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downsmail.co.uk Inspector agrees Local Plan


MAIDSTONE’SLocalPlan “is sound and capable of adoption”, according to planning inspector Robert Mellor’s final report.


MrMellor’s 71-page summary of-


fers little different to his interim findings of a few months ago. A small reduction in housing by 800-900 homes in Maidstone Bor- ough Council’s plan for 18,000 new houses by 2031 is the main change. A letter from MBC’s strategic planning department states: “The report concludes that subject to main modifications, the Local Plan is sound and is capable of adop- tion.” The report takes in the council’s responses toMrMellor’s indications after evidence heard at the public in- quiry last year. Mr Mellor said the council had


asked him to recommend main modifications necessary to allow the plan to be adopted. Following the hearings, the council prepared


Old pounds to help a hospice


HEARTof Kent Hospice is hoping to encourage people to donate their old £1 coins to charity before the familiar round pound ceases as legal tender on October 15. The Coins for Care campaign is


asking the public to empty their piggy banks, loose change jars, and lookdownthe backs of their sofas to support the 1,300 patients with ter- minal illnesses cared for by the Aylesford hospice each year. Chief executive Sarah Pugh said:


“We depend on the public every bit asmuchas they do on us, that’swhy we hope people will get behind the hospice and make their old £1 coins really count.” Supporters can donate their coins


at the Heart of Kent’s 14 charity shops; at the Heart of Flavour café in King Street, Maidstone, or by taking them into the Hospice in Aylesford. There will also be official collectors in FremlinWalk on September 9.


Knife curfew


A MAIDSTONE man has been placed under curfew for possessing a knife. Paul James Palmer (53) was sen-


tenced on July 7 at Mid Kent Magis- trates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to the offence. On June 16, Palmer, of St Philip’s


Avenue, had a lockable knife in Maidstone High Street. He was sentenced to 60 days in prison, suspended for 12 months, with a 90-day curfew to remain at home between 8pm and 6am daily. He must also pay £85 costs and a £115 victim surcharge.


8 Maidstone September 2017 Ramblin’ fans brave the weather


MORE than 20,000 rock fans faced heavy showers with a smile to watch bands including Saxon, Extreme and ZZ Top at the controversial Ramblin’ Man Fair in Mote Park. This was the first year the event


has been held over three days (Friday-Sunday), with four stages offering back-to-back bands, including Finnish country band Steve 'n' Seagulls. It is the third year the festival has


been staged in Maidstone. Music fans travelled to the event


from as far afield as Freemantle in Australia, the Orkney Islands and one woman who came from Glasgow specifically to see Saturday night country headliner KennyWayne Shepherd. Organisers were forced to


respond to complaints in 2016 about excessive noise. Residents around Mote Park were incensed


Festival-goers came from all over the world to Mote Park in Maidstone for the Ramblin’ Man Fair, with many dressing for the occasion. Pictures: Andy Archer


they could not get through to a complaints hotline specially set up to deal with noise-related problems from the venue. Walkers in the King’sWood, near Chegworth, and residents at Harrietsham said they could hear the bass and drum sections clearly. One local who complained loudly last year wasMote Park resident


VictoriaWallace, the former chief executive of Leeds Castle which is a venue formajor concerts and fireworks displays. This year, early reports suggest there were fewer complaints. Maidstone Borough Council


leases the venue to the organisers of the festival. It is set to return next year.


schedules of the proposed modifi- cations and carried out sustainabil- ity appraisal of them. Under the sections for “housing


need and supply”, he says “the ob- jectively-assessed housing need is reduced and the backlog is to be ad- dressed over 10 years in order to smooth the trajectory with a further review of housing needs to form part of the intended review of the Local Plan as set out in the submit- ted plan but with a target adoption date brought forward to April 2021”.


Housing allocation at New Line Learning and Boughton Lane are deleted because of traffic worries; Lenham’s house-building is to be determined by the Neighbourhood Plan or in the Local Plan Review and there will be a reduction in housing


at the Invicta Barracks site in Maid- stone. On Woodcut Farm, Mr Mellor


states: “Modifying the policy for the strategic employment site at Wood- cut Farm to reduce its impact on the landscape and on heritage assets whilst safeguarding office provi- sion. Modifying policy for employ- ment development in economic development areas in the country- side and for development involving the expansion of existing rural busi- nesses.” OnYalding, he says: “Remove the residential and employment alloca- tion at the former Syngenta Works in Yalding for reasons of flood risk whilst retaining a policy to allow for other uses that can be shown to be compatible with that location.” Resident and long-time critic of


the council, Keith Young said: “Valuable lessons must be learned from the sad mistakes they have ploughed on with, right up to the final version. “All in all, a disgraceful waste of


public effort and ratepayers’ money that will wreak havoc on Maidstone for the next 20 years and will be re- gretted far longer as we sink under a blanket of unsustainable new housing, largely where it is not needed at prices the vast majority of homeless ornewly working families cannot possibly afford to buy or rent.”


County Cllr Gary Cooke said: “It’s


a missed opportunity in the sense that it doesn’t have at its heart an in- tegrated transport strategy for a re- lief road (for south Maidstone) at the soonest opportunity.”


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