downsmail.co.uk Nimbys have their place


Dear Sir –Alifetime ago when I first knew Maidstone, it still had all the characteristics which made it the unique place it was. Athriving local industry and town centre; aworkforce which lived andworked here; aworking river; a cale market and an unspoiled rural hinterland almost within walking distance of the town centre – a real country town of character and historical resonance. The past,we know, is another place.


Time moves on and there have been inevitable changes, many very much for the beer. The river frontage and the town centre have never looked cleaner and more aractive than they do now, for instance. But will it still be that country town in a few years time, or will it become just another car-choked commuter town surrounded by relentlessly creeping tides of roads, concrete, bricks and mortar eating into a green and irreplaceable Kent? Once that is gone, it is gone forever. Doubtless there will be cries of nimbyism, but nimbys are the guardians of a unique and irreplaceable past.Without them, nothing stands in theway of the diktats of a distant government bureaucracy without local knowledge or empathy. There is an old poem that has some


relevance here: The British populace observed with frowns that those who went before had spoiled the towns. This cannot be endured, they loudly cried and started in to spoil the countryside. G E French, Marion Crescent, Maidstone


I see exactly what you are saying about nimbyism, which has skilfully been used by the pro-development lobby as a byword for citizens who want to stand in the way of “progress” – whatever that is supposed to be – for their own selfish ends. We are all familiar with the race card. In Maidstone, local people risk being accused of playing the nimby card, and this is an insult to those who value their domestic environment and take pride in where they live. There is a feeling that the creation of thousands of new homes in the open countryside is an inevitability, as if it is wrien in the stars and we must all get used to it. Nonsense. This state of affairs is the result of


a Government-led agenda that has led to a severe weakening of the planning laws. Communities all over Maidstone, many of generations standing, are about to witness their neighbourhoods change beyond all recognition. This should not be allowed to happen without scrutiny, without dissent and without the option to fight against it. For the sake of the future, nimbyism needs to


be embraced and careful choices need to be made by as many people as possible at the ballot box both this May and next year. Response by Stephen


KIMS a missed opportunity


Dear Sir – The Kent Institute of Medicine and Surgery maywell be a huge asset to the area. It is just a pity it has not been beer designed. The development looks like poorly-designed 1960s council flats.A huge opportunity for good design has been missed. Let us hope that the developers of


40 Maidstone East April 2014


Newnham Court use architects who have a bit of flair and will produce buildings that will be sympathetic to their situation and a credit to the area. Colin White FRICS, by email


Though the KIMS development has its supporters economically, and will boost private health provision locally, the undoubted by- product is a loss of what was once a very pleasant rural gateway to Maidstone. This urbanisation of Newnham Court will become much greater when the large Maidstone Medical Centre is built and if the proposed retail redevelopment gets the go-ahead. One’s view of architecture is, like music, about taste. Very few 21st century developments have le me feeling aesthetically enthralled and KIMS is no different. Response by Stephen


Ring road suggestion


Dear Sir – Iwas born in Maidstone in 1933 and have lived here since 1935. I have always been interested in planning, as I served on Maidstone Council planning commiee for seven years. I have already sent a suggestion for a southern ring road to KCC, which involved a Leeds bypass. I feel a housing development to thewest of Leeds, funded by the developers,would cost ratepayers nothing. Aring road is necessary to relieve congestion around Maidstone. Gordon Savage, Aldington Road, Maidstone


Gordon, had money been designated in Section 106 agreements from the three recently permied Suon Road developments, which totalled 886 homes, we may have been well on the way to geing funding for a long-awaited south-east link road. Instead, money was put towards road widening on Suon Road itself. Cllr Paul Carter, who lives in Langley, has


previously ruled out the link road idea and it is doubtful that the scheme will get any backing while he is leader of KCC. Response by Stephen


Fair play on Mote plan


Dear Sir – They say there are two sides to every story. To date within the pages of Downs Mail, only one side of the conflict at The Mote has been highlighted. Well-meaning members of the public


have at various times expressed their disappointment that Maidstone has lost its cricket festival and have been encouraged to believe that there is still a real chance of it returning. Maidstone Council has been challenged


to get behind the proposed Mote development. The response by the Mail’s editor quotes Mote Cricket Club stating that Maidstone Council supports its redevelopment plan. There is no evidence of such support, as Maidstone Council has excluded any residential development within the boundary of The Mote from its dra local plans. The Mote tenant, Maidstone Rugby Club, has proposed a number of alternative options to improve facilities, all of which increase the chances of acceptability to statutory consultees Sport England aswell as the National Planning Policy


Framework. Mote Cricket Club is not considering


these alternatives. Finally, any realistic assessment of the likelihood of Kent County Cricket reinstating Maidstone CricketWeek, as the festivalwas correctly known, will show it is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future, on purely practical grounds, given Kent County Cricket’s commitments at Beckenham (see Kent Cricket website News section on November 25, 2013 and January 29, 2014). Jim Tinsley, president of Maidstone Rugby Club


Kent County Cricket Club continues to support a return of first-class cricket to Maidstone, evidenced at the recent annual meeting. Maidstone Council strongly supports the


Mote development proposal and has made a grant of £15,000 to the club to help submit a powerful planning application for an enabling development that will be considered separately from the emerging Maidstone local plan. Part of this planning exercise will be consultation with statutory consultees such as Sport England. More sports now show keen interest in being part of a regenerated Mote and helping to secure this precious but endangered site for generations to come. Response by Dennis Fowle, chairman of The Mote CC Development Commiee


England flag blues


Dear Sir – I have thought for some time that the Maidstone town centre manager, Bill Moss, is completely out of touch with what shoppers reallywant, but now he has apparently proved that he is totally out of touch with England. In your article about the town marking St George’s Day, he states: “Let’swave the red, white and blue flag”. It is unbelievable that a man in his job does not appear to realise that St George is the patron Saint of ENGLAND, that the flag of ENGLAND, represented by the cross of St George is ONLY red and white. I hope Mr Moss is not involved in any


way with the preparations of making April 26 a “traditional English day”, and that someone on the council does indeed know what the ENGLISH flag looks like. If there are any red, white and blue flags around for the celebrations, I for onewon’t be aending. It’s about timewe English stood up for ourselves, and started being proud to be English – I am. Judith Pennington, Whitchurch Close, Maidstone


St George confusion


Dear Sir – Regarding your story on St George’s Day in the March Downs Mail, could you please tell Bill Moss that the English flag has not got any blue in it...thanks. David Brooks, by email


It is safe to assume that Mr Moss got a lile confused between the Union Flag and the St George’s Cross. Given the current debate over independence,


it is just as well he was not in Scotland and made a similar mistake regarding the St Andrew’s Cross. Response by Stephen


Comment


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