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downsmail.co.uk Protest at plan for 165 homes


A BATTLE to protect open countryside on the boundary of Maidstone and Tonbridge & Malling is on the cards after a planning application was submitted to build 143 homes.


Ward Homes wants to develop Bridge Nursery, north of Black- manstone Way and east of London Road, where 165 homes are ear- marked in Maidstone Council’s draft local plan. Housing is also al- located for the land in the local plan that was adopted in 2000. Earlier this year Cllr Dan Daley, borough and county councillor for the Allington area, and Lib Dem colleague Rob Bird collected 1,100 signatures opposing housing on the land.


In his response to the local plan allocation for Bridge Nursery, Cllr Daley wrote: “This last remaining piece of open land in north-west Maidstone is very rare and ex- tremely precious for a wide variety of reasons. Among these is the presence of a large variety of nest- ing birds, including several in the


Bomb dug up BOMB disposal experts were called in after builders dug up a live grenade at East Peckham. Residents in Addlestead Road


were warned to stay indoors while a controlled explosion was carried out on the device, thought to be a World War I hand grenade. The bomb was found in the back garden of a house where an exten- sion was being built. An Army spokesman said it was destroyed in situ and there was no danger to the public.


red and amber list of conservation concern. The habitats of greatest concern are those of the existing trees and areas of dense scrub (which is used for nesting) and the presence of the rough grassland, berry, seed and nut-producing plants for foraging. “All of this points up the way in which this land has evolved through time to produce a really first-class wildlife habitat which cannot be reproduced elsewhere in the area and is therefore to be cele- brated, retained in its present con- dition, managed and conserved. “This site could be excluded from


development altogether to enable the retention of exclusive wildlife habitat that otherwise will be lost. “There would also be a gain in not having to accommodate a dif- ficult exit from the site into an al-


Heroes’ tale


ONLY a few more copies of a book commemorating East Peckham’s war heroes need to be sold to cover the publishing costs. After that, proceeds from The Lives They Left Behind by village historian Margaret Lawrence will go to the charity Help For Heroes.


The book is available for £10 from the parish office, Village Stores, Brookside Garden Cen- tre and other village outlets.


Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust news


Stroke concern


PERFORMANCE in treating stroke patients “remains a key concern and a priority for action and improvement”. The trust has drawn up an ac-


tion plan and steering group. Key aims are early assessment and treatment and specialist care in the strokeward. Extra staff are being engaged, including a consultant to ensure stroke medical cover at all times and clinical nurse specialist.


Birthing trend


THE national rise in Caesarean births is being reflected locally. Across the UK rates have dou-


bled in 20 years to 25%. Locally the figure for Maywas 25.8% and for June, 28.8%. The trust iswork- ing to reduce the rates by pre- senting options to women and is


30 Malling August 2014


planning to introduce mobile epidurals to encourage mobility in labour.


New meetings THEtrust has started “deep dive” workshop-style meetings to in- vestigate key problems.


Care response THE trust is responding to criti- cism that it does not have end-of- life care in its mandatory training of staff and a group has been set up to oversee an implementation plan.


Burns case THE Health and Safety Executive is bringing a prosecution against the trust after an 18-month inves- tigation into a patient burn in Maidstone in October 2012.


School show goes back to 70s


THE Malling School revved up their talent for a top performance of Chalke and Cheese on July 1. The Starsky and Hutch-style comedy saw Beth Thomas and Helen Corn-


ford hunting down lost cats, tracking stolen marrows and kicking down doors to get to the hairdressers as undercover cops Deborah Chalke and Angela Cheeseman under the watchful eye of their stress-fuelled chief, su- perbly played by Bailey Abson. There were heaps of laughs and a love in- terest provided by Harry Green. The story and direction was by the school’s Tydeman Centre teacher Giles Whitehead, and featured students from the main school and the cen- tre for students with speech, language and communication difficulties. Head Carl Roberts praised all those involved and thanked Bob Medgett for bringing in his 1978 Ford Capri for an air of authenticity.


Tea room wins licence


THE new owners of a tea room and antiques centre at Wateringbury have been granted a licence en- abling it to provide plays, films, music and alcohol.


Joseph and Carolyn Lefournour


moved from London with their eight-month-old daughter Eliza- beth to take over Where Memories Meet at the village crossroads. He is a commodities broker and his wife is a former schoolteacher. The couple are hoping to build on the successful business built up


by their predecessors Sze Lin and Mark Viegas, who launched it in November 2011 after more than a year’s restoration work. Tonbridge and Malling Council’s licensing panel granted a premises licence enabling live classical, jazz or operatic performance twice a month as well as dance, comedy acts, magic and cabaret.


ready overcrowded and often grid- locked road at a point which it would be awkward to engineer without creating the need for fur- ther traffic control and more con- gestion at times.” A supporting statement for the application says the site is “over- grown with scrub vegetation and suffers from vandalism in the form of illegal fires”.


It added: “The designs seek to in- troduce green links through the site and between the existing and proposed development. The build- ings would draw on local vernacu- lar and reflect materials used locally.”


In June, Ward Homes held a con- sultation event where the majority of people objected to the scheme, which would provide 30% afford- able housing.


According to the applicant, reasons included:  traffic impact of the scheme on the surrounding roads (although there was support for an access onto the A20 as opposed to Blackmanstone Way);  loss of the open space to dog walkers and local children;  principle of including any affordable housing and its loca- tion close to the boundary with neighbours;  lack of a landscape buffer to ex- isting residents;  increased pressure on services such as schools and doctors’ sur- geries. However, with housing already earmarked for the land in policy terms, the objectors face a big chal- lenge convincing Maidstone Coun- cil to turn down the scheme.


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