News


downsmail.co.uk Homes report ‘does not exist’


PAULCarter says a KCC-commissioned report on housing in Maidstonewas never completed. Instead, the county council leader


says the authority had received an “interim update”, which would have been what Cllr Chris Garland, former leader of Maidstone Coun- cil, referred to in the Downs Mail. Last month we reported that a freedom of information request to view a draft copy of the report, or- dered by Cllr Carter in February to prove wrong the evidence used by Maidstone Council to support a housing target of 19,600 between 2011-2031, yielded a denial from KCCthat a report had been written because it had been aborted early. This was despite KCC paying


Peter Brett Associates £15,000 to conduct the study and Cllr Gar- land’s claims that “Paul Carter had it on him when I was with him” and that it backed Maidstone


Thief in court


JOHN Sweeney (30), ofWillington Street, Maidstone, received a sus- pended prison sentence after two shoplifting offences in the town. He admitted stealing deodorants


and coffee from a shop in Northumberland Road, Shepway, on April 25 and was convicted of the theft of itemsworth £165 from a supermarket in Romney Place on April 29, for which no plea was taken. Mid Kent Magistrates sentenced


him to 30 days in jail, suspended for 12 months. He must pay £60 compensation and an £80 victim surcharge.


Flats rejected


PLANNING applications by JDM Executive Homes to create two blocks of two flats off Taragon Road,Maidstone, have been turned down. The company applied to build


flats at Detling House and Harriet- sham House in Burdock Court, but Maidstone Council felt each pro- posal “would fail to respect the ar- chitectural integrity of the buildings”, due to the “number, lo- cation, scale and proportion of the proposed dormer windows”.


Prickly problem


A HOLLY tree may be removed at All Saints’ Church, Mill Street, Maidstone, because it “has low amenity value and increases anti- social behaviour by providing somewhere to hide”. Maidstone Council’s conserva-


tion area application will be deter- mined by the same authority.


Formore local news 42


www.downsmail.co.uk Maidstone Town August 2014


Council’s 19,600 target. Cllr Carter (pictured), who says he instructed council officers to make all the deci- sions relating to the report, said: “There was an in- terim study as part of the process of making a full re-


port, which was to be used as our consultation response to Maidstone Council’s draft local plan. “We set the terms of reference,


which was to check how they ar- rived at the figure for housing need and what infrastructure would be required to deliver the local plan. “We needed this turned around


in three to four weeks, but after about sixweekswe received a half-


Slimmers’ loss charity’s gain


SLIMMERS from Bearsted joined Slimming World members from Maidstone and Malling in a wardrobe spring clean for charity. About 53 bags were collected for


the charity by the members from Bearsted and GroveGreen as part of The Big Slimming World Clothes Throw, for Cancer Research UK. Julie Sinden, who runs the groups


at Madginford Park Infant School and St John's CEP School, in Proven- der Way, said: “All the Maidstone


and Malling memberswere happy to donate their unwanted items to help such a worthwhile cause, and jumped at the chance to recycle the clothes they’ve slimmed out of, and


Robber’s victimwas off-duty police officer


AROBBERwho pulled a knife on a couple walking in Maidstone, un- wittingly targeted an off-duty po- lice officer. Billy Draper (18), formerly of Oak


Trees, Maidstone, approached the officer who was walking through the town with his girlfriend and an- otherwoman. Draper began verbally abusing


the officer, who responded by iden- tifying himself as a police officer. Despite this, Draper pulled a knife from his jacket pocket and de- manded “everything”. The officer passed Draper items including cash and two mobile phones and hiswarrant card. But it was only when Draper opened the warrant card that he paused and began towalk away. The victim followed him to a nearby pub, while calling for police back-up. When officers arrived, Draper was pointed out, but head-


butted and bit a police constable as they tried to arrest him. In an interview Draper recalled drinking with friends and family, but said he had no memory of the robbery or the assault, although he later admitted both offences. He was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court to 18 months in a young offenders’ institution. DI Karen Festing said: “It is likely


that Draper had set out to rob the first people that came in his direc- tion, but he clearly had no idea that the victim he chose was a serving police officer. “Itwas only when Draper looked


at the warrant card that the penny dropped, but by this time we had already been alerted to his behav- iour and the victim had followed him and identified him to officers. “There is simply no excuse to be carrying a weapon, or for this type of behaviour on our streets.”


will never need again!” EmmaPuxty, who runs the Cancer


Research UK shop in Gabriels Hill, Maidstone, received the 123 bags collected inMaidstone and Malling.


Law firm quiz


boosts hospice LAW firm Gullands Solicitors hosted a corporate quiz night at Maidstone United’s Gallagher Sta- dium and raised more than £1,200 for the Heart of Kent Hospice. Nine teams from the local busi-


ness community, including Bar- clays, BTF Partnership, Crowe Clark Whitehill, Invicta IFA, DHS, NatWest and Reeves put their gen- eral knowledge to the test to raise money for the charity. Crowe Clark Whitehill was crowned the winner, with Invicta IFA taking the wooden spoon award. There was a fundraising raffle


with prizes donated by local busi- nesses including The Art Lounge Café, David Lloyd, Eden’s, Ka- banos Polish Shop, Leeds Castle, Lush, Maidstone Leisure Centre, Mumma G’s Café, Norish Cold Stores, Robins & Day, The Sher- wood Oak, The Swan and Urban.


baked report that had not even dealt with crucial issues such as in- frastructure needs, which was the most significant part of the report. “The fact it was late meant we couldn’t input their response to the local plan, which was the point of commissioning it. I said to officers that if thiswasmy money Iwould- n’t pay for the report.” Instead of using the report to re-


spond to Maidstone’s draft local plan, KCC officers produced their own response, which called for a revised figure of 14,500 homes and large housing estates in Kingswood and at the former Detling Aero- drome. Cllr Carter added that the selec-


tion of a consultant was fraught, with up to 20 consultants refusing to undertake thework because they


already acted for developers. This left Peter Brett Associates as the only option. “At the moment the planning consultants enjoy streams of other work from the public sector but when youwant them to be a referee and provide checks and balances they don’t want to do it,” he said. Cllr Carter, who represents Maidstone Rural North, says he is forming a strongworking relation- ship with Cllr Annabelle Black- more, who succeeded Cllr Garland as Maidstone Council leader after the May elections, and hopes she will reduce the 19,600 target. He added: “She needs to inde- pendently assess the draft local plan, challenge the senior officers and employ massive amounts of common sense.”


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