downsmail.co.uk Tractors a nuisance
Dear Sir – Are local farmers atwar with the rest of the community? Almost everydaywe seem to find ourselves stuck behind some tractor and its load, lumbering along at 20mph, never thinking to pull over and let traffic past. Recently, Headcornwas covered by a nauseating miasma, presumably from spreading or transporting manure – itwas impossible to go outside without retching from the stench. Are there no restrictions on this antisocial practice? Ray Sadler, Rushden House, Station Road, Headcorn
I amnot sure that farmers view the task of playing catch-up aer all the rain as a war against locals, more a bale with the elements. While frustrating, today's tractors are a lot
faster than they were. Sure, we should all give a lile more thought to fellow road users when we can, but they too have a job to do, as do refuse collectors, postmen and ice cream vans that use the public highway and can cause delays as part of their jobs. As for the smell, Defra and local councils do
take a tough line on offensive odours, but on occasions we have to accept that this is the price many of us pay for living in the countryside. Response by Dawn
Prison does a good job
Dear Sir – I’ma regular shopper at Headcorn farmers’ market and I always make a beeline for the East Suon Park stall. Where else can you buy such delicious sausages? Meat from the prison farm is excellent and the plants are reasonable and, in my experience, give good results. Like many, Iwas dismayed to read about
the proposal to closeHMPrison East Suon – not on account of my fondness for their sausages, but because the prison does what a prison should do. It rehabilitates. Recently I have heard two talks and each speaker stressed the positive effects of the prison on offenders. The lives of manywomen have been turned around. This is what I, as a taxpayer, expect of the prison service. The incidence of re-offending in other prisons is regreable. Many offenders are housed in buildings far from their homes which makes visiting difficult and causes stress to their families. The suggestion that women should be locked up far from the South East maywell lead to re-offending. What can be done to persuade the Government to retain a facility which is beneficial to the inmates and the local community? Miss J E Drury, by email
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 itwas. Athriving local industry and town centre;
aworkforce which lived andworked here; a working river; a cale 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 beer. The river frontage and the town centre have
26 Maidstone South April 2014
never looked cleaner and more aractive 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. GE 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 wrien 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 beer designed. The development looks like poorly-designed 1960s council flats.Ahuge opportunity for good design has been missed. Let us hope that the developers of 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 commiee 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 permied Suon Road developments, which totalled 886 homes, we may have been well on the way to geing funding for a long-awaited south-east link road. Instead, money was put towards road widening on Suon 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 Cricketwebsite 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
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