downsmail.co.uk Inquiry in wrong place


Dear Sir – I am a 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 inquiry was 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,


but was 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? A developer is planning to put about 500


homes on land off Hermitage Lane. It is the last area of open green space on the west 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


Parents not a special case


Dear Sir – I’ve just read the June issue of Downs Mail and am staggered by a Maidstone mum’s claim that she avoids the town centre as she is unable to park in a parent and child space. I cannot understand why parents even need these spaces. My mother-in-law had five children all


born within six years of each other, but she managed. My mum had two and she managed, and I managed 18 years ago when I had my own child. I hated lifts but with a pushchair I had no choice but to use them, and soon got over my fear. The lady says she is forced to use floors further up which makes her shopping trip


Contact our team ...


Stephen Eighteen Editor stephen@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 231


32 Malling July 2015 Diane Nicholls


Assistant editor diane@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 232


Jane Shotliff Journalist


jane@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 233


Dawn Kingsford Journalist


dawn@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 233


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 my


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 PalaceAvenue 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


Help is invaluable


Dear Sir – I am a full-time carer for my husband John and for the past two years I have been helped by volunteers from Spadework, a charity inOam which helps people with learning difficulties. They come to my home and deliver


logs, plants and compost and always offer to help me with anything, including shopping. This is particularly helpful given that I amunable to get about at the moment having broken my wrist. They will do anything for me and the people at Spadework deserve a lot of credit. Keep up the good work! Rosemary Broad, St Mary’s Abbey, Swan Street,West Malling


a nightmare. What’s the nightmare? I never had a problem, nor did my mum or mother-in-law. Then again, our children knew how to behave becausewe took time to teach them, rather than expect the world around us to make life easier for us. She also says: “As parentswe have to pay


for our space, so being forced to park on the sixth or seventh floors with three young children is inconsiderate." Does she think those who aren't parents


don’t have to pay? I have to pay and am often on higher floors because I’ve not got a child, I’m not disabled and don’t need my carwashed, but you don't hear me complaining. The reason people without children use


them is probably because like me (and I don’t use them, I’d like to add) 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 the waywe've had to 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


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 flats was not sought, and why the application was 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 North ward


Comment


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