News


Funding approved for schools near hospital


FUNDING has been secured for two new schools in Maidstone, including a Bearsted primary,MP HelenWhately has announced. Government has approved the


extra capital investment needed for the project to move ahead, follow- ing lobbying from the member for Faversham&Mid Kent (pictured). The schools, one ofwhichwill be


a special needs secondary, will be sited on the KentMedical Campus (KMC) site near theM20 junction 7, next to a private hospital for men- tally-ill criminals and patientswith personality disorders. The proposed siting of the


schools so near a mental hospital has caused serious worries among local people, and plans were shelved while other sites were looked for. The hospital’s owners, Cygnet


Healthcare, convinced interested parties that the KMC campus would be safe and that the patients posed little risk. More recent delays in securing


the sitewere caused by drainage is- sues. Mrs Whately said the next step


was to secure a building contractor and put in a planning application. She said: “Children inMaidstone


desperately need a new primary school and a special needs school to open as soon as possible – or there’s a real risk some could have to travel miles across the county every day. “There have been so many de-


lays to the plans to get these schools open. Problems with the drainagewere the final hurdle. “It was so frustrating that after


everything – getting the funding, getting all the organisations in- volved to work together, getting over worries about the location – something as simple as connecting the schools to the drains threatened to derail things. “I’ll beworking hard to get these


schools through the planning process as smoothly as possible and get themopen.”


downsmail.co.uk Course aims


to cut stalking STALKERS in Maidstone could be among the first to receive specialist help as part of aUKfirst to stop re- offending. Two officers from the probation


service in the county town will re- ceive the specialist training, trialled in America, to deliver the course under clinical supervision. There are currently more than


300 known stalkers in Kent. Kent, Surrey and Sussex Com-


munity Rehabilitation Company (KSS CRC) will deliver the course, designed to tackle the chain of events, triggers and behaviours that heighten the chances of re-of- fending among convicted stalkers. Progresswill be overseen byKSS


CRC’s assistant chief officer for in- terventions, who is also a psy- chotherapist. Until now, therapeutic treatment


models have existed for those con- victed of domestic abuse, but this is the first time a programme has actively targeted at lowering the risks posed by stalkers. It comes at a timewhen the num-


ber of stalking cases has trebled across the country since 2014. Po- lice dealtwith 340 cases inKent last year.


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