News


Armed forces remembered


A MOVING act of remembrance formed the focal point of the first Armed Forces Day event in Sutton Valence.


Organised by the Sutton Valence


and District Branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL), the eventwas held in the village hall and grounds due towetweather. The RBL was supported by the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) from Sutton Valence School. Deputy Lieutenant of Kent Sir


Hugh Robertson welcomed guests and was supported by the vice- chair of Kent County Council, Cllr Keith Brazier, and Deputy Mayor of Maidstone Malcolm Greer. Branch chairman Mike FitzGer-


ald was presented with a cheque for £500 from the school by Head of Corps Edward Simmonds, in recognition of the work done by the Royal British Legion.


Charity ride sucess


A GROUP of Maidstone cyclists have raised more than £4,000 for a bone cancer charity in a 100-mile charity ride. On Saturday, June 4, Lee God-


dard, Darren Heathfield, Simon Rhodes, Danny Bastone, Shane Collier, Paul Carpenter, Lewis Young and Alex Ogilvy, all from Maidstone, took on the South Downs bike ride challenge. They completed the Winchester


to Eastbourne route in 15 hours and 30 minutes and had Mick Jones and James Day on hand as their support team. So far they have raised more than


£4,000 for Bone Cancer Research Trust and CLIC Sargent, in mem- ory of Tom Clarke who died from cancer, age 29. Their fundraising page is: uk.vir- ginmoneygiving.com/ team/Clarkey


Dan’s gift of life


MORE than £9,000 was raised for Bearsted-based organ donor char- ity the DanielWiltshire Foundation at a glittering ball held at The Great Danes Mercure Hotel, Maidstone. The Shakespearian-themed Mid- summer Night's Ball attracted more than 120 guests, and featured celebrity “butler to the stars” Ren- field, and an auction including a di- amond necklace and personalised jewellery, Premiership football and O2 concert tickets, and a London theatre stay. The event was the major fundraiser of the year for the Daniel Wiltshire Foundation, the charity set up in memory of the 39-year-old Kent actor who died in 2014 of a brain haemorrhage. In line with his wishes, four of Daniel's organs were donated fol- lowing his death, including one to a patient who had been waiting six years for a transplant.


8 Maidstone East July 2016


Pupils tak- ing part in the life- saving workshop at Invicta- Grammar School


Invicta’s life-saving transition lessons


MAIDSTONE schoolchildren enjoyed the opportunity to learn life saving first aid skills as part of a transition programme into secondary school.


Around 30 Year 5 students (aged nine to 10 years old) from nearby pri- mary schools attended the workshop at Invicta Grammar School. T


The school’s transition programme is designed to give local children a chance to get to know the school environment, enabling them to feel at homemore quickly when they potentially join Invicta Grammar at 11 years old.


The workshop provided by St John Ambulance involved a one hour taster session on first aid.


downsmail.co.uk


Green space is there for enjoyment of all


DISGRUNTLED dog owners have been trying to trash attempts to make one of Bearsted’s pretti- est public places safe for all. The Bearsted Woodland Trust,


which manages the 26 acres of public open space, relies on dona- tions and the work of volunteers to keep it an attractive place for everyone to enjoy. Two years ago, the trust decided


to make two separate sections of the space – one where dogs must be kept on a lead and the other where they can roam free. The decision followed com- plaints about the open space be- coming dominated by dogs and loose dogs being a nuisance to vis- itors. It was also an attempt to ap- pease both parents whose children could be frightened by bounding animals and dog owners whose pets are less than sociable. Trust chairman and treasurer Richard Ashness said: “Alarge ma- jority of our members want to be able to visit our beautiful green space, confident that they will not have a bad experience with dogs. “Although only a few owners


allow their dogs to misbehave, the onlyway to ensure this is to ask all owners to keep their dogs on a lead on a part of our land.” Mr Ashness said it was unfortu-


nate that the selfish minority was spoiling matters for the majority. A survey of BWT members


showed 3-1 to be in favour of the dogs on leads policy. But a deter- mined few dog walkers continue


The signs put up by BearstedWoodland Trust which have been vandalised


to flout the rules and have van- dalised signs put up around the trust, indicating which parts are designated for what. “Since the publication of the


2014 survey results, we have con- sulted dog walkers but have not received any proposals that would resolve this issue, other than a dogs on leads zone. “However, our request that dogs


be kept on a lead on 40 per cent of Trust land has been widely ig- nored,” said Mr Ashness. Dogs are allowed off their lead


on more than half the land – in- cluding the wide open space of Moore Meadow. But owners are asked to re-


strain their pets near the chil- dren’s play area and in the western


end of


the trust, closest to Church Land- way. The trust recently installed


costly new fencing and gates to segregate Church Meadow and create an off-leads avenue from the church car park down to the lake. However, the vinyl signs have


been smashed and ripped throughout the ‘red’ on lead area. Maidstone Council has decided


not to put in place a Public Space Protection Order, which would have permitted enforcement action to be taken, but the Trust is ex- ploring the scope for the BWT to be considered as a special case. In the meantime, the Trust hopes people will see sense and conform. “The volunteers who manage


the Trust in the interest of the whole community hope they will be joined by the rest of the com- munity in condemning this anar- chy and make it clear to the offenders that their behaviour is unacceptable. The team is deter- mined to find a solution.”


Call for action on flytipping


FLYTIPPERS have dumped piles of rubbish next to recycling bins at Station Lane, Hollingbourne. The parish council said it had re-


ceived reports about the mess, in- cluding wood and builders’ rubble, along with more waste left at Ringlestone, and had asked Maid- stone Council to take action. The recycling area is on Network


Rail land next to the Wealden Homes development. The site has been the focus of a long-running dispute between Maidstone Coun- cil and the parish council over who is responsible for clearing it up. However, the parish council said


it is clearly marked as being the re- sponsibility of Maidstone Council. Residentswere reminded to report street cleaning problems to the bor- ough council on itswebsite.


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