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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 from 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-


Bale to keep


play area open PARENTS in Marden are fighting to save the Cockpit playground from closure. Maidstone Council recently held


a public consultation on the future of its play areas, as a result of which it has restructured its play area strategy. The Cockpit play- ground has been decreed “not strategically important”. Although the parish council ob-


jected, Maidstone has decided to stick to its guns and warned resi- dents it will close within 12 months unless someone is prepared to take on the responsibility. Marden parish council already manages the play area on the play- ing fields and says it cannot afford to take on a second. Aquestionnaire has been sent out


with the parish newsletter to see if residents are interested in keeping the Cockpit site open. Jo Rhodes, whose motherwas in- strumental in fighting for the cur- rent Cockpit play area, said:“We as a community need to act or lose it.” Residents can comment by email-


ing the clerk on mardenpc@btcon- nect.com. Once all views have been evaluated, the parish council will speak to Maidstone Council about the possibilities for saving the site.


14 Maidstone South October 2014


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


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


From left, Katie


Simpson, Steve, Michael and Maria Pereira, Luke Carpenter and Chris Simpson


Karate squad’s success


MEMBERS of the Maidstone-based Kimura Shukokai Karate Kent returned from Sun City, South Africa with four medals after representing England in the 2014 Kimura Shukokai International’sWorld Karate Championships. Instructors Katie and Chris Simpson, from Kingswood, were accompanied by students Steve, Maria and Michael Pereira, from Sutton Valence, and Luke Carpenter, from Charing. Michael (14) fought through all the preliminary rounds in the kumite (fighting) event, only losing in the semi-finals. He then took part in the repecharge to take the bronze medal. In the kata (forms) eventMichael reached the showpiece final where he took the silver medal. Katie reached the semi-finals of the ladies kata and kumite events,


only narrowly losing out to the eventual winners in each event. She took the bronze medals in each event. Steve was unfortunate tomeet the current world champion in the second round of the kumite, but only just lost to him.Maria and Luke performed well in their individual events and gained a considerable amount of experience from the competition. The club runs classes in Charing, Lenham, Kingswood, Marden, Downswood and Maidstone, and is training students for the 2015 European Championships in Switzerland. Anyone interested in sponsoring the students or the England squad or joining one of the classes should go to www.kentkarate.co.uk or contact Chris on kentkarate@gmail.com or call him on 07801639052.


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.


Festive plan for


‘Wonderland’ WEST Farleigh could be turned into a winter wonderland during the festive season. Licensees of the Good Intent,


which overlooks the village green, would like to see fairy lights fes- toon the trees, with a snow ma- chine to add atmosphere to the season. They believe it will not only be


fun for the children, but also en- courage the sports club, WI and other village organisations to make greater use of the Green in the run- up to and during Christmas. The parish council is in favour of


the plan in principle, but, aswell as looking at the cost, councillors would have to consider the practi- calities of supplying electricity to trees across the Green. Cllr Chris Stockwell said: “We should try to do something – but bigger parishes have more money.” The clerk said shewould investi-


gate the cost of lights. Members agreed it could be too late to or- ganise anything for this year, but theywould look at the possibilities for 2015.


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