News | Sponsored parish council Boxley Parish Mail
CHAIRMAN: Ivor Davies CLERK: Pauline BowderyASST CLERK: Melanie Fooks Parish Office, Beechen Hall,Wildfell Close,Walderslade, ME5 9RU
Tel: 01634 861237 email:
clerk@boxleyparishcouncil.org.uk Website:
www.boxleyparishcouncil.org.uk Contact details for parish councillors can be obtained from the parish office, the Useful Contact Details leaflet or the website
Call to change law on lier
from cars THEparish council is to urge Maid- stone Council to join the campaign for a change in national law so that the owner of a vehicle can be pros- ecuted if litter is thrown from their vehicle.
Members recently discussed the growing roadside litter problem in the parish, much of which was thrown from passing cars. They heard that in some London bor- oughs, councils had successfully fined registered owners of vehicles from which litter had been dis- carded, whereas Maidstone had first to identify the driver or pas- senger actually responsible. Borough and parish Cllr Tony Harwood said that the biggest problem was in areas where traffic had to slow down because of traf- fic lights or congestion. This gave people an opportunity to chuck whatever they have got out of the window. He pointed out that “If you
throw a cigarette end into the road in town you will be prosecuted, but MBCdoes not prosecute people lit- tering from cars.” Councillors agreed to ask Maid-
stone Council to give its robust support to an on-going proposal to change the law nationally and to offer the borough as a pilot scheme. Separately, borough and parish
CllrWendy Hinder reported on lit- ter issues she had been dealing with, including bins not being emp- tied in Walderslade and rubbish left onWeavering Heath. She requested that the PCSO
keep an eye onWeavering Heath as there was evidence of barbecues and discarded “legal high” gas cylinders.
Street lights The KCC programme of works identifies that lights will be re- placed in the following areas inAu- gust: Quinion Close; The Spinney; Spenlow Drive; and Woodlands.
Next meeting THE next meeting of the parish council is at the European School of Osteopathy, Boxley at 7pm on Fri- day, September 11. Members of the public arewelcome to attend.
36 Maidstone East August 2015 Community work rewarded
PARISH councillor Bob Hinder has been presented with the Kent Association of Local Coun- cils’ 2015 CommunityAward. Cllr Hinderwas nominated by
his colleagues in recognition of his hard work and dedication in leading to fruition the Dove Hill allotments project and as first chairman of the Friends of Box- ley Warren, whose conservation work in the Warren has been greatly admired. Parish council chairman Ivor Davies, who is pictured present- ing the award to Cllr Hinder, said: “Whilst it may not be nor- mal for a council to put forward one of its own for recognition, we felt this was an exceptional case.
“Bob has gone well beyond
what could be reasonably ex- pected, spending long hours on
downsmail.co.uk
these two projects and con- fronting all sorts of difficulties and weather. This award is therefore richly deserved”. Kalc Community Awards are made annually. The parish
Homes appeal turned down
THE planning inspectorate dismissed an appeal for a plan for eight homes but the site is now facing the prospect of an advertising hoarding.
The inspector considered that ac- ceptable living conditions could not be reasonably provided for fu- ture occupants of the site at the junction of New Cut Road and Bearsted Road, in terms of noise at- tenuation. Another reason for dismissing
the appeal was said to be the im- pact on the landscape from the dwellings and the required acoustic boundary fencing. The planning applicationwas re-
fused by Maidstone Council fol- lowing receipt of concerns and objections from local residents and the parish council. However the developer appealed to the Inspec- torate. In its objection to building on this
site, the parish council pointed out that this was one of the few re- maining pieces of open land in the area, and that itwas rich in wildlife
and drained by the stream feeding the Vinters Valley Park lake. Borough and Boxley Parish Cllr
Tony Harwood, who submitted ev- idence to the inspector opposing the scheme and to ensure its pro- tection, has called on Maidstone Council to purchase the land using a financial contribution received from a nearby development. In a further development, Maid-
stone Council has now received an application to erect a large adver- tising hoarding on the corner of Bearsted Road and New Cut Road facing on to the roundabout. The parish council has asked that
the application be refused, citing possible distraction to drivers, im- pact on the street-scene and general impact on the landscape of this val- ued area.
Maidstone Council’s decision is awaited.
council would welcome sugges- tions from residents of possible candidates for an award in 2016. Nominations should be sent to
the clerk, please, at the parish of- fice.
Clerk joins
bat safari A BAT and moth walk organised by Pippa Palmer of the Mid Kent Downs Orchard Group was ex- pertly guided by Simon Ginnaw of the Medway Valley Countryside Partnership. Parish clerk Pauline Bowdery
came hotfoot from a parish council meeting and joined a few hardy members of the public for the event. Even before thewalk started, a noctule bat was spotted flying overhead at ProvenderWay. Then, armed with bat detectors,
the group went from the commu- nity orchard down Weavering Street to Mote Park with stops along the way to look at and learn about bats. Thirty minutes were spent at
Mote Park lake, with Simon keep- ing everyone informed on the many bat species in Britain, with nine found at Mote Park. At one point there were up to 18 bats fly- ing around the group. They used bat boxes to monitor
them feeding, as when a bat gets close to a kill, the sonic sound changes to a raspberry sound. As it was becoming quite damp
the walk ended at 10.45pm with only a brief stop at the moth trap.
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