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Pothole plan is an insult, says leader


ASUGGESTIONby a LiberalDe- mocrat councillor that the borough should take over pothole repairs has been described as “insulting” by Kent County Council’s leader Paul Carter. The call was made by Coxheath


borough member Brian Mortimer, who says a clause in the 1980High- waysAct allows district councils to co-ordinate road repairs and hand the bill back to the county council. Cllr Mortimer is standing for re-


election to Maidstone Borough Council onMay 3. He claimed: “I amabsolutely fed


up with being put in the position where all I can do is report con- stituents’ concerns about potholes and craters in the road to KCC. “There appears to be an opportu-


nity for us to do repairs on urban routes and those not classified as trunk roads and hand KCC the bill.” He says the option has been taken


by a parish council in Devon and a borough council in the north and suggests a report be commissioned to assess howthismightwork. CllrMortimer said: “Itmakesme


angry that they can draw a white line around themto lessen their lia- bility for any damage caused, but offer no indication of when they will be fixed. To hear Paul Carter say he has ‘found’ another £2m to carry out more repairs when county councillors have just given


Putting pothole


to a perfect use! DOWNS Mail reader Howard Marsh has suggested a way of making potholes prettier. He took this photograph of a


road crater filled in with spring blooms. It was taken outside the Chequers Inn in Loose on Easter Sunday.


Festival to help local charities


THE music festival Vicar’s Picnic will support two Kent charities, Dandelion Time and Kenward Trust, at this year’s Yalding event. The non-profit festival, which is


in its sixth year, has always been run by volunteers, giving dona- tions to several charities. DandelionTime, based inMaid-


stone, helps traumatised children and their families, while the Ken- ward Trust, a Yalding based char-


ity, offers residential alcohol and drug rehabilitation. Lynn Hyder, of the Kenward


Trust, said: “We are delighted the Vicar’s Picnic has decided to sup- port us on our 50th anniversary.” Tickets for the festival on July 20


and July 21, are available at www.vicarspicnic.co.uk as well as Yalding Post Office, Yalding Tea Rooms and The Chequers, Laddingford.


Maidstone May 2018 11 Cllr BrianMortimer


themselves a 15% pay rise, leaves mewith very little sympathy or pa- tience for on-going excuses.” But Conservative KCC leader


Paul Carter said: “Quite frankly, I find that sort of comment insulting. We have invested a lotmoremoney because of the degradation of the roads and the work will be carried out from the early spring through to September. We are blitzing pot- holes. “District councils suggested this


some years ago and went off the idea when they realised that they also had look after bridge repairs and the pavements as well as the roads. It is amonumental task.” Downs Mail approached MBC for a comment.


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