News Parish call to


review plan HEADCORN Parish Council is seeking a judicial review of a plan passed by Maidstone Council, claiming proper procedures were not followed. In July Maidstone’s planning committee approved building at Hazelpits in July, next to the village primary school, a scheme which would add 220 homes to the village and increase its size by a fifth. Residents who already endure regular flooding claim the village is already over-developed and unable to cope with sewage flows – a situ- ation which will be exacerbated if the proposed development goes ahead. After several “in camera” meet-


ings and seeking legal advice, the parish council has decided to seek the judicial review, which could land both sides in the High Court. Parish council chair Lyn Selby


said: “We aren’t happy about the way the applicationwas dealt with. We think the scenic, drainage and economic issues should have been looked at. We also feel the council did not take into account the her- itage and transport issues.” The parish council claims the vil-


lage does not have the infrastruc- ture to support more development and the cumulative effect of this and other recent building would be disastrous for the community. The cost of the review will be met


from parish council reserves. If the judicial review succeeds,


the planning consent given by MBC will become invalid.


Charity cycle


RESIDENTS in Headcorn dug deep to support the charity efforts of sen- ior cyclist Brian Ledger. Brian (72) decided to cycle 160


miles visiting 21 churches – all called St Peter and St Paul – in memory of his friend Trevor Hill- man, who was found beaten to death in the porch of Headcorn church. Brian’s tour of the churches in the Canterbury diocese raised more than £1,100 for the homeless char- ity Porchlight. As a former village postman,


Brian was used to getting on his bike, but said hewas overwhelmed by the support and generosity of local people. Ruslan Piktorov was found


guilty of killing Mr Hillman, his 57-year-old drinking chum and is serving a life sentence for murder.


Castle boost


FRESH investment is being made at Leeds Castle. Improvements are being made to


the kitchen that serves the visitor restaurant, and its education centre – an increasingly busy facility – will be doubled in size.


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downsmail.co.uk


Firm tracks your phone to analyse how you shop


BUSINESSES in Maidstone town centre are being urged to embrace mobile phone tracking to keep pace with online shopping. Tracking software is now avail-


able which can monitor shoppers’ movements and habits. The data gathered can be used by retailers to counter shoppers’ drift away from town centre stores to the comfort of their computer. The systemwas trialled in Maid-


stone on Black Friday in November – supposedly the busiest day for bargains prior to Christmas – on behalf of Maidstone Council and Maidstone Town Centre Manage- ment. By tracking shoppers’ mobile phones, a company, Scout Solu- tions Ltd, was able to discover that 3,135 people visited the area be- tween McDonalds in Week Street, the bottom of Gabriel’s Hill, the High Street and King Street be- tween November 25 and December 8. The busiest days for unique visi- tors were November 28, December 2, 6 and 8. The busiest times were at about


noon and between 4pm and 7pm. The highest footfallwas in the area around The Mall and Gabriels Hill. A series of six nodes positioned in the townwas able to capturemo-


bile phone activity and also detect how many shoppers logged into Google, Facebook, Amazon and Twitter to potentially compare prices of goods for sale in shops. Town centre retailers could soon


take up the service to retain their market share. Scout Solu-


tions director Pete Hotchkiss (pictured) said: “Increasing numbers of people are making their purchases on- line. If high


street shops are to retain their share of the market, we need to encour- age people to buy in the high street.” The company can track shoppers


whose mobile phones are switched on. However, they cannot identify individuals nor any of the content on their phones – just their location


How do you feel about your mo- bile phone being tracked? Email stephen@downsmail.co.uk


Kent faces police bill for Operation Stack


KENT taxpayers are likely to have to foot the bill for the polic- ing of Operation Stack. Home Secretary Theresa May


was asked to use her discre- tionary powers to reimburse Kent Police for the additional costs incurred in 2015 – more than £570,000 – but the answer was a definite no. The county’s independent Po-


lice and Crime Commissioner, Ann Barnes, has spoken of her surprise and dismay at the deci- sion. She said: “‘Operation Stack is acknowledged as a national problem, and yet policing serv- ices in Kent have been put under strain to deal with it. Local tax- payers should not have to pick up the bill for the inability of others to solve the problem.” The request for the “reason-


able, additional costs” of £576,925.59 was sent to Mike Penning MP, Minister for Polic-


ing, Fire, Criminal Justice and Victims, on November 17 last year, seeking funding under the Home Office Special Grant Process. Mrs Barnes said: “I need to discuss with theHomeOffice, as a matter of urgency, about how we can take things forward from here to make sure that Kent Po- lice is not left carrying the can in the future. “It would seem from the


Home Secretary’s decision that should Operation Stack be called again the taxpayers of Kent will be unfairly expected to pay for policing it. This misery has been going on for years and will continue until we get a long-term solution. “It is simply not acceptable to


have to routinely divert police resources to cover Stack and for those extra costs to be borne by the taxpayers in Kent.”


Landlords quit


A COUPLE from Boughton Monchelsea – branded Britain’s biggest buy-to-let landlords – have moved out of the property market. It is understood that Fergus and


Judith Wilson, from Heath Road, have sold their portfolio of rental properties – thought to number nearly 1,000 – for more than £250 million to a foreign consortium. Mr and MrsWilson indicated last


year that they intended selling up and Fergus revealed he hoped to retire to write children’s books.


For more local news www.downsmail.co.uk Maidstone South February 2016


and usage. Analysing the data en- ables the company to eliminate multiple signals – so the 3,135 shopperswere individuals and not the same people identified in dif- ferent locations. Mr Hotchkiss said: “Data scien-


tists understand in minute detail how people use websites.We need to obtain insights into how people behave ifwe are to remain compet- itive. Data such as this can be used to reveal what are the busiest times, how often shoppers return to a par- ticular location and how long they spend in that environment. “We can also find out how many people are simply browsing, then ordering online via their phones – or possibly shopping later at home.” November 2015 was the eighth month in a row that shopkeepers had noted a decline in footfall and Black Friday shoppers were 3.4% down on the previous month. Tracking services can be com-


bined with Google analytics and other software, such as weather forecasts, to more accurately pre- dict and monitor trends.


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