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downsmail.co.uk Village green being ‘desecrated’
CONCERN has been raised about the alleged desecration of the con- servation area in Bearsted Green. Residents attended the parish council meeting for the second month in a row to air their griev- ances about activity at Smarts Cot- tages and other nearby properties. The occupier of No 1 Smarts Cot-
tages, Lorraine Summers, has al- legedly taken possession of a strip of land adjoining her property, gat- ing and fencing it and laying brick- paving to provide hardstanding for her cars and wheelie bins. After complaints from neigh-
bours, the parish council is taking legal action to have the gates, fenc- ing and paving removed and the passage through to the Green – a public footpath for more than 170 years – restored to its former grassed state as part of the Green. Bearsted resident Toni Mattinson
had drawn up a list of instances where, she said, planning rules had been flouted and action taken by homeowners to desecrate the tradi- tional appearance of the village. These included “garishly” painted doors, UPVC windows, driveways using block paving, steel drainage channels and the erection of a “modern” brickwall at Mote Villas. She told the parish council: “It is
totally unacceptable that incomers are bringing suburbia to our village. Bearsted Green is a conservation area and yet Maidstone’s conserva- tion officer has raised no objection to this wall and numerous other things in the vicinity of the Green. “We have to be more vigilant.” The footpath from Smarts Cot-
tages is generally regarded as being part of the village green. It is shown on the tithe map of 1842 and parish council chairman Richard Ash said: “There has been unrestricted public access to it for many years.” A fence and gate were erected at
the back of the footpath alongside Smarts Cottages at the end of the summer. The parish council asked Mrs Summers to remove them and advised her against going ahead with her plan to pave the footpath. Mrs Summers has since paved the driveway and erected gates on the frontage to The Street. Cllr Ash said: “The footpath is
now being used to park private cars and to store her bins, thereby se- verely discouraging and preventing public use of the footpath.” Mrs Summers claimed she did not
need planning permission to pave the footpath but Maidstone Council has now informed her that she did. Cllr Ash said: “Bearsted Parish
The former footpath next to Smarts Cottages has been paved, fenced and gated
Council has been advised that Mrs Summers does notownthe footpath and has no right to fence, gate or pave it or to discourage or prevent public access to it.” The council’s solicitor has now written to her asking that within 21 days she removes the fence, gates and paving, restores the footpath to its original grassed condition and ceases using it to store her wheelie bins and to park private vehicles. The parish council wants anyone
with memories or knowledge of un- restricted public use of this footpath going back at least 20 years to write to the parish clerk. When contacted by the Downs
Mail, Mrs Summers declined to comment.
Homes planned
A DEVELOPER hopes to build two houses behind Tremayne in Church Lane, Bearsted. Town plannerAndrew Street,
who lives in the village, has ap- proached the parish council with a brief of the proposal on behalf of his client.He expected to produce more detail at a meeting of Bearsted planning committee. He assured the parish council
that the homes would not affect the existing house and the ac- cess would be at the side, with a new access to the plot at the rear.
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