Ipads to reduce


paperwork MAIDSTONE Council hopes it can savemoney by giving coun- cillors Ipads. The council predicts that eliminatingmost paperwork by providing all 55 members with Apple’s popular tablet comput- ers will save £10,000 per year. Fifteen councillors are being


given Ipads for a six-month trial, at a cost of £5,000 funded from a budget underspend in 2012-13. If this is successful, the scheme will be rolled out to all members next year. Cllr Richard Lusty, chairman


of the planning committee, is one of the members taking part in the trial. He said: “We have to make sure we tell the public at meetings that we are using our Ipads, so people don’t think we are tapping away on the computer talking to somebody over the internet.”


Al fresco plan MAIDSTONE could go more continental, with a planned ex- pansion of the street café scene. Cllr Malcolm Greer, cabinet member for regeneration, would like to see the top sec- tion of Earl Street – from Pud- ding Lane to Week Street – closed to traffic between 10.30am and 5pm, allowing restaurants to spread on to the pavement.


ONE of Maidstone’s most iconic buildings–the104-year-old Taber- nacle at The Mote Cricket Club ground – is to be listed by English Heritage. The Tabernacle was built by the


1st Lord Bearsted for his private use next to the main pavilion he fi- nanced for the club. He made his fortunewhenheset upatanker business transporting oil world- wide.Hesawtheopportunityashe travelled with the family trading company, which included deco- rated seashells among its special- ities. He needed a name for his new business – and he called it Shell Oil. Lord Bearsted lived in Mote


Houseonthe family estate ofMote Park.Hediedin1928,andthepark was sold toMaidstone Corporation for £50,000. The cricket ground was left in trust to Mote CC.


POLICE are warning of a bank card scam linked to 60 thefts in the last two months in Maidstone and the sur- rounding area. The bogus callers target the elderly and vulnerable, claiming their card has been used fraudulently. They then ask their victim to call their bank, but someone intercepts the call, obtains their account details, and then calls to col- lect the card. Kent Police say


Listing to preserve Mote Park’s Tabernacle The


Tabernacle at Mote Park, which is to become a listed building


He enjoyed cricket and was the


only team member to change in the Tabernacle. Thebuilding–with kitchen, fireplace, toilet and showeraswellasalargeroom– was also the centre of business and entertaining. The cost of upkeep was a chal-


lenge first for theBandof Brothers cricket club and later for Mote CC. Three years ago it was close to


Bank card scam warning


the fraudsters are convincing and often purport to be from a reliable organisation, banks, or the police. A 76-year-old victim who


had £330 taken from her card said: “The man on the phone askedmeto inputmy PIN on the phone.Without realising it I had given himmydetails. He then told me it wasn’t working so the card would need to be collected and a courier turned up for it.”


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demolition, but a campaign raised about £60,000 to restore thebuild- ing, whilemaintaining the key his- torical features. Now it serves as The Mote Youth Sports Centre. The club’s development chair-


man, Dennis Fowle, said: “We are very proud of our renewed Taber- nacle and that it is nowseen fit by English Heritage for listing to pro- tect it for ever.”


Fraud alleged THE former boss of Age Concern in West Malling will appear beforeMaid- stone Crown Court on November 29. Keith Austin (62), of Tovil Green


Lane, Maidstone, was arrested at the charity’s Norman Road branch in Sep- tember 2011 and is charged with si- phoning more than £217,000 from the organisation’s funds. Delays over the case are thought to centre on the paperwork, involving bank statements going back a number of years. Austin is also now thought to have cancer.


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