downsmail.co.uk Fines ‘destroying town’
Dear Sir – I noted in your latest edition the story about the number of parking tickets being distributed in Maidstone. I can’t work out how this has helped the
town. Is it to ensure traffic flows freely? Ahuge number of shops are struggling – some are closing down – because traffic wardens are puing people off coming into town, as they know Maidstone is crawling with them. So in a way, Maidstone Council is destroying its own lovely town for the profit it has been making. As a small business owner I havemy
clients worrying about this all the time, as well as my therapists and other members of staff. It is almost causing a depression. I wonder how the £255m local authorities received last year in parking fines is being spent? Nicola Ellio, owner, ProHealth Therapy Rooms, 80 King Street, Maidstone
loaders hiing the pub trade”, people clearly drink at home because a night in the town is so expensive. You cannot go out for a decent night and
come home with change out of £100 – it is impossible. You will have the likes of MuMu, who will leave you waiting outside in a queue until just aer the 10pm inflated price you have to pay to get in. If you don't like it there, you will have to
leave and part with another sum of money to get in elsewhere. I bought a round of five drinks in MuMu about a month ago and it cost me £35 (plus £8 just to get through the door) so, yes, people will drink at home. It is a no-brainer. Being out for two hours easily equals an outlay of £100. And that is all before the taxi ride. Mostly, I would say the cafe culture
works, but probably it is more beneficial for families and the slightly older generation as opposed to trying to prevent youngsters from binge drinking. What the answer is, I don't know. If they
close their doors earlier, I am sure it would help, but it might just push them to venture to a different destination, where the drinking hours are more to their liking. Miss VWalker, by email
Your first sentence hits the nail on the head, MissWalker. It appears that it is not the total number of people who go out at night in Maidstone that is reducing, but that they are out for a reduced length of time. The obvious explanation would be that the
Sign is a monstrosity
Dear Sir – I read your article in the Downs Mail about the increasing number of signs with interest; the biggest eyesore and totally out of keeping with its environment is the huge sign advertising Audley House at theWillington Street/A20 corner. What a monstrosity at the edge of this beautiful park – and what a dreadful impression it must send to people accessing the town from this side for the first time. I've oen wondered who gave permission for this to be put up – but maybe no one did, and it just appeared. Fiona Argent, by email
Fiona, Maidstone Council gave planning permission for the advertisement on May 14 (reference MA/09/0923). One of the conditions was that it must be removed within three years or 14 days of the completion of the sale of the last unit within the Mote House development, which ever is sooner. Audley Mote says it will be applying to
extend this consent, arguing it has strong economic reasons for needing to do so. If and when this application is submied you will have the chance to make comments about the sign.
Response by Stephen
Night out too expensive Dear Sir – Regarding your story “Pre-
Contact our team ...
Stephen Eighteen Editor
stephen@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 231
34 Maidstone East July 2014 Diane Nicholls
Assistant editor
diane@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 232
Jane Shotliff Journalist
jane@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 233
Dawn Kingsford
Journalist
dawn@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 233
cost of having a night out in recent years has escalated – at a time when disposable income for many has gone the other way. Once upon a time a group of young adults
would enter a pub at 7pm and routinely stay out, aided by a nightclub, until beyond 2am. While this has not been completely eradicated, the trend now is for people to do one or the other: go to the pub at 7pm and go home some time before midnight, or begin the evening at a nightclub or late bar from about midnight. There is now less of an overlap, which is
where the headache stems from among pub and club owners, who are in a sticky situation because happy hours and large price reductions for alcoholic drinks are looked on unfavourably by the authorities. Government taxation on alcohol is also a headache. Unless something gives somewhere, Maidstone’s night economy will continue to suffer.
Response by Stephen.
Vision for Europe Dear Sir – The people of South East England have voted and I amgrateful to have a mandate to serve and represent the people of this important area in the European Parliament for another four years. The frustration and anger felt by the electorate is something of which I am acutely aware and I also hold the same feelings when only in my first days back in Parliament the European Commission is trying to undermine David Cameron’s
historic budget cut by demanding an extra £500million from British taxpayers tomeet Brussels’ spending bills this year. This early assault by the EU underlines
how important it is for the UK to have MEPs present in Brussels and ready to act and represent and fight for the national interest. The mandate I have from the people of
South East England is to make Europe work beer for the UK, and ensure that economic recovery inspired by prudent economic management by Chancellor George Osborne is not hampered by Brussels regulations and other unnecessary EU red tape. Richard Ashworth, Conservative MEP for South East England
Forced to clear path
Dear Sir – Once again my husband and I felt compelled to clear the overgrown stinging neles and thistles hanging over the path between HampsonWay and The Chimes above Banky Meadow in Bearsted. Our grandchildren and their friends have
been constantly stung on theirway to school. The path is now so narrow that it is nearly impossible to get a buggy along without the child being stung in the face. MMartin, HampsonWay, Bearsted
This is the parish council's responsibility and it is going to be cleared. Response by Michelle Rumble, Bearsted Parish Council clerk
Immigration farce
Dear Sir – Richard Maryan raised a number of issues over immigration in the June Downs Mail, but the main issue, as people struggle to get housing, doctors appointments, school places and even get towork, must be the sheer scale. Dileante Dave’s promise to limit immigration to the “tens of thousands”, has disappeared likewater on a hotplate andwe're still looking at 220,000+ per annum flooding into our tiny country with only 0.16% of theworld’s land mass. Despite there being plenty of room elsewhere, obviously the Government’s lax aitude, its bias against the indigenous population and renowned largesse with its money is the talk of all the poorer countries. By cramming more and more people on
to this crowded island, the great pretenders inWestminster are storing up major problems for the future, which will be further exacerbated and made manifest whenwe have the next downturn and not only dowe have the current 2.5 million unemployed, but also large numbers of immigrants. The farce is compounded by the fact the
two parties in power, Tory and Lib Dem, are locally and nationally opposing the building of essential housing while still leaving our borders wide open to cram in
Comment
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