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News Anger over park and ride plan
MORE than 100 residents packed a meeting to protest at a plan for a park and ride facility. The proposal is for land on Linton
Hill, belonging to farmer and haulage contractor Alan Firmin Ltd. There was standing room only as
angry locals accused Maidstone Council of making a U-turn after ad- mitting, in its own 2012 draft trans- port strategy, that “the location at Linton crossroads is primarily con- strained due to the setting of the countryside south of the Greensand Ridge escarpment and issues relat- ing to the inter-visibility with the Linton conservation area”. It added: “If the site at Linton crossroadswere developed itwould also lead to unacceptable coales- cence in an area where the character is primarily one of only loosely-re- lated settlements.”
Anenduring music appeal
By Dennis Fowle
THEenduring appeal of Maidstone Amateur Operatic Society was evi- denced again at the Hazlitt Theatre with a sell-out Tuesday perform- ance of Half a Sixpence. The society has been staging big musicals in Maidstone since 1898 – the remarkable list of shows is recorded in the programme – and deserves its loyal local following. The showwas largely written for
pop star Tommy Steele when first staged in theWest End in 1963 (the film followed in 1967). Most music is not as well known as many con- temporary shows and this pre- sented a challenge for the society. But it does have “Flash, Bang,
Wallop, What a Picture” and the cast twice sang and danced their hearts out. Shawn Deamer, a stu- dent at Canterbury Christ Church University, took the role of Arthur Kipps and teamed up well with childhood sweetheart Ann (Steph Beeken has such a lovely voice). Itwas a massive team job on and
off stage – the society is so impor- tant to Maidstone’s cultural life.
A20 home refused
A PLANNING application to con- vert a singledwelling near Lenham into seven separate flats has been turned down. Maidstone Council’s planning of-
ficers felt the proposal for Dickley Court – on the junction of the A20 Ashford Road and Dickley Lane – would have been poorly served by basic services and increased car use.
Applicant David Elliott wanted
to introduce three one-bed flats and four four-bed flats.
The council still accepts this is a sensitive area and says there will need to be “landscape mitigation” and “structural landscaping”, but opponents argue that concreting over 17 acres of agricultural land will both destroy the rural aspect of Lin- ton and add to the drainage prob- lems lower down the valleys, in places such as Yalding, Hunton and Marden.
Protagonist Ron Leagas, spokesman for Keep Linton Green, has amassed more than 700 resi- dents in a petition opposing the scheme. He said: “I have a message for the Maidstone town planning team: you’ve made a mess of Maid- stone, leave Linton alone. “Linton and Coxheath can barely
cope with the current volume of traf- fic, let alone potentially doubling it. Park and rides are great in the right places – and that maywell be to the north-east and west of Maidstone, but it is not from the south, which is served by approach roads that are predominantly single lane.” Maidstone Council’s draft local
plan, whichwent out for public con- sultation on March 21, has ear- marked 17 acres of land, south-west of the Linton crossroads, for a 1,000- space park and ride site. MrLeagas said: “The only support
for this scheme comes from a com- puter-based model. It is not a good model if we are not asking the peo- plewhocome fromYalding, Marden and further afield if they would ac-
tually use it. They are not going to drive as far as Linton, only to wait for a bus and then trickle into town at a snail’s pace. “Park and rideworkswonderfully
in places like Oxford, Cambridge and Chelmsford, where there is an orbital road system – but not in Maidstone, where the Loose Road is already congested.” As we went to press, representa-
tives of Maidstone Council and ade- veloper were due to give residents more information on the draft local plan in Coxheath Village Hall. For more information on Maid-
stone Council’s draft local plan, log on to
www.downsmail.co.uk and go to pages 36 and 37 of the archived East March 2014 edition.
Mother plans sky dive to help charity
A PENENDEN Heath mother is to sky- dive in aid of The National Autistic So- ciety.
Joanne Brown (33), who works at
Tones Ties in Bearsted Green Business Park, has an autistic son, Lewis (10). He is a pupil at Sandling Primary
School and will go to Bower Grove School in September. Joanne hopes the jump at Head-
corn Aerodrome on May 18 will raise £500. She can be sponsored online on
www.doitforcharity.com/joanne-brown.
Shopping village timetable Tea shop plan
THE company behind plans to re- develop Newnham Court shop- ping village says if it gets permission this spring, the new- look site will be open for Christ- mas 2016. Land Securities says construction
of the £85m project could begin this autumn, subject to approval by Maidstone Council. The first phase includes building anew, larger garden centre for Not-
cutts and some smaller shops. The existing garden centre would relo- cate to its larger premises in au- tumn 2015. Phase two would include demol-
ishing the old garden centre and re- placing it with a Debenhams, Waitrose and more retail units. The applicant says the proposal
will create several hundred con- struction jobs and 1,500 full and part-time jobs when it opens.
Nursery bid to extend hours
ADAY nursery at St Luke’s Road, Maidstone wants longer hours. In February Busy Bees, which operates from the ground floor
under the name Toad Hall, was given planning permission to es- tablish day care space in a storage area on the first floor to accom- modate 21 additional children to make a maximum of 51. Maidstone Council said this was on condition that operating
hours were restricted to 8am – 6pm weekdays and the garden was used by a maximum of eight children at any one time. The nursery has applied to change these conditions to allow use
between 7.30am and 6.30pm and for up to 16 children to be permit- ted in the garden. A supporting statement said: “By extending an extra 30 minutes at both ends of the day, it gives a greater scope for parents to fit childcare around usual office hours.” Maidstone Council will determine the planning application.
AFARMshop in the Royal Star Ar- cade, Maidstone could be con- verted into a tea shop. A planning application has been lodged to turn PJ Farm Shop into Judd’s Kitchen and Tea House, serving fresh leaved teas and tradi- tional tea shop items and foods. If permission is granted by Maid-
stone Council, it would seat about 50 guests over two floors, with sales space for related items.
Sycamores to go
PLANNING permission was granted for the felling of two sycamore trees in Hollingbourne. The trees at Vine Cottage, 31-33 Eyhorne Street, were said to be dangerous. Maidstone Council granted conservation area consent.
Mencap plant sale
MAIDSTONE Mencap will be holding a plant and book sale at Cobtree Hall, Mote Park (School Lane entrance) from 2.30pm on Saturday, May 17. Call Margaret Leeds on 07903 196333 for details.
Maidstone East May 2014 19
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