Car park plan A RETROSPECTIVE plan- ning application has been submitted to extend the car park five spaces at the front of the Eastfield Residential Home at 76 Sittingbourne Road,Maidstone. A supporting statement
said: “Vehicles are now able to readily enter the site into the enlarged circulation area and so avoid waiting in Sit- tingbourne Road as a hazard to other traffic.” Maidstone Council will de- termine the application.
Anglers reel in hundreds for hospice
TOP anglers in the South East were joined by fishermen from France and Essex for an annual angling competi- tion on the River Medway at Barming. Conditions proved challenging for
Maidstone Victory Angling Society’s contest, as the water temperature dropped and catches were limited to smaller fish. MVAS has 900 members from Maid-
stone and the surrounding areas and the Dave Pankhurst Memorial Compe- tition is held each year, in memory of former Barming angler Dave Pankhurst. Michael Hayman’s journey from
France proved not to be wasted, when he took top honours with a bag of hard wonsmall fish for8lb 3oz.Hetook both the prize money and the silver trophy. Second place was taken by last
year’s winner John Larraman, with a catch weight of 5lb 5oz. Kevin Pack was third,with 4lb 5oz. Match organiser MickRoberts, from
Aylesford, said: “This was by far the best turnout for thismatch, which has raised hundreds of pounds for the Heart ofKentHospice over the last few years.” Heart of Kent Hospice received a cheque for £230 following the event.
Concern at loss of green spaces
FEARS that Maidstone could soon be linked to Ditton and Larkfield through creeping urban sprawlwere voiced at a public meeting to save the borough’s open spaces. Residents of Barming and Aylesford were
told the town was facing a quality of life cri- sis, as the council ignored pleas to protect an- cient woodland and public open space, while pressing ahead with planning consent for an increasing number of homes. A packed public meeting at St Nicholas’ Church Hall, Allington, pledged support for policies to protect the Kentish landscape. Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner Jasper Gerard called the meeting after Maidstone Council ignored a 2,000-name petition against the development of Bluebell Wood and Gal- lagher Aggregates was permitted to expand its Hermitage Lane quarry into
OakenWood.De- spite an appeal, communities secretary Eric Pickles signed off this latter consent.
Now, locals fear permission will be granted
to Croudace,which wants to build 415 homes on a former reservoir east of Hermitage Lane. About 1,000 homes were proposed in Maid- stone Council’s draft core strategy for the Allington/Barming area. Those who attended the meeting agreed
that tough local policies were needed to pri- oritise urban regeneration over greenfield de- velopment, that open space, transport, education and other infrastructure provision should be better planned; and that the rate of new housing and economic development in Maidstone borough should be directed where it was most needed – without damaging land- scape and quality of life. Cllr BryanVizzard said a group of mentally
and physically handicapped walkers would have to abandon their regular forays through Bluebell Wood if it was built on, while Lib- Demplanning spokesman CllrTony Harwood
explained the cultural, historic and ecologi- cal significance of the KentishWildwood. Gallagher says the expansion of its quarry,
which will impact on 14% of Oaken Wood, will protect 130 jobs and occur over a 23-year period, with progressive restoration and tree planting. Whencompleted, it will double the affected woodland footprint. Nick Yandle, chief executive of Gallagher Group, said: “As well as protecting local em- ployment it also means we can ensure a steady supply of this important building ma- terial for the county, and at the same time cre- ate a truly nativewoodland. “The ecological outcome of the develop-
ment will be limited in the short term. In the longer term, the currently low ecological value will be improved by the planting of double the area of native species trees in place of dense non-native sweet chestnut coppice.”
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