News
School signs in village dispute
TWO advertisement signs have put Hunton Primary School on a collision course with the parish council.
Maidstone Council’s planning committee heard claims that the school’s signs – installed on West Street, and the corner ofWest Street and Bishop’s Lane – had created a road safety risk and harmed the quality of life for neighbours. Objector Mr Nicholls, who has
lived for 24 years inWest Street op- posite the school playing fields, said: “One of the signs is opposite my home. Its surface area is 2.5sqm – twice the size of my living-room windows. “It is oppositemydriveway sowe
can’t even plant a tree to obscure it. I don’t understand why the signs have to be so large and obtrusive “It is more fitting for street furni-
ture in a town than a small village. It is inappropriate for the setting and not in scale and in keeping with a rural area. If this is allowed, it should be moved a few metres east so it is not as visible by residents opposite.” At their highest point, the pole-
mounted signs are 3.19m above the ground. A spokesman for Hunton Parish Council said the signs were pointless, adding: “They are only visible for cars 40m away, which is only three seconds if travelling 30mph “The school should remove the
signs as soon as possible. They are not fit for purpose. There is a big negative impact that far outweighs any positives.” Stephen Munford, the localward councillor, said: “How sad that I have parish council and primary school head to head.” The committee voted to defer the scheme for officers to negotiate a possible solution, such as reposi- tioning the signs.
downsmail.co.uk M20 cameras catch drivers
DRIVERS need to take their feet off the gas when travelling on the M20 outside Maidstone. Speed cameras clicked a total of 3,367 motorists exceeding the 70mph limit coastbound between J4 near Leybourne and J7 near Bearsted in 2014, which helped make the borough the second most ticketed in Kent.With 1,160 tickets issued as a result of camera action southbound on theA249 Sittingbourne Road (Detling Hill), 933 south- bound on Sutton Road towards Langley and 375 from cameras on the A20 London Road, the total number of tickets issued in Maidstone during the yearwas 5,800 – 1,200 more than in the previous year. The figures are inflated for Detling Hill as the southbound safety camerawas repaired at the end of 2013, so the statistics for 2014 rep- resent a full year of operation and are not directly comparable with the previous year. Similarly, during 2013 cameras on part of the Maid- stone section of the M20 were not fully operational. Kent and Med- way Safety Camera Partnership revealed the figures. Kent’s busiest speed camerawas at the Dartford Tunnel approach, which clocked 7,637 vehicles. The M20 cameraswere second busiest.
Praise for flood community There was praise, too for the vil-
THE new chief executive of the En- vironmentAgency, Sir James Bevan, has visited Yalding to assess the flooding risks. Sir James met MP Helen Grant
and residents to talk about the floods in the village two years ago. Hewas accompanied by EA area strategic planning engineer Neil Gunn and EA area manager Andrew Pearce. Mr Gunn said the agency’s mod-
elling consultants had been working extra hours to complete the project andwere on track to have the design completed by 2019 and construction finished in 2022.
lage’s efforts to avoid a similar dis- aster in the future. Mrs Grant said: “The officers told
me that they felt the community in Yalding had never been aswell pre- pared as they arenowand took their hats off to the residents for such a sterling effort.” The MP has written to every household affected by the floods in Yalding and Laddingford, aswell as to other affected areas within her constituency giving links to useful websites and an update on the work that is being done.
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