downsmail.co.uk
Cathedral’s new dean
A FORMER Bearsted curate has been made Dean of Rochester Cathedral.
The Reverend
Canon Dr Philip John Hesketh BD, AKC, PhD, served his curacy with Bearsted and Thurnham from 1994 to 1998.
He left the parish to become
vicar of St Stephen’s, Chatham, until 2005 when he was ap- pointed Canon at Rochester Cathedral. The Right Reverend James
Langstaff, Bishop of Rochester said: “Phil is alreadywell-known to the cathedral and wider commu- nity and I look forward toworking closely with him.” Dr Hesketh said: “The cathedral
faces enormous challenges and I amconfident that together under God we canmeet them.” Dr Hesketh is married to GP
Sugina and together they have three children. In his spare time, he enjoys entertaining, listening to music, reading biographies and keeping pigs.
Waste freighter service to be axed to cut costs
MAIDSTONECouncil’s Saturday waste freighter scheme is to be scrapped as part of a cost-cutting exercise across the borough. The council feels the service re-
sults in inequality as not all resi- dents, especially the elderly and disabled, can access it. The bulky refuse freighter, which
has been a regular sight in the vil- lages at weekends since it was started in 1991, costs £45,000 a year to run. It visits 99 sites across the bor-
ough on a 10-week rota and collects bulky items and household waste, such as old furniture and children’s toys, but will be withdrawn from the end of April. The service pre-dated the intro- duction of wheelie bins and recy- cling centres and was designed to help residents dispose of all types ofwaste, particularly bulky items. Over the past 10 years, the serv-
ice has been adapted to reflect the changing needs of the borough but monitoring has shown a steady de-
cline in usage, the borough envi- ronment committeewas told. Only 2,600 residents used the service in 2014, compared with more than 12,500 10 years ago. Last year, 300 tonnes of waste
was collected and sent to landfill as it could not be separated for recy- cling, which reduced the council’s recycling rate by 0.27%. “Small pockets of residents are benefiting from a service which is paid for by all taxpayers,” said the report to members. The council’s bulky collection service, which charges £23 to col- lect between one and four items and £33 for five to eight items, costs £68,500 a year to run but generates £80,000 and will continue. “The Saturday freighter service provides an inequality of service to Maidstone residents as it enables abled-bodied people to dispose of bulky waste free of charge; how- ever those who are unable to trans- port theirwaste would be required to pay for a bulky collection,” says
the report. “The Saturday freighter service
has also been found to be used fre- quently by commercial businesses that are unable to access Tovil HouseholdWaste Recycling Centre and would be required to travel to Sittingbourne to dispose of their waste responsibly.” The council plans to introduce a subsidy to the bulky collection service for those on low incomes, meaning they will only pay £16 for the removal of up to four items, which will be reviewed after six months. The council will urge residents to recyclewaste to charities and is also in discussion with Kent County Council to explore opportunities for accepting commercial waste at the council’s depot in Park Wood. Members heard that the with-
drawal of the service would sup- port the council’s waste strategy and have a positive effect on the borough’s recycling rate of about 0.2%.
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