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Maidstone face crippling financial challenges andwemust considerwhat will happen to them. The priest in charge of Otham, Langley,


Leeds, Broomfield and Kingswood has warned in his newsle�er of continuing declining finances and fears Othamand Langley (losing £1,000 amonth) could be bankrupt in three years. ‘Thin airwill not finance our churches,’ he says. Aworrying newsle�er fromthe priest


in charge of the benefice covering Coxheath, East andWest Farleigh, Linton and Hunton includes a plan for a reduced schedule of services. For verymany yearswe have seen the


Church in decline. Parisheswhich had their own priest nowso often share in a benefice of five ormore parishes. But, very significantly, the size of


congregations hasmostly continued to fall. Churcheswhich a fewyears ago worried that congregationswere as low as 30 or 40 nowsee themreduced to a handful. Much fund-raising and organisation


nowdepends on the generosity and enthusiasmof ‘The Few’. Obviously, there is a limit towhat they can do. Somany organisations nowsuffer from


a lack of volunteers as our lives become busier and horizonswiden. This problem certainly impacts on churches, too. Religion no longer features strongly in


most people’s lives andmore now profess to having no faith. Butmany still claimtheir religion is Church of England, respect the Christmas and Easter festivals andwish for church christenings, weddings and funerals. But they do not see themselves as churchmembers or a�ending regular church services or prayermeetings.


Systemjust notworking


I HAVE great respect forMaidstone Hospital’s caring services butwhen things gowrong patient/carer anxieties can be immense. Mywife received a le�er in the post at


11.31amfor an appointment at 11.45amthe same day. I phoned the stated number immediately. Itwas engaged. Imanaged to leave amessagewith the department’s team. I phoned ‘appointments’ again, received amessage towait and 15minutes laterwas told I was ninth in the queue. This call took a total of 29minutes – and the operator doubted she could pass on our apology to the consultant. Nowonder patientsmiss somany


appointments. This systemneeds sorting. Tim Harris,Weavering,Maidstone


Tower block out of keeping


THE Redrowhousing development on the SpringfieldMill site, recently approved by Maidstone Borough Council’s planning


46 Maidstone Weald March 2018


What is future for churches? MailMarks


MANY Anglican churches around


DENNISFOWLE President dfowle2011@aol.com


Costs of running a church and parish


are heavy andmaintaining ancient church buildings is very challenging. The borough ofMaidstone has about 40


parishes,mostwith their own church, and neighbouringMalling area increases that total tomore than 50. In addition, there are the churches of urban Maidstone,with large and centralAll Saints themost prominent. There iswide admiration or love of


these churches but, if somany of their true and dedicated supporters and financiers are fading away, howcan they survive?We nowhave our firstwarning of potential bankruptcies andmust expectmore in the next fewyears. Will anyone be able to finance and save


these buildings? I do not think the Church of England, government, local authorities and parish councils, the lo�eries, charitable institutions and others will be able to take on thismassive cost. I believewe shall soon see the closure


of churches, perhapsmany,with only the strongest surviving. The strongwill need towelcome their less fortunate neighbours. If a church closes, does the building


still have a future?Whowill take on the responsibility for its future and long-term upkeep? Somewould be valuable to benefit the local community in any number ofways. But the costs of achieving this could be immense. Churches arememorials and their


commi�ee,won praise frommembers. Sadly, the same cannot be said of the


approved housing development scheme on the neighbouring Springfield site, which features an 18-storey residential tower block. Such a tower blockwould be twice the height ofMaidstone’s current tallest building,Miller House, andmore than twice the height of the Old Springfield library tower. If built, this u�erly incongruous buildingwill dominate the landscape of the county town. There is a need formore newhousing in


Maidstone, but surelywe should expect be�er than the incoherent and unsatisfactory combined developments approved or currently proposed for the Springfield area ofMaidstone? Rob Illingworth,Moncktons Lane, Maidstone


Bountiful, but poisonous


I HAVE just read the articles and le�er on the amount of acorns last autumn. How


churchyards are treasured by local communities. There are huge emotional barriers


against demolition and using the land for other purposes. But can an empty, unused church and churchyard just be left to deteriorate and rot? Big questions face society. I believewe shall seemajor changes


over the next 20 years or so.Manywill not like them. But they seeminevitable.





Cars are a habit I SUPPORT the philosophy of park-


and-ride in an endeavour to reduce traffic congestion inMaidstone – but is it a dreamthatwill not come true? The big problemis thatmost of us


enjoy the speed, comfort, door-to-door availability and passenger-/luggage- carrying ability of our cars and see park-and-ride as an inferior alternative, unless right on our doorstep. It is a political hot potato again for


Maidstone Borough Council.Many Conservatives point to an annual loss to we taxpayers of around £250,000 and believe thismoney can be best spent to improve traffic flows. Themajority of councillorswant to give it another try by making a £2.50 charge to park, butwith all passengers in that vehicle then using the bus free.Will this incentivemake us switch to park-and-ride?With increased parking charges in town and growing congestion problems it isworth the trial run. The council needs to see it succeed. It is


an important feature of our newLocal Plan to tackleMaidstone’s horrendous traffic problems. It has been a long and difficult campaign by the council, and I fear theworst. Our cars are an ingrained habit – andwe love them.


many of your readers know, Iwonder, that acorns are poisonous tomost animals, except pigs? Last September and October, I lost three dearly loved horses through acorn poisoning. Onewas found dead in the field, anotherwas so illwe had to have himput to sleep the next day. The third fought and fought to survive. He had about sixweeks in hospital andwas nursed at home before he finally got peritonitis andwas put to sleep. I nowhate the oak tree andwill never


have one on any property I own. Linda Savage, via email


Stand up and be counted


RE Woodcut Farm: I amafraid Cllr Tony Harwood is not being entirely clearwhen he indicates that he hadmisgivings over the Local Plan. Indeed, he never appeared to vote for the Local Plan for the simple reason that he never turned up to the councilmeetingswhen decisions over the future of the planwere being taken. Thiswas in stark contrast to those


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members who had similar misgivings and were prepared to stand up and be counted for what they believed in, by actually voting against the plan. Cllr John Perry, ward member for Staplehurst at Maidstone Borough Council


Park playing field proposals


ON Thursday, January 25, the Oakwood Park Community Group held a public meeting at Oakwood Park Grammar School to present outline proposals to restore community access to the Oakwood Park playing fields. The meeting was very well a�ended by


residents and the school hall was full with about 100 people present. Over the last six months, the group has


been talking to the Oakwood Park Grammar School and St Augustine Academy about restoring community access to the Oakwood Park playing fields. The Oakwood Park Community Group


and Oakwood Grammar and St Augustine Schools have now reached an outline proposal, which was presented to the meeting by Oakwood Park Community Group trustees Brian Flinders and Cllr Paul Harper. The proposal in outline is:


 The fence around the playing fields will remain;  There will be access for the community out of school hours, including spring and summer evenings, weekends and school holidays; Access will be through the gates (which will be self-closing) in the fence nearest to Oakwood Road and Queen’s Road; Access will be by an electronic key fob system, fobs obtainable from the Oakwood Park Community Group on payment of a annual subscription, possibly £20, with trustees’ discretion for any household in financial stress; A dog walking path will be created around the periphery of the site which will initially be demarcated by chestnut rail fencing, and a wildlife hedge, once it grows up;  The community group will encourage residents to take part in wildlife activities and other activities such as li�er picking.  The community group will now work to


raise £12,000 to pay for the fob key system, and initial chestnut fencing for the dog path;  The two schools and Kent County Council have agreed that plans to put in place protective covenants over the playing fields for the freeholders of properties in Oakwood Road, will provide a long-term guarantee that the fields will not be developed for housing; they will be designated for education use only. The meeting unanimously voted to


support the community group trustees to continue working up the solution with the schools. Cllr Paul Harper and Brian Flinders, Oakwood Park Community Group


The big homes squeeze


I READ with interest an article in your edition regarding the future of the Otham valley and a possible 5,000 social homes being placed there as part of the increased housing allocation imposed on Maidstone by central government, over and above the ridiculous 17,600 we’re trying to shoehorn into this crowded borough. I was amused and alarmed by the subtle


sophistry of the language employed by Golding Homes and Maidstone Borough Council in trying to play down the likelihood of such a major development, yet saying it might very well happen! As opposed as I was to such a high level


of housing without the local authorities sorting out the roads that will be needed to cope with the traffic, we are where we are with the whole ro�en business. One fears that this type of story with


similar statements is likely to be more and more commonplace as the council tries to find the space to put all the extra homes government has foisted on us. K Kennedy, via email


Improving the environment


I AM encouraging residents to respond to a government consultation to push for new slip roads at J5 of the M25. At the moment, the 18 miles between J2a


of the M26 and J6 of the M25 is the longest distance in the country without an exit. Building slip roads here would ease


congestion throughout west Kent, particularly on the busy A25 through Pla�, Borough Green and Ightham. Building much-needed slip roads at J5 of


the M25 would help substantially reduce congestion along the A25 through Pla� and Borough Green. It would also improve air quality and enjoyment of the environment. That is why I am encouraging everyone to respond to this important government consultation. It gives us the opportunity to make the Department for Transport aware of the positive impact this could have on all our lives and environment. You can email your response to


RISFuture.consultation@dft.gsi.gov.uk, write to SRN Initial Report Consultation, Department for Transport, 3/24 Minister House, 33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR, or complete the online survey at h�p://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/UFY77/ Tom Tugendhat MP, Tonbridge & Malling


Geing priorities right


AS A Bearsted resident, I read with interest the article regarding Virgin Media's contractors having to remedy the (allegedly) poor reinstatement to ‘our’ roads. However, there is another side to this story. When Kent County Council inspectors


came to our road to examine the work done by the contractors, they marked several areas for 'improvement. Myself and another resident approached these inspectors and commented that it seemed very odd that they were making these assessments to areas that were actually now be�er than the condition of the rest of the road surface already in place. We were told that a report would be


made to the appropriate people. Anyone using Roseacre Lane or Yeoman


Lane will testify to the absolutely appalling condition of these roads and the surrounding ones are no be�er. It seems highly inappropriate that the


relevant authorities are criticising the work being done by the contractors (even if some of it is sub-standard), when they do nothing to improve the totally awful condition they have allowed their roads in this area to get to. Edward Paul, via email


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