This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
News


downsmail.co.uk Clamour to rethink local plan


MAIDSTONE Council has been given a clear mandate to look again at its controversial local plan. More than 300 people, mostly


from rural parishes, attended a pub- lic meeting called by the town’sMPs Helen Whately and Helen Grant to discuss the borough’s fate over the next 15 years. Many voiced their displeasure at


the council earmarking housing sites in the south and south east to help meet the borough target of 18,560 new homes between 2011 and 2031. Speakers from Otham, Headcorn


and Coxheath were among the manywhoclaim infrastructure is al- ready at breaking point and traffic flows unmanageable. There were accusations that the councilwas fail- ing to listen to residents’ views. However, head of planning Rob Jarman said there had been four public consultations since the process began in 2011. Cllr Marion Ring (pictured)was a


lone voice who spoke up for the urban area, beg- ging people to think about the high numbers of homeless people and about future generations who would need af- fordable housing.


She said therewere 462 homeless families in the borough and the numberwas increasing all the time. She asked: “Where will our grand- children live? As responsible peo- ple, we need to start putting things in perspective. This is not for us, but for future generations.” Although Mrs Whately, MP for


Mid Kent and Faversham, accepted there was a need for more housing, she questioned the sense of putting it in rural areas with already creak- ing infrastructure. The 11-strong panel, chaired by


radio presenter John Warnett, in- cluded analytics expert Dr Rebecca Driver, who has been instrumental in drawing up Headcorn’s neigh- bourhood plan. She argued the figureswere an as- sessment, not a projection and was critical of the council adding 1,000 to the consultants’ figures to improve housing affordability. She said: “There is no evidence that increas- ing the number of houses will im- prove their affordability.” Chris Dobson, who said he was


from the “soon-to-be-destroyed vil- lage of Otham”, said the traffic gen- erated by proposed developments in Otham would cause gridlock, while Headcorn resident John Marsh said he and his wife already avoided driving into Maidstone be- cause of the traffic congestion. He said: “People will find it im- possible to get into town and the economy will decline – and that will be Maidstone Council’s fault.” KCCremains at loggerheads with


the borough council over its inte- grated transport strategy, claiming the latest report focuses unrealisti- cally on cycling andwalking, when only 0.8% of the public actually used these forms of transport to get to work. With limited and unreliable pub-


lic transport, this figure was un- likely to suddenly escalate and the


increase in housing would see up to 50,000 more cars on the road. Maidstone Council leader Fran


Wilson said members had listened to many hours of representations from the public to reach this point. She said: “We live in a very diffi-


cult planning world.We can argue about whatwe would like to have – but it is not what we have. We are being developer led. We have to stop and take control of our own destiny. “It is not right to say we have


acted blithely. I wish the figures were not as they are, but I fear they are. I truly believewe are stuck.” By not getting a local plan in


place, the council would find itself in a far worse situation, she said. Panellist Matthew Balfour, KCC cabinet member for environment and transport, said KCCwas a con- sultee in the process, in the same way individual residents were, but stressed the housing numberswere only a target and constraints, such as lack of facilities and infrastruc- ture, could be applied to bring the figure down. KCChas suggested Maidstone re-


views its figures in 2020 in light of this. Paul Carter, leader of KCC, has


warned Maidstone could face a public inquiry if it did not bow to public pressure.


Review of figure is agreed


OF the 55 councillors who voted in January to put the draft local plan out to the final Regulation 19 public consultation which runs until March 18, 13 voted against. Four others were absent. One of them, Cllr Gordon Newton from Otham, proposed a mo-


tion at the end of the public meeting, held at the Maidstone Stu- dios, calling on the council to look yet again at the housing numbers. Itwas carried almost unanimously, with only a handful of dissenters.


‘Vanity project’ DR Felicity Simpson, from Thurn- ham, a long-time campaigner for CPRE Kent and a keyplayerinthe fight against the Kent Interna- tional Gateway proposal, was one of several people to op- pose the inclu- sion of Woodcut


Farm as a site for future economic development, describing it as the council’s “vanity project”. KCC Cllr JennyWhittle said itwas


a farce that the council had just fought a planning application against the Waterside Park devel- opment near M20 Junction 8, yet was proposing in its draft local plan a similar development on land close by.


Call for bypass CONSERVATIVE Leader Cllr Annabelle Blackmore called on KCC to work with the twoMPs to secure the necessary funding for a Leeds- Langley bypass. She said: “Let’s stop being nega-


tive and plan something positive.” County council leader Paul Carter


said: “Ifwe can find£55mfromthe Government and parishes, we might be able to do it in the next five to 10 years.” Keith Cook, director of Ecobuild


UK, said his company had been try- ing for two years to open a dia- logue with the council on a housing project on low-grade agricultural land near Kingsnorth, which would help fund a relief road in Leeds- Langley and begged: “Perhaps someone can contact me?”


A new look for The Mall GP service ‘outstanding’


WORK on Maidstone’s new-look Mall is now more than half way through. The £5m programme to modernise and refurbish the shopping cen-


tre began in June last year, the most obvious sign being the shiny new en- trance on King Street, sporting the definitive Mall brand. The Gabriel’s Hill entrance is due to be revamped in the spring. Internal pilasters have


been removed to give a more open-plan and un- cluttered appearance and work is ongoing on new flooring and lighting. Built in 1976, The Mall began life as the Stoneborough Centre, and


was rebranded as The Chequers Centre in the early 1990s. It is now part of Capital and Regional’s six-strong Mall portfolio.


18 Maidstone South March 2016


AGP surgery in SuttonValence has been rated outstanding following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). All GP practices are given a rat-


ing according to whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive andwell led. The services provided by Dr Michael Heber received the first outstanding rating for a GP service in Kent. The report noted that the practice worked closely with other organi- sations and with the community in planning how services were pro- vided, to ensure that they meet people’s needs. The practice implemented sug- gestions for improvements and made changes to the way it deliv-


ered services as a consequence of feedback from patients and from the patient participation group. Feedback from patients about


their carewas positive andwas sig- nificantly better than local and na- tional feedback. Ruth Rankine, deputy chief in- spector of general practice, said: “We found that Dr Michael John Heber is providing an outstanding service, particularly for people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. The surgery staff have demonstrated a real commit- ment to their patients. “All of this hard work pays off in making a difference for patients, which is why we have found this practice to be outstanding.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48