downsmail.co.uk Less talk – more action


Dear Sir –My Downs Mail has just arrived. The local news makes enjoyable reading, but I have to comment on the proposed plan to ease traffic flow in the town. How much more of this traffic flow chaer


arewe to get from Maidstone councillors? I’m old enough to remember a scheme to bring a road from the Wheatsheaf area in Suon Road through South Park and The Quarry down in to Tovil Road, over the river and railway to join up with the London Road (A20). Thenwe come to the next bright idea – to


widen Stone Street making two lanes, to take all heavy traffic away from Sheals Crescent. Nowwe have another proposal – a £5.7m scheme which will mean Chatham-bound drivers can avoid the river bridge. Please note – it might start in 2016 with completion sometime in 2017, so do not get excited. Myadvice is: stop spending our money on


silly ornaments doed around the town, like the one that started off at the top of the High Street. It now stands on the river bank close to the bridge – a sorry sight. Alan Lawrence, Church Road, Tovil


Facts on dangerous tree


Dear Sir – I am writing to disagree with your story Protected pine must stay (Downs Mail Town edition, February). I amthe leaseholder and resident of flat


No 31. The Scots pine tree is in the communal gardens of the St Francis Close flats which belong to Hyde Housing. The planning applicationwas initially


made because the tree leans over the roof of the building. The main worry is that the tree sways violently in any wind and could fall over, causing considerable damage and possible injury to the occupants. Since the applicationwas refused, three branches have come down in the recent storms. The main reasons for geing the planning application approvedwere as follows:  The dropped needles regularly block the guers causing them to be ineffective during periods of heavy rain. The rainwater then crashes against the building and gathers on the garden outside another resident’s ground floor flat. It then proceeds to saturate the garden, causing flooding worries.  Wewanted the offending tree to be removed and the other Scots pine tree taken down to a more reasonable height and to be checked to assure us it is sound and at no risk of falling over. The residents never asked for the planning application to say that the other Scots Pine tree caused excessive shading – thiswas put in the application by the agent. Please be more accurate with your reporting of local issues as I note this is not the first time The Downs Mail has had to be corrected on a local issue. Colin Hicks, St Francis Close Colin, the article was based on information associated with the planning application submied on Maidstone Council’s website. It was wrien in good faith. Response from Stephen


Park noise around clock


Dear Sir – Residents in the Mote Park area will be dismayed to learn that Cllr Malcolm Greer’s commiee, on Maidstone Council, has granted permission for aweekend rock


event in Mote Park in July. The last time a similar prolonged assault


on our earswas approved – the Radio 1 Big Weekend in 2008 – not only did residents as far away as Loose have to put up with unacceptable levels of noise, but Iwas told the townwas faced with a bill of about £30,000 to clear up afterwards and re-instate the park. Thiswas in spite of being reassured by Cllr FranWilson that there would be no cost to ratepayers. Town traders did not benefit, as local


people stayed away from the town and there were numerous parking problems. For the Radio 1 event, the council did, at


least, have the courtesy to inform uswell in advance, but this proposed event in July seems to have crept in under the radar. Goodness knows what the justification is


for imposing this agony on residents, but I only hope that when it comes to the next local election, those who will suffer in July will remember whowas responsible. David Hacke, ParkWay, Maidstone


Need for homes is simple


Dear Sir – In respect that the housing question is complex (Leers, January, Military solution to homes, your response), I fundamentally disagree with you; house building has never been a complex domestic issue because our own statistics as far back as the 1930s to the 1950s provewe built far more council homes than today even after the crippling financial implications of the two worldwars. If your home has been flooded in East Farleigh, Yalding, Marden or Tonbridge and you are stuck in a hotel or living with relatives, the lack of housing available might indeed be considered an emergency from the perspective of the families affected. There are thousands of families stuck in expensive bed and breakfasts tonight costing the British taxpayers millions of pounds a year. Amassive expansion in the supply of housing is the onlyway to bring house prices down so that ratio between earnings and mortgage loans is sustainable for our young adults. Without these new builds our building industry might quickly fall into total collapse. Turnover is everything but so is employment from the Government’s point of view – another factor you don’t touch on in your response. Surely the salaries of the builders help purchase the goods in our towns and villages? In Britainwe live on just 10-11% of our


land mass and those fiends in London plan to expand it to 12%. Your claim that these building developments will decimate huge areas of greenfield land is totally false and very misleading. It is all verywell for councillors and indeed you to preach thatwe must maintain our green and pleasant land for the few who already enjoy it because their views might be slightly blighted or the traffic slightly increased. Most people had the opportunity to buy


or rent their homes after WorldWar II and up to the end of the 20th century, but today’s generation has got to stay at home indefinitely because Maidstone Council and our “caring” villagers don’t give a stuff about them. Constant referrals and rejections of these


housing developments mean homeowners can enjoy their wonderful dogwalks and that air of self-satisfaction that everything will stay the same. Isn’t it constant change that keeps our lives full? Otherwisewe as a nation wither and die. I amindeed very angry concerning our national and local building policy because we don’t build enough homes, period. By all means build on all brownfield sites, but given the pathetic numberswe actually build each year because the planning process is both a financial and emotional disaster it hardly maers. Brownfield sites are always more expensive to develop and therefore less aractive because the builders do find unseen horrors in the ground. I amcurrently clearing the shrubbery at


Loose Valley Nursing Home and have saved their ash, sycamore, horse chestnut and holly trees from the deathly ivy. I can assure you as Iwalk to Loose almost every weekend that our caring villagers may say and protest a great deal but actually do sweet nothing to protect our local and wonderful green fields and countryside. Richard Maryan, Coxheath


Barrier for bays needed


Dear Sir – Regarding wider parking spaces for the elderly, although this is a fantastic idea in theory, the practice may be very different. There are many drivers who have no respect for the needs of others and will simply take advantage of these new larger spaces, in the sameway as they do not baulk at parking in either disabled or parent and toddler bays at present. The simplest (but perhaps not cheapest) solution is to make it impossible for them to use such bays by using some kind of raised bar which can be lowered by a qualifying driver with the aid of some kind of remote control. Such devices could be dispensed by health professionals to those who are eligible. Morag Gaherty, Bearsted


Great care atA&E


Dear Sir – I recently aended theA&E department at Maidstone Hospital with a knee injury. The service I receivedwas second to none. Although the departmentwas full, the dedication of the staffwas tremendous considering the pressure theywere under. I wish to extend my thanks to Lorraine at reception, the first member of the nursing staff who interviewed me (name forgoen), Sister Michelle Booth and the gentleman in the X-ray department for the courtesy, patience, professionalism and sympathy I received. The advice and care received from Michellewas beyond the normal kind of care that one would expect. I spent 50 years in Zimbabwe and returned to this country five years ago. During my time there I spent 26 years as chairman of a medical aid society dealing with all sorts of issues. I know the pressures, especially when a member is desperately ill and requires urgent medical aention. I do not know why it is that people complain. They should spend time in a third world country and see the difference between the two services. Congratulations to Maidstone Hospital on


a very fine organisation. Alistair Black, councillor for Fantward


Maidstone Town March 2015 33


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