News Rural homes


plan ‘backed’ THE idea of a “mega greenfield de- velopment” to accommodate the government’s addition of 7,700 homes to Maidstone’s Local Plan was gaining ground, according to borough councillor Nick de Wig- gondene. He told members of Thurnham


Parish Council that the concept of building new housing on one site, with capacity to meet future need, was finding support. He feels the borough would


want to challenge the govern- ment’s additional housing alloca- tion and endeavour to “get away with the lowestnumberof additional housespossible”. On the Leeds-Langley relief road,


he also felt this was now “likely to happen”, but could open up the area todevelopment. TheLiberalDemocrat-ledadminis-


tration is under serious pressure to come up with ideas to dealwith the effect on traffic volumes created by 17,600newhomesalreadyintheLocal Plan. MBC claims “modal shift” - en-


couragement to use buses, cycle or walk-willbeenoughtocopewiththe explosion in vehicle numbers , even beforemore houses are imposed.


downsmail.co.uk


Theatre refurbishment ready for panto season


THEHazlitt Theatre inMaidstone is to undergo extensive refurbish- ment this summer. The 350-seat Earl Street venue –


which stages the town’s annual pantomime – needs work com- pleted on its facade and its roof. The work, likely to last for three


months, is to be funded by the the- atre’s landlords and Maidstone Borough Council. The work was scheduled to start


last autumn, but itwas delayed for severalmonthswhile advanced ne- gotiations took place between the various parties. A Hazlitt spokesman said: “The


Hazlitt Theatre, run by Parkwood Creative, is about to embark on a three-month period of extensive external refurbishment. The project funded by landlords Mountcharm Group and Maidstone Borough Councilwill see aesthetic improve- ments to the facade of the venue as well asmuch-needed repairs to the roof.” The work is expected to be fin-


ished well before the Hazlitt’s panto run ofAladdin starts on De- cember 1. Starring the comedian andformer


EastEnders star Richard Blackwood (pictured),whowill play theGenie, the showruns untilDecember 31. Last year, the Hazlitt had a suc-


cessful run over the festive period with Cinderella, which starred TV chef and national treasure, Rustie


Lee. A Hazlitt spokesman said: “Richard is a bit of a coup for us and judging by the reaction so far, he is going down verywell. “He is a talented guy who has


been around for a long time in lots of different fields, so his appeal is very broad.” DownsMail understands that the


names for the supporting cast are due to bemade public shortly. The theatre was named after the


famous essayist William Hazlitt, whowas born in the county town in 1778. It opened in the 1950s, but a lot of


the building dates back much fur- ther and some of it has listed status. The venue is home to the Hazlitt


Youth Theatre (HYT), which has performed a string of hit shows in- cluding plays, musicals, new writ- ing, partnership projects, touring shows and awhole lotmore. HYT provides opportunities for


young people aged between six and 18 to put on productions, and to see professional plays.


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