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Schools ‘agreed’ nearmentalunit


TWOschools forMaidstone canbe built, after all, despite being sited next to a private hospital for men- tally-ill criminals. In a dramaticU-turn aftermonths


of uncertainty, planning permission andfunding approvalwill be sought after receiving assurances that pa- tientswill pose no threat to children at the primary school or special needs facility. Councillors, locals and church


leaders voiced their concerns about the unit, run by CygnetHealthcare, being located near the hospital. TheEducation andSkills Funding


Agency recently employed special- ists to look for other sites, but with no success. Cygnet recently informed the


Bearsted & Thurnham Society that no sex offenderswouldbe treatedat the KentMedical Campus (KMC). Ameeting convenedbyMPHelen


Whately of public bodies and agen- cies resulted in the latest twist. Downs Mail understands that a


senior manager at the hospital has already resigned before the unit has opened, butCygnet refused to com- ment on his departure. Local vicar John Corbyn said the


problem with the KMC site is that local peoplewill not be able towalk there and the approach roads are “a nightmare”. Resident Lisa Norman wrote on


Facebook: “More traffic from those coming fromVintersPark andShep- way to the school. Take away choices, just your nearest school to where you live. Then children should be able towalk to school like we did.” Mrs Whately brought together


representatives of Kent County Council,Maidstone BoroughCoun- cil, the Department for Education, the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the Leigh Academies Trust,whichwill run the schools. Dr Tony Romero and Nicky


McLeod, chief executive of Cygnet Health Carewere also there. Mrs Whately said: “We desper-


atelyneedmore schoolplaces in and aroundMaidstone and the situation is only going to getworse.” Planning permission will need to


be sought for the schools from Maidstone Borough Council. DrRomero said: “We have always


beenvery supportive ofplans for the schools andwe believe there is now agreement on away forward.”


M&S food store at hospital


NOT just hospital food, butM&S food is nowon offer atMaidstoneHospital. The Simply Food store within themain entrance of the hospital in Barm-


ing is the latest commercial offering to open, and is already creating huge interest among staff, who are pictured withMedway and TunbridgeWells NHSTrust chairmanDavidHighton(centre)whoperformedtheopeningcer- emony. The store has been brought on line in partnership with Compass Group


UK&Ireland, creating24full-andpart-time jobs,withstaffhavingspent the last fewweeks in training. The storewill have1,500food and drink lines, including salads, fruit, ready


meals, snacks, sandwiches and a deli range, self-serve coffee and a bakery. Jeanette Batten, director of estates and facilitiesmanagement, atMaid-


stone and TunbridgeWells NHS Trust, said: “We’re excited to be adding to the food and drink retail offers atMaidstone Hospital.” The introduction of M&S, complements the League of Friends shop, Costa Coffee andWH Smith.


Maidstone East August 2018 11


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