News


downsmail.co.uk Council remains in court fight


MAIDSTONE Borough Council's High Court legal action against Kent County Councilwill continue to another stage. Lib Dem-ledMBC’s oral hearing


convinced Deputy Judge David ElvinQCtolet the caseproceedtoa “substantivehearing”onhalfof the six grounds for a possible judicial review. The case revolves aroundMBC’s


unhappiness that Tory-led KCC usedroadlevies fromthree specific A274 housing developments to carry out viability studies for a Leeds-Langley relief road. MBC’s applicationfor aninjunctiontostop KCCusing themonies for the stud- ieswas thrownout,weunderstand, as itwas too late. Although the decision was not a


victory for either side, MBC has managed to keep its chances of se- curing the judicial reviewalive. The processwill drag the case to


beyondChristmas and possibly up to the run-in to nextMay's crucial boroughcouncil elections,whenthe Lib Dems’ narrow coalitionmajor- ity will come under threat from a resurgent Tory group under the


further tax-payer fundedcourt time could be avoided. After the November 7 hearing,


Cllr Cox said: “The objective of the Judicial Reviewhas always been to gain clarity in respect of the use of S106money, securedfromdevelop- ers through the statutory planning process, and intended for specific developments. "Today’s oral hearing has al-


leadership of John Perry. MBC brought the action against KCC after years of wrangling between the two authorities. One year ago, they agreed to


meet in a group headed by MPs Helen Grant and Helen Whately, but this has not worked out, ac- cordingtoobservers,ultimatelyde- teriorating to the point of legal action byMBC. But Lib Dem leader Cllr Martin


Cox claimedhisdoor isopentodis- cussionswithKCC, suggestingthat


lowed the merits of our case to be examinedandI amsatisfiedthat the Honourable JudgeDavid ElvinQC has intimated that there are suffi- cient grounds to continue our legal challenge againstKCC. “Throughout this process we


have remained open to all discus- sionswithKCC.” On November 7, Downs Mail


asked MBC for a detailed break- downof the costs tothe tax-payerof its management’s decision to take KCCto theHighCourt but did not respond. Relief road latest, page 10


Village panto Neighbourhood plan


ROBINSON Crusoe is this year’s Christmas production at Grafty Green Village Hall. Tickets for the panto at 6pmon


Thursday,December 27, are avail- able to buy from Grafty Greeen Stores or Richard Pilborough on 01622 844648. Prices are £10 for adults, £5 for


those under 16 and £25 for a fam- ily ticket.


Fitness plans


WELCOME changes are being made atMarden Playing Field. The parish council hopes new


binswill reduce the amount of lit- ter on the site, off theHigh Street. A new sports wall will replace


the old, noisy one and a running pathwill be built around the field early in the spring, with adult gymequipment alongside it.


History talk


THE Windmills of Kent will be the subject of a talk in Headcorn. Visitors and new members are


invited to hear local history soci- ety guest speaker AndrewWood at the Methodist Church Hall, at 7.30pm, on Wednesday, Novem- ber 28. Admission for visitors is £2.50.


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LOOSE residents are invited to comment on a newdocument set- ting out how neighbours would like to see the area developed. Loose Parish Council’s Neigh-


bourhoodDevelopmentPlanwill be used to adviseMaidstone Bor- ough Council’s future planning decisions. A spokesman said: “The pur-


pose of an NDP is to enable the community to play a much stronger role in shaping the areas in which they live and work and in supporting new development proposals.” The public have until Decem-


ber 14 tomake their comments on the draft document,which can be


found at www.maidstone-con- sult.limehouse.co.uk/portal/, at Maidstone Link in King Street (Monday-Friday, 9am to 4.30pm, 10am Wednesday), or Loose Parish Pavilion, King George V Playing Field,Walnut Tree Lane, Loose (by appointment). You can comment online at


www.maidstone.gov.uk/consulta- tions, by emailing neighbour- hoodplanning@maidstone.gov.uk or posting your views to Strategic Planning, Maidstone Borough Council,Maidstone House, King Street,Maidstone,ME15 6JQ. All comments will be consid-


ered alongside theNDP by an in- dependent examiner.


‘Up to council to


startwithdrawal’ RELIEF road campaigner and county councillor Gary Cooke (pic- tured) said: “It would nice to have this resolved oneway or the other. “Three of


thegrounds for a judicial re- view


have


been thrown out and MBC has togoaway and find away


of re-arguing the remaining three. “It was interesting that the Lib-


eralDemocrat leaderofMBC,Mar- tin Cox, says the door remains open, but really it is up to themto withdraw as they instigated it in the first place. It could be an hor- rendouswaste ofmoney that KCC neverwanted.” WeapproachedKCCleaderPaul


Carter for a comment. Conserva- tive-run KCC has carried on with the relief road studies, despite the threat of legal action byMBC.


Harvestmeal


A HEALTHY £210 was raised at Hunton’s harvest supper. Themenu of sausage andmash,


followed by crumble proved a popular choice, with 74 people in attendance, including many fami- lies fromthe school. Thankswere passeed to the vol-


unteer cooks and to the Friends of StMary's,who organised the bar.


Carol service


FLEX your throat for the festive season by joining in with carols at St Michael’s Church in Chart Sut- ton on Saturday,December 22. The service,which starts at 4pm.


will include favourite carols fol- lowed by refreshments.


Call for earlier stop towork onM20


FOUR MPs have pledged to- gether to end overnightworks 90 minutes earlier to preventmorn- ing disruption on theM20. Faversham & Mid Kent’s


Helen Whately and three other members, includingHelenGrant and Tom Tugendhat, have ap- proached Highways England with thematter. They have received complaints


Maidstone Weald December 2018


that overnight closures, which ended at 6am every day, were worsened with lane closures on the M2 and multiple roadworks in surrounding villages. They have asked Highways


England to re-open the road at 4.30am. Mr Tugendhat said: “Traffic congestion in communi- ties near theM20 is bad enough, but when overnight closures


don’t finish until 6am it makes the morning rush hour unbear- able. That’s what happened last week and caused so much dis- ruption. I’ve teamed upwithmy local colleagues to askHighways England to rethink this. It’s im- portant the works are done as quickly as possible, but commu- nities can’t tolerate this level of disruption.”


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