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AN ambitious plan to develop 100 hectares at Detling, including its war-time airfield, is creating a battle of its own.
While some say Quinn Estates’ proposal for a “garden village” would tidy the site, and a new roundabout would improve access to the showground, neighbours and parish councils argue that the A249 is already at over capacity and can take no more traffic. Stockbury and Detling parish councils oppose the plan, but Thurnham will decide when the application is in. Quinn Estates says the plan will
be submitted to Maidstone Bor- ough Council this month and states its proposed traffic light-controlled gyratory for Sittingbourne-bound traffic, with a filter lane for Maid- stone, has satisfied highways offi- cers and proved itself in practice in Ascot. But Stockbury vice chairman Phil
Wood said: “The details of Quinn’s plans are almost irrelevant as they would be bound to change over the 10 to 15 years it would take to build.” As well as more than 1,000 homes, the development includes 650,000sqft of commercial space, a hotel, community centre, shop, a two-form entry primary school and playing fields on the former point- to-point field alongside Bimbury
Lane and the A249. Cllr Woods said: “The site is within a designated Area of Out- standing Natural Beauty, and with- out a substantial upgrade along the length of the A249 from J7 to the M2, and the re-modelling of both junctions, the road cannot cope with the additional traffic.” He shares the concerns of those
living in Bimbury Lane and fears country lanes in the area would be- come rat runs for drivers trying to dodge queues at Junction 5. Cllr Woods added: “We have
been assured by MBC that it re- mains politically opposed to the de- velopment and officers have stated that they have no need for addi- tional land for housing.”
Guns given up in amnesty
MORE than 100 guns have been handed in to Kent Police during a two week firearms amnesty. A total of 104 guns, both replica and live, were surrendered by weapon holders across the county alongside 24 separate surrenders of live ammunition. The firearms handed in included 29 pistols, 28 shotguns, nine revolvers and six rifles . The surrender
of these unwanted items means that they can be safely disposed of, ruling out the chance of them falling into the wrong hands. The amnesty
ended on Friday, November 11. Detective Chief Superintendent Rob Fordham said: “We are very pleased with the response this amnesty has received and I would like to extendmy thanks to all those who handed in their firearms and ammunition. “Although this two-week surrender has now finished, we are happy to
accept unwanted items from weapon-holders at all times. “If there are firearms holders out there who have an item they wish to
surrender I advise them to contact 101 for advice, or to arrange collection from an officer from Kent Police. “The same goes for people in possession of replica firearms. There is
never a good reason to be in possession of a replica firearm in public. They can cause the same amount of fear and alarm on our streets as functioning firearms and can place holders in a significant amount of danger.”
32 Maidstone Christmas 2016 Jobs promise
MARK Quinn, managing director of Quinn Estates, said: “What we are proposing will unlock the po- tential of this site, creating over 2,000 jobs. “It will also pro-
vide homes and a solution to the problems that have plagued the A249.
“We welcome the opportunity
to discuss our projects with resi- dents as their comments and ideas make our developments better.”
Parishes against airfield homes Residents fear
traffic issues ABOUT 70 people turned out to a second public consultation at Detling village hall to question Quinn Estates on their proposals. The plans have been reduced in
size by 20% since the last consul- tation, and include awalkway be- tween the proposed estate to the White Horse Woods Country Park. Bimbury Lane resident Anne Ballard (72) was at the meeting. If the plan is approved, her home for the last 52 years will back onto houses and an industrial estate and look out on to a sports centre. She said: “I look out onto fields
in both directions and if this goes ahead I will spend the last of my days overlooking a building site.” She claims the “garden village”
will split the community, with neighbours neither belonging to the new development or the vil- lages of Stockbury and Detling. She says it will bury the historic airfield under concrete, and create an even greater death trap of the A249. She added: “With another 2,500
cars, as well as the lorries, it will be chaos on the roads and the area will be lit up like Kings Hill all through the night.”
Strike action by Arriva bus drivers is averted
STRIKE action by one of the area’s biggest bus companies has been averted – at least for now – after Ar- riva bosses agreed to further talks with union leaders. Bus drivers unanimously voted
for industrial action on November 25, but have been told by the com- pany that talks will continue. A spokesman for their union,
Unite, said:“We will be approaching these talks in a constructive manner in the hope of achieving a negotiated outcome.” The ballot was called in response
to Arriva Southern Counties plan to introduce a “mystery shopper” scheme todriveupcustomer service. The union claims this would be used to fire experienced drivers. Before the ballot a union
spokesman said: “Drivers who have never been trained in customer serv- ice and have been kept in the dark by bosses over the standard to which they will be secretly assessed, fear the scheme will be used to fire them rather than improve the service for passengers.” Unite is calling on bus company bosses to come clean about what se-
cret inspectors – due to sit in on routes “imminently” – will be look- ing for, provide more training and tackle the culture revealed in a re- cent survey that showed a quarter of bus workers at Arriva Southern Counties have been bullied. Unite regional officerDaveWeeks,
who represents members in Maid- stone, said feelings were running high and a vote for strike actionwas “strongly predicted at this stage”. He blamed changes in manage-
ment for a breakdown in communi- cation, but said a lengthy initial meeting with new MD Simon Loh had left members feeling more hope- ful.
MrWeeks said: “Mr Loh did seem
more willing to listen and remain open to ideas.However,manyof the old managers who brought this in remain, and it will be for Mr Loh to persuade them. If Arriva Southern Counties’ bosses are serious about driving up standards then they should bring in similar training to that which has been introduced on London’s buses and lift the shroud of secrecy from the ‘mystery shop- per’ scheme.”
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