News Club calls for


stadiumhelp MAIDSTONE United has turned a healthy profit for the fifth consecu- tive year. The club’s accounting profit up


to June 30, 2017was £211,736,with turnover up to £1,718,355 from £1,535, 598 the previous year. The club plays on an artificial 3G


pitch and hires it out as an extra revenue stream. Co-owner Oliver Ash said: “We


see in these figures further evi- dence of the success of the 3G model,which has enabled the club to maintain an attractive football and social facility. Our disadvan- tage…is that our stadiumhas been built fromscratch over six years. It is too small every timewe push for promotion. We need to build up cash resources even faster ifwe are to develop the stadiumfurther.” Fellow co-owner Terry Casey


added: “Match day attendances and season tickets sales are up year-on-year andwe thank the fans for their loyal support. “The next challenge is never far


away but we must ensure the club continues to be in good shape and find ways to generate the funding needed to move on to the next level.”


downsmail.co.uk


Leeds Castle’s ancient woodlands are sold off


AHUGE tract ofwoodland around LeedsCastle has been sold,Downs Mail has learnt. Ten lots totalling 453 acres have


been sold tomultiple purchasers via a firm of Buckinghamshire land agents. The combined asking price was close to £2m, with individual pieces costing up to £490,000. Heather Harris, of John Clegg &


Co, confirmed that “six or seven” buyers had taken all 10 lots and that there was a mixture of local and outside interest. The sales are in process of being


completed and are subject to sur- veyors’ reports. Mrs Harris said it was not her company’s policy to comment on the prices paid. The woodland – hugely popular


with walkers, horse riders and dog owners – belongs to the family of LeedsCastle’s former owner,Amer- ican heiress Lady Olive Baillie (pic- tured right). On her death in 1974, Lady Baillie bequeathed LeedsCas- tle and its grounds to a charitable trust to enable it to be enjoyed by members of the public. The owner


Now sold:woodland at Leeds Castle


– who spent a large portion of her inherited fortune on the restoration of the castle andits associatedbuild- ings – left the re- mainder of the land to her fam- ily. Last Septem-


ber, when the land was put up for


sale, the agents said: “The


property and 500 acres of grounds were bequeathed to the Leeds Cas- tle Foundation,while the rest of the estate remained in the Baillie fam- ily,which is nowoffering thewood-


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lands for sale.” The land – which includes most,


if not all, of the King’sWood from Broomfield to Chegworth and be- yond, as well as the Abbey Wood which lies fromLangley through to Kingswood – is protected from building development by law. Woodland normally appreciates


in value but the only viable indus- try allowed on the land is coppicing to sell wood, the income from which is free of taxation. Within days of the land going on


themarket, a large “Woodland For Sale” sign appeared, together with others stating the land to be private. In reality, the sale board was


ripped down weeks later and users of theKing’sWood routinely ignore demands to keep out of the areas not designated as public footpaths. The woodland has become a


haven formany wildlife species in- cluding the return of a small num- ber of roe deer. Buzzards and red kites are also seen regularly and walkers have reported evidence of wild boar close to the castle.


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