News Gallery space


in flood home Continued from page one


YaldingArt Group will work in the shared space duringAugust, when visitors will be able to see the artists at work – and maybe even join in – from 10am to 12.30pm each Thursday. Tim said: “Our


Artist Cheryl Johnson


aim is to support the community of Yalding and enable us to have other like-minded peo- ple supporting us.


“The Gallery opens on to the


River Beult and can be seen from the grade I medieval bridge atYald- ing, making it an ideal location to attract visitors.Yalding is a popular tourist destination and we want to attract even more visitors.” “We plan to exhibit all forms of


art from traditional paintings to sculpture and photography andwe will work with artists to hang and present their work in the best way to encourage sales.” The couple have set up a face-


book page – Riversidepopup- gallery – which contains details of all forthcoming exhibitions. If you are interested in exhibiting


in 2017, email chapman.tim@btin- ternet.com


downsmail.co.uk


Road changes designed to improve traffic flow


COUNCILLORS have agreed a se- ries of measures designed to im- prove traffic flows in the Loose Road corridor. They include lane marking changes to Upper Stone Street and Sheals Cresecent; alterations to lane allocations at the junction of Loose Road andArmstrong Road; and the relocation and removal of some bus stops. Two lanes of traffic heading from


Upper Stone Street into Sheals Crescent will be given priority and the “giveway” sign removed. Three lanes will be created on


Loose Road for southbound traffic between Sheals Crescent and Arm- strong Road and one for north- bound vehicles and a pedestrian crossing will be created. Traffic modelling surveys show


that this should improve overall ca- pacity by 5% in the morning rush hour and 6% in the evening. However, a controversial attempt


to close the exit of Cranborne Av- enue at the Wheatsheaf junction to ease traffic flows has been thrown out again – more than 40 years after


being first mooted. Shepway resident Don Bates pleaded with the town’s Joint Transportation Board to retain the status quo – as he did in the 1970s. More than 500 people signed a petition opposing the closure, which was rejected by the bor- ough’s strategic planning commit- tee in December. However, it resurfaced as part of


the town’s integrated transport strategy for easing traffic flows along the A229 Loose Road corri- dor.


Mr Bates, from Marion Crescent,


said that while he sympathised with both Maidstone and Kent councils over the long-standing bottleneck at the Wheatsheaf, he did not believe closing the exit of Cranborne Avenue would make any difference, as vehicles would simply emerge from PlainsAvenue, or other streets in the vicinity. At the February meeting of the


JTB, Brian Clark, Lib Dem county councillor for Maidstone South, ex- pressed disappointment that resi- dents and Maidstone councillors’


concern had not been taken into ac- count in the preparation of the strategy. He proposed that the con- troversial plan be removed from the A229 package. Following debate, the committee unanimously agreed with Cllr Clark’s proposal. Cllr Marion Ring told officers at


Kent Highway Services: “The resi- dents do not want it shut off and you cannot go against all these res- idents’ wishes. You have to find a different solution.” Cllr Clive English, who said he considered the package to consist of only “minor” and not “signifi- cant” improvements, said: “There is not much merit in improving one road while simultaneously disim- proving others!” Cllr Clark said: “I was very dis- appointed to see this scheme on the papers after it had been unani- mously rejected in the local plan discussions at Maidstone Council. Now that councillors from both Maidstone and Kent County Coun- cils have rejected the closure plan, it really is time to move on.”


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