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downsmail.co.uk Local Plan vote to go ahead


COUNCILLORS will be free to vote on the adoption of Maidstone’s controversial and politically sensitive Local Plan later this month after the government decided not to intervene.


Maidstone's full council had been


due to take the long-awaited deci- sion on whether to adopt the bor- ough’s 15-year development plan at its meeting on September 29. In- stead, councillors received an email from borough council chief execu- tive Alison Broom and Liberal De- mocrat council leader Fran Wilson saying the decision had been post- poned until October 25. They said postponing the crucial


vote would give Sajid Javid, secre- tary of state for communities, time to determine whether or not to call in the Local Plan. He decided not to make an intervention. But Tory councillor Matt Boughton – member for Fant – says although councillors received the cancellaton notice within the re- quired notice period, he thinks the decision to postpone the decision on the Local Plan was wrong. He said: “I know there will be colleagues in the Conservative party who won’t agree with me, but it’s my personal view that the meeting should have gone ahead and the vote taken. This would pro- vide certainty for residents and


on something before the secretary of state has had time to respond.” Mr Javid became involved in the approval process after being asked to call in the Local Plan by MP Helen Whately whowas concerned the Local Plan fails to address the ability of the area's roads and infra- structure to cope with 17,000 new homes. She highlighted other wor- ries including the impact on areas of beauty across the region, in par- ticular Leeds Castle. Therewas a danger - under pres-


Cllr Matt Boughton


have sent a clear signal to the sec- retary of state as to the council’s view on its plan.” He says there is uncertainty and


the threat of even more houses being built in the area, as the gov- ernment looks to increase its house building plans – estimated to add 38% more homes to Maidstone's Local Plan, if approved. Cllr Boughton said: “It’smyview


Cllr Clive English


thatwe should be looking to adopt our Local Plan as soon as possible before there is more pressure for even more houses in the borough.” Cllr Clive English had delayed


his holiday to Brittany to attend the meeting, but was happy with the decision to postpone it. He said: “I think it was prudent


to postpone the meeting rather than waste everyone’s time voting


ent rules - that without an “emerg- ing” Local Plan, Maidstone could have been left without planning au- thority and open to speculative ap- plications. Worse still, there could have been a case for the borough to accept thousands of additional homes over and above the 17,000 in the proposal. Some have privately called Mrs Whately’s judgement into question. One Tory insider said: “There is a golden rule in politics that MPs shouldn’t get too involved in plan- ning matters. “She didn’t see the dangers in going to the minister. Case closed.”


Options being considered to reduce impact of road closure


TALKS are being held with landowners in an effort to re- duce the amount of time a road in Maidstone will need to re- main closed to traffic. An 845-metre stretch of water


main has to be replaced on Hunton Hill, which will see the road closed fromAmsbury Road


to Lughorse Lane for up to four months. South EastWater project man-


ager Jeremy Dufour says there have been 14 bursts on this stretch of pipe since 2010 and it needs to be replaced. The water authority was hop- ing to start work in November


but, in the meantime, it says it is in talks with Kent Highways and landowners in an effort to reduce the impact on road users. He said: “We are liaising with


the local community and Kent Highways on the timing of this scheme and are looking at a range of options, including lay-


£2.5m for pothole repairs ‘not enough’


ANOTHER £2.5million will be spent filling potholes on Kent’s roads be- fore Christmas, according to Kent County Council. The work will be carried out in Oc-


tober and November if theweather remains good. Patching, costing £2.7m, has al-


ready been done on Kent’s 5,000- mile road network since April. But one borough councillor, who


says the roads are a “dangerous dis- grace”, says four times that amount must be spent to bring the high- ways up to a safe standard. KCC is keen to point out that its pothole repairs are not just tempo- rary fixes. The work is being carried out by


local contractors for a faster re- sponse, including Dukes in Malling and Maidstone; SCG Kent in Sevenoaks and TunbridgeWells and Amey LG in Swale.


22 Malling October 2017 Matthew


Balfour, KCC’s cabinet mem- ber for high- ways, said: “We do a qual- ity, first time fix, and do not expect to be back out again fixing the same pot- hole.” Cllr Eddie Powell (pictured) is a


regular critic of the standards of local roads. He said: “The roads in


this area are a dangerous disgrace. I’d urge anyone reading this to sim- ply have a look next time they are driving and they’ll soon realise the state the roads are in. “KCC say they have got £2.5m


but, in reality, it will need to be more like £10m. Apart from any- thing else, dangerous potholes cre- ate dangers for drivers. Blow outs caused by potholes are potentially fatal – so what price on a driver’s life?


“With the amount of housing planned in Maidstone, around Tonbridge and Malling as well as Sevenoaks and the whole of the M20 corridor, there are going to be more cars on the roads than ever. “KCC needs to look to where they


can find the money needed to do the job because this is the new nor- mal.”


ing the pipe through privately owned fields, to reduce the im- pact on road users. If the private land option is viable it may re- duce the amount of time we have to close the road.” Information will be published


at www.southeastwater.co.uk as it becomes available.


Three held after


vehicle is stolen THREE men were arrested after a Land Rover reported stolenwas re- covered by police near Aylesford. At around 5.45am on Wednes-


day, September 13, officers noticed suspicious behaviour on land off Coldharbour Lane. An inspection of the area led


police to locate a Land Rover, which had recently been reported stolen from Douglas Road in Maidstone. A trailer attached to the vehicle contained a number of items also suspected of having been stolen, in- cluding generators, boxed power tools and gardening equipment. Officers identified a number of suspects who were reported to have run from the scene. Enquiries later led to the arrests of three men, close by. Aged 22, 37 and 39, they all remain in custody on suspicion of theft.


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