National accolade for Mote Park


MAIDSTONE’S Mote Park has been placed in the top three of the nation’s parks. The park won the bronze award in the


Green Flag People’s Choice Awards, recog- nising it as one of the nation’s favourite parks, behind Margam Country Park, Neath, and Victoria Park in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets The Awards, organised by Keep Britain


Tidy, gave the public the chance to vote for their favourite park in the UK from those awarded Green Flags over the year for their exceptionally high standards, excellent fa- cilities and strong community involvement. As there were a record breaking 1,448


parks and green spaces to receive a Green Flag Award this year, Mote Park’s achieve- ment was evenmore impressive. Maidstone Council’s cabinet member for community and leisure services, Cllr John Wilson, who is pictured with staff and vol- unteers, said: “We’re over the moon that Mote Park has been voted one of the nation’s top three parks. Huge congratulations to the parks team and wonderful volunteers who


Museum chief


on the move MAIDSTONE’s museum and heritage manager Simon Lace is to leave his position. After 10 years in the job, Mr


Lace was due to leave his post on November 15 as part of a cost-cutting restructuring move. The council decided some months ago it needed to reduce the cost of its culture and leisure services and has already hived off management of the Hazlitt Theatre to Parkwood Leisure in a move destined to save taxpayers £3.2m over the next 15 years. Mr Lace was a key figure in pushing for the museum’s con- troversial east wing extension and has brought numerous spe- cialist exhibitions to the town since it opened two years ago. But his job is to be absorbed


into a new post of cultural serv- icesmanager – a position which will entail managing parks and leisure facilities, as well as the council’s cultural assets and events. The post holder will report to


a new head of commercial and economic development, Dawn Hudd, who is due to start work with the council on Monday, December 2. Dawn is currently head of cul-


ture and enterprise at Canter- bury City Council and has extensive public and private sector experience. Maidstone’s regeneration and communities director, Zena Cooke, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Simon for his commitment to the museum and the work he has done and to wish him the very best for the future.” The advertisement for the


new post is due to go out in the middle of November, and an ap- pointment is expected to be made by early in the New Year, according to the council.


34 Town


work so hard to make the park such a great place to visit, and thank you to everyone who voted.” Keep Britain Tidy’s Green Flag Awards manager, Paul Todd, said: “Winning a Green Flag award is testament to the hard work of local authorities and the managers of public green space up and down the country, and the People’s Choice award shows them just howmuch that hard work is appreciated” Mote Park is one of the largest urban parks


in the South East. It contains 11 sports pitches, a play area, pitch and putt, café, miniature railway, amodel boat club and an- gling on the lake. A£2.5million restoration project in 2012 –


part funded by a £1.8million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund – saw improvements to parkland, paths and car parks, as well as new trees and bridges. The 1840s waterfall and neoclassi- cal volunteers pavilion were also restored.


Lights complaint delayed


A RESIDENT of a retirement home in Maidstone says the bor- ough council took four months simply to dismiss his complaint. John Evenden, from Mote House, called the council in June to complain about five flood- lights on the borough council’s building across the park, which were regularly left on and shone into thewindows of cottages and apartments at Audley Mote House Retirement Village. Mr Evenden says his com-


plaint was passed between four members of the borough coun- cil’s staff, without being re- solved. He told the Downs Mail: “This dispute could have been recon- ciled within a few days if com- mon sense had prevailed. “These lights shine directly


into our living quarters and are not only a pollution of the night


sky but also an intrusion into our right to a stressless existence.” In desperation, Mr Evenden


called the council in August to speak with chief executive Ali- son Broom about the problem, butwas told, in her absence, that an investigation was in hand. Now– another two months’ on


– he has been told that the lights pose no nuisance. A borough council spokesman


told the Downs Mail: “We inves- tigated and found there was no statutory nuisance.” Mr Evenden said: “The letters


from the council pinpoint the ab- solutewaste of people’s time and resources of council staff that could have been used more effi- ciently. “All that should have been


done was for the polluting lights to be re-positioned downwards.”


Hospital’s gift of monitors


THE outpatients department atMaidstone Hospital has been given two new vital signsmonitors, by theMaidstone Hospital League of Friends. The machines


cost £2,200 each, and pro- vide a quick and efficient way to check a patient’s vital signs, in- cluding blood pressure, pulse and tempera- ture, prior to other treatment. Outpatient manager Sara Pizzy said: “We are extremely grateful


to the League of Friends for their continued support and generos- ity. These vital signs machines will be extremely useful and will be of benefit to many of our patients. They will help us to monitor patients more quickly, with very accurate results.” The new monitors connect via wi-fi to automatically link the in- formation they gather to a patient’s electronic record. Between May 2012 and April 2013, the Maidstone Hospital League of Friends spent £231,235 on equipment for Maidstone Hos- pital. Items they have bought include a cardiac monitor, urology ul- trasound equipment, wheelchairs and a paediatric jaundice monitor.


Visit Downs Mail’s website — downsmail.co.uk


Design success MAIDSTONE graphic design company GeoMedia, based in the Royal Star Arcade, has been awarded the Independ- ent creative business award at this year’s Kent Independ- ent Traders Awards cere- mony.


Andrew Dicker, of GeoMe-


dia, said: “We were incredi- bly pleased to win the award. Over the past five years we have worked really hard to integrate into the local com- munity and to build a reputa- tion for really high-quality design, so we are incredibly proud to finally have the recognition and to be an award winning agency.” For more information about


the company, go to geome- dia.co.uk.


No to apartment ANDREW Tyley’s application to convert a fire-damaged building at 52-54 Lower Stone Street, Maidstone into a four-bed apartment has been refused. The accommodation would


have been on the first and second floors, but Maidstone Council felt alterations to windows and the removal of existing staircases would have harmed the grade II listed building and the town centre conservation area.


Tree to be felled A PROPOSAL to fell a ley- land cypress tree in The Old Vicarage, Church Street, Loose, has been given the go- ahead by Maidstone Council. The council, however, or-


dered that applicant Clive Lewis plants a replacement. Mr Lewis’ application said the tree was getting “dispro- portionately large” and was encroaching on a greenhouse.


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