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KCC has been consulting the pub- lic on a proposal to centralise the service, which would lead to a re- duction in wardens from 79 to 40 and widen each of their geographi- cal areas of responsibility. The proposal would save the county council £1.28m and go to- wards its general target of cutting £206m in the next three years. Jim Wilson, chairman of Maid- stone and District Neighbourhood Watch, told the Downs Mail: “Com- munity wardens are attached to par- ticular parishes and areas and are trusted by people who see them not as a threat or an authority, but as a fellow person who will help them.” Community wardens tackle issues including anti-social behaviour, fly- tipping, graffiti, vandalism, domes- tic and neighbour disputes and traffic management. They cannot make arrests but pass on intelligence to police and the emergency serv- ices.


“They know their limitations but get around that by building up a tremendous level of trust,” contin- ued Mr Wilson. “They always follow up their con-


Loss of wardens ‘disastrous’ Petition calls for a rethink


Jim Wilson


versations and get back to people. “Often people are daunted by communicating with police or a local authority and are not sure which de- partment to contact. Community wardens are con- sidered neutral by people who don’t want to talk to po- lice, or be seen to be talking to police. We are risking this relationship and it is a tremendous threat.


“It could lead to a disaster and we, as a neighbourhood watch, get on with all of our community wardens. We cooperate and exchange our ideas with them and support each other at various events.” Mr Wilson said that the commu-


nity warden scheme’s success since KCC introduced it 12 years ago was due, in part, to clever recruitment. He said: “They attracted the right people who have sympathy with communities. They have been in- credible.


“Getting rid of them would be a double whammy because it would


Restrictions applied to gypsy family’s site


MAIDSTONE Council has won a partial victory in its battle to prevent gypsies staying on a site in Hunton. In September last year, Maidstone Council’s planning committee re- fused an application by Olive Lee to remove conditions attached to an ex- isting permission, which was for un- restricted occupancy for five caravans, including up to four static vans, and the parking of four com- mercial vehicles on land at Little Clock House, George Street. Planning inspector David Nichol- son agreed that the site caused harm to the open countryside, but said only Mrs Lee, her grandson Wayne Lee (junior) and his dependants should live there – a total of three caravans.


The personal permission will exist Workshop scheme


A RETROSPECTIVE planning ap- plication has been submitted to establish a car repair workshop at Elmscroft Farm, Charlton Lane, West Farleigh.


Formore local news www.downsmail.co.uk


as long as Mrs Lee continues to live on the land. Mr Nicholson also or- dered that no vehicle weighing more than 3.5 tonnes should be on the site and no commercial activities should take place on the land.


He added: “The appellant, Mrs


Olive Lee, explained at the hearing that, following the death of her hus- band, she seeks permission for her three married/engaged grandchil- dren to live in caravans on the site. “I find that Wayne Lee (junior) is a person of nomadic habit of life. With regard to his sisters, the evi- dence points far more firmly to- wards them having settled elsewhere and so do not qualify.” He said Wayne Lee’s need to ac- company his grandmother out- weighed harm to the countryside.


Homes plan A PLANNING application has been


submitted for four homes at the Lower Bell Riding School, Back Lane, Boughton Monchelsea. The parish council raised no ob- jections to the two detached and two semi-detached homes, but said it did not wish to see the adjacent pad- dock developed. Maidstone Council will determine the proposal.


COMMUNITY wardens in Kent are fighting proposed swingeing cuts to their service.


An official e-petition has been launched. If it receives 2,500 sig- natures the cuts have to be con- sidered by the KCC cabinet. As the Downs Mail went to press, more than 300 people had signed the petition. Stuart Ellesmere, from Maidstone’s community warden service, said: “This is a very valuable service to vulnerable people around Kent.” A number of the community


come out of KCC funds at a time when police funds are also being cut. “If the changes go ahead, the war- dens will have huge areas to cover and consequently the one-to-one re- lationships they have built will be lost.”


Maidstone Council leader Annabelle Blackmore wrote to KCC chairman Paul Carter a year ago, pleading with him not to reduce the


THE chairman of a leading local crime prevention group has warned that the idea to almost halve the number of Kent’s community wardens “could lead to disaster”.


wardens have signed the peti- tion, including district support warden Dawn Riach-Brown, Liz Lovatt, (Boughton Monchelsea and Loose) and Adam McKinley (Bearsted) as well as several bor- ough councillors, including Mar- tin Round (Headcorn), Stephen Munford (Boughton Monchelsea) and Fay Gooch (Barming).


The petition closes on Novem- ber 9 and can be found at: https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/m gepetitionlistdisplay.aspx?bcr=1


number of community wardens. She said: "These people are our


eyes and ears on the ground. They know who the vulnerable people are in their areas and interact with all the different age groups, from older people to youngsters who hang around in bus shelters. They have to stay."


KCC is consulting on its 2015-16 budget until November 9.


Produce stars at pub


FUN and food were the hallmarks of the annual Chequers’ fruit and vegetable show in Laddingford. There were displays of flowers,


vegetables, pies, cakes and biscuits, as well as drawings and novelty veg- etable animals made by the chil- dren.


The most popular class is always the men's home bake class, where the chaps get a chance to roll up their sleeves and show what they can do in the kitchen. This year, there were lots of deli- cious pies and cakes – some brought straight out of the oven. The judges, unable to make a final decision, decided to divide the class into sweet and savoury, which gave Iain Manklow's picnic pork pies and Mick Branch's rum cake each the chance to win.


With lots of sloe gin, limoncello and damson gin, the judges finally decided, after several samples, that Mick Kyne was the winner of the al- coholic delight class. Hardy annuals, husband and wife


Roger and Margaret Manklow, won first and second prize in the house- plant class, while Freddie, Amelia and Mabel Warner won not only the children's novelty class with their delightful beet mouse and marrow owl but also the overall best chil- dren's exhibit. They went on to be


awarded The Chequers Rosebowl for the best exhibit in show. They are pictured with Chequers landlord Charles Leaver. For the first time this year, there was a class for the heaviest onion, with the winner weighing in at 3lb 8oz. There was also a home craft class where entrants had to design a device to project a tennis ball through a target 20m away. Bryan Elcombe was declared the winner. All the classes were sponsored by


local customers, enabling the day’s proceeds of £238 to be donated to Laddingford Primary School.


Maidstone South November 2014 37


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