News


Station lights to be fixed after nine months in dark


LET there be light! That’s been the hope of commuters using Holling- bourne railway station for over a year after the power went out on the street lights at the end of Sta- tion Road.


Hollingbourne Parish Council has


been speaking to interested parties in an effort to get the six lights fixed at the isolated station, near Eyhorne Street, for nine months. Cllr John Cobbett said: “We have


asked questions and sent letters and had Southeastern’s station manager from Maidstone out to talk to us, but there has been an issue with who is responsible for fixing them. “We have, however, maintained


that if they are broken there should be no need for deal-breaking over who is responsible for them, they should automatically be fixed in the interests of safety.” Following a call from the Downs


Mail thisweek, Network Rail apolo- gised for the delay in resolving the issue. It confirmed it will be fixing the fused lights and has asked engi- neers to start scoping the work. The spokesman agreed it could


AFTER a long period of missing A&E targets the local hospital trust recently hit the 95% four-hour tar- get for two successive days “show- ing excellent collaborative working over the winter period.” There has also been an improve-


ment in enabling hospital dis- charges. However, the cancer diagnosis


figure has fallen, and pressure on the NHS111 phone line service has meant some patients have been asked to call back during peak pe- riods.  Dr Bob Bowes, chairman of theWest Kent Clinical Commis- sioning Group, said there was real pressure on the system and their jobwas to help providers achieve the best they could under difficult circum- stances and


avoid blaming individual organi- sations.


Biker collision AMOTORCYCLISTwas injured in a crash with a car on the A20. The incident happened just be-


fore 3pm on April 25, between Charing and Harrietsham. The male riderwas taken to theWilliam Harvey Hospital in Ashford for treatment.


38 Maidstone East May 2017


Hollingbourne station opened on July 1, 1884, as part of the Lon- don, Chatham and Dover Rail- way’s extension of the line from Maidstone to AshfordWest. There was a goods yard on the


up side and five sidings, one of which served a goods shed and another a cattle dock. Freight fa- cilities were withdrawn on May 15, 1961. The signal box closed on April


14, 1984, and the station is now unmanned.


mean a new cable being fitted, but the work would be carried out promptly and should take aweek to 10 days. Cllr Cobbett said: “It has taken


nine months of messages to Net- work Rail and Southeastern Trains and one phone call from the local paper to get a result! Thanks Downs Mail.” The parish council has also had confirmation from Southeastern after it spoke up about the need to improve station access, particularly


to Platform 2, for the disabled. Southeastern says fitting a lift


would be too expensive, but it does operate a disability policy of paying for a taxi to the nearest accessible sta- tion to a passenger’s destination, when given advance notice. For full details visit www.south- easternrailway.co.uk/about-us/our- policies/disabled-persons-protection -policy. Disabled passengers book- ing assistance can also call the travel service number 0800 783 4524, or Textphone 0800 783 4548.


Pressure’s on Tudor Park’s free golf


A FAMILY Festival of Golf is being held at the Tudor Park Marriott Hotel and Country Club in Bearsted on May 14 – offering free use of its facilities for four hours. The event – from noon to 4pm –


will also feature the golf profes- sionals to give expert advice on driving, chipping and putting. A statement said: “Aswell as un- limited use of the golf academy practice facilities, families can have a go on the nine-hole putting green or test their skills with Tri-golf – a fun way of trying golf for begin- ners, especially children. All equip- ment and balls will be provided.” Pro Jason Muller said: “It is our mission to introduce the game of golf to people from a young age.


“We feel confident that once they


come along and realise that they can have fun, without any strict rules, they will catch the golf bug and hopefully carry on playing into adulthood.” The hotel’s professionals host


junior golf camps during the school holidays and have introduced a new order of merit scheme for jun- ior members with competitions in place throughout the year. Tudor Park will be hosting inter-


club competitions and there are plans to start its own league for the area. For more information on this and


the Family Festival of Golf on May 14, call the golf shop on 01622 739 412.


X-Factor star’s Big Day Out


X FACTOR star Louisa Johnson has been lined-up to headline the Big Day Out to be held in Maidstone in July.


The singer, best known for the hit


Best Behaviour, will take the stage at Mote Park on July 1. She announced the gig on Twitter, saying: “Big news! I’ll be headlining the @BigDayOutUK Festival in Maidstone this July! Can’t wait to see you all there.” Also on the bill are dance group Diversity, who won Britain’s Got


Talent, and girl bandAtomic Kitten, whohave Kerry Katona in their line- up.


Louisa (19) won the X Factor in


2015 after singing with mentor Rita Ora in the final. Simon Cowell hailed her as the


“best ever” act he had seen on the show.


Runners-up of that year’s show, Reggie ‘n’ Bollie, will also appear at the event, as will a tribute to 1970s rock band Queen. Tickets are £25.


downsmail.co.uk Heart aack


‘changed life’ A HEADCORN man who had a heart attack at the age of 43 is tak- ing on the Nightrider London cy- cling challenge to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation. Paul Turpin will pedal the city


streets on June 10 and 11 to high- light that heart disease can strike anyone at any time. The director of a London archi-


tects’ firm, Paul’s demanding life often led to anxiety. Last September, he woke up one morning with sudden chest pains from a heart attack and later had to have two stents inserted into his coronary arteries. Doctors advised lifestyle changes and as a result, he had to completely rethink his everyday life. Paul said: “When the doctor told


me I’d had a heart attack I fell apart for a minute or so. I thought ‘What the hell? Iwasn’t expecting this.’ “The hardest part of moving on


with my life has been to find away of coping with the pressures of my job so I don’t cause myself too much stress. “I have 25 years of professional


life left, so I need to completely change how I balance things. Find- ing my new normal is mentally re- ally difficult.”


Cost to coeliacs GLUTEN-free products, used by many with coeliac problems, may no longer be free on prescription. The decision will be made by


NHS West Kent Clinical Commis- sioning Group as part of its finan- cial recovery plan following a wide public consultation process. This showed 54% favoured the proposal with 46% against. A key objection was that it would be un- fair on lower income groups, re- moving an effective treatment option from a group of people with a life-long auto-immune disease, which has no cure. Gluten-free products/recipes are


now widely available in supermar- kets.


999 plans fail THE local NHS ambulance service is still missing targets, especially for reaching patients in most ur- gent need. After itwas rated inadequate and


put in special measures by the Care Quality Commission, SECAmb worked on two remedial plans. But the area’sWest Kent Clinical Commissioning Groups now say “insufficent assurance has been provided”. So now SECAmb has been issued


with a quality contract notice ex- ception report, outlining the areas of continued concern and the detail required to evidence improve- ments.


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