News Jewellery and


guns stolen POLICE have appealed for infor- mation after watches and firearms were stolen from a home in Alling- ton on Christmas Eve. The burglary is reported to have


taken place at a home in Nightin- gale Road, off the A20, between noon and 9pm. Three luxurywatches, some jew-


ellery and three shotguns are re- ported to have been taken. Officers are conducting numer-


ous enquiries and would like to hear from anyone who believes they might have witnessed any- thing suspicious in the area at the time.


Anyone with information is


asked to call Kent Police on 01622 604100 quoting YY/29146/16. Alternatively, they can call Kent Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.


Road closure


WORKS to an M20 bridge have shut a Leybourne road for a fort- night. It affects the A228 Castle Way, Leybourne, at junction 4 of the M20 where the overbridging is being widened. The east section running south-


bound from Snodland to Ley- bourne will shut from 9pm to 5am during the week and from 8pm to 6am on the weekends. The work is expected to run until January 24. Drivers are being advised to use LeybourneWay, New Hythe Lane, and the A20 London Road, while motorway traffic should continue to junction 5, thenwestbound back to junction 4 and onwards.


Concert fund


A CHRISTMAS concert by the Detling Singers raised nearly £300 for Maidstone Mencap. The charity thanked everyone


who helped towards the success of the event at Cobtree Hall,Willing- ton Street. Fundraiser Ann Tutte said: “The singers waived their fee to help us, and the Larkfield Active Retire- ment Association (LARA) gener- ously supported the event with a donation which helped us to reach this total. They also made up the majority of the audience. A big thanks goes to them.”


downsmail.co.uk


Lack of school parking brings call for answers


OUR story about the lack of park- ing outside schools has prompted more calls for answers to Ton- bridge and Malling Council’s chief executive Julie Beilby. Downs Mail highlighted the high-


ways issue, which residents say is made worse by pupils being awarded school places miles from home.


Snodland mother Lorraine Har-


vey criticised parking officials who, she claims, target parents taking children to St Katherine’s School. Her argument and the lack of parking in the area has found some sympathy with Tonbridge and Malling MP Tracey Crouch, who has written to the TMBC chief. However, thisweek Carol Buffini has also sent off a letter to the bor-


MPTracey Crouch


ough’s chief executive, stating the case for residents forced to tolerate the transport chaos being caused outside schools. She has lived


close to the Snod- land school for 20 years and believes that issuing tick- ets to parentswho ignore the yellow lines in her close is the onlyway to manage the situa-


tion. In her letter, she blames local au- thorities for making the problem worse, with the expansion of St Katherine’s by 200 pupils in recent years and the addition of a pre- school, without any provision for


parking. She says: “We have never had all this chaos in a small close like ours, and expected to live out our old age and retirement in peace.” She accuses both the borough and county councils for having “the gall” to suggest the problem is noth- ing to do with them, adding: “It has everything to do with them because they are not doing their job properly to control all this parking and could- n’t care less.” She suggests a positive solution


would be to use the land behind Holmesdale School and create a new school entrance off Hollow Lane to ease the parking problem. But, she added: “I expect they are hoping to sell it to build on, which is more lucrative.”


Urgent repairs


to All Saints ALL Saints’ Church in Snod- land, which, as reported previ- ously in Downs Mail, is on the English Heritage “at risk” reg- ister, has been temporarily closed.


The Rev


Hugh Broad- bent, Rector of Snodland (pic- tured),


ex- Good rating for childminder


A CHILDMINDER fromSnodland is celebrating a good Ofsted report – while preparing towelcome her own baby into the world. Jennifer Ellis (27) will be taking a brief break fromdoing the school run to


look after her first child, which is due this month. Her childminding service is certainly a family affair; she runs it with the


help of hermumRuth Orridge, and itwas this that helped convince the government inspector to give her a good rating. Inspector Mary Vandepeer praised Jennifer on her training and the


strong attachments built with the youngsters in her care, adding: “Jennifer continually supervises their play and listens to, and respects, what they have to say. This helps children feel valued.” Jennifer said: “Iamso pleased with the outcome of the report aswe


have all worked really hard. It’s been the perfectway to end the year, especially with the imminent arrival ofmy baby boy. “I would to thank all the children and their parents for their continued support, along with that ofmy family.”


Cars and windows damaged in town


KENT Police are investigating re- ports of criminal damage taking place across Snodland over the Christmas and New Year period. Parked vehicles across the town


are said to have had wing mirrors damaged and tyres slashed or let down in a string of incidents be-


20 Malling January 2017


tween December 19 and January 5. In some cases, the windows of


cars and nearby houseswere both said to have been smashed. Reports were received from streets including Saltings Road and RecreationAvenue. Police are urging anyone that


hasn’t reported similar incidents to do so on 101 and say they are following a number of lines of en- quiry.


Anyone with information is


asked to call 01622 604100 or Kent Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111


plained that the church received a development grant of £25,100


from the Heritage Lottery Fund in December 2015 to work out plans for a major project of ur- gent repairs. He added: "Thanks to the generosity and support of the local community, the project planning phase has been going extremely well and the church will, hopefully, be able to pro- ceed with the project in 2017. “All Saints will now be closed temporarily, until essential re- pairs have been completed, and all services will now take place at Christ Church, Malling Road, until further notice." The investigations carried out


at the church in August as part of the development stage led to the discovery that stonework on the tower and above the chan- cel arch is in a much poorer state of repair than originally anticipated. The report issued in thewake


of the investigations stated that there is a risk of falling cement and plaster and possibly even stones.


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