News Council’s costly read


A SLICK brochure to promote the development of five plots of private land into 1,000 town centre homes cost the taxpayer almost £60,000, DownsMail has learnt. Maidstone Borough Council


(MBC) paid property agents Savills toproduce adocumentdetailingde- velopment of five privately-owned sites in the heart of the county town. The plan has already suffered a


cross-party backlash since it emerged inAugust. Len House in Mill Street; the


Granada cinema and Gala Bingo sites, Maidstone west; the Broad- way; Baltic Wharf (Medway river- side) and Mote Road have all been earmarked for potential housing. Independent Maidstone council-


lorEddiePowell (pictured), a former planning committee member, said: “They’ve forked out 60 grand and none of the council- lors on the ground, who represent all the main parties and know the area as well as anyone, think the idea is worth tuppence.


“Surely, this money could have


been spend better – or more effec- tively – and those members should have been consulted.” Aspokesman forMBC said: “The


cost of Savills to produce the report for the five opportunity sites is £59,440.50.


ON SEPTEMBER 3, borough councillors attended a workshop where they were briefed on the consequences of 40%morehousing being imposed on the borough in the Local Plan Review, scheduled for 2022. This could mean Maidstone


bearing the brunt of around 24,000 newhomes rather than 17,600 con- tained in the Local Plan adopted last year – increasing thenumber of


The upmarket brochure pro- duced by prop- erty agents Savills has cost local taxpayers in the region of £60,000


downsmail.co.uk Top level talks


on legalmoves TOP brass at Maidstone Borough Council have held high level talks on the progress of its challenge to the authority's failedjudicial review. Downs Mail understands the


seniormanagement teammetwith its legal experts on August 23 to discuss the current position before proceedingwith a taxpayer-funded “oral hearing” over road levies at the High Court in London this au- tunm. Liberal Democrat-led MBC took


Kent County Council to the High Court over the allocation of fund- ing for the studies into a Leeds- Langley relief road. But the process fell at the first


“This has been funded from the


(government’s) ‘business retention pilot’ scheme that the council was successful


through. “The commission to Savills is ex-


tensive, to include background re- search, property market analysis, scenario testing, extensive stake- holder engagement, as well as the production of detailed planning briefs for eachsite, andanover-arch- ing brochure to promote the oppor- tunities to developers and investors in themediumto long term.” DownsMail asked howmuch the


landlords were asked to pay to- wards the cost of producing the plans, butMBC failed to respond. Councillors representing the


Housing headachesmount


homes which must be built annu- ally from800 to 1,200 per year over the life of the Local Plan. Conservative group leader John


Perry said: “I don’t know where we’re going to put them all. We havebeenvoicing serious concerns about infrastructure. “WewillneedtoworkwithKent


County Council – after all, it is the body to provide the schools and build the roads.”


in securing money


wards affected by the proposals are unhappy about the strain the extra homes will have on local services, traffic levels and parking. Chairman of the planning com-


mittee, LibDemClive English, said: “I think it’s fair to saywe are not in agreement with the thrust of many of the proposals andwill be prepar- ing our own intervention.” The cross-party group haswritten


toMBC seniormanagement outlin- ing its concerns. The riverside area could see 922


apartments in three and five-storey tower blocks (with around700park- ing spaces) while Maidstone west might see 325 flats on up to seven floors. Bridge ward councillor, Conser-


vative Jonathan Purle, said: “This isn’tmaster planning. It’s just cram- ming inmore andmore flats.” Pressure is growing on the council


to showthe roads can copewith the increased traffic associatedwith the Local Plan's 17,600 newhouses. The Lib Dem leadership claims it


canbemitigatedbymodal shift – the concept of persuading people to walk, take buses or cycle, inaddition to some junction improvements. But MBC leaderMartin Cox has admit- ted to Downs Mail he cannot be "100%sure"modal shift canwork.


hurdle when Mrs Justice Lang threw it out as MBC had not pre- sented an “arguable” case to pro- ceed. So far, the case has cost the tax-


payer £14,500with legal bills set to climb even higher when the oral hearing takes place. The oral hearing is designed for


MBC to again set out its position over the “implications for the dis- charge of the council's statutory planning functions”. IndependentMaidstone council-


lor Eddie Powell has warned the council is playing “dangerous games” because a precedent could be set shouldMBC lose. He said local authorities might


lose the ability to challenge and at- tach planning conditions to new developments. MBC chief executive Alison


Broom claims she needs to chal- lenge KCC in the High Court for “clarity” on how section 106 money (developer contributions) is spent by the county council on roads. An MBC source told Downs


Mail: "What happens after thatwill be the key. But if it goes to another stage, legally, that iswhen the seri- ousmoneywill come into play. "This is not chicken feed and it is


publicmoney that the leadership is spending, not their own."


Sculpture a reminder of site’s rural heritage


A SCULPTURE has been erected at Hermitage Park in Maidstone as a permanent tribute to bygone days when traditional Kentish hops grew there. The eye-catching sculpture of three hop


stringers, made of corrosion resistant corten steel, is located alongside the park’s sweeping entrance and looks over glorious distant views of the county. A British Pathé news reel from 1949 docu-


ments hop stringers working at Hermitage Farm, Barming. At a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony held on


8 Maidstone October 2018


August 31 and attended by the sculpture’s artist, Jane Ackroyd, local Allington and Maid- stone councillors and new residents, Russell Denness, chief executive of the site’s develop- ers Croudace Homes, said: “The extraordinary and unique role of a hop stringer is now obso- lete in Britain, but this artwork ensures the tra- dition ismost certainly not forgotten. “We hope that residents of Hermitage Park


will be reminded of past times when Kentish hop gardens flourished on the very same site and the figures will remain a focal point of the new community formany years to come”.


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