News


downsmail.co.uk Neighbour from hell evicted NEIGHBOURShave expressed relief after a womanwas finally evicted from her home after a three-


year court battle. Mother-of-one Mel Bastow was


removed from the house in Bramley Road, Snodland after a stream of complaints about fights, threats and vandalism. Metal mail boxeswere installed at nearby properties after firebomb threats were alleged. One resident said police were constantly at the house, and added: “At last we can have some peace and quiet now.” But Mrs Bastow (38), who had


lived at the property for seven years, said she was not a bad person and was hoping to start a new life away from all the trouble. She said her life


Floodwall


plan granted PLANNING permission was granted for a flood defence wall to be built in Bow Hill,Wateringbury. According to the applicant, in De- cember 2013 the level of floodwater was more than 1m higher than the threshold ofNos1 and 2 Kennel Cot- tages.


“The area surrounding the prop-


erties is sparsely populated and nearly all have suffered similar se- vere flooding,” a supporting stat- ment added. Maidstone Council accepted the scheme, which comprises a concrete wall, 1.8m high and 2m wide to be built around the semi-detached properties. An officer report said: “The flood


wall would not significantly increase the level of flooding for neighbours. Setting the flood wall behind the hedge on the front boundary and in- corporating replacement trees within the site will ensure the rural character of the area is maintained.”


Village top of dating league


SALES of red roses and cards in West Mallingwere expected to have soared during theValentine’sweek- end after a claim that the village is the most romantic place in the coun- try.


According to the online dating site Match.com,West Malling has more active daters per head of population than anywhere else in the UK. The surveywas based on thenum-


ber of single people using the serv- ice per 1,000 of the population. West Malling was followed by Northallerton in Yorkshire and Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire. Match.com managing director


Karl Gregory said: “Some areas are more easily explained than others. But places such asWest Malling and Northallerton are a bit of amystery.”


26 Malling February 2015 Holmesdale pupils with stickers theymade for rubbish bins Pupils tidy up their school


STUDENTS at Holmesdale Technology College in Snodland launched their Love Kent, Hate Litter campaign with a series of stickers, which are now displayed on bins around the school grounds and its surroundings. As part of a campaign to stop


littering at the school, year 7 students designed the artwork for the stickers which were printed by Tonbridge and Malling Council. Armed with litter pickers, the students also carried out a “bash the trash” day, collecting five sacks of assorted rubbish from around the school grounds and from


Sharnal Lane and Nevill Park. The rubbish included a pair of trousers, a shoe insole, a glove and some trolley wheels. Cllr Brian Luker, Tonbridge and Malling Council’s cabinet member for environmental services, said: “Congratulations to the students on these eye-catching stickers which make the bins hard tomiss. It’s great to see young people taking such a pro-active role in keeping their school and town clean.” The launch of the bin stickers was


timed to coincide with amonth- long county-wide campaign throughout February.


Ofsted rates school as good


A GOVERNMENT inspector has given Hadlow Community Pre-School good marks across the board after a recent inspection. MaryVandepeer visited the pre- school, which is owned by Had- low College and operates from an annex at the town’s library. She wrote: “Children have


many opportunities to try out dif- ferent things and build on skills they already have. They are able to repeat or learn new physical skills through different activities in- doors and outside, such as messy play, balancing and sharing toys.


“Staff plan activities using their


knowledge and understanding of children's interests and capabili- ties. This results in staff engaging children in their learning.” Further mention was made


about the good behaviour of chil- dren. She added: “Staff promote chil-


dren’s personal, social and emo- tional development well, they encourage children to respect each other throughout the pre-school and links with local school teach- ers help prepare children for their move to school.”


Truck services


MAIDSTONE is to become home to the first of a new generation of drive-through Scania dealerships. The 2.5-acre site on the A229, off


M20 Junction 6, represents an in- vestment of £6m. The site, owned by Gallagher Properties, will offer 24-hour serv- ices for truck, bus and coach opera- tors. It will initially employ 34 technicians, parts and administra- tion staff, although this is likely to rise.


Rubbish left outside the house


had been made a misery by people from outside the area frequently banging on her door and causing problems outside her home. The house is the only one in the


street owned by Moat. A spokesman for the housing as- sociation said: “There have been re- peated complaints from the local community in recent years regard- ing this resident and anti-social be- haviour. We have made regular visits to the property, and worked with the police and local commu- nity safety unit to resolve the issues. “Despite this ongoing partnership


work, reports of anti-social behav- iour continued and escalated in se- riousness. In 2012, following a meeting with local residents, the po- lice and community safety unit,


court actionwas taken. “We were initially granted a sus- pended possession order. The resi- dent appealed and a stay application was adjourned. The anti-social behaviour unfortunately continued, resulting in the eviction. “While eviction is always a last re-


sort for us at Moat, this resident’s difficult behaviour had a hugely negative impact on her neighbours. In this case, the eviction was to the benefit of the wider community and we’re grateful for their support, and the support of our local partners in securing this outcome.”


Homes set for


transport yard PLANNING permissionwas set to be granted for nine detached houses on the site of a former home and transport yard off Lon- don Road, Allington. The scheme for The Lodge in-


cludes an open space and access from Beaver Road. Cllr Dan Daley, who represents Allington on Maidstone Council, told the plan- ning committee he was concerned about the traffic impact on Beaver Road given that two separate plan- ning permissions already permit a total of 51 new homes south of the site, and another 140 homes were previously given the go-ahead in Bridge Nursery, the other side of the A20. He said: “Even without 200 houses the traffic is backed up. This is a step too far.We have had incremental urbanisation creeping into the gap between Aylesford and Allington.” Peter Rosevear, a transport offi-


cer for KCC, said work would be taking place to improve the A20 junction with Coldharbour Lane, close to M20 Junction 5. Members indicated they would


give consent once the proposal had returned to the committee for wording on planning conditions to be drawn up.


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