Parish councillors quit over plan


ALMOSThalf of Ulcombe’s parish council re- signed in a dispute over how to proceed with its neighbourhood plan. Four of the sevenmembers steppeddownin October, leaving the council with just three members – theminimumnumber for meetings to be quorate. The four who have quit are former council-


lors Albert Evans, Trevor Sharp, JohnWilkins and vice chairman Paul McCreery–aprofes- sional planning consultant who has been ad- vising Boughton Monchelsea Parish Council in its fight with Maidstone Council over the availability of housing land supply. In May this year, Ulcombe Parish Council


voted to delay discussions onwhether to pro- ceed with aneighbourhood development plan (NDP) until the borough council had an- nounced the results of its “call for sites”. This was a request for anyone in the bor-


ough with potential housing land to inform the council, so it could decide which were suitable for future development. A number of sites were put forward for de- velopment on greenfield land, and an NDP would mean development could takeplace on greenfield land in Ulcombe. But the council is in a position of having no imposed planned housing at present and chairman Peter Titch- ener said this was unlikely to change. He admitted the neighbourhood plan issue


was one of the reasons behind three of the res- ignations and said:“We have not said ‘no’ but if we go for planned development on green- field sites, which is what anNDPwouldmean for Ulcombe, rather than the ad hoc organic growth we have at present, we need to have the support of the village first.” CllrTitchener said that, unlike the five rural


Christmas Menu 3 Courses £21.95


STARTERS


Cream of Parsnip & Horseradish Soup ~ Served with Crusty Bread


Served on a Mixed Leaf Salad with Brown Bread Ham Hock Terrine


Served with Toast and Onion Marmalade


Deep Fried Port Salut Served with Cumberland Sauce MAIN COURSES


Roast Turkey ~ Served with all the Trimmings, Roast Potatoes & Seasonal Vegetables


Slow Roast Pork Belly ~ Served on a Colcannon Mash with Seasonal Vegetables


Fillet of Salmon ~ Served with a Lemon and Prawn Sauce, Crushed New Potatoes & Seasonal Vegetables


Pan Fried Pheasant Breast ~ Served on Oven Roasted Vegetables with a Red Wine Jus


Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni ~ Served with a Garlic Bread & a Dressed Rocket & Pine Nut Salad


DESSERTS


Christmas Pudding with Brandy Sauce Black Forest Yule Log


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services centres, which include Headcorn, Lenham and Harrietsham, there was no ur- gency for the parish to plan for a large growth in its housing stock. He said: “AnNDPwill take three years to fi-


nalise anyway, and the absence of aMaidstone local plan until late 2014/15 is a key issue.” Boughton Monchelsea, under the guidance


of Mr McCreery, has been trying to halt progress of the Maidstone local plan by protesting about the size of the council’s land availability. The council says it only has a 4.2- year land supply, but Boughton Monchelsea Parish Council believes the officers’ method- ology is flawed. Cllr Titchener admitted: “A dispute over


when and how to proceed with a neighbour- hood plan was one of the issues. At the mo-


ment, no decision on an NDP has been made either way.” Cllr McCreery was on holiday in Australia


and unavailable for comment as the Downs Mail went to press. Three of the memberswho resigned joined the parish council in May 2012 – and quit together in October. Two candidates are likely to be co-opted in December,with the other two vacancies being filled in January, said Cllr Titchener. In the meantime, anyone interested in becoming a councillor atUlcombe should call parish clerk Bridget Samuelson on 01622 890912. Ulcombe is one of the smallest of Maid-


stone’s 41 parishes, with just 700 residents. The three remaining members are the chair-


man and councillors Carole Brook and John Watton.


Car club’s boost to air ambulance


MEMBERS of Maidstone MG Owners Club presented a cheque for£1,000totheKent Air Ambulance. The money was raised at a


Fly Drive event, jointly organ- ised with the Kent Gliding Club. A large number of clas- sic cars of allmakes attended and their ownerswere able to enjoy the facilities of the Kent gliding club, taking flights and watching flying displays. Amy, of the KAA, is pictured


left receiving the cheque from Roger Henbest, secretary of the Maidstone MG Owners Club.


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STARTERS


Stilton & Broccoli Soup Served with Crusty Bread


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Smoked Salmon Roulade Served with Toast & Mixed Leaf Salad Duck & Chicken Liver Pate


Goats Cheese & Red Onion Marmalade Tart Served with a Mixed Leaf Salad MAIN COURSES


Roast Turkey ~ Served with all the Trimmings, Roast Potatoes & Seasonal Vegetables


Roast Sirloin of Beef ~ Served with a Yorkshire Pudding, Roast Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables


Oven Roasted Breast of Duck ~ Served with a Red Wine Jus & Winterberry Compote, Dauphinoise Potatoes & Seasonal Vegetables


Poached Lemon Sole Fillet ~ Served with a Fennel & White Wine Sauce,Crushed New Potatoes & Ribbon Vegetables


Served with Roast Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables & Vegetarian Gravy


DESSERTS


Christmas Pudding with Brandy Sauce Maple & Pecan Pie


White Chocolate Cheesecake with a Raspberry Compote


Profiteroles Served with a Chocolate & Baileys Sauce Stilton & Biscuits


Coffee and Mints Please Pre Order,


£20.00 deposit required when booking Visit Downs Mail’s website — downsmail.co.uk East 29 Nut Roast


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