be- tween 9am and noon from Monday to Friday.


New garden wanted ASHLEY Bernhard and Bev- erley Clark have applied to turn agricultural land in Sutton Valence into a domestic garden. The planning application for Stallance Cottage in Rectory Lane, which will be deter- mined by Maidstone Council, includes the erection of solar panels, decking, sheds and a greenhouse.


RESIDENTS in south Maid- stone may have been surprised to see a surfeit of cyclists pounding through the country lanes at the weekend. Hundreds of cyclists from all


over the UK were due to make their way through Teston, Yald- ing and Claygate, as part of a major fundraiser for the Weald of Kent Hospice and Macmillan Cancer Support. The 17th Circuit of Kent, organised by the Rotary Club of Sevenoaks Amherst, was due to set out from Sevenoaks Prep School on Sunday, Sep- tember 8. The 80km route took in East Peckham and Hadlow, while the 130km split at Claygate and diverted through Staplehurst,


IN last month’s Downs Mail we reported that John Smith had applied to remain living in a caravan at Croft Cottage, Clay-


24 South


Lions’ charity car park stopped


MAIDSTONE Lions Club has been told it can no longer raise funds for charity by charging shoppers and football fans to park in the County Gate car park on Saturdays. For the past three Decembers


and the second half of the last football season, Lions volun- teers have manned the car park in Staceys Street at weekends, giving all proceeds to charity. Now a new agent has taken


over the management of the office building and grounds and has refused to let the Lions con- tinue the arrangement for the car park, which has over 150 spaces. Lions presidentMalcolm Lux-


ton said: “Manning the car park was our main fundraiser – throughout the year we raised about £6,000 doing that, com- pared with about £2,000 to £3,000 by other methods. With 100% of the funds


raised from shoppers and Maidstone United fans parking on this site, we have been


Money raised at the car park


has been used to:  buy two bespoke tricycles so disabled children can enjoy cycling with their families;  help Maidstone Food for Thought purchase a new van;  provide an outdoor play area for a school in a deprived area;  house two women who had been living in a refuge. The new agent is London-


Lions Club members manned the car park gate on match days


able to help many people. “There are only ever about six


office workers’ cars in the car park on a Saturday and we would have been more than happy to carry on reserving a space for workers, who are enti- tled to park there for free but often made a donation anyway. “We would even have adver-


tised the new agents on our posters and flyers. It’s a great shame because it made a huge difference to charitable causes in Maidstone.”


PEOPLE might complain about parking problems in Maidstone – but the price they pay for over- staying their welcome is just the tip of the iceberg, compared to many other parts of Kent. Figures released by the RAC Foundation reveal


that Canterbury City Council raked in more than £2.5m in parking fees and fines between 2011 and 2012 – while Maidstone’s was a little more than half a million. Almost all of the local councils in Kent boosted


their profits from parking charges and fines in the same period, with Canterbury and Tunbridge Wells profiting the most. Only Thanet and Shepway saw a drop in in-


come from on and off-street parking. Maidstone’s income rose from £495,000 to £557,000 – a rise of £62,000 and a snip compared to Canterbury’s leap of £400,000, putting its total income for the same period up to £2,564,000. Tunbridge Wells climbed from £2,356,000 to


Pedal power will help charities


Frittenden and Sissinghurst be- fore returning to Claygate for the final stretch home. Although there are now hun-


dreds of British cyclo-sportives, the Circuit of Kent was the first. Members of the East Kent ad- vanced motorcycle club as- sisted with marshalling and a free meal was provided for all riders at the finish, accompa- nied by a jazz band. All entrants were electroni-


cally timed and awarded gold, silver or bronze times based on target time, age and gender. During the 17 years, Seven-


oaks Amherst Rotary Club has raised more than £400,000 for cancer charities and this month’s event aimed to add a further £25,000 to the total.


Claygate Road caravan proposal


gate Road, Laddingford. It was, in fact, nearby Croft


Lodge Farm that was the sub- ject of the proposal.


based property advisers Matthews and Goodman. Nicola Dixon-Brown, who manages of- fice properties for the company, declined to comment on the company’s decision. Mr Luxton concluded: “We


have detailed our good track record over the past three years and given assurances with our public liability insurance pol- icy, but have been unable to change their mind. “We therefore apologise to all shoppers andMaidstone United fans who were hoping to con- tinue to use this office car park in the future.”


Parking income soars in Kent


£2,490,000 – an increase of £134,000. Medway, which also tops the £2m mark for parking income, saw an increase of £80,000 to £2,090,000 and Sevenoaks from £1,431,000 to £1,568,000. Nationally, Westminster City Council pulls in


the most money from car parking charges and fines – a staggering £41m a year. Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “For many local authorities, parking charges are a nice little earner. Hundreds of millions of pounds are being contributed an- nually to council coffers through parking charges.”But he added: “Drivers who are paying them have a reasonable expectation to see the cash spent on improving the roads.” Recently, Barnet Council was panned by a High


Court Judge for acting illegally in trying to set charges to raise revenue, rather than as part of traffic management.


Judge retires from bench


ONE of Maidstone’s most promi- nent district judges, Edwina Mill- ward, has retired from the bench. Judge Mill-


ward (69) made national head- lines when she was elected the first woman president of the Association of District Judges in 2008, al- though she al- most never made it into court! Born in an era when fewwomen


had high-flying careers, Edwina didn’t study Latin at school–apre- requisite for law back in the 1960s. Instead, she went into teaching domestic science. Still yearning to better herself,


she signed up for a part-time law degree course with London Uni- versity in the evenings, which took her five years to complete. She


joined the Maidstone firm of Gill, Turner Tucker to do her articles in 1967 andwas admitted as a solic- itor in 1972. She became a senior partner in 1990. She was the national president


of the Federation of Business and Professional Women from 1985- 87 and president of the Kent Law Society in 1994-95 – the same year shebecameafull-timedistrict judge, having been appointed by the Lord Chancellor to sit as a deputy district judge in the Maid- stone district county courts six years previously. This placed her as one of just 94


women among the association’s 455 members. Having hung up her judicial wig


for the final time, Edwina is look- ing forward to spending more time with her husband David in their ruralWeald home, aswell as pick- ing up her former hobbies – needlework and swimming.


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