downsmail.co.uk
Easter ‘rave’ disturbs peace
MAIDSTONE Council has apolo- gised for allowing a “rave” that shattered the Easter Sunday peace for residents across the town. Noise from the all-day and late-
night music event – ‘Landed 2014’ - in Whatman Park could be heard up to a mile away, causing irate res- idents to complain to the council. Dozens of nesting birds were al- legedly distressed and disturbed by the din, fleeing their nests in a state of panic. Allington ward Cllr Dan Daley,
who was one of those to suffer, went down to the site to remon- strate with the organisers. He said the noise began around noon and went on until 10.30pm. He added: “This was Easter Sunday – and even the major shopswere shut as a gesture of its significance.” The council has accepted that, al- though noise levels were within those permitted by the licence, it was “unacceptable”. A spokesman said: “We would
like to apologise to residents for the inconvenience caused. We have had lots of complaints and al-
though we did put noise restric- tions in place, we realise that the levels and the times were inappro- priate for Easter Sunday. “Although the festival ran very smoothly, the impact on residents on this occasion was unacceptable. Lessons will be learnt.” North ward Cllr Tony Harwood
felt the event was ill judged given itwas at the height of the wildfowl nesting season – when chicks were in the nests and vulnerable to de- sertion, if parents were frightened away. He said: “It is particularly ironic that a spring festival based on nature's re-birth saw so many birds driven away from their nests by the disturbance and din. “The politicians and officers in-
volved in sanctioning this event must be made accountable for the damage they have done. Heads must roll.” Sharon Thomas, from Kerry Hill
Way, said: “Our lives were made a total misery by the music volume and the vibration. I, along with nu- merous other residents, logged noise complaints.”
News Welcome to Kent’s first little library
MAIDSTONE’s first Little Free Li- brary has opened. Inspired by the American book-sharing phenomenon that has seen nearly 15,000 open world-wide, the mini community library in Lenfield Avenue, Vin- ters Park is also the first of its kind in Kent. Its
creator, Catherine
Crowhurst (pictured), was so taken with the idea of sharing her love of reading that she roped husband Shane into help- ing her convert an egg house into the free library over the Easter break. The self-confessed bookworm, who married this year, has enjoyed
swapping books since her days backpacking, when she discovered book crossing. She said: “Basically, when you travel fromhostel to hostel, you leave
the books you’ve finished for fellow travellers to pick up. Followers have an ID number that they put inside, so you can share reviews and track the book’s journey. “I’ve left books on a train to Bangkok and a bench at Heathrow and
it got me thinking about creatingmy own little library.” The Little Free Library concept was born in 2009 by Todd Bol and
Rick Brooks, fromWisconsin, USA as away to exchange books and pro- mote literacy and the love of reading worldwide. Catherine said: “I’m very pleased with my little library and how it’s
been received.” The free library works if users take a book and return one, or two,
back to a free library. She added: “It doesn’t work if they just become a dumping ground
for old books. These are books you want to share with others.” She now hopes to open another mini free library in Dartford, where
she works for DHL at Sainsbury’s distribution depot. You can read more about the concept at
www.littlefreelibrary.org.
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