News ‘Hurry up’ on


second school BOSSES in charge of funding a sec- ond primary school for Bearsted should “get on with it”, according to a local councillor. Kent County Council has identi-


fied a number of sites for the school, which is needed to meet growing demand for places. The decision to get a school in


place by 2018 lies with the govern- ment’s Education Funding Agency (EFA) which is resisting calls tomake a decision. Bearsted’s borough councillor


Mike Revell said: “It’s going very slowly. They should get on with it.” These are sentiments echoed by county councillor Jenny Whittle and MPHelen Whately,whohas been in touch with the EFAfor clarification. Mrs Whately fears that a Septem-


ber 2018 new build primary now seems “highly unlikely”. Downs Mail understands one of


the proposed sites is at Eclipse Park where there are seven acres of unde- veloped land. The Education Funding Agency declined to comment.


Driver in court


A DISQUALIFIED driver stopped on the M20 in his car while nearly three times the drink limit has been given a suspended jail sentence. Wojciech Uchronski (38), of Kings-


ley Road, Maidstone, admitted drink-driving, driving while banned and without insurance. He gave a breath test that showed


he had 92mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath on September 3. The legal limit is 35. Uchronskiwas sentenced to 84 days in prison, suspended for 12 months, banned from driving for 42 months and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work in the next 12 months. He must also pay £85 costs and a £115 victim surcharge.


Store takeover


TALKS of a takeover will please vil- lagers in Hollingbourne,whofeared for the future of their general store. There was concern that the store


and post office could close early next year, after Christopher Rudgard’s decision to retire after running the store in Eyhorne Street for 12 years. Mr Rudgard said: “Discussions


are taking place and I am hopeful that by the last quarter these will reach a satisfactory conclusion and the shop will continue under new ownership early next year.”


Bowlswelcome


AWELCOMEis on the mat for new- comers at a village bowling club. Grafty Green Short Mat Bowls


Club needs new members. The club meets at 2pm in the village hall and loan bowls are available. For details, call Chris Wheal on 01622 858100.


4 Maidstone East November 2016


downsmail.co.uk


Recycling bank removal will be ‘retrograde step’


SOUTHEASTERN has come under fire after removing community recycling bins from its station at Hollingbourne. The decision to evict the well-


used collection banks in Station Lane has angered villagers and the parish council, which has described the move as a retrograde step. It is under-


Cllr Mike Bedwell


stood that as well as a bottle bank, the Sal- vation Army and Barnardos were among the charities whose recepta- cles are to be given their marching or-


ders. Hollingbourne Parish Coun- cil chairman Cllr Mike Bedwell said: “These bins provided a val- ued service to villagers who have to wait a fortnight for their recycling to be collected or now need to trek


in to town to find a new home for their old clothes. “I am a big fan of providing


every opportunity to the public and charities to benefit from recycling and this is a backward step as far as I amconcerned.” A Southeastern spokesman maintained the bottle bank and re- cycling skips needed to be removed because of fly-tipping. She said: “They have become popular for the illegal dumping of house-hold rub- bish and the site is being cleared to reduce the risk of any accidents happening.” It follows similar decisions else-


where in the borough to remove re- cycling bins, including at Morrisons, on the Sutton Road, Leeds village and Kingswood. But Cllr Bedwell says Southeast- ern is mistaken if it thinks remov-


Chip shop boss in tribute to quake victim Matt


A BEARSTED fish shop is hoping that customers will ‘chip in’ to help raise money in memory of Matt Carapiet, who died in the Nepal earthquake last year. Matt (23), of Peverel


Drive, Bearsted, had been helping to build the Self Help Community Centre in Siem Reap while he was travelling around Asia in 2015. Following his death


last April, the Carapiet family raised more than £11,000 to help complete the school project and pay for furniture and fittings. Matt had enjoyed fish


and chips from his local chippie –Marino’s Fish Bar in Ashford Road – whose owner Donda Michaelis donated a day’s profits in September last year to the fund in his memory. The charity day raised


£2,000 towards the fund, and now Donda (pictured) is hoping that this year’s event on November 1 will be even more successful. He said: “I read about Matt in the Downs Mail and the story touched


a nerve. He was a young lad from Bearsted, and having four children myself, I thought it was so sad and I wanted to do something to help.” Donda will also be celebrating the 50th birthday of the family business which his father launched in the Midlands, beforemoving to Maidstone where he opened the area’s first Marino’s in The Broadway. The current site at Bearsted opened in 1989.


ing the bins will stop fly-tipping. He added: “Only this morning


there was glass, old videos and other rubbish down the lane and this has been made even worse by Southeastern’s street lights along this isolated road being out of ac- tion for more than amonth, leaving the area in darkness.” The parish council now under-


stands Southeastern will also need to remove the concrete base on which the bins stood, take down the fence and landscape the area and has been advised by Maid- stone Council that if the train com- pany fails to clear fly-tipping, it could be issued with an enforce- ment notice. Southeastern confirmed an engi-


neer had now been appointed to in- vestigate why the lights in Station Approach keep failing.


Bus firm in


safety move STAGECOACH has agreed to an- swer safety fears by introducing a request bus stop for Hollingbourne children. It follows pressure from the


parish council, parents and county councillor Jenny Whittle. The offer, which will run from December 5, after the county coun- cil said highway changes to theA20 carriageway would not be cost effi- cient or easy to introduce. It means the two 7.55am 10X services, will now negotiate theA20 roundabout twice, to pick up school children from the bus stop at Hollingbourne Corner, rather than students having to cross the busy road to pick up their buses to school in Maidstone and on the Tonbridge Road in the morning. Cllr Jenny Whittle said: “I am de- lighted that Stagecoach has agreed to tailor its 10X bus service to en- able secondary school pupils who use this service to be able to do so safely from now on. “This should give parents peace


of mind when their children board the bus in future.” Stagecoach has said the new arrangement will need to be kept under review and relies on drivers remembering the double move. However, Hollingbourne parish council is urging pupils and parents to help drivers remember and re- porting any failures to the bus com- pany.


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