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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 –


1 It is disappointing that Music On The Green had to be cancelled for 2014. This was because we ran out of time to organise it for this year. Bearsted Parish Council did not reject an offer from Barbara Dunford [former parish councillor] to run the event. No formal offer was received from her and, if it had, it could only have been considered as part of a fair and open tendering process. 2 The play area had to be closed last October because of the unexpected breaking-up of the surface, which made it very dangerous [It was closed on advice from Maidstone Council]. Bearsted Parish Council is shortly to appoint a contractor to resurface the area and whilst doing so to upgrade the play equipment. Response by Cllr Richard Ash, chairman of Bearsted Parish Council


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


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


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 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 fact that Richard Ash, a key figure in this planning application, was absent for the second and determining meeting, imbues plenty of sympathy towards those in favour of the supermarket planned for Springfield. Response by Stephen


Plans are at odds


Dear Sir – Following the reports on page one and 31 in the latest edition of the Downs Mail, Broomfield and Kingswood Parish Councilwould like to respond. At a packed public meeting in March


2012, the parish councilwas asked to carry out a neighbourhood plan, accepting that wewould require some development on a limited scale. However, in essence the plan would create social facilities, which are currently lacking, but also try to prevent large-scale development that would


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 clearer than a small roadside sign, but that costs money and is wishful thinking. I have sympathy for those who see it as legalised mugging and a cash cow.


change the character of the close community that already exists. Maidstone Council did not consider any


of the land put forward by local landowners suitable to be included in its dra local plan and neither did residents when consulted for the neighbourhood plan.


Now KCC haswaded in and while many


of its points have value, the proposal for 550 homes in Kingswood is bizarre, not least as there has been no dialogue between Paul Carter and the parish, something he has found fault with by MBC during its consultation. Is Paul Carter even aware that our dra neighbourhood plan is now at public consultation stage? There may be a proposal for a spur road


by Mr Carter for his proposed development, but that is only one route, when every other road surrounding the proposed development is made of single track, minimum width roads. The parish council has tried to limit any


development to 30 houses to minimise the impact on the already overwhelmed infrastructure, and has now been toldwe can no longer be classed as an exception site as MBC does not wish to create a precedent. Thereforewe now have to increase the allocation to 39 dwellings to finance offsite affordable homes. What has happened to the principle behind localism? Parish councillors are trying to address the needs of our community and the “big boys” at MBC and KCC are riding roughshod over all our consultations with the local community, something both KCC and MBC have failed completely to do. Broomfield and Kingswood Parish Council


Maidstone East June 2014 45


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