downsmail.co.uk MY home in East Farleigh is about


twomiles fromMaidstone town centre and I amastoundedwith the proposal that our parliamentary constituency should be changed fromMaidstone and TheWeald to KentMid and Ticehurst. Has theworld really gone thatmad? The residents of the existingMaidstone


Electoral world gonemad MailMarks


DENNISFOWLE President dfowle2011@aol.com


and TheWeald havemuch in common and this benefits us and ourMPwhenwe need help or ba�les are to be fought. Butwhat havewe in commonwith


Ticehurst, Etchingham, Tenterden, Biddenden, Benenden, Cranbrook, Brenchley, Horsmonden, Fri�enden, Sissinghurst, Hawkhurst, Sandhurst and PaddockWood? They all look in different directions.What a nightmare for us and anyMP. I support a reduction in the number of


MPs from650 to 600 and a�empts to equalise the number of voters to around 75,000. For the record, I support even more strongly amassive reduction both in the number of peers in and powers of the House of Lords – say to amaximumof 200with fewpowers beyond acting as a safeguarding longstopmaking recommendations to the House of Commons. But the proposed KentMid and


Ticehurst (what a strange title) has the feel of a fewtired civil servants tossing some left-overs into a hat before catching a late train home. It includes rural areas fromthe council districts of Rother, TunbridgeWells,,Ashford andMaidstone and even crosses the Kent boundary into East Sussex.


We’re grinding to a halt


IAMwriting tomake a plea on behalf of the residents of Boxley Parish to request that the local authorities immediately start a serious dialogue aimed at bringing inmajor improvements to the road infrastructure. Many le�ers have been published over a


long period about the current poor road infrastructure in the south of the borough. Iwould like to bring to the authority’s


a�ention thatwe,who happen to live in the north of the borough, experience virtually every day, huge traffic problems that regularly bring thewhole area around J3 of theM2 to a complete standstill. KCC have openly admi�ed that this


junction is nowat a critical level butwe await any signs of plans or proposals to do anything about it. The problemwill only getworse once approved housing development just over the border in Medway is built. This trafficwill inevitably a�empt to join the already existing rat-run through rural roads leading down to Boxley village and on to PenendenHeath. I agreewith the urgent need for new


dwellings to assist young couples to buy their first home but no authority seems prepared to come outwith firmproposals to improve the road infrastructure. Could local and national authorities


please listen to the voice of the public and address this increasingly terrible problem before the South East grinds to a halt? It would appear that’ localism’means very


46 Maidstone December 2017 We have amuch greater allegiancewith


theMalling areawhich could nowbe hived off fromTonbridge but included in Chathamconstituency. Malling – from WestMalling eastwards – looks somuch toMaidstone. Howridiculous that if you look across


the RiverMedway atAllington you view Aylesford – and that falls in Tonbridge andMalling district. The Coldharbour roundabout andwest of Hermitage Lane are in that same district – andmany of Maidstone’s serious problems stemfrom this. Tonbridge council is pilingmuch of its required house building programme and other development right on our doorstep. That’s a boundary changewe in Maidstone should all be pressing for – both froma parliamentary and district viewpoint. Amuchmore sensible parliamentary


set upwould be to create the seats of Maidstone East andMaidstoneWest (whichwould includemuch ofMalling). I shall be passing onmy comments to the Boundaries Commission. Otherswill be helpful.





Townmarket AM pleased the council has agreed


Jubilee Square in front of the Town Hall is to feature amarket, perhaps a couple of


li�le to politicianswhomake these decisions that affect people’s quality of life. Bob Hinder, Chairman, Boxley Parish Council


The circle of congestion I READwith interest the article regarding the newhousing development atMaidstone TV Studios and agreewholeheartedly that this developmentwill undoubtedly cause additionalmisery for local residents. Unsupported newhousing


developments, particularly in terms of road infrastructure, have been the normnowin Maidstone for several years and I have watched in dismay and sadness as our county town has been slowly thro�led by reckless developers having li�le or no consideration for the needs orwishes of its residents. For too long these builders have been allowed to construct housing developmentswithoutmaking the necessary financial investment in essential infrastructure - despite the patently obvious need. The circle of congestion and a�endant traffic gridlock in and aroundMaidstone is nowalmost complete; the development at theMaidstone Studioswill finish the job. Well done CountyHall and thank you – I don’t think! Martin R JonesMBE JP, Lt Col (Retd), Whatman Close, Maidstone


downsmail.co.uk A retrogressive step


times aweek. It should be a great success. I hope it a�racts the type of stalls so


popular inmost French and other European towns. They bring atmosphere and character to town centres and are so popularwith residents and visitors. They largely concentrate on fresh and


colourful food – fish,meat, cheeses, breads, vegetables and fruit aswell as ready-to-eat hot and cold snacks and drinks. It is a pleasure to visit them. If thisMaidstonemarket becomeswell


established itwill a�ractmore visitors to the town centre, hopefully adding to trade for shops, stores and restaurants. Themarkets need to be launchedwith


something of a bang – perhaps a li�le family entertainment andmaybe some jazz sessions.





River walk THE riverwalk along the new


footpath fromBarming toAylesford is a delight.We took advantage of the free parking at East Farleigh rail station for the two-milewalk to town.Much has happened in recent years along this stretch on our beautiful river –wellworth catching up.





Hospice support ENCOURAGING to see such a big


and enthusiasticMote Hall audience supporting the Heart of Kent Hospice at the excellent charity performance of The Mikado. In such difficult financial times the hospice needsMaidstone’s support – asmuch aswe need our hospice.


Confidence could soon falter


I HAVE never been an uncritical admirer of the European Union – far fromit – and your columnist Dennis Fowlemay have a pointwhen he says that the views of favouring a speedy exit have hardened in the past 18months. But he fails to acknowledge that since the


referendumthere has been a 15%fall in the value of sterling, evidence that hard-nosed financialmarkets do not share his confidence about the future. True, devaluation does offer some respite for hard-pressed exporters, yet it has also meant higher prices in the shops,more expensive foreign travel and added costs formanufacturers using imported raw materials and parts, so that their extra competitivenessmay be short-lived. Your columnist adds that should the


whole process of leaving the EU become a lengthy, drawn-out, patience-sapping affair – as seems quite likely –wemight expect to see the re-emergence on the national stage of Nigel Faragewho, let us remember, said that if the resultwas a close run thing, therewould have to be a re-run of the referendum. Since then, he has kept an


uncharacteristic Trappist silence.As for the maligned European Court of Justice, it is hard to see a British court having the clout to impose a £90mfine on Google for tax evasion. K G Banks,Maidstone


Maidstone December 2017 47


I READwith interest Dennis Fowle’s article concerning Brexit. It is vital thatwe get some sort of trade dealwith Europe – it is in everyone’s best interests. I certainly wouldn’t relish the prospect of talking trade dealswith US Presidnet Donald Trump, amanwhomakes Jean Claude Juncker look like a gullible pushover. Other nations such asAustralia, Canada


and NewZealandwould also rally to our cause, but given the distances that are involved, the costswould almost certainly be passed on to consumers. Butwhat really bugsme is that I have


long-standing friends in two EU countries – France andMalta – and last year Iwas privileged to spend threemonths in the former and sixweeks in the la�er. If,whenwe leave, I have to go through


the tedious process if applying for visas/travel permits in order to repeat the experiences that I previously enjoyed using a passport only, that formewould exemplify the retrogressive stance this country has undertaken in the name of progress. L Skeels,Maidstone


Recipe for life ismissing


IWAS sad to read of declining church congregations, but I amafraid itwas inevitable. Now86, and I have seen dramatic changes in our society and in individuals. Inmy younger days, the churchwas at


the centre of our communities. I remember the hymns and atmosphere of reflection and contemplation – the Ten Commandments, the teachings of Christ in the NewTestament. They gave stability to my life that remains to this day. They offered a strength to face adversity and a recipe for a happy life. Today, theworld spirituality is no longer


in our lexicon.A Hindu punditwas once askedwhat he thoughtwas the cause of all human distress and unhappiness. He replied: “Greed and ignorance,when spirituality declines andwheremateriality is rampant.” I amnot a religious zealot but the church


gave us an unequalled rule of lawand this was exemplified by our resilience and courage during thewar. In an explosion in Lee Green, south east


London, in 1940, thereweremany dead andwounded. People fromless damaged


houses came – as if bymagic –with tea, bandages and blankets – and not a social worker or counsellor in sight. We are nowconfronted by the difficult


problemof care of the elderly. In days gone by, the family cared for their aged. Now, the government has relieved us of that responsibility and consigns themto profit- driven residential “care” –where love is sometimes in short supply. Michael Nash,Maidstone


Cost of traffic delays


IWAS at least 45minutes late formy hospital appointment on October 17. Having been caught up in bad traffic in


Hermitage Lane, I rang ahead to advise themof this situation and got the distinct impression fromthe operator thiswas a common and evenworsening occurrence. The impacts are apparently a daily event


causing great stress and distress to staff and patients alike. The disruptive effects on appointments are both costly to the NHS and to patientswhose livesmay depend on urgent treatment. Under the Freedomof InformationAct, I


have asked the hospital trust for figures and statistics relating to the impacts observed by staffmembers and HR department, andwhether it records changes in appointment cancellations and rearrangements thatmay relate to the impacts of the frequent stationary traffic conditionswe face on Hermitage Lane? Keith Young, by email


Demographics are changing


YOUR headline thatMaidstone looks so sleazy offers a glimpse into the changing demographics of the town. You highlightedWaitrose has pulled the


plug on investing in the town; there is a business reason for this. The retailer is anticipating a fall in income fromfood that will not cover the cost of a newbuilding in a newlocation.Waitrosewill have consideredwhether the people of Maidstone townwould travel up Si�ingbourne Road to buy their food, but more importantly the demographics of a Waitrose customerwill not come or perhaps they no longer exist. Maidstone council hasn’tmoved


Maidstone up – a decent pavement isn’t enough to bring the people into the town centre.We knowtraffic is a constant issue. Maidstone is not dynamic enough. Our


town is not the bastion of cycle routes or dedicated bus lanes that allowfast track journeys. There is li�le point in enforcing a strict


‘clean streets’ policywithin a halfmile of the town centrewhie rubbish is regularly dumped in every direction elsewhere.We might reflect that our ‘dirty’ outer-town and its surrounding tributaries fitwith a sleazy demeanour. RichardMaryan,Maidstone


Solution to a ‘hairy’ drive


I NOMINATEWest Park Road for the ‘most dangerous inMaidstone’ title. Driving north fromParkWay/West Park


Road junction is the first of 10 triangular shaped obstructions protruding six feet into the road. Driversmust evade nine more on alternate sides. Thewidth of coaches, lorries etc force other vehicles to stop or have awingmirror smashed or worse.And this is evenmore hairy after dark. Further on, youmust dodge two slabs of


concrete six inches high and 12 feet in diameter called “roundabouts”. At the pedestrian crossing nearby, grammar school boys think it is okay to step in front of and haltmoving traffic. Conclusions? Remove all 10 obstructions.


Redesign two “roundabouts” into one large one.Make the crossing pedestrian controlled. Don Bates ,Maidstone


Delivering on local plan


ON OCTOBER 25, councillors voted throughMaidstone's newlocal plan. The challenge nowis to ensure this delivers for everyone in the town and across the borough, andwe provide the appropriate infrastructure. A Conservative- ledMaidstone Borough


Council developed this plan, but since the Lib Dems took control of the council in 2015we have hadmissed opportunities. They have voted against amechanismfor a Leeds-Langley relief road, and have voted against improving air quality at the Wheatsheaf Junction. It is clear tome, as a relatively new


councillor, representing an area of our town that this planwill only be a success if delivered by the Conservatives.We should remember thiswhenwe vote. CllrMa Boughton, Conservative, Fant Ward,Maidstone Borough Council


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