News
Headmaster ‘a victim of his own success’
THE grieving family of headmaster Mark Geadah say the popular and
highly-respected headmasterwas a victim of his own success. Mr Geadah (43), headmaster of Allington and Aylesford Primary Schools, was found hanged at his home inAugust this year. Speaking after a pre-inquest re-
view, his father, Monir Geadah, said his son was only ever con- cerned about giving his best – which ultimately led to his death. “Hewas a victim of his own suc-
cess,” he said. “The better he did, the more hewas asked to do.” Monir Geadah revealed he had
suffered a mini heart attack at the beginning of November, which he blamed partly on stress and asked for an urgent conclusion to the in- quest.
Maidstone and Mid Kent Coro-
ner Patricia Harding said this was unlikely to be before the New Year – but hopefully within six months. She said it was her duty to con-
firm who the deceased was, and how, when and where he died – not to apportion blame or to deter- mine why someone had taken their own life.
However, she revealed that a coroner has the discretion to issue a “prevention of future deaths” re- port if he or she believed the cir- cumstances which led up to the death might lead to fur- ther deaths. Mrs Harding
Mark Geadah
said she would not be calling wit- nesses from his
employers, either at the school or from KCC, the education authority, but said: “It was no secret that he told people that hewas under con- siderable pressure at work.” An independent GP report which
had been commissioned to review the care provided by Mr Geadah’s GP did not find any evidence of medical negligence, said Mrs Hard- ing, who revealed that Mr Geadah had declined help from the com- munity mental health team. At the opening of the inquest on September 1, the court had heard
how Mr Geadah was discovered dead in the summer house of his home, not far from the school at which he taught, after suffering de- pression caused by stress at work. Allington Primary School was
rated outstanding in two Ofsted in- spections carried out while Mr Geadah was head and he was ap- pointed executive head at Ayles- ford Primary School earlier this year, while continuing in his role at Allington. After his death, Kent County Council, Allington Primary School and the Valley Invicta Academies Trust, which runs Aylesford Pri- mary School, released a statement which said: “Mark Geadah was a highly-gifted teacher and a national leader of education, the highest of professional accolades and one awarded only to people of the high- est calibre. “He was ably assisted and sup- ported by the senior management team and governing bodies of both schools.”
Action to clear plans backlog
A SPECIALIST consultant has been hired to help Maidstone planning department get back on track with applications. Since Maidstone began a shared service with Tunbridge Wells and Swale councils for dealing with planning applica- tions, a backlog has built up. The council regularly fails to comply with its 58-day turn- around target, which means ap- plicants can go to appeal on the council’s failure to determine an application. Principal planner Rob Jarman
told the cabinet that, fortu- nately, the council’s track record
in dealing with major applica- tions and appeals had been very good for the past few years, which had saved it being put into special measures over its performance dealing with lesser applications. He said: “Our performance on
minor applications leaves some- thing to be desired and a back- log has built up.” Cllr David Burton said hewas constantly being asked when applications would be heard and he simply did not know what to tell them. “We are in a serious position with this and not likely to meet
our targets,” he said. “Can anyone tell me when we
are likely to be back to normal?” Mr Jarman said a senior plan-
ning consultant had been hired to come up with a recovery plan to get the service back into a healthy state and “blitz the backlog”. Cllr Burton asked for a report
to be brought to the cabinet each month. He said: “It is hard to say
when we might be back to a healthy stage, but it is encour- aging to hear that steps are being taken. This has a reputa- tional impact for the council.”
downsmail.co.uk Rowers bring
back trophies OARSMEN and women from Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club competed in the Docklands Head, held in London’s Royal Albert Dock. The club was represented by members of most sections of the club, with a large contingent from the juniors. The WJ15 junior girls had the op- portunity for their first races with a single oar, having made the switch from sculling over the last few weeks. The older junior girls also raced
very well in their first attempt of the season at eights racing, missing out on fastest women’s crew of the day by less than two seconds to the local club, Curlew ladies 1st. But it was the junior boys who
came away with the silverware, after winning the men’s novice 8s. The winning crew comprised:
Alex Harwood, Fred English, Rob Gunn, Adam Chapple-Tay, Simon Jeacock, Tom Long, Dan Singer, and Dom and Benjee Tinker.
Woodland cash AGRANT of £1,000 will allow con- servationists to buy tools to man- age diseased woodland in the Maidstone area. The money from Golding Homes’ Community Chest has been given to the Valley Conserva- tion Society to help volunteers with the increasing workload of manag- ing trees in both Hayle Park Nature Reserve and Little Switzerland in Cave Hill. It was also reported by the soci-
ety that a gate stolen from Hayle Park would need to be replaced from Nature Reserve funds as the sitewas not insured against theft.
Extension bid A MAIDSTONE woman who has multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s dis- ease has applied for a two-storey side extension to help her cope with her conditions. She has asked Maidstone Coun-
cil for the extension to facilitate dis- abled access at a home in ParkWay. The scheme also includes an inte- gral garage so she can get from her car to her wheelchair under cover.
Sycamores likeweeds, says councillor
A MAIDSTONE councillor was shocked to discover council officers wanted to protect a sycamore tree in Loose because he thought theywere consideredweeds. Cllr Mike Hogg was one of only
two members of the planning com- mittee to vote against a proposal to place a tree protection order on a mature sycamore in the garden of 1 Honeysuckle Mews,Loose Green.A planning officer recommended its
30 Maidstone Town Xmas 2014
retention after a conservation area application to crown lift and reduce the tree by 30%. Cllr Hogg said: “I am amazed we
want a TPO on a sycamore because the parks and open spaces depart- ment says they are likeweeds.” An officer report said the sycamoremadea valuable contribu- tion to the character of the area. Aneighbour at Greystones in Old Loose Hill, objected to the TPO, say-
ing: “The tree hangs over our garden by around six metres. In autumnwe get huge amounts of leaves and sycamore flyers. It causes the hard surfaces to become slippery.” But Cllr Tony Harwood, a mem-
ber of the committee, said: “If we overturned everyTPObecause trees have leaves then we would be in trouble.” Eight members voted in favour of the TPO, twowere against and therewas one abstention.
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