East October 2014

News

downsmail.co.uk Cash to help town’s traffic flow

GOVERNMENT money could be used as a priority to ease traffic congestion in the south east of Maidstone.

And councillors hope more money will come Maidstone’s way before next year’s general election. Unveiling a list of proposed road improvement schemes to the town’s joint transportation board, KCC leader Paul Carter said: “I thinkwe have a do-able op- eration if we work together and are prag- matic. We do not want to fritter away capital re-

sources which could be used on other schemes.” Upgrading the B2163 through

Leeds – or building an alternative road nearby – will be looked at as a priority among measures to ease the gridlock in Maidstone. Cllr Carter said: “It doesn’t have

to be over-grandiose. It has to be modest and affordable.” KCC has received £12.5m for Maidstone rom the Government’s local growth fund, but £4.56m of this has already been earmarked for improvements to the bridge gyra- tory system. Schemes competing for the re-

maining £8.9m total more than £57m, with more likely to come on board as members put forward their ideas. But Cllr Carter told the JTB: “I

have been assured there will be more money this side of the general election.” The JTB will now examine the proposals while KCC continues to bid for more money. But KCC head of transportation Tim Read said members should decide as quickly as possible which schemes offered the best value and greatest benefits. Upgrading the B2163 could cost

as much as £25m, but it would re- move much of the traffic from the narrow road through Leeds village – critical if new housing is given the

MOREthan 1,300 residents inWill- ington Street have signed a petition opposing a 7.5 tonne weight limit through Leeds village, claiming it will add to traffic misery in their neighbourhood. Presenting the petition to the

JTB, Jenny Sutton fromWillington Place said: “I have lived here for 30 years and the traffic is now intoler- able. Willington Street is being

Football company defends price rise

A FOOTBALL coaching company has defended a decision to in- crease the cost of training young- sters at Maidstone’s Gallagher Stadium by 100%. Soccer Elite runs classes throughout Kent and has taken over the coaching at Pebbles, the junior section of Maidstone United FC. The Downs Mail reported that

last season’s £4 per session pay-as- you-play system for four to six- year-olds had been replaced by a monthly direct debit scheme of £24.20, which equals £8 a session. Soccer Elite says in the new scheme players will get 36 train- ing sessions and have the oppor- tunity to participate in summer camps and mini-games festivals throughout the year. A spokesman said: “Pebbles

was proving unsustainable, being overly reliant on the goodwill of volunteers. “Without professional support

it was unlikely to be able to con- tinue to deliver the quality of foot- ball coaching that young players

32 Maidstone East October 2014

deserve. This was a key consider- ation in the decision to change the existing provision.” Steve Bunn, who continues in

his voluntary role as head of mini soccer for Maidstone United, said he was “relieved that young play- ers will receive professional coaching from Soccer Elite. It was proving impossible to attract the calibre of volunteers required to maintain Pebbles as it was.” Soccer Elite’s founder, ex-pro- fessional footballer Lee Spiller, took on the voluntary role of tech- nical adviser to Maidstone United’s youth section last year. He and co-director Tony Browne say the price rise is necessary to cover venue hire, coaching, equip- ment and overheads. They added: “We work in part- nership with a number of schools, grass roots clubs and community organisations. Over the summer we have given free access to our football coaching events to more than 200 young players.” About 100 children have regis- tered for this season.

Parish opposes homes plan

BOXLEY Parish Council is objecting to a proposed housing development on land opposite the entrance to the new KIMS hospital. An outline application has been submitted to Maidstone Council for

eight houses with front and rear gardens on a site close to the roundabout at the junction of New Cut Road and Bearsted Road. The access would be from Bearsted Road. Objections have been made due to the impact on the street scene, loss of habitats and ecosystems and the affect on the stream that feeds into the nature reserve.

Zane Spence

IN page 13 of last month’s Downs Mail we ran a story about Bearsted Woodland Trust’s 10-year anniversary stat- ing that one of the prize win- ners was Zane Smith from Bearsted. Zane’s surname is, in fact, Spence and he lives in Snod- land.

Crime increase PARISH councillors in Thurnham heard there had been a rise in crimes in the parish, including sev- eral cases of customers driving off without paying for fuel at the Shell garage on Detling Hill. Garden equipment was taken

from the showground and damage caused to a fence in Cold Blow Lane. Thefts from sheds and stables were also on the increase.

go-ahead nearby. Itwould also ben- efit residents in Kingswood and Broomfield. Other schemes to be examined in greater detail include improving the A229/A274 Wheatsheaf junction at an estimated cost of £5m together with a road-widening scheme, im- proving the junctions between the A274 Sutton Road and Willington Street and Wallis Avenue and up- grading the junction of the A20 Ashford Road and Willington Street.

North of the town centre, where

1,000 homes are earmarked for land near Hermitage Lane, improve- ments would be needed to M20 Junction 5 (costing £700,000), the junction of the A20 and Hermitage

used as a Maidstone bypass.Traffic is either speeding or gridlocked.” Mrs Sutton said the prospect of upgrading the B2163 had been “dangled like a carrot” for more than 30 years and said this year Willington Street was “busier, nois- ier and dirtier than ever”. She added: “We have been mis- treated, cheated and misled. Until something is done, we must fight

Lane (£800,000), the junction of the A20 and Coldharbour Lane (£2.6m) and the Fountain Lane junction of the A26 (£400,000). Mr Read told the board: “Maid-

stone town centre has a long history of severe peak hour congestion re- sulting from uncontrolled, dispro- portionate growth and KCC, as the highways authority, will not accept this being simply compounded by excessive further development.” Maidstone’s chief planner Rob Jarman expressed concern that the list of proposals had no mention of pedestrian routes, cycle paths or park-and-ride schemes, to which Mr Read replied: “This is not an ex- clusive list – it is just a foundation to get the ball rolling.”

Petition opposes weight limit through village

together for the removal of traffic and HGVs from residential areas.” Cllr Gary Cooke, who represents

both Willington Street and the Leeds /Otham area on KCC, called for a link road between the A20 and Sutton Road, adding: “Leeds sim- ply cannot cope. HGVs are knock- ing the houses to pieces and it is unfair to send them downWilling- ton Street.

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