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Passionate support for Brexit MailMarks
NOTHING in the almost 20-year history
of Downs Mail has aroused Maidstone pas- sions more than EU referendum since I rea- soned in March why I would vote Brexit. This is our last chance to reflect reader views before the big vote on June 23.
OUR family too was inspired by the Downs Mail to discuss Brexit and all three generations agreed we must vote Leave. We all suffer in Maidstone by massive population growth and serious deterioration in services and lack of in- frastructure. We too have an infant denied a place in three schools of choice and facing a nightmare and costly P.B., Maidstone
journey.
THE Government has broken its green belt pledges and insisted on appalling urban sprawl. Much of this is down to uncontrolled immigration. The impact on our lovelyMaid- stone area and pressure on services are im- mense. And if we vote to Remain in the EU it will get much worse. The National Trust is on the ball – and so must be all of us. Mrs B. Chalmers, Maidstone
IT SEEMS to me only voters (and foreigners) whowant us to remain in Europe are the priv- ileged protecting personal or business interests. They are protected from the awful impacts of the EU so damaging to the lives of the rest of us. I meet hardly a Maidstone resident who will vote to Remain and I trust the rest in
School commute shocking
IWAS sad to read of a singlemumwho is going to have to travel 5.3 miles to get her daughter to a reception class. I couldn’t believe that the bus that will
enable her to get her daughter to school on time leaves Maidstone at 06.34. That means that her daughter will have to get out of bed by 05.30 to be able to have her breakfast, get dressed and then catch the bus. How ridiculous is that? We are talking of a child that may still be
four years of age. Then after a hard day of learning, she will
have to repeat the journey to get home. What is the being that the first fewweeks of school will be mornings only?Willmumbe going backwards and forwards for that? Why on earth can’t a place be found in one
of her nearest schools? I understand theway school places are allocated, but I find it totally ridiculous that such a thing is happening to our children and families. Achild needs to be at school with their
peers who live in much the same area. The friendships they forge at school frequently continue after school. But not if they have travelled five miles just to get to school! I shall be following this story with interest.
Susan Priest, Lile BucklandAvenue, Maidstone
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30 Maidstone South June 2016 Diane Nicholls
Assistant editor
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Britain are with us. I have a feeling they are. M, Reed,Walderslade
I USED to travel out of rush hours to do my business in Maidstone. NowI despair because the jams so often last most of the day. And ex- perts warn me with all the housing planned Maidstone will just grind to a halt. It is almost impossible to fix timed business appointments in town. And yesterday I requested a doctor’s appointment and it is fourweeks away. What will happen formy children and grandchildren ifwe stay in the EU? Brian Coe – by email
THE Prime Minister cannot frighten us in to continuing with the frightening consequences of remaining in the EU. We have to leave to stand a real chance of regaining the Britainwe want and avoid a growth in the horrorswe cur- rently endure. We know they will get much worse by retaining membership of this unde- mocratic, expensive and troubled club. T Patel , Maidstone
I AGREE with readers in May Downs Mail – leaving the awful EU does not mean we are leaving our many European friends and will
Another great season
ASAlocal councillor, I would just like to congratulate everyone connected to Maidstone United for yet another very successful season. The club has done sowell since coming
back home to Maidstone and I feel the clubs success has put Maidstone itself back on the map. I amsure that I and the people of Maidstone will be wishing the club even more success next season now that Maidstone United have won deserved promotion to the National League. COYS. Cllr David Naghi, Maidstone
Link road poorly planned
REGARDING the “link road” article in the May edition of Downs Mail I make some observations. The traffic problems within Maidstone are
now at the same level as Guildford 35 years ago. Remember leaving home at 3am then going to theWest Country to get through Guilford before it became blocked with traffic?Well, Maidstone is the new Guildford. The problem is due to poor planning and under-investment in the county town. The town has A229,A249, A20, A26 and local
roads all needing to enter the townto access their
desireddestination.The gyratory system is based
not work and co-operate with them on signifi- cant issues. And all countries willwant to con- tinue to trade on sensible terms. I love Europe but not the ramifications of an anti-democratic organisation which tries to control us at im- mense financial and cultural cost. Mrs. J. Russell, Tonbridge
MYpassions for Brexit grow stronger by the day. I see June 23 as our Independence Day.
Unpredictable to the end
MAIDSTONE Borough Council elections remained predictably unpredictable until the very last vote was counted in Coxheath and Huntonward – giving LibDems’ Emily Fermor (23) a single vote victory over Conservatives’ Ron Leagas. The Lib Dems, UKIP and Labour ended the
day with smiles. The Tories needed probably to gain one seat for overall control. By losing two to the Lib Dems (22 seats) they remain the largest party (23 of the 55 councillors) but their influence on the council is diminished. Once again, Maidstone Lib Dems punched
above theirweight, but politicians from all par- ties offered other reasons. They said the EU vote dominated on the doorsteps and felt the vicious split in the Conservative party nation- ally, plus a loss of popularity for Prime Minis- ter David Cameron helped both UKIP and Lib Dems locally.
on a roundabout that works so poorly that traffic lights are needed. The southern approach roads from Suon
Road and Loose Road had a roundabout but thiswas replaced with traffic lights and nothingwas done to remove the problem. What is the problem here? It seems simple to me. Two busyAroads joining together into Loose Road in two lanes. But then squeeze all the traffic into one lane at Armstrong Road – not a roundabout in site. Why are theAroads so busy? Because all
the through traffic with a destination other than Maidstone has no option but to use the Aroads provided, that lead to the gyratory in the town centre. Creating local rat runs through housing
estates is not going to make the problem go away. It will just increase risk and disturbance in housing areas that should be free of through traffic. This is where our kids play! The M20 acts as a bypass for half the town,
but traffic that need to cross the river and go south of Maidstone is bringing the county town to its knees. AMaidstone bypass would allow the local
traffic in the town to move more freely by keeping the through traffic out of the town. But only if it is planned and implemented with care and thought for the future. Rat runs are not the answer.
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