downsmail.co.uk MailMarks
DENNISFOWLE President
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 doesMaidstone Council adopt policies to keep vehicles out of the centre or tinker to make the best of a difficult problem? What do Maidstonemotoristswant?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? Howmuch should it listen to the public and businesses? It is a mighty 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 ifwewantMaidstone’s businesses and retail to thrive then cars cannot be unduly discouraged. Selection of sustainable areasmust alsomake very sound sense. It has a chancewhere good park-and-ride serves the true town centre. But there are locations that attract visitors from awide area, oftenwith 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 parkingwith FremlinWalk a large and verywelcome addition; it is a long time since I struggled to find convenient parking. At times I am concerned about delays on roads approaching Maidstone. But Iwill suffer another five or 10minutes per journey rather than give upmy car. Public transport frommy home in a local village is far from easy. Maidstonemust 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.
20 Maidstone South January 2014 Cyclists must heed laws too
Dear Sir – Iwas prompted to write aer 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 aempt 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 lile in-between – reached a peak at the end of last year aer 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 lile 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 commiing 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 lile 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
Firms should plan ahead
Dear Sir – I have just read the Downs Mail article “Lorry drivers’ call to end ban”. The experimental restrictionswere discussed long before they happened. For affected businesses, could the proposals have been incorporated into their business plans? I live inMarden, wherewe regularly have our village blocked by HGV vehicles. What about billing the owners of these vehicles for all the inconvenience caused? And what about the environmental impact of these vehicles? Instead of moaning aer the event, any decent businesswould have planned for these restrictions in the first place. Gary Nightingale, Marden
Thanks for your input to the debate, Gary. I think you will find that businesses in Marden were not made aware of the experimental order. Even if they read about the proposals in the press, they may not have immediately realised how a ban through Yalding would affect other villages in the vicinity. One of the arguments raised is that Yalding Parish Council fought its corner with KCC and the Maidstone Joint Transportation Board on behalf of its residents, but there was no consultation with Collier Street, Marden or any other neighbouring parish council in advance of the order being introduced. The recent consultation period has given both sides an opportunity to voice their views. Like you, I await the outcome with interest. Response by Jane
Flood action inadequate
Dear Sir –We live in a small community on the outskirts of Yalding andwere cut off from the main village during the floods. We moved into our 400-year old house in spring 2000, sowe have now experienced two major floods. Much has already been said and wrien about the response of the authorities. I cannot comment on how good the responsewas generally, but we have not seen anyone in our vicinity. However, I have witnessed wonderful community spirit within our
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