News
A20 proposals put in doubt
RESIDENTS in Harrietsham are angry that proposed traffic im- provements to the A20 Ashford Road through the village might no longer go ahead. In February, Maidstone Council's planning committee granted per- mission for 114 homes on the for- mer Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) depot, south of the A20 Ashford Road. The scheme, which includes a
new shop and storage building for the parish council, was allowed on condition that the A20 was nar- rowed to create a 30mph zone and the existing 40mph limit was ex- tended. These transport works had to be completed prior to any resident oc- cupation. However, Maidstone Council has
now agreed to drop the planning condition saying it would be un- reasonable to make the developer contribute £400,000 towards traffic calming because they extend over a long section of the carriageway and would be reliant on funding from other developers and delivery by
Kent County Council. Cllr Amanda Chinnery, from Harrietsham Parish Council, told the borough council's planning committee: “This would mean a substantial development takes place without changes to the A20. “There would be existing resi-
dents crossing the road to get to the new shop and people from the new development will need to cross the road to get to the railway station. We are terrified at the scenario of hundreds of cars negotiating a very busy road at speed at the same time as pedestrians cross from both sides of the road.” The committee agreed to accept
the planning conditions minus the traffic works, which would be re- ferred to the strategic planning committee, hopefully with a repre- sentative from KCC present. “The special circumstances of Harrietsham being cut in half by the road mean we need to cooper- ate on this one with KCC with a vengeance,” said Cllr Tony Har- wood, a member of the planning committee.
LOCAL artists were among the prizewinners at this year’s Pilgrims Way Artists summer exhibition. More than 30 painters, potters and sculptors fromall over the South East brought more than 350 works to the Tithe Barn in Lenham for the 10-day exhibition, which included a day where artists demonstrated their skills and discussed their work. This year’s featured artist, Peter
Robson fromLoose, took the prize for the best watercolour with his piece Busy Day on the Grand Canal. Best work in showwas awarded to
Pauline Appleton, fromLenham,with her painting After the Storm. Two guest exhibitors were
awarded prizes. Best pastel went to Suzanne Norfolk, fromBearsted, with Black Velvet while From Weirton, a piece by Sue Batt (pictured) from
downsmail.co.uk Art exhibition at Tithe Barn
Boughton Monchelsea, took first place for best mixedmedia. Nigel Davison from Buckland Hill, Maidstone, took the prize for best drawing in pencil and ink with Dap- pled Light Wings. Headcorn sculptor Jane Richard-
son’s Mermaidwas declared the best figurativework. This is the 18th year that the Pil-
grimsWay Artists have held their ex- hibition in the 14th century barn.
Developer to help homeless
A MAIDSTONE-based building company is raising funds to help homeless and vulnerable people in the town. PersimmonHomesSouth East has announced its support for the Maid-
stone Day Centre for Homeless People, which offers services such as food, skills training and job advice, hot showers and crisis intervention. Jo Richards, head of sales and marketing for Persimmon, said: “The Maidstone Day Centre is an extraordinary facility and you cannot put a price on the support they give to homeless and vulnerable people.” So far, staff at Persimmonhave organised a collection of toiletries for the centre and have held dress-down days to raise money.
01622 902005 8
Maidstone East July 2015
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