downsmail.co.uk MailMarks


DENNISFOWLE President email dfowle2011@aol.com


Will we ever give up our cars?


WHAT policies dowewant Maidstone Council to adopt for cars in the town centre? It is a very big question – and will get bigger as Maidstone’s population grows by perhaps 40,000 over the next 20 years to about 200,000. The central road system cannot economically evolve to cope with a heavy traffic increase. So does Maidstone Council adopt policies to keep vehicles out of the centre or tinker to make the best of a difficult problem? What do Maidstone motoristswant? And how do businesses and shops operating in our town centre see it? Attempts to reduce traffic have had moderate success. The park-and-ride system is quite expensive for council taxpayers, but is popular enough to merit further expansion, especially for south Maidstone. Some parts of the centre have been declared sustainable areas where parking should be restricted and public transport andwalking encouraged.


I am concerned about delays on roads, but I will suffer


another five or 10 minutes per journey rather than give up my car.


But how far should the council go to discourage cars? How much should it listen to the public and businesses? It is amighty dilemma. We love the convenience, speed and comfort of our vehicles taking us door to door.We can include our passengers and luggage (notably heavy shopping bags). Public transport andwalking just cannot compete. And ifwewant Maidstone’s businesses and retail to thrive then cars cannot be unduly discouraged. Selection of sustainable areas must also make very sound sense. It has a chance where good park-and-ride serves the true town centre. But there are locations that attract visitors from a wide area, often with their essential luggage, and here sensible and convenient parking is essential, especially if overflow is likely to impact on nearby streets. The town centre iswell served by off-street parking with FremlinWalk a large and very welcome addition; it is a long time since I struggled to find convenient parking. At times I amconcerned about delays on roads approaching Maidstone. But I will suffer another five or 10 minutes per journey rather than give up my car. Public transport from my home in a local village is far from easy. Maidstone must continue to try to tinker wisely to improve traffic flows and encourage use of public transport. But King Canutewould have had problems trying to hold back the tide of cars and I fear Maidstone Council will be no more successful without taking draconian, unpopular and economically dangerous measures.


24 Maidstone East Edition January 2014 Cyclists must heed laws too


Dear Sir – Iwas prompted to write aer seeing the article “Kent cyclists most at risk in town” in the November edition of your excellent newspaper. AKCC spokesman supported the proposed 20mph limit for the town centre, saying “they can also help people move around more safely and independently, improving accessibility for the elderly, vulnerable road users and disabled people”. Fine, but can somebody please make the rules about pavements clear, especially to our increasingly multi-cultural population. Cyclists who use the pavements both on approach roads and in the town centre itself are actually breaking the law. The cyclist who whizzed past me down Gabriels Hill this morningwas doing in excess of 20mph and the London Road pavements are positively lethal when cyclists are using them, with acceleration occurring when they reach the underpass on the Broadway and speed down the slope there. Approaching from behind is not only irresponsible, it is downright dangerous. Had I suddenly taken a step tomy right this morning, there was noway the cyclist could have avoided me at the speed hewas doing. I have seen instances inWeek Street where cyclists seem to enjoy dodging in and out of the shoppers on their bikes (and I amnot talking about children here). An aempt at reproach is usually met with either a curse or the usual two-fingered salute. Speak up for cyclists by all means, but remember that many of us are unable to ride a bike any more and are helping to keep the traffic down by using the pavements and buses to access the town. Valerie Leonard, Allington


Valerie, very few debates divide people with a greater polarity than cycling in urban areas. In London, the debate over whether cyclists are good or bad – there seems to be lile in-between – reached a peak at the end of last year aer a string of tragic deaths. Perversely, this is because cycling is becoming safer, with those on two wheels feeling more confident to use this form of transport to get to and from work. As a law of averages, more cyclists on the road equates to more accidents – just as it does with more cars – but the increase has been at a less than disproportionate rate. The fact that cycling is discussed so rarely in Maidstone is a sad indictment of the dangers of our road system. I can only think of Mote Park and the Medway Valley towpath as entrances to the town where you would feel safe cycling to work. Even these would become much tougher avenues through which to cycle home on dark winter evenings. There are very few dedicated cycle paths in Maidstone and the main roads towards and within town are not for the faint-hearted. As a result there is lile to encourage cyclists and the congestion problem continues to grow. Towns like Ashford have the advantage of being relatively new, so in many cases there has been no existing infrastructure to prevent the introduction of wide pavements and cycle paths in new developments. There is sadly less room for manoeuvre in Maidstone, particularly in the narrow Tonbridge Road area, but planners can still make much tougher demands on developers to provide cycle paths on new estates. If there is no will, budding cyclists will stay off their bikes or feel justified in commiing anti- social deeds that rightfully annoy people like you. Response by Stephen


Road opportunity missed


Dear Sir – Recently, Linton crossroadswas subject to some disruption whileworkwas undertaken, resulting in ameagre improvement, in the opinion of many. With a lile more forethought, they should have widened the exit of Heath Road (from Coxheath) at the traffic lights to allow two vehicles of moderate or larger size to pass each other. Now, as before, if a larger vehicle iswaiting to turn right onto the A229 Linton Hill, it blocks traffic turning le towards Maidstone or those going straight on to Boughton Monchelsea. Mick Sloman, Wilberforce Road, Coxheath


You've made a very good point Mick. The roadworks caused a fair amount of disruption over several weeks so it would have been a good opportunity to make even further improvements – but I guess that may have involved buying additional land. They could have removed those dangerous, allegedly “traffic-calming” bollards in Coxheath at the same time. Response by Jane


Clear up aer TV audience


Dear Sir – Here is a leer I have sent to Maidstone Studios, which Iwould like to share with your readers. Once again, the north end of ProvenderWay is full of lier (paper, card, glass boles, etc), and the Maidstone Studios-invited evening audience is responsible. Is it really too much trouble to automatically send one of yourworkforce out to clear the mess the next morning? Just to check that there isn’t anywould be a responsible aitude by yourselves. Of course, the repair of the damage to the grass verges by cars and people-carriers is not your fault – yet the damage is still there. On another note, Iwould say that I amnot particularly bothered by the use of Provender Way as a parking site for the invited audience – although there is only room for cars in a “single lane” of over 200 metres; but is there no room for these vehicles on the TV site itself? The movement of an emergency vehicle along the roadwould be delayed or even impossible. Additionally, the small roundabout and entry gate on New Cut Road is sometimes clogged with vehicles because of inefficient, but necessary, VIP entry/security issues to the studios. Is it the case that some care and courtesy for the local community on your part is too much to ask? Can you show some concern for the local residents, which you are geographically a part of, inside your patrolled and secure gated site? Stephen Francis, Granary Close, Weavering


Stephen, thanks for sharing this leer with us. You have touched on a hot topic in the area because, as you can see on our sponsored Boxley Council page on page 22, it came to the fore in late November. Members of the audience at shows at the studios tend not to be invited; normally they apply for free tickets via an external agency. The shows’ producers want their programmes to look busy and lively for television viewers, which, in the case of ITV dating show TakeMe Out, can reach as many as five million. To ensure this, it is usual practice in the industry for shows to be overbooked, with only the earliest arrivals assured of seats.


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