Four editions delivered to over 88,000 homes every month Maidstone Town Edition Maidstone Town Edition
downsmail.co.uk
Maidstone & Malling’s No. 1 newspaper
FREE Maidstone Town | Maidstone East | Maidstone South | Malling Crowds enjoy
show sunshine THE Kent County Show enjoyed fine weather and bumper crowds at the showgrounds in Detling. More than 80,000 visitors, over 3,000 up on last year, attended one of the county’s biggest events. Competitors, stallholders and businesses came from across the country but had the usual big local presence.
Among those were Jo Shan, of
Staplehurst, and Ken Shelton, of Aylesford, pictured, who represented the Mid Kent Fuchsia Group, which meets in Maidstone. Ken said: “It has been a wonderful show.” More pictures, see page 18
Business as usual for traders after EU vote
TRADERS and business leaders in Maidstone say it’s business as usual in the wake of the Brexit referendum result, with some retailers reporting that trade has never been better. While national chains might be
facing tougher times for a range of reasons, independent retailers in the town say they have experienced no dip in consumer confidence after the UKvote to leave the EU. Among them is school outfitter
Sam Page, who said that her Pud- ding Lane business is so successful that she is taking on extra staff to cope with demand. She said: “We are doing better than ever and I can’t see how that could be affected by Brexit.”
Philippa Cheasman, who has run her upholstery firm in Market Build-
ings for eight years, believes that Brexit could bring new benefits for businesses everywhere. She said: “Post-Brexit, I amvery optimistic. In the short term, we have plenty of work. Brexit is something that I think, in the long run, is going to be good for all of us.” However, Simon Burton, who
runs Home Media in Union Street, said itwas too early to tellhowretail would be affected but felt that a po- tential drop in interest rates could have a positive effect. One Maidstone and the Chamber of Commerce say it’s very much
business as usual in the town with traders taking a positive stance. Ilsa Butler of the town centre partnership One Maidstone said: “It seems that the general view is that retail busi- nesses don’t expect to be affected at this stage given that theEUnegotia- tions are still to take place.” She added that in the long term, there could be developments in terms of import costs and the position of the pound. Roger Keech of the Chamber of Commerce said: “It’s absolutely business as usual for Maidstone.” See page 8 for special report
Prison drug woe
01622 690290 YOUR LOCAL PROPERTY EXPERT
maidstone@martinco.com 23 Pudding Lane • Maidstone • Kent
MP HELEN Grant has voiced con- cerned about the dangerous use of synthetic drugs, or “legal highs”, in Maidstone Prison after a shocking new reportwas published by an in- dependent monitor.
28 August 2016 No. 232 News Pre-school to close?
A POPULAR pre-school may have to shut with the loss of nine jobs after landlords served it with a notice to quit. 3
Hospital road chaos
THE county council is under pres- sure to remove new traffic lights.
Heatwave water con
BOGUS water officials are using a scam to con residents out of valuables.
4 McDonald’s clean-up
STAFF from the fast food giant have taken part in a riverside clear-up. 6
Langley house fury
THREE more housing develop- ments have got the nod near Langley Park. 10
Ukip eyes up seats
UKIP is gearing up for a head-on clash at next year’s county council polls 26
Obituaries Comment
30 32
Crime Reports 42
A GARDEN gate was stolen from a house in Loose.
4
Market successes
THE new Farmers’ Market has proved to be a success with dozens of stallholders taking part in Jubilee Square. For more, see the Maidstone Council-sponsored 12-page Borough Update inside.
01622 880840
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56