downsmail.co.uk
Sponsored parish council | News Boxley Parish Mail
CHAIRMAN: Ivor Davies CLERK: Pauline Bowdery ASST CLERK: Melanie Fooks Parish Office, Beechen Hall,Wildfell Close,Walderslade, ME5 9RU
Tel: 01634 861237 email:
clerk@boxleyparishcouncil.org.uk Website:
www.boxleyparishcouncil.org.uk Contact details for parish councillors can be obtained from the parish office, the Useful Contact Details leaflet or the website
Neighbourhood plan put on hold
AFTER consulting residents the parish council has decided not to proceed with a neighbourhood plan for the time being. Residents had earlier been asked
for their views on a process in- tended to enable greater commu- nity involvement in planning in the local area and which would need considerable support and involve- ment by parishioners. In the event, only four residents responded, equating to less than 0.06% of the electorate. In considering this result, Cllr
Paul Dengate said: “I feel the only way this could go forward was with the support of the parish. There is no evidence it has this”. Cllr Tony Harwood pointed out
that because much of Boxley was within an area of outstanding natu- ral beauty, it did not have the same developmental pressures as some other parishes. He felt that resi- dents’ interests were “much better served byworking closely with our borough council than going through the production of a docu- ment that so far is not actually
working elsewhere within the bor- ough of Maidstone.” Itwas noted that, while a number
of Maidstone parishes were pro- ducing neighbourhood plans, sev- eral others decided not to have one for reasons of expense and/or lack of public interest. After further discussion and in
view of the lack of a clear mandate from the public, members decided to defer a decision on whether to proceed with the plan until such time as the situation may change, thus requiring a revisit.
Objection to Hempstead housing
THE parish council has objected to an outline planning application for 450 residential dwellings on green fields at Ham Lane, Hempstead, which is just over the parish boundary in Medway. Local residents on both sides of
the border have set up a Save Cap- stone Valley action group which has a Facebook
page.An E-petition on Medway Council’s planning page is growing with residents reg- istering their protests about the Gibraltar Farm development. Boxley parish councillors voiced
strong objections as the local infra- structure (roads, schools, medical facilities, etc)was already groaning and unable to cope with present needs. It was also noted that while some of the traffic from the devel- opment would head north to Chatham, much would be using the C roads through Lidsing to ac- cess Walderslade Woods Road for theM2and M20 or Boxley to access Maidstone. These were already
Lordswood Leisure Centre Gibraltar Farm
Elm Court Lorry parking
CONFUSION about the newly des- ignated clearway at Old Chatham Road, Sandling, had caused con- tinued problems for nearby resi- dents, parish councillors were told. Borough CllrWendy Hinder said
she was still receiving complaints from people living near the layby which is used by truck drivers as an overnight stopover. The clearway signs had been
placed by KCC because of resi- dents’ concerns, taken up by Cllr Hinder, including anti-social be- haviour, obstructive parking, litter and health issues. Despite the new restriction
which limits parking to the layby, lorries had continued to stop on the adjacent roadside near the backs of the houses. The police had now been made aware of the clearway and KCC had agreed to erect signs in different languages. Cllr Hinder, who had visited the
site with borough ward Cllr Derek Butler, said they had both seen “the blatant disregard of lorry driv- ers who park at the back of gar- dens and been told by residents how garden fences have been used as toilets.” One family was unable to use their back bedroom because of lorry refrigeration units left running all night. “How many of us would like to suffer this night after night?” she asked.
LORDSWOOD Lidsing
Map of Gibraltar Farm proposal
heavily congested at peak hours. Chairman Ivor Davies said: “The
parish council has delivered nearly 1,400 leaflets to properties in Walderslade and Lordswood as it is important that residents who will be directly affected know of the de- velopment and their right to sub- mit their views.
“There is grave concern that if
this goes ahead it will encourage other land owners to fill in the re- maining countryside that separates Walderslade and Lordswood from Hempstead and the Medway towns.” Further details can be found on the parish council’s web- site and Facebook page.
MBC local plan
MAIDSTONE Council has a short- fall of housing sites and the parish council has been invited to a meet- ing on October 27 to hear more about what MBC plans to do.
Yelsted Lane
CONCERN was expressed about continued flytipping in Yelsted Lane. Cllr Wendy Hinder has raised the matter with MBC who had agreed to monitor the area with a view to placing CCTV there.
Concern over inadequate shrub maintenance
COUNTY Councillor Paul Carter has been contacted about the need to re-state the case for additional highway and footway shrub maintenance inWalderslade. The area now receives eight
grass cuts per year but only one shrub maintenance
cut.As the ma-
jority of the verges on residential roads in the area are laid to shrub, it is considered that this schedule is totally inadequate. Cllr Hinder reported footpaths and footways with head high nettles and bram- ble encroachment which discour- aged pedestrians, especially those
with children, fromwalking. Members heard that a recent site
visit with the highway steward highlighted that unless there was a safety critical issue additional maintenancewould not be under- taken. For a number of years Walderslade was considered a
special case and received three shrub cuts annually which was then reduced to two and now just one. Thiswas considered very un- satisfactory. The annual shrub maintenance
is due to take place before the end of October.
Maidstone East October 2014 31
Ham Lane
Albermarle Road
NorthDaneWay
Capstone Road
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64