downsmail.co.uk


don’t use them I’d like to add) is that they remember a time when they didn't exist and fail to see the point in them. If there are no lifts to use then I’d see her point, but I really don’t in this case. What’s inconsiderate is lazy parents who


can't be bothered to cope thewaywe've had to do in the past, andwant everything simple and easy. Try using the lift, teach your children to hold your hand, or each other's hand, and behave. You'll find life a lot less 'inconsiderate' and so will I. Lisa Lomas, Foxglove Rise, Maidstone


Inquiry in wrong place


Dear Sir – I ama resident of Allington and a member of the community trying to save a glorious area of Kent countryside and ancient woodland from development. Therewas a public inquiry concerning this application. The area in question is at Allington and the inquirywas at the Mercure Great Danes Hotel, Hollingbourne – about as far away as you can get from Allington and still be in Maidstone borough. It takes about two hours to get from Allington to the hotel by bus. The hotel is a 20-minutewalk from a station. Many Allington residents are elderly or do not have access to a car. Howwere they supposed to aend a public meeting to voice their concerns about what is happening in their community if they could not get there? It beggars belief that Maidstone Council


did not consider this. According to guidelines about these sorts


of inquiries, one of the prime recommendationswas that the chosen venue is as close as possible to the area under discussion. This has patently not been adhered to. I wrote to Maidstone Council about this,


butwas told itwas too late to change the venue. There are many more accessible venues


that could have been used, such as the Town Hall or Sessions House. What possessed the council to choose the


Great Danes? Adeveloper is planning to put about 500


homes on land off Hermitage. It is the last area of open green space on thewest side of Maidstone. The borough boundary is included within the site. It is a rural gem which includes a small


but invaluable ancient woodland which would be ruined if developmentwere permied. I know houses are needed. I’m just saying


that this is the wrong place. It is too important as open green space and a green corridor between Maidstone and Tonbridge and Malling borough to be developed. Ann Bates, Howard Drive, Allington


School is not needed here


Dear Sir – I have read many of the leers and emails concerning Gatland House and find that most of the supporters are not from the Fant area. Their bleating about the unfairness of objecting is interesting and enlightening. It seems these are parents who had a good education, probably provided by the mainstream school system, who nowwant what is tantamount to a special education for their children. If their lile Jonnies or Jennies can’t cope with mainstream education in local schools,


why don’t they do something about it? If people stuck to their own catchment


areas and campaigned for beer education close to their home, that would be a beer use of their time, improve the education system, cause less impact on the environment regarding pollution and congestion and help their offspring form relationships with other children in their area – relationships that could last a lifetime, instead of shipping them around the county and organising play dates. The Jubilee School is not needed in this catchment area. The local community did not ask for it and it is only serving disgruntled parents who can’t get their children into a local school where they live. We are planning another meeting soon,


like the last one in Gatland Park. I had to laugh at some of the comments made there, as the school got the children in at 7.30am to avoid the reality of the situation. Barbara Skinner, Fant


Lost property folly


Dear Sir – Regarding your story about the police no longer handling lost property. Have they really thought this through? Surely there is noway that anything is likely to get back to its owner via social media. I recently lost my purse containing by car


keys and house keys in Maidstone while shopping. I retraced my steps and enquired in several shops, but no luck. After about an hour Iwent to the police station at Palace Avenue and a very kind member of the public had found it in FremlinWalk and handed it to a police officer, so Iwas able to retrievemy car and shopping. I don’t think this would have happened if


the police had not accepted lost property. Robin Hinkley, by email


Is ‘Sir’ entitled to title?


Dear Sir – In the articles relating to the Magna Carta in Downs Mail (May) Robert Worcester is referred to as “Sir Robert”. As he is an American citizen, I believe that


he should not be so addressed, as his knighthood can only be an honorary one, allowing him to use the leers KBE after his name but not the title “Sir”. Perhaps you know something about this


that I, and many others, don’t. Please explain why this American citizen is being addressed as a knight of the realm? Peter Baker, Bower Street, Maidstone


Peter, he is given the title Sir Robert on the websites of many organisations including the following: Ipsos-Mori; the Magna Carta 800th anniversary commiee; King's College London; University of London; and University of Kent. In the media, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent also call him Sir Robert. The biography on Mr Worcester’s own Twier


and Linkedin accounts refer to him as Sir Robert. Mr Worcester has dual citizenship, which we


believe enables him to be called Sir as a mark of respect. Response by Stephen


Get rid of parish councils


Dear Sir – Now that the dreaded elections are over, “democracy” continues to reign supreme, especially at parish council level. Most people in the Maidstone area didn’t


have a parish vote because the vast majority of parish councilswere “elected” without a ballot and consequently some will continue to fail in their duty to represent residents. We have one of these unelected ballot


parish councils in Coxheath. We have them to thank for a failed, but extremely expensive, traffic calming scheme which has now been largely removed, but only after a village hall meeting aended by more than 300 very angry residents. We have an expensivewebsite that villagers cannot properly contribute to.We had towait more than a year for a bus shelter, even though KCC had approved a grant shortly after its original proposal. Its latest democratic localism activitywas


the preparation of a neighbourhood plan. In doing this it chose to include a housing/commercial development at Clockhouse Farm, despite a 1,200-signature petition against it. The inclusion in the plan was claimed to be an aempt to prevent even further development in our village. The parish council thenwent on to object


to the development proposals opposite Aspian Drive but, aswe now know, both developments have been approved by Maidstone Council, the planning authority. I don't feel represented by our parish council and maybe it is time to rid ourselves of this tier of local government, which is clearly pointless. Tony Monk,Westerhill Road, Coxheath


Homes on hotel site


Dear Sir – Far from being passive in response to the recent application to build 14 houses on the site of the former Russell Hotel in Boxley Road (Comment, June), Cllr Jenni Paterson and I have had at least three face-to-face residents’ meetings, in addition to office-based and site meetings with planners and Clarendon Homes. Further, a significantweight of correspondence has been exchanged between a range of stakeholders. Indeed, negotiations involving local councillors on detailed design including landscaping, boundary treatments, building materials and a public art installation are ongoing. I will seek to answer the two points raised


in relation to why conversion to flatswas not sought, and why the applicationwas not determined by planning commiee. Firstly, the former Russell Hotelwas not a


listed building or of a quality that could conceivably achieve such a designation; this meant that it enjoyed no protection and could therefore be demolished at any time. Secondly, very significant safeguards for surrounding residential areas had been achieved through negotiation such as the retention of wooded buffer strips, changes to design and layout, and new tree planting. Local Northward councillors and residentswere concerned that, should the planning application (for 14 houses) on this site go before commiee, therewas a big risk that the density of the proposed development would be increased. It is the low density of the scheme which


allows the retention of a wooded buffer at Fintonagh Drive and the space to beef-up tree planting along the Boxley Road and Chaenden Court boundaries. The 14 comparatively large gardens afforded by this low density scheme should also benefit local landscape and wildlife. Cllr Tony Harwood, member for Northward


Maidstone Town July 2015 33


Comment


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