News


downsmail.co.uk ‘Vital to grow our economy’


CLAIMS that Maidstone is “closed for business” after its refusal to grant permission for development near J8 of the M20 have been refuted by councillors on all sides of the chamber. The planning committee has re-


fused two planning applications to create Waterside Park – the pro- posed warehouse and commercial business park near J8 – leading to claims the council has scant regard for the economic needs of the bor- ough.


Labour’s Cllr Paul Harper said:


“The local economy has been un- derperforming since 2008 com- pared to large parts of Kent and the South East. More and more resi- dents have to look for work outside the borough. Now it looks like the borough is shut for business.” But Cllr Gordon Newton, speak-


ing for the independent group, said: “Maidstone is not closed for business.We used to have an auto-


Call to change


Bluewater bus ARRIVA has been urged to recon- sider cutbacks to the bus service from Maidstone to the Bluewater shopping complex with some pas- sengers complaining they are now unable to travel there at all. Buses used to travel daily on the


703 route from Maidstone via Allington, Larkfield and Snodland, but the service has been cut to just Saturdays andWednesday, leaving at 9.40am and returning from Blue- water at 3.45pm. During the school term, theWednesday service returns even earlier, at 13.45, giving shop- pers just three hours at the centre. The timetable was introduced in October, with Arriva citing lack of use for the cutback. However, East Malling and Larkfield Parish Coun- cil insists the servicewas popular. Bus users in Grove Green have


also complained, saying it is now impossible for them to get to Blue- water as their 9.30am bus to Maid- stone arrives too late for the 703. Jillian Green, of Rampion Close,


said: “I think this is adisgrace. They can’t tell me that people didn’t used to use it.We can’t all afford taxis into town at a cost of £6.60.” Arriva’s regional publicity man-


ager, Richard Lewis, said “As a com- mercial business that is, like all bus companies, required by law to run our services at a profit,wewere un- able to continue running our Maid- stone to Bluewater service at a loss. “Most weekdays saw fewer than


20 people travel to Bluewater from Maidstone, many of them using free concessionary passes. “If we ran the service later from Maidstone there would be less time to shop. TheWednesday bus needs to fulfil its school commitments.”


16 Cllr Paul Harper


motive industry, breweries and pa- permaking, but times have changed and these jobs have turned into some- thing


else.


Tourism is now the town’s fastest- growing indus- try.”


Council leader Annabelle Black- more said: “We do want Maidstone to


grow – but not uncontrolled. We have no intention of wrecking the green space, but growing the econ- omy is very important.” As the DownsMailwent to press


the cabinet was due to consider a motion referred from full council calling for the council to help com-


panies whichwant to find an alter- native site within the borough, or improve the infrastructure to their current sites; ensure the local plan is “pro jobs” and adopts policies opposing the loss of employment land. Cllr Harper said the Labour


group was concerned at the poten- tial loss of jobs if companies such as ADL and Scarab were to leave the borough. Both are based in Marden but


had hoped Waterside Park could offer them a bigger space from which to operate. Patrick Golding, operations man-


ager at Scarab Sweepers in Marden, claimed the planning committee had been “more concerned with


politics and playing to the gallery” than considering the town’s econ- omy, a view strongly refuted by Lib Dem leader Cllr FranWilson. She said: “The planning commit-


tee is governed by strict rules and there is a protocol. We do not pull out the whip and each member makes up his or her own mind. It was a dreadful dilemma. This is an iconic landscape but economic de- velopment is vitally important.” Property consultant GVA has claimed J8 is the only area in the borough that can fully meet future employment demands, which led two scrutiny committees to accept the principle of employment devel- opment in the area, but only with associated safeguards.


Square ‘focus for remembrance’


MAIDSTONE has a new square to commemorate the Fallen and mark the centenary of the start of World War One. The Mayor of Maidstone, Cllr


Richard Thick, cut the ribbon on the town’s new Remembrance Square – by the cannon, in the High Street – after a poignant ceremony led by the Dean of Maidstone Rev Canon An- drew Sewell. The naming ceremony followed


the traditional Remembrance Sunday parade through the town, when the pavements were lined from County Hall and along Week Street as it made its way to the war memorial in the Broadway for 11am. Memorial artist and borough coun-


cillor Gordon Newton, from The Stone Shop at East Farleigh, was commissioned to design and fit the


Mayor Richard Thick at the ceremony in Remembrance Square


Remembrance Square plaque, bear- ing the borough’s crest andHRHKing George V’s quote: “I have many times asked myself whether there can be more potent advocates of peace on earth through years to


Crackdown on uniform


ACAMPAIGN to get students back in the proper uniform atSwadelands School in Lenham led to the exclu- sion of about 60 pupils. Students ran in to trouble for abus-


ing the school’s dress code, with tight skirts, leggings and trousers. Head teacher Richard Baddeley


told the DownsMail:“We launched our campaign in September and I have been really impressed by the feedbackwe’ve had and the positive comments from pupils and parents.” After the early crackdown, as we


went to press only two students were still excluded from school for not following the school’s uniform code. Only those out of school for more than five days would be given fines, of £60. Mr Baddeley, who has been at the


Maidstone East December 2014


school eight years, said:“We are able to stop students not in the right uni- form at the school gates and send them home, but many arrive by bus and we did not think this appropri- ate.We feel we have done the right thing in achieving this result.” Hesaid school uniform had many functions: as a great leveller, in preparing youngsters for the outside world and as a reminder that pupils are part of a team.Mr Baddeley said: “Pupils are encouraged to show their personality in the way they speak, and through their enthusi- asm, not through fashion.” He said students and parents unanimously supported the uni- form’s tailored black skirts and trousers and blazers when he con- sulted them four or five years ago.


come than this massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war”. After the ceremony Cllr Newton


said he felt the squarewould give the town a focus to remember those lost in conflicts around the world. The last post was sounded and


wreaths laid by representatives in- cluding the mayor of Maidstone. The naming of Remembrance


Square coincided with the dedication of a similar memorial at the town hall in Montauban, on the Somme. In 1920, the people of Maidstone


gave £20,000 to the devastated vil- lage for a water tower to irrigate its fields and 1,000 apple treeswere do- nated to help in its recovery. The Stone Shop masons recently re- enamelled the lettering on the water tower plaque from 1925.


Christmas concert date


WELL-loved carols and seasonal songs will feature in Maidstone Choral Union’s Christmas concert. The concert takes place at 7.30pm


on Saturday, December 13, at Maidstone Leisure Centre, when the audience will be invited to join the choir in favourite songs. Children from St John’s Primary School, Grove Green, and St Michael’s Primary School, Ton- bridge Road and Kent Festival Brass will also perform. Tickets are £7 to £16 from Freda Crispin (01622 726193 or email freda@me169lb.fsnet.co.uk) or the leisure centre booking office (0845 155 2277) and Maidstone Museum Visitors’ Centre (01622 602169).


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