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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 –


decline and fall of our British Empire, can we still hang on to an outdated philosophy? We may be a post-Christian society, but perhapswe ought to drop our high- minded righteousness and become a post-right society too. Richard Maryan, Coxheath


Richard, your conclusion that different cultures rarely integrate is obviously contentious and makes a general assertion on a complicated subject that resonates emotionally with many. However, your point that the exceptionally


high number of homes being built in Maidstone borough could lead to the current national immigration debate becoming a much more local one strikes a less arguable chord. The mixture of an overheated property


APLANT pot and plantswere stolen from a rear garden in The Beacons, Coxheath. Collection boxes for the Buercups Goat Sanctuary and the Heart of Kent Hospice were stolen from The Shop on the Green, Chart Corner, Chart Suon. Aproperty in Bathurst Road, Staplehurst, was burgled. Ablack Mitsubishi L200, registration DN53 NFC,was stolen from High Street, Suon Valence. Car keyswere stolen in a break-in at a house in Oak Farm Gardens, Headcorn, and a black Audiwas stolen from the drive. Agreen Suzuki estate car, registration H54 KDY,was stolen from the car park at the side of St Mary’s Church, Suon Road, Langley. Awhite Transit tipper/flatbed truck, registration NJ61 VVP,was stolen from Huntingdon Road, Coxheath.


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


market in London, Maidstone Council’s top priority to provide affordable housing and an abundance of large housing estates set to spring up in the borough in the next 20 years is likely to result in a more diverse racial and cultural make-up in Maidstone. This notion is likely to have been behind UKIP’s success in the recent elections, with four councillors winning seats on Maidstone Council and the party gaining more votes in the borough than any other in the European count. Our local authorities must therefore learn


from the experiences of other areas in the country that have seen large influxes of people from minority backgrounds and do all within their powers to facilitate a high level of social cohesion. Response by Stephen


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.


Homes plan must fail


Dear Sir – Homeowners in Marden are angry and shocked about borough councillors’ plans to increase housing in this village by 65 per cent in five years. While we are not against all


development in this village, this latest proposed development (for 124 homes at Marden Cricket and Hockey Club in Stanley Road) will radically change its character by destroying an open area close to its centre where sports have taken place for many years. It will also over-burden narrow roads with three-storey buildings. It will destroy the only visible green area


near the centre of the village.We hope it will be refused on the above grounds. Gavin Atkin, by email


NeighbourhoodWatch Working to reduce crime. Call Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 or local police


Alarge quantity of spiritswas stolen from South Eastern Beers&Minerals, Beech Depot, Sheephurst Lane, Marden. Asilver braceletwas stolen from a property in East Street, Hunton. Therewas a break-in at a property in Brooklands, Headcorn. The first suspect was said to be a white man in his 20s, about 5 8ins, with short dark hair.Hewas wearing dark trousers and a jacket. The secondwas also a white man in his 20s, but slightly bigger.He had dark hair andwore dark trousers and a jacket. Agent’s red bikewas stolen from a garden in Oak Lane, Headcorn. The sat navwas also stolen from the owner’s Peugeot.


An off-road bikewas stolen from Young& Partners, Suon Road, Langley. Ayellow and black Karcher jetwasher and hosepipewere stolen from the drive of a home in Haste Hill Road, Boughton Monchelsea.


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Maidstone South June 2014 31


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