Town October 2014

News

downsmail.co.uk Marmie’s army hits the streets

AMASSIVE moggie hunt has been launched in Maidstone, after a treasured petwent missing. Marmie – short for Marmalade –

is a 12-year-old long-haired ginger cat who vanished from his home in Haydon Close, off Queens Road, on July 23. Since then, friends and family of

Tracy Munro have been joined by complete strangers in a bid to try to find Marmie, who she fears could be in hiding anywhere between Maidstone and Essex. Tracy (52), a former housekeeper

and nanny, has spent hours traips- ing the streets with posters and bill- boards bearing photos of her much-loved moggie, with busi- nesses stepping in to cover printing costs. Tracy has trekked the length and breadth of Kent as well as ventur- ing into Essex, leaving leaflets and posters in Thurrock. Friends who set up a “Find Marmie” Facebook page found the

Showroom plan

SOUTHERN Glass Company has applied to convert a ground floor showroom into three flats at 45 Upper Stone Street and 1a Brunswick Street East. The planning application, which

will be determined by Maidstone Council, would see the creation of two one-bedroom flats and one two-bedroom maisonette with a partial demolition.

Parking permits

PARISH councillors will pursue the issue of parking problems in Church Road, Tovil. Amember of the public reported

a work’s van having been parked for two days without a permit and says his calls to Maidstone council for awarden fell “on deaf ears”. Borough councillors Ian Chitten-

den and Mike Hogg said they would take up the matter.

Flats proposed

TWELVE offices on four floors could be converted into seven flats at 4 Albion Place, Maidstone. Maidstone Council will decide whether the scheme can go ahead as a prior notification application, which bypasses the planning process. Similar proposals have been lodged or accepted at 2, 3 and 26-28 Albion Place.

Brush with law

JASON Collins (35), of Willington Green, Maidstone,was jailed for 20 days at Mid Kent Magistrates Court after he admitted stealing toothbrush heads worth £17.99 from a shop in King Street, Maid- stone.

54 Maidstone Town October 2014

search spiralled and intensified as cat-lovers across the country joined in, forming the Marmie Army, which held a march in Maidstone. Cat lovers from Essex joined the

Kent contingent in marching from the Town Hall to County Hall to highlight the search for the missing cat.

Last month, distraught Tracy

Tracy Munro with the posters she is using in the hunt for her ginger cat Marmie (inset)

turned out to reports of a dead cat near the motorway at Leybourne, only to find a cat which had been dead almost threeweeks – but bore no microchip when they took it to a local vet. Tracy said: “The public interest in

this and the support I have had has been amazing. It just shows the power of the internet. Cat lovers

New homes ‘ideal for older residents’

A NEW housing scheme for older people has been un- veiled in Church Street, Maidstone. Golding Homes will manage 12 new one and two-

bedroom apartments, six of which are owned and man- aged by the Cutbush and Corrall almshouse charity. Unveiling the Thomas Robert Gardens development,

Blair Gulland, chair of the Almshouse Association, said: “This innovative partnership has shown what is possible when organisations work together to reach their shared aims. If more almshouse charities worked with local housing associations, we could deliver fantastic new homes for older people across the country” Mayor of Maidstone Cllr Richard Thick praised the

new homes, saying: “These are ideal for older people, in the heart of the town and close to everything they need. It’s a great example of partnership working between Golding Homes, Cutbush and Corrall, and Maidstone

everywhere have been looking for Marmie – but to no avail.” “Marmie is a part of me – and a

part of me is missing. I have been searching 12 hours a day, lost loads of weight and am on anti- depressants.” Tracy’s parents even moved in for

a while to help her through her dis- tress. She said: “It’s like looking for a

needle in a haystack. Marmie isn’t used to roads and traffic. He will be totally terrified. If a cat matching this description has wandered into someone else’s house and they are feeding him, please, please take him to the vet and see if he is mi- crochipped. Iwould do anything to get my baby back.” Tracy and the Marmie Army can

be contacted via the Find Marmie Facebook page or by calling 07799 748337.

Borough Council.” Thomas Robert Gardens was built on land previously

owned by Maidstone Council, next to 19th century almshouses owned by Cutbush and Corrall. The devel- opment includes access for residents of the older homes to new shared gardens.

Church to be more accessible Read all the latest editions of the DownsMail at

www.downsmail.co.uk

CHANGES to St Paul’s Church in Maidstone are making it more ac- cessible toworshippers. Thework, which includes new,

well-lit paths outside and a toilet, and baby-changing facilities in- side the church, are being com- plemented by new arrangements to serve coffee in the church and make it more accessible to every- one, including wheelchair users. The Boxley Road church will

also incorporate a café seating area for parents and those enjoy- ing a coffee after Sunday services and access to the church hall will

be made easier. Rev Canon Andrew Sewell, the

priest in charge at St Paul’s, said in the parish newsletter that, far from detracting from the “holi- ness” of the church, the changes are making it more inclusive. He wrote: “With the altar and

the cross so central and promi- nent, there’s no mistaking what St Paul’s is about. The space remains sacred. “It turns out that God does not

need to be shut away from every- day things like coffee and comfort breaks.”

Driving ban

A BARMING man admitted drink driving after an incident in Sandling Road, Maidstone. Stephen Casper (57), of Spring-

wood Road, was driving a Ford Transit van when he was stopped. He gave a breath test of 61mg in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg. At Mid Kent Magistrates Court he

was banned from driving for three years and fined £200 with £500 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

Thief jailed

WILLIAM Bynorth (50), of Boxley Road, Maidstone, was jailed for 60 days by Mid Kent Magistrates after he admitted stealing electric shavers and other goods, worth a total of £1,056.92 from a Tenterden shop.

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