downsmail.co.uk Concern over ‘rise’ in fly-tipping


A PERCEIVED increase in fly-tipping has been blamed on Maidstone’s withdrawal of the bulky freighter service.


The service, which visited 99


sites across the borough on a 10- weekend cycle, was gradually being withdrawn during April, with the final collection taking place on May 14, in a bid to save the council £40,000. But its phasing out coincided


with a sharp rise in reports to the media of fly-tipping – from sofas and beds in Bearsted and Barming, to TVs and timber near Vinter’s Valley Nature Reserve. Steve Songhurst, warden at Vin-


ters Valley, managed to put some of the dumped timber to good use, building a new bird box. He said: “Waste not want not! I


hope the council managed to lo- cate the fly-tipper and dump the stuff back on the fly-tipper’s own property.” Maidstone Council admitted


there were a total of 56 fly-tipping incidents reported to its environ- mental health department in the space of just one week. However, there were 55 inci-


dents reported in the same week last year, indicating that the with-


drawal of the service was uncon- nected. A council spokesman said: “Al- though therewas a high profile in- cident at Barming, the year-on-year figures for that week are virtually identical – 56 this year as against 55 for that same time last year. “The freighter service has not yet


ended and we are currently going through the last cycle.” A collection of sofas were dumped in a layby in Hockers Lane, Bearsted – items which would previously have been put in


Twice I have offered to help collect things


for the raffle, stalls or anything else and in my second leer I almost wrote the leer kneeling down to beg for the fete to be where it used to be, at the back of Bridge MillWay. Over the years, the residents have been


going to the fete and as most of the elderly people have expressed a desire to have it in our area I would like it to be here. Alas, it seems that since the church and


school have gone, Old Tovil is not important any more. Originally the villagewas around Church


Street, Church Road, Tovil Hill and Farleigh Hill, where all the shops and public houseswere. Sadly, the locals have nearly all vanished and in the lower Tovil areawe have no recreational facilities. I hope the council will read this and if


they have not decided where to have the fete, maybe it could be in our area again. Pauline Durant, Flood Hatch, Maidstone


Crossing will affect traffic


Dear Sir – I note from your recent edition that Maidstone Council has given a view on the Lower Thames Crossing, secure in the knowledge that it "will not affect the borough in any way". May I suggest that this is totally naive.


The scheme is being located in such a position to cater for traffic from the south east – in this case mainly Europe – travelling to the north and being able to avoid the congested Dartford Crossing. This will mean a substantial volume of


traffic including large lorries using junction 6 of the M20 to leave the motorway via a tight slip road, queue to enter and then use


The dumped timber and right, the bird boxmade by warden Steve Songhurst


the bulky freighter. A large amount of rubbish was dumped in East Hall Road, Boughton Monchelsea, and an as- sortment of household items, in- cluding a mattress and bedstead were dumped outside the playing fields in Chart Sutton.


Running Horse Roundabout, travel under the motorway then up to the next roundabout before joining the A229 to climb up Blue Bell Hill. At the top these vehicles have to join the


M2 via an even more complicated junction, where there is already regular congestion. Although the return journeys are a lile less complicated, the changed traffic paerns will still affect the local highway system, much of which is within the borough of Maidstone. By all means support the Lower Thames Crossing, but the council should be campaigning for improvements to the junctions I describe to avoid imposing delay and danger on residents. John Payne


Dispute over blood tests


Dear Sir – I recently called the Stocke Lane surgery in Coxheath for a blood test, requested by the hospital, and for another in connection with my diabetes. Iwas told by the receptionist that the surgery no longer co-operated with the hospital in taking blood. I pointed out that Iwas a patient of the surgery and that they had been taking tests for the hospital to monitor my condition every three months for over a year. After some argument the receptionist agreed that the surgery would take my blood on this occasion but not in future. On aending the surgery, I enquired as


to the reason andwas told that a lady with suspected scarlet fever had aended the surgery, but as the blood for the laboratories had already been collected she was directed to the hospital as itwas


Parish councillor Valerie Under-


down warned: “It is obvious that someone has been clearing out a house and rather than do the de- cent thing and go to the tip, they have taken the easy option to let someone else clear up after them.” She issued a word of warning to anyone considering hiring the services of a house clearance com- pany too. “House clearing is a legitimate business but, as with all busi- nesses, there are good and bad. “Make sure you use a reputable company and you know where they are situated – don’t give your property away to just anyone who knocks at the door. “If your possessions are subse- quently dumped by a rogue trader and there is anything on them to denote where they have come from, it is you who will be prose- cuted, not the person who dumped them.”  Tell us your experiences of fly tipping in your area. Contact us at 01622 734735 or at info@downs- mail.co.uk


considered that the maerwas urgent. The hospital refused to take the lady’s blood for analysis and so the Coxheath surgery and possibly others had decided not to co- operate with the hospital. Two elements of the same NHS service


seem to be at loggerheads with each other. What is the point of having a single health service if they behave like this. Can it really be a question of cost? If so, surely it is cheaper for the surgery to carry out the taking of blood rather than have two appointments. Why should patients be inconvenienced because a surgery and the hospital are in dispute? Surely there is a mechanism by which they can resolve such issues without involving patients? The results of the blood tests are recorded at the surgery and are also received by the hospital doctor, so why is it necessary to have a blood test at the hospital when it can easily be taken by the visiting phlebotomist? Colin Trelfer by email


GP practices in west Kent do not routinely carry out blood tests ordered by the hospital and never have. In Maidstone and Malling, practices have a visiting phlebotomist to come in and take blood test samples that the GPs require. The person ordering the test is responsible for interpreting the result – so, in the case of a test ordered by the hospital, it will be the hospital doctor who needs to see the result and communicate with the patient and GP.


Response by Dr Andrew Roxburgh, diagnostics, pathology and phlebotomy clinical lead for NHSWest Kent Clinical Commissioning Group


Maidstone Town May 2016 41


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