downsmail.co.uk


News


Planning red tape ‘ruining Kent’s historic landscape’


AT FIRST sight, theWeald of Kent in autumn is a rural idyll – wide cobalt skies hanging above fields creasedwith ditches or pock-markedwith ponds.


Random farmsteads, heavy with


wood smoke, hunker beside snaking, leaf-littered lanes, and thick-limbedoaks andbowing horse chestnuts cast long shadows in the failing light of shortening days. But the apparent tranquillity in


this historicEnglish landscape belies seething anger at the inadequacy of authority, flawed law and the “un- fettered destruction” of farmland. Behind the hoof-trampled pad-


docks and rusting hedgerows, parishioners are balking as private landowners flout planning laws to plant traveller caravans andmobile homeswhere crops once stood. In the parishes of Headcorn, Ul-


combe and BoughtonMalherbe, the same stories abound. Farmers and villagers tell of


ponds blocked up, trees cut down, hardstanding laid. Seen fromthe air, their concerns seem well founded, as scenes of groundworks on an al- most industrial scale emerge. Some blame the authorities for


lack of effective action. The authori- ties blame Government or inade- quate law. Sources in the agricultural com-


munity have told Downs Mail that farmers are digging into their own pockets to buy land as soon as it comes on the market, solely to pre- vent it being decimated by unregu- lated development. But appetite for space where, ac-


cording to theparishes,planning en- forcement by Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) is seen as weak, is leading buyers from parts of the travelling community to bid way


System‘loaded


against gypsies’ GYPSIES and travellers say the gov- ernment’s own figures provide damningevidencetheplanningsys- temis loaded against them. And the national body represent-


ing the travelling community says action needs to be taken quickly to redress the balance. Jim Davies, manager of the


above the asking price for farmland. Exasperation among villagers at


what they describe as 10 years of in- adequate action, has nowbecome so pronounced that Headcorn Parish Council has told Government: “A lack of swift and timely action has led to a lack of empathy and pa- tience on the part of the community … emotions are high and expecta- tions for a swift result becomemore pronounced.” Martin Round, Headcorn’s bor-


ough councillor, said: “For many years there has been a lack of en- forcement action. Loads of fields in the area have been acquired and the problemis gettingworse.” The issue, according to Boughton


Malherbe parish council clerk Chris Hume, is that purchasers have been developing sites before applying for retrospective planning permission. The borough council pursues en- forcement action,butbecomesmired in complex processes and appeals.


Boroughplanners admit the lawis


problematic. Once an illegal devel- opment is in place, they say,dealing with it is not straightforward. The authority cannot have it removed solely on the grounds that it lacks planning permission. Instead, it has to prove that demolition is propor- tionate to the impact the develop- ment is having on the landscape. Cllr Clive English, chair ofMaid-


stone Borough Council’s planning committee, lays the blame for the sit- uation at Whitehall’s door. “Gov- ernment often talks aboutmaking it harder for people to apply for plan- ningpermission retrospectively, but does nothing,” he said. The borough council says in the


last year, 10 enforcement notices have been placed on this type of site – eight in Headcorn and two in Ul- combe. However, 90% of these are metwithappeals,whichcantake 10- 12months to dealwith. “Direct action, such as eviction, is


equalities and social justice unit at the Traveller Movement, said: “The fact the government’s own studies show that 80 per cent of settled people’s planning applications are generally approved but 90 per cent of travellers’ applications are re- jected, shows there’s something verywrong going on here. “More needs to be done to allow


travellers fair access to the planning system.” But the Kent Association of Local


Councils (KALC) says ethnicity plays a significant role in planning law. The association’s Clive Powell,


who advises on legalmatters, said: “In the planning process there is someweight to ethnicity.”


hard to carry out, as owners usually sell the site on and then the process begins again,” a spokesman said. There is a widespread perception


that, because a section of the gypsy and traveller community is in- volved, planners are tiptoeing aroundthe issue in away theydon’t with the settled population.


Paedophile jailed for historic sex abuse


A MAN who sexually abused a child more than seven years ago has been jailed. Kenneth Lewis (71), was con-


victed of child sex offences com- mitted in the Maidstone area between 2005 and 2011. Mr Lewis, of York Road, Maid-


stone targeted a child victim on multiple occasions. He was arrested by Kent Police


officers onMay 11, 2017, and later charged with causing a child to engage in sexual activity, engag- ing in sexual activity in the pres- ence of a child and sexual


touching of a child. Lewis pleaded not guilty but


was convicted after a five-day trial at Maidstone Crown Court. He was sentenced on October 11, 2018, to 10 years in prison.Hewill also be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and remain on the sex offenders register for an in- definite period. Investigating officer, Detective


Constable Becky Taft said: “Ken- neth Lewis is a sexual predator who targeted and abused a vul- nerable child. “The damage he caused is con-


siderable and the victimwill have to livewith thesememories for the rest of their life. “I commend the victimfor their


bravery in coming forward to help us bring this appalling individual to justice. “It is never too late to report any


sexual offence to police. We will always treat any informationwith the utmost sensitivity. “We have a teamof specialist of-


ficerswhowork relentlessly to en- sure that offenders like Lewis do not evade justice, just because a crime happened a long time ago.”


Maidstone December 2018 31


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48