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Plan for station back on track MailMarks


 HOPES for a rejuvenated Maidstone


East Station linked to a new supermarket and town centre residential development seem to be back on track, thanks to an overturned vote by Maidstone Council’s planning commiee. An earlier planning meeting had surprisingly approved by one vote the principle of a Morrisons supermarket, smaller shops and a doctor’s surgery at Springfield Park, linked to a nature reserve running down to the river. Thiswas opposed at the time by planning officers andwould have blown a major hole in Maidstone’s emerging local plan. It did not have the support of the controlling Conservative group of councillors, and when the proposal returned to the planning commiee to consider detailed conditions, the Tories ensured the vote against (7-6) to reject the application. With a large supermarket just along the


road, it seems unlikely another supermarket chainwould have been a driving force behind a scheme to redevelop our antiquated main station and the adjoining vacated Royal Mail site, bringing new life to the northern end of the town centre. Now it seems a planning application for the site will be submied this summer –


Residents need store


Dear Sir – In refusing the proposal for a supermarket in Springfield Park, Maidstone Council’s planning committee has denied the residents of the Springfield and Ringlestone areas the chance of much-needed improvements in local infrastructure. It is particularly significant that this proposed retail development included the option of a doctors’ surgery. There is no doctors’ surgery in North ward, which has been singled out for large-scale housing development. It is not good enough to use any available land in North ward to meet government targets for the supply of housing. We want to see more vision, more ambition from our council. Improving community infrastructure should be an essential component of any proposed development of land in the North ward of Maidstone. Rob Illingworth, Monckton’s Lane, Ringlestone


Thanks for your views, Rob. This application is a prime example of community needs versus the vision for the town as a whole. On one side you have local residents, many


of whom would prefer a new supermarket to the 950 new homes earmarked for Springfield


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Maidstone Town June 2014 33


DENNISFOWLE President dfowle2011@aol.com


andwe await details with great anticipation. The Springfield site is shown in the dra


local plan for residential development, perhaps with about 1,000 units, and loss of this sitewould have added to the pressure on local greenfield land. Tied up with this local plan strategy is


the proposal for a massive redevelopment of the Notcus site, to include major stores forWaitrose and Debenhams.Aplanning application is before the council for June 12. Significant opponents see this as an unacceptable challenge to Maidstone’s town centre. Which development does Maidstone


need most? I reckonwewould like to see our new train station and all that goes with it back on track.


Unfair cameras 


I LIKE to see myself as a careful, considerate law-abiding car driver – yet I live with a feeling of uncertainty, fear and unfairness of speed cameras. In about 60 years I have accrued four


in the draft local plan. On the other you have Maidstone Council’s


idea for the town centre, which falls outside the land proposed for the supermarket but is close enough to be affected by it. Its location at the forgotten end ofWeek


Street makes Maidstone East a more logical site for a new supermarket, but the lack of progress on this scheme over many years and the manner in which Richard Ash, a key figure in this planning application, was strangely absent for the second and determining meeting, imbues plenty of sympathy towards those in favour of the supermarket planned for Springfield. Response by Stephen


Employers so supportive


Dear Sir – I want to shout from the rooftops about how wonderful it is to work for a family business where I am not considered just a number. I am being treated as a person the Notcutts family really cares for. In January 2013, at the age of 45, I was rushed to Maidstone Hospital from work at Newnham Court, where I had had a stroke.Within a couple of days I was taken to King’s College Hospital for a life- saving operation to allow the swelling to take place in my brain.


speeding fines, and all but onewas down to missing a 30mph sign in an area where I had not driven before. There appeared to be no strong reason for the 30mph limit and Iwas travelling at the same speed as other vehicles. The frequently changing limits on a road


are confusing and too oen now I find myself travelling over-cautiously at 30mph, when the locals know it is 40mph. They become impatient and overtake, sometimes dangerously. There is much for a driver to observe,


and I concentrate on looking ahead to anticipate needs and problems. That means speed signs can be missed. It is lile comfort to learn now that


speed cameras in Maidstone and TunbridgeWells are the most prolific in Kent. The fines are not light for travelling say at 38mph in a 30mph area; it has an impact on personal insurance cover and the mounting points system can take a driver off the road altogether. If I flouted the laws intentionally I


would be more sympathetic to the system, but for many a speeding fine is oen more about bad luck than bad driving. Iwould like to see a change in road speed made much clearer than a small roadside sign, but I fear that costs and is wishful thinking. I have sympathy for those who see it as legalised mugging and a cash cow.


My husband, children and family didn't


know if I would survive. I then spent a further 10 months in both hospitals and a special neurological rehabilitation unit in Sevenoaks, where I was told I would be unlikely to walk again. However, my husband and I decided I


had too much to live for and I was determined I would walk again, which I can now do with the help of a physiotherapist. I recently walked in a public place for


the first time, when I did a sponsored walk from the Town Hall along Maidstone High Street. I completed about 100m and there were 50 people there supporting me. I never dreamed of being able to do this


and I have now raised about £1,400 for the Stroke Association’s Step out for Stroke campaign. The charity has helped me in the past few months, but sadly during this time, I unexpectedly lost both of my parents. Mr Notcutt and my colleagues have supported my family and me, helping me to get to the place I am at now. Anyone who would like to contribute to


my fundraising total for the Stroke Association can do so online at www.justgiving.com/Hannah-Green16. Hannah Green, Bedgebury Close, Vinters Park


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