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Little ones deserve better MailMarks


THE plight of four-and five-year-olds


faced with a 6am start to an 11-hour day to aend allocated Langley Park School has touched many hearts. Most expected to aend East Borough School, which is within easywalking distance of their homes. There are several very lile ones, including some from Vinters and Detling, who need to catch a bus to Maidstone at about 6.30am to pick up the Tenterden bus arriving at Langley at 7.41. An accompanying parent faces a nightmare there-and-back journey twice a day. And the fare will be £800 a year for both parent and infant. These are the early victims of Maidstone’s massive population growth, and with the borough’s Local Plan figure now set at an evidence-based 18,000-plus new houses to meet Government demands,we face infrastructure challenges of nightmare proportions not only on schools but on hospitals, GPs, other NHS services, social care and on our roads. It would be more comforting if Maidstone Council and Kent County Councilwere united in planning to meet these challenges, but they are set to be at each other’s throats when a Government inspector will consider many objections at a Local Plan public inquiry and decide if KCC has a case for a considerably smaller


Link road poorly planned


REGARDING the “link road” article in the May edition of Downs Mail, I make some observations. The traffic problemswithin 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 hasA229, A249,A20,A26 and local


roads all needing to enter the town to access their desired destination. The gyratory system is based on a roundabout that works so poorly that traffic lights are needed. The southern approach roads from


Suon 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 busyA roads joining together into Loose Road in two lanes. But then squeeze all the traffic into one lane atArmstrong Road – not a roundabout in site. Why are theA roads so busy? Because all


Contact our team ...


Simon Finlay Editor simon.finlay@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 231


34 Maidstone East July 2016 Diane Nicholls


Assistant editor diane@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 232


Jane Shotliff Journalist


jane@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 233


Dawn Kingsford


Journalist dawn@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 233


DENNISFOWLE President dfowle2011@aol.com


housing target. In the light of immense Government pressures it will not be an easy case to win. This friction is evident in the North Maidstone schools places horror story. KCC has a statutory duty to ensure sufficient school places and operates five- year rolling plans, updated annually, for relatively small areas. It says it identified pressure in Maidstone north, largely driven by new housing and inward migration, andwas grateful to East Borough Primary School for agreeing an additional reception-year class for 30 pupils. KCC points out the new Jubilee Primary


(Free) Schoolwas proposed to open for 60 pupils a year within Maidstone north. But the government funding agency determined it would be sited in Gatland Lane, serving MaidstoneWest planning group. Then Maidstone Council imposed a planning condition limiting intake to 30 pupils a year, reducing Maidstone’s primary school capacity at a time of very significant demand.


the through trafficwith a destination other than Maidstone has no option but to use theA roads 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. Itwill 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. A dual carriageway bypass from M20


Leeds via Langley, Loose, Barming and finishing at the M20will alleviate the problem within the town and villages like Leeds and Langley. There even seems to be enough farmland to do it without disrupting residential areas. It is up to the Kent County Council to organise and fund this and not put it off for another 44 years. The longer it takes the more difficult and disruptive itwill be. The


KCC says it is now looking at a permanent expansion of East Borough School to meet future demand. And sustained demand in Maidstone north has led to discussions with the Education Funding Agency over establishing a new free school in Maidstone north to provide long-term capacity. On the broader front KCC says it has


seen significant demand for school places arising from new housing developments in Maidstone. “In the absence of the borough council formally adopting a revised Local Plan it is difficult to plan for additional school places that may be required. Planning applications for development are likely to continue to be submied ahead of the Local Plan adoption, presenting further challenges to efficient provision planning. “It is imperative the borough council continues ongoing discussions with KCC in relation to education provision to ensure appropriate provision is accounted for over the short, medium and long terms and proposals where adequate provision cannot be provided are resisted.” So there is a big story behind these lile


ones’ horrendous school day. It stretches from the EU debate on immigration to the relationship between Maidstone and Kent councils and Government’s requirements in Maidstone’s Local Plan. The toddlers deserve beer from us.


borough council has stopped granting planning permission south of Maidstone to avoid adding to the traffic congestion. Too lile too late. Let us see how the new gyratory system improves things. If not, would the money have been beer spent on a bypass? Christopher Smith, via email


Puing up house prices


MAY I please make a response to county councillor Gary Cooke’s recent leer in the DownsMail about school places. Cllr Cooke refers to developer’s financial contribution relating to new housing developments. It is all verywell requiring developers to


make such financial contributions, but they only contribute to general house price inflation, since the developer will not pay out of the profits but will increase the sale price of the houses. Depending on the size of the


development and financial contribution required, this may notmake a substantial increase to the sale price, but will inevitably have some effect and mean that those house buyers are making a disproportionate contribution to something that ought to be shared more equally


Comment


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