News
No charge for crime chief
KENT’S police and crime commis- sioner will not face prosecution, even though she may have been driving without insurance when she crashed her car, says awatchdog group. Ann Barnes’ Mercedes collided
with another car and then hit a tree in September 16. No one was hurt, but questions were raised by the Inde- pendent Police Complaints Commis- sion as to whether her journey between a shop and ameetingwas for business or pleasure and if she had cover on other occasions in the six months before that. Mrs Barnes has maintained: “As far
as Iwas concerned, when my carwas struck I was appropriately insured. The insurance company has paid on the claim.” The CPS has confirmed the case
was “technical in nature” and focused on whether the purpose of the jour- ney was for business or pleasure, which remained unclear. In a statement, it added: “[We]were
not provided with sufficient evidence that Ann Barnes drove the relevant vehicle on any other relevant occa- sion, which would be fundamental to considering the matter in terms of al- leged criminality. “We consider that it would not be
in the public interest to prosecute.” The accident happened in Dartford
Prescription improvement
MORE details have emerged of a scheme to motivate Maidstone and West Kent GPs to improve control of prescribing medications and dress- ings.
The plan also includes a significant
saving in these localNHS costs (£67m a year: 14% of the annual West Kent total budget). AllGP practices will be encouraged
by NHSWest Kent Clinical Commis- sioningGroup (CCG) to participate in a scheme that will reward quality pre- scribing linked to sound patient healthcare. Annual savings of £1.2m are fore-
cast, largely through prescribing more generic drugs and fewer antibi- otics and reviews of new oral anti-co- agulants and erectile dysfunction drugs. A points system has been devised
for rewarding GPs up to £1 per pa- tient per year. The estimated cost in West Kent is £370,000 in the first year.
Music finals
EIGHT talented students will com- pete for the Maidstone and Mid Kent Young Musician of the Year title to be held at the Hazlitt Theatre on Wednesday, May 6. The contest, sponsored by TheCob-
tree Charity Trust, is organised by the Rotary Clubs ofMaidstone and Dawn Patrol. Tickets are available from the box office.
12 Maidstone South March 2015
downsmail.co.uk
Greenfield scheme for homes ‘not sustainable’
MAIDSTONE Council’s intention to concrete over green fields in Head- corn was questioned after it emerged that vacant brownfield land in the villagewas increasing.
The council’s local plan ear-
marks the village for 425 homes on greenfield land between 2011 and 2031, but in the previous 10 years the number of empty properties rose from 2.7% to 6.8% – twice the borough average. During the same period – 2001-
2011 – there was a 14.7% rise in Headcorn’s housing stock, accord- ing to census figures, which prove that the village is in danger of hav- ing a housing over-supply, accord- ing to Rebecca Driver, who is coordinating Headcorn’s neigh- bourhood plan. Ms Driver, director of Analyti-
cally Driven, also told the council’s planning scrutiny committee that
the proposal for 50 homes in Lenham Road was a non-starter. She said: “You should look to re- duce the existing allocation, be- cause, even under the most optimistic scenario, the maximum sustainable level of house building in Headcorn between now and 2031 would be 145 new homes. “This compares to the 425 homes allocated under Maidstone’s emerging local plan, including one site [240 homes at Ulcombe Road and Mill Bank, Headcorn], which on its own would result in a 65% oversupply of houses relative to the sustainable level. “If you allocated all these sites there would be a significant over-
supply of houses which, by defini- tion, would be unsustainable. This site needs to be rejected and the ex- isting site allocations for Headcorn reduced.
“Headcorn is remote, relative to
all major employment centres. Commuting costs from Headcorn are far higher than average when measured in terms of distance, time or money. “The presence of a station is not
a get out of jail free card on the sus- tainability front.” The scrutiny committee’s recom- mendation to remove the Lenham Road housing proposal from the draft local plan was backed by the cabinet.
Homeleigh site homes agreed Nursery plan
THE number of homes to be built on brownfield land in Staplehurst is to be reduced to 12. Three years ago, Homeleigh Building Supplieswas given plan- ning permission for 14 homes on the site of its timber yard and saw mill in Station Road (right). Despite cutting this figure by
two, Maidstone Council’s planning committee heard objections from local residents. Cllr John Perry, ward member for Staplehurst, said: “The development remains too in- tensive and the issue of neighbour- ing properties being overlooked has not been addressed. “The homes are too close to the boundary line, too high and are
A FORMER garden nursery in Chartway Street, Sutton Valence could be replaced with six homes. Millwood Designer Homes’ ap- plication, which will be decided by Maidstone Council, is for the rede- velopment of FourWents Orchard. It would lead to the loss of three
out of keeping with the street scene. I am also concerned about the provision of drainage; surface water is a problem in Staplehurst.” However, 11 of the 12 committee members voted in favour, with an abstention from Cllr JohnWilson. Cllr Mike Hogg said: “Traffic impact on a busy road would be reduced compared to its current use with lorries on the site.”
trees and an existing hedge, which the applicant claims is not “of good ecological or arboricultural value” so could be sacrificed to improve highway safety. One neighbouring objector, Mau-
rice Stancombe,was concerned that the proposal would create a dan- gerous access on to a busy, narrow road, be out of keeping with the rural area and lead to the loss of habitat for wildlife.
Kenward Trust chief exec moves on
CHANGES have taken place at the top of the Yalding-based drink and drugs rehabilitation charity, the Ken- ward Trust. Angela Painter, who has been
chief executive of the trust for seven years, left at the end of February. The former chief executive of Kent
Air Ambulance and the current chief executive of Wiltshire Air Ambu- lance, David Philpott, is the interim chief executive. Mrs Painter, who lives near
Sevenoaks, worked in the health sec- tor as a nurse, health visitor and board member before joining Ken- ward, where she introduced new services across the region. She said: “I feel the time is right for me to move on to new ventures, in-
Angela Painter and David Philpott
cluding becoming a grandma for the first time in July and certainly some more travel adventures alongside paid work.” Mr Philpott is a past chairman of
the Institute of Directors in Kent, chairman of CXK Ltd (a Kent-based young persons’ charity), chairman of Abigail’s Footsteps (the national
stillbirth charity) and chairman of Fields of Life GB (a charity working in post-conflict east Africa). Formerly executive director at
Essex Air Ambulance beforemoving on to Kent Air Ambulance as chief executive, where he launched the Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Services, David was founding chair- man of the Association of Air Ambu- lance Charities – a post he held for three years. A brief spell at London Air Ambu-
lance was followed by a placement with the Mid Anglia General Practi- tioner Accident Service (Magpas) as interim chief executive. He then fronted the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal, an NHS subsidiary charity, of which he became chief executive.
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