News


downsmail.co.uk Working to raise life expectancy


RESIDENTS in Heathward are likely to live up to nine years less than their counterparts in other parts of Maidstone.


While folk who live in Downswood and Otham could reach an average ripe old age of 85, those in Heath, which includes the housing estate on the site of the for- merOakwood Hospital and parts of Barming, are looking at just 76, ac- cording to a report from Maidstone Borough Council. Although Maidstone is a thriving community, with some parts of the borough among the most affluent in the country, there are pockets of dep- rivation, according to the report put together by the council’s health and wellbeing group. The difference in life expectancy at


birth of 8.9 years between the bor- ough’s most affluent wards and the most deprived areas has given rise


Orange mud


floods homes TORRENTIAL rains carried a flood of mud into seven homes and gar- dens offMaidstone’s Sutton Road. Thunder, lightning and monsoon-


style rains brought a river of clay from a building site into the homes, in Paygate, off Gore Court Road. The slimy orange mud from Bell-


way Homes’ Imperial Park was left behind afterwater up to a foot deep finally drained away. KCC instructed Bellway to install


better draining and erect bound- aries to prevent any repetition of events, following the disaster, which left residents in the seven nearby properties wading through a residue of sticky mud. Bellway sent its own team in to


assist with the clean-up operation and Maidstone Council sent out a street-cleaning team to hose down the road and pavements. However, residents now have to


claim on their own home insurance for any residual damage. Building began on Imperial Park


earlier this year and, when com- plete, will provide about 285 homes. Aspokesman for Bellway Homes


said consulting engineerswould be asked to carry out a site evaluation to provide a solution until the per- manent connections to the public drains had been made.


Jumbo jumble


GRABa bargain at Maidstone Men- cap’s grand jumble sale on Saturday, October 18, at Cobtree Hall, Mote Park (School Lane entrance offWill- ington Street). Doors open 3pm. Contact Lesley on 07726 334213 for more details.


to a report focusing on ways in which to “narrow the gap” and re- duce health inequalities. The health inequalities action plan


will examineways of ironing out the differences and raising the life ex- pectancy for all residents. While, not surprisingly, many of


the more affluent parts of town ap- pear close to the top of the longevity league, Heath sits firmly at the bot- tom – closely followed by, remark- ably, Langley and Sutton Valence, where life expectancy is 77. However, both villages have sig- nificant amounts of social housing which, taken as a percentage of the overall population, is quite high. Other neighbourhoods sharing a lower life expectancy rate include


Park Wood, High Street, Shepway North and Shepway South. Aspokesman for the council said:


“Not only does this gap mean that those living in the most deprived areas of Maidstone have a shorter life expectancy, they also have a lower disability-free life expectancy than others in our communities.” The differences in life expectancy


are directly linked with levels of deprivation. The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is a measure from the Office for National Statis- tics which measures different as- pects of deprivation, taking into account which takes into account factors such as income, barriers to housing, crime, education, living en- vironment and employment.


The strategy to help reduce health inequalities is based on improved housing and education, supporting lifestyle changes and targeting areas and priority groups, while empow- ering communities to improve their wellbeing. Proposals start at birth if not


sooner, by giving new mums access to information enabling them to make the best choices in relation to smoking, drinking and breast feed- ing. The group would then like to see more support given to teenage mums and women at risk from do- mestic abuse. As children get older, the aim


would be to tackle obesity, increase children’s physical activity and im- prove immunisation rates.


Music teacher takes bow after 50 years


MUSIC teacher Douglas “Doug” Moore has retired at the age of 81, after 50 years delivering music les- sons on behalf of Kent Music. Doug joined the Kent Rural


Music School (which became Kent Music) in September 1964 to give after-school piano lessons, and went on to teach piano, flute, electronic keyboard and music theory. Kent Music chief executive Peter


Bolton said: “Doug has made an enormous contribution to music in Kent and many of his former students have gone on to great things.” Doug was accepted to study at


the Royal College of Music at the age of 12 and won a full scholarship in 1949. From 1951, he served three


years’ National Service in the Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) playing in the regimental band. In 1959 Doug went on to become the


Kent Music chief executive Peter Bolton presents Doug with a farewell gift of a glass decanter and a bottle of Scotch.


first music teacher at Maidstone Technical School (now Oakwood Park Grammar), teaching piano for Kent Music after school. When he gave up full-time teaching in 1992, he was able to take on more work for KentMusic, teaching up to 40 students, four days a week He said: “I have taught pupils of all ages but I tended to specialise


in getting the younger ones started as I’m not too big and they weren’t too frightened of me. Many have become professional musicians and teachers, and a couple are composers.” He plans to spend more time


gardening at his home in Loose, watching cricket and enjoying holidays with his wife Doreen.


RESIDENTS in Maidstone’s Salis- buryRoad awoke to a “hole” lot of trouble.


Overnight, a three-feet deep


hole had appeared outside Colin Boatman’s home – leaving his work truck slowly sinking. Fortunately, Colin, a landscape gardener, managed to reverse his vehicle out of the hole before con- tacting the council who, as the old joke goes, came to “look into it”. Workmen erected safety barri-


cades around the hole – about two feet long and a foot wide – before returning after the weekend to fill it in.


Neighbour Erica Longdon, an


Residents’ concern as hole appears in road Fracking – or hydraulic fractur-


ing – is the extraction of shale gas by boring tunnels deep under- ground and pumping high-pres- sure water into them to fracture the shale rock. It has become a cause of na-


The hole that appeared in Salisbury Road in Maidstone


ardent anti-fracking campaigner, said: “Holes are appearing all over the county. Imagine what could happen if we allow fracking to take place in Kent?”


tional concern as the Government presses ahead with plans to ex- ploit this new energy source. A spokesman for KCC said: “A section of Salisbury Road was im- mediately cordoned off when we were alerted. A full investigation is due to be carried out to establish the cause of the collapse and then the necessary repairs will be car- ried out."


Maidstone Town October 2014 45


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