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IN THE gossipy world of cross-Channel transport, it sometimes pays to be sceptical about the motive behind the message, but disturbing possibilities are emerging about the M20 corridor post-Brexit. SIMON FINLAY reports...


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Get your free shingles jab


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MAIDSTONE and Malling resi- dents in their 70s are being urged to take up the offer of free vacci- nations against the “painful and debilitating” condition shingles. By the end of July, just over half


of all eligible older patients in Kent and Medway had been vaccinated. But theNHSis now encouraging


Kate’s canyon trek in memory of husband


Sadly, due to schemes available in the past the term “Equity Release” has got itself a bad name.


Brexit: chaos looms forM20


THE chief executive of the Port of Dover, bunged up with a heavy cold, is not in any mood to mince his words. Speaking at his offices overlook-


ing the Western Docks, Tim Wag- gott says research shows the M20 faces severe tailbacks if a solution to freight movements across the Channel is not found before Brexit becomes a reality in 2019. MrWaggott is clearly concerned


that the prospect of Operation Stack in place on an almost perma- nent footing rests on whether a transitional border and customs arrangement can be found before departure fromthe EU. Analysts commissioned by the


port have found that if each truck’s two-minute average processing time doubles to dealwith extra pa- perwork and checks, the conse- quences could bring unimaginable difficulties. MrWaggott tellsDownsMail: “It


could lead to 17-mile queues on each side of the Channel. That’s whatwe’ve found. “The secret will be how we keep


the trafficmoving.Howcanwe de- liverwhat ourChancellor called the most ‘free and frictionless’ tradewe possibly can?” The Freight Transport Associa-


tion, a respected trade lobby group, paints an even gloomier picture. If four minutes clearance time takes queues to Ashford, an additional six would mean Maidstone. Eight would see freight backed up into Essex.


Transport secretary Chris Grayling has floated the possibility of theManstonAirport site as a clearing house...“Absolutely bonkers idea,” is one reaction.


12 Malling November 2017 Port of Dover boss TimWaggott It could spellmajor trouble ahead


for rural communities around Maidstone’s A20 route such as Lenham, Leeds, Harrietsham, Hollingbourne and Bearsted. Those communities – already suf-


fering large and growing volumes of vehicles daily – would soon be swamped by unwanted trafficwith no alternative routes. Hollingbourne parish councillor


John Cobbett has publicly voiced concerns for many months about the future and urges Kent County Council to come upwith a “contin- gency or the county could grind to a standstill”. Mr Waggott adds: “We have to


find a solution tomaintain the tran- sition times at the present level of two minutes. How do we avoid it being fourminutes ormore – that’s the question.” This will


inevitably involve


“working with our European friends” to achieve the best out- come, he says. Moving a speedy technology-


based clearance system away from the border – i.e. not the space-con- strained Port of Dover with white cliffs on one side and sea on the other – will cause even more prob- lems. Transport


secretary Chris


Grayling has floated the possibility of the Manston Airport site as a clearing house.


Port observers scoff at the idea of


redirecting huge volumes of freight to Thanet only to trundle thewhole way toDover on single-track, coun- try roads. “Absolutely bonkers idea,” is one


reaction. But, presently, the only site seri-


ously on the radar is land set aside for a £250m lorry park on the M20 outside Folkestone, which is now the subject of a judicial review and it is doubtful if it could be running by Brexit’s 2019 deadline. Besideswhich, it ismeant to be a


freight holding area when cross- Channel operations are suspended or perhaps used as overnight park- ing to stop foreign lorries illegally using the county’s roadsides for free – not a 24-hour, non-stop cus- toms clearance facility. The feeling in political circles is


that once it is built, its primary pur- pose may be allowed to become more opaque. However, any devi- ation from the original proposal could be open to further challenge and delays. The spectre of the impending


chaos onKent’s roads appears to be heightening local political anxieties. Eleven MPs – including Helen


Grant,HelenWhately and TomTu- gendhat – havewritten a joint letter to Mr Grayling to complain progress is too slow on an M20 lorry park. One insider told Downs Mail:


“They have to be seen to be saying something because they know there is, potentially, trouble up ahead. The lorry park isn’t the issue anymore, it’s Brexit.” But Charlie Elphicke, Dover’s


MP, remains resolutely clamped to the same message: “Deal or no deal, we will make an immense success of Brexit.” However, Mr Elphicke recog-


nises that the M20 lorry park re- mains the best – possibly the only – option left to Kent’s MPs to cling onto, despite its apparent unsuit- ability. After all, in three decades of Op-


eration Stack, the best brains in Westminster and Whitehall have neither found the will nor the way


In three decades of Operation Stack, the best brains in Westminster and Whitehall have neither found thewill nor the way to solve this politically toxic issue.


Brexit has changed everything.


to solve this politically toxic issue. Brexit has changed everything. Mr Elphicke is now in no mood


for shilly-shallying in London. “The Treasury and the Depart-


ment for Transport should stop dithering and get on with it,” he tells DownsMail. To prove the point, the former tax


lawyer chaired a meeting of MPs andhaulage representatives atWest- minster onOctober 17,where former Border Force director general Tony SmithCBE,Eurotunnelpublic affairs director John Keefe, Road Haulage Association chief executive Richard Burnett and shipping trackers Kuehne&Nagel’s international for- warding director Mark Johnson were on the expert panel. Mr Burnett complained access to


governmental help and advice has been limited while a more circum- spect Mr Keefe warned that “in- creased (freight) volumes are coming regardless” and that Brexit could be “a lever to help get some of the technologywe need tomove things forward tomake sure traffic flows smoothly as traffic grows.” Mr Johnson, however, sent the


message toWhitehall: “Tell us what we’ve got to do andwe’ll get ready.” But, more starkly, asked if he


thought the roads toDover, such as the M20 and A2, would be able to cope in the event of a late failure in Brexit negotiations, Mr Johnson said: “Absolutely not.”


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everyonewhois offered the vaccine to take it up. Local GP practices are offering patients the vaccination as part of the NHS shingles immunisation campaign for 2017/18, which began on September 1 2017. Dr John Rodriguez, Public Health Screening and Immunisa- tion lead for Kent and Medway, urged local people to take up the offer. He added: “As people get older


their immune system naturally weakens which is why those aged 70 and over are more likely to get shingles.


“Shingles can be very painful


and debilitating and lead to health problems long after the initial rash has disappeared. It can also be fatal for around one in 1,000 over-70s who develop it. “I would encourage all patients


MORTGAGES


Local adviser Sarah Ferrell speaks with many people who, through no fault of their own, are carrying debt into retirement or need to raise new finance and this can make the “Golden Years” potentially worrying.


THE widow of a popular Maid- stone GP is in training for a self- funded trek through the Grand Canyon, in aid of the charity which is battling the cancer that claimed him. Kate Minett, a staff nurse, will be


Equity Release can, for many people, offer an ideal solution…..so why does everybody think it is such a bad thing?


Sarah says, “The finance industry has had to adapt as the need for lending in retirement has grown at a staggering rate. The schemes of the past bear no resemblance to those available today however many people’s thinking and understanding of the schemes available is still stuck in the 1970's!”


travelling to America for the Trek Together Grand Canyon Challenge in October. Kate who lives in Staplehurst,


Many of Sarah’s clients need to repay a mortgage, finance some unexpected outlay or just make their retirement more comfortable. Others want to help their children with a deposit for a house, buy a new car, go on holiday or make improvements to their home.


Regardless of the reason for needing finance, there are plenty of safe and affordable solutions available and the choice of options is greater than ever.


whoare eligible to takeupthe offer from their GP surgery and get vac- cinated against the virus.”


will hike through areas of the canyon not accessible to many tourists to raise money for Pancre- atic Cancer UK. The Benenden Hospital nurse has chosen to support the charity be- cause her husband, Dr Nigel Minett (54), a GP for more than 20 years at the Marden Medical Centre, then The Orchard Surgery in Langley, succumbed to it in January 2012, just over 10 weeks after he was di- agnosed. Dr Minett (pictured) was well-known for his church work in Maidstone. She said: “This cancer is known


as a silent killer as it usually pres- ents too late for any form of treat- ment. On October 31, 2011, my


Like all financial transactions there are advantages and disadvantages which means that Equity Release may not be suitable for everyone. Equity release schemes involve borrowing against your home, and may work out more expensive in the long term than downsizing to a smaller property. Depending on the scheme chosen releasing equity may reduce the value of your estate and therefore the amount of inheritance you will leave. “I take great care and time to fully discuss all aspects of the options available so that my clients are fully aware of what may be suitable and equally what they want to avoid!” Sarah comments.


itself can often lighten the burden” charity.”


Sarah finds many of the people she speaks to are worried about their finances at a time in life when they really want to be enjoying themselves. Often a lack of information, or confusing advertising causes them concern and they are just not sure what options are really available to them. This is where Sarah can bridge the gap.


Sarah says, “I’ve been in the finance industry for over 20 years and


rates from pancreatic cancer have not improved much in the last 30 years.


most scenarios and would reassure anyone who is life and decided to join the Pancre-


2012. I had been thinking about what I could do to celebrate Nigel’s


unlikely to be alone. Sometimes an initial chat Challenge Trek in October.


concerned about their finances that they are atic Cancer UK Grand Canyonis


all that is needed to put people’s mind at rest and self-funding the trip to ensure that


I am


as soon as people know they have options this in all donations go directly to the


Sarah takes time to work out which solution may be most suitable for each individual and will visit a client at home at a time to suit them.


This is the third big fundraiser


Think carefully before securing other debts against your home.


Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. EQUITY RELEASE RE-MORTGAGE BUY-TO-LET


husband was admitted to hospital after developing jaundice. Until that point, his only symptoms had been a few weeks of mild gastric discomfort. He was diagnosed the same day with stage four metasta- tic pancreatic cancer, which had spread to his liver. “We knew the score - survival


M: 07789007447 T: 01622 631372


E:info@sarahferrell-equityrelease.co.uk www.sarahferrell-equityrelease.co.uk


the family has taken part in. Kate’s daughter, Laura, took part in a su- perhero fun run dressed as Super- man in 2012, raising over £2,000, and her sister Rebecca organised a dinner dance in Tenterden which raised £10,300 in 2015. In the UK, pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of the 21 most com- mon cancers. Pancreatic CancerUK supports those affected, investing in research and lobbying for recog- nition of the disease. For details visit www.justgiv- ing.com/fundraising/Kate-Minett. For more information on Pancre- atic Cancer UK, visit www.pan- creaticcancer.org.uk/fundraise.


Call Sarah on FIRST TIME BUYERS


Nigel died on January 19, consider I have come across


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