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downsmail.co.uk Rowers pull together to bring home trophies


MAIDSTONE Invicta Rowers came away fromSt Neots Regatta clutching eight trophies, after a hugely successfulweekend’s rowing. With two full days of racing, MIRC


juniors, seniors and veteranswent up to Cambridgeshire to compete in 1000m and 500m sprints. Seniors duo Kelsie Gibson (21)


fromMaidstone and Mirella McGee (20) fromCanterbury, got the weekend off to a flying start, beating Auriol Kensington to win their event while MIRC’s Lewin Hynes raced against Peterborough City Rowing Club, winning by an impressive four lengths. The eight-man veterans crew, led by stroke pair Brian Humphris and


Kelsie Gibson, Katie Lilington, Harriet Taylor [coxswain] Megan Lilington and Mirella McGee


Steve Bickers, competed against St Neots RC in the first 1,000m heat, winning by over three lengths. The final was against Sudbury RC where Humphris and Bickers pushed


the Maidstone crew to a higher rating to give them a win of 2½ lengths. This was the first win of the season for the D8+ crew and was also the


Works mean road will be good ‘for 40 years’


WILLINGTON Street will be fit for purpose for the next 40 years, once the replacement works have been completed. Alan Casson, resurfacing man-


ager for KCC, says the scale of the £1.2m scheme is exceptional be- cause the road, which links theA20 Ashford Roadwith theA274 Sutton Road in the east of Maidstone, has an abnormally shallow base layer, which causes fre- quent and costly re- pairs.


Instead of under- Alan Casson


taking compara- tively minor work such as surface dressing or superfi- cial resurfacing, the


road is being completely replaced, which means burrowing down 50cm to the unmade sub-base (soil) level and replacing all the material above. The first phase, between Sutton


Road and Denton Close, is due to be completed on August 31 when the road is able to re-open to through traffic. The remaining sec-


RESIDENTS in Willington Street who endured weeks of misery while KCC carried out vital repairs to the road are asking “What about our footpaths?”


The county council is spending £1.2m on repairs to the carriageway, during which time a raft of diver- sions, barricades and security teams are being deployed to manage the traffic flows.


But residents – many of them eld- erly – who have lived for most of their lives on the busy road, say the council is only concerned for drivers


16


tions ofWillington Street will be re- paired in two further phases dur- ing the Easter and summer school holidays of 2015. Mr Casson said:“We are building


the road from scratch in a very sim- ilarway to how a developerwould create a new road. “We will not be getting potholes


on this road for a long, long time. These occur because of loss of strength and the old age of a road, but this will last for 40 years with very little management.” Surveys are undertaken on A, B


and C roads in Kent every two years. It was one of these that flagged up the irreparable state of Willington Street, which, unlike motorways and some other main roads, became a heaving thorough- fare by accident rather than design. “This used to be a country lane


before itwas widened in the 1960s. The road construction layers are thin and it was never intended for the amount of traffic it now caters for,” Mr Casson added. The high volume of lorries, in particular, hastened the demise of


and not for pedestrians. “These footpaths have not been resurfaced since the 1960s. While some parts aren’t too bad, in many places, the paths have been dug up by utility companies, patched and repaired, are sloping into the road and are generally unsafe,” said one. Residents who have been forced to


walk more than usual during the ex- tensive road repairs fear someone will take a tumble – or, worse still, topple from a mobility scooter into the road. Don Wright, who has lived in


Maidstone East September 2014


the surface, with just a single HGV having the equivalent impact of 10,000 cars, according toMrCasson. The overall project involves dig-


ging up 6,000 tonnes of material and then laying down the same amount over 2km. The surface will be given extra strength by a geo- textile membrane beneath a special sub-base and a geogrid composite membrane near the surface. KCChas imposed a five-year ban


on any utility companies from dig- ging up the road. While the phase one closure has caused inconvenience to some res- idents of Willington Street and those of nearby roads, others have said they have enjoyed the unfa- miliar peace and quiet.  Comment – pages 38 and 39.


Willington Street for the past four years, said: “I have been stopped in the street countless times by people complaining – not about the road- works, but about the paths. “They are treacherous in parts – particularly for the elderly. Clearly, the council doesn’t expect people to walk anywhere these days, but to drive everywhere as it’s obvious where their priorities lie when it comes to carrying out repairs.” Alan Casson, Kent Highways’ resurfacing manager, said: “We have to acknowledge that the pavements


racing debut for coxswain Cathy Metcalf. The D4+ vets also didwell, led by


stroke man Geraint Evans, going straight to the final against Milton Keynes RC, which theywon easily. Each came away with their second


piece of silver to round off the day. Humphris alsowent on to win his


singles races in the Mas C1x against Yare with some powerful strokes. On the second day, Humphris


added to his haul of pots, coming away with a final three tankards. Finally, Kelsie and Mirella teamed


up with twins Katie and Megan Lilington (17), with Harriet Taylor (16) as cox, to beat Barnes Bridge Ladies and Sudbury.


Call to back Kent Show


A PLEA to help safeguard the fu- ture of Kent County Agricultural Society and the Kent Show by re- versing the trend in falling mem- bership was made by president Lady Astor of Hever. At its peak, membership was


about 4,000 and held steady at about 2,000 up to 10 years ago. Since then it has dropped to just over 1,000. The society has now built up ben-


efits for the £50 subscription (£35 for family additions), which in- clude three-day admission to the show, member area privileges and discounts and priority parking.


Church day help


THOSE able to offer an activity or a skill or simply willing to help are invited to get involved with St Nicholas Church’s activity day in October. The community event, which al-


ways attracts huge support, is on Saturday, October 4. It usually starts at 11am and continues until 4pm. Anyone interested in getting involved should contact Brian Page on 829314.


For more local news www.downsmail.co.uk Footpaths need repairs as well as road, say residents


are not in fantastic order and would benefit from some investment. How- ever, we have no immediate plans to do so. “All of our 6,500 kilometres of


pavements are surveyed over a two- year period to identify their condi- tion, so that we can prioritise available resources. This programme started last year and the first full sur- vey will be completed later this year. We also carry out an annual safety inspection of all pavements. “Any damage caused as a result of the road works will be repaired.”


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