downsmail.co.uk Fact 3: Without public transport


shouldering some of the burden and helping to reduce congestion, the town centre businesses will wither and die because of the difficulty in accessing them. Who cares, there’s always online shopping or out-of-town shopping centres! Fact 4: Without town centre businesses


where will people have to work? Who cares, at least the congestion will get be�er as it will all be through traffic and then they can build a bypass, can't they? My advice? Take photographs of


Maidstone now, so you can show your grandkids what it used to be like! Terry East, Boxley,


Park and Ride changes


WITH regard to the future of the Park and Ride service in Maidstone it saddens me as someone who worked in the transport industry for 39 years how li�le initiative is shown by both MBC and Arriva to secure the future of this valuable facility. If it is losing money, why does it have to


stay as an exclusive service? With the new services now running to Bearsted and Madginford/Downswood, there is a simple solution to combine these with the Park and Ride and also to provide a be�er commuter service into town. The current No 4 service runs past the


Park and Ride site so could pick up and drop off passengers as required. The No 11 service runs along the


Ashford Road and could divert via the Park and Ride site to do the same. If the council and Arriva wanted to be really bold and the No11 frequency increased to half-hourly, you could have a service every 15 minutes between the Park and Ride site and the town. This could tempt people out of their cars and onto public transport. A further thought for the No11 is, why


turn it round at Roundwell? Let it run through to the Ashford Road and return to Maidstone through Bearsted thus providing a service to all of Bearsted. Doing this would also give access to visitors to the nursing homes at the end of Roundwell and be useful to the buyers of the 100 or so new homes proposed for the


Barty Farm development. Making the parking free again and just


charging a bus fare would be another encouragement to passengers. For the Allington end of the service, the


buses that serve the London Road going to Larkfield/Snodland/West Malling/Kings Hill could call at that site. I believe the service pa�ern is advertised as every 8-10 minutes. It has been shown worldwide that


passengers will use public transport if the service is regular and reliable. I know the response will be that it will


be costly, but surely it is worth a one-year experiment rather than si�ing back and hoping people will walk or cycle into town. This just will not happen as no one but the most ardent cyclist would want to risk riding on any of the four main approach roads into Maidstone. Michael Jefferies, Weavering


Facts behind legal action


THE article online and also in the East edition of the Downs Mail regarding the legal action being taken by MBC against KCC was so farcical it could almost be regarded as entertaining if the subject ma�er it related to was not so serious. There are two related issues: how progress can be expedited on any Leeds/Langley bypass and how S106 monies can be spent. Many Downs Mail readers will recall


how, as the then Lib Dem Leader of Maidstone Borough Council, l a�ended a public meeting called by Conservative county councillors in relation to the Leeds/Langley Road. I tried to explain that despite repeated requests and confirming that MBC was prepared to substantially contribute towards the cost of the work, KCC had not produced the evidence which would have enabled MBC to include the road in the Local Plan. My explanation was met with derision by Paul Carter, the leader of KCC. How strange then, that a few months


later, but too late for inclusion in the Local Plan, KCC said it was going to undertake the investigative work MBC had


requested. I was delighted to hear this and again indicated that MBC was willing to contribute towards the cost. This was rejected by Cllr Carter. Both our MPs and Cllr John Perry, MBC Conservative Group leader, were at this meeting. MBC’s persistent a�empts, under my


leadership, to obtain the evidence to include the road in the Local Plan, plus its willingness to make a financial contribution, gives the lie to those who seem to prefer a�empts at political point- scoring against the Lib Dem-led council to the well-documented truth. It is surely valid to question why the


leader of KCC, who has for months been bewailing the crisis in funding for upper tier authorities, chooses to refuse the offer of financial support in relation to the Leeds/ Langley bypass. The answer, apparently, was that KCC already had the funds set aside from “unilateral” S106 agreements from planning consents along the Su�on Road. However, the only S106 agreements


relating to those consents were in relation to junction improvements, not a six-lane highway as has been implied, and had moreover formed part of the evidence presented to the Government Inspector when he was evaluating the Maidstone Borough Local Plan. The dispute between the two authorities


has nothing to do with Cllr Gary Cooke’s claim of “MBC trying to supersede the authority of KCC as the statutory body responsible for building roads” but everything to do with obtaining clarity around whether KCC has the authority to over-ride legal documents in respect of planning consents, and re-allocate Section 106 monies. This has implications for all boroughs and district planning authorities operating in the two tier system where the County Council is the Highway authority. It is my earnest wish that this ma�er can


be resolved without going to court and I understand that both the Lib Dem leader Cllr Cox and the Chief Executive of MBC are doing all they can to draw this to a satisfactory conclusion. Fran Wilson, Leader MBC, 2015-2018


The five editions of the Downs Mail are delivered to 90% of households in the Maidstone and Malling area, reaching over 190, 000 readers every month.


Maidstone North


Contact our teams…. Editorial Editor: Simon Finlay


Simon.finlay@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735


Deputy editor: Doug Kempster doug.kempster@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735


Maidstone South Maidstone East Maidstone Weald


Current and archived editions are also free to read online at www.downsmail.co.uk


Sales


Sales Manager: Bill Brett Bill.brett@downsmail.co.uk 01622 630330 ext. 221 Advertising Sales Enquiry: 01622 630330 option 1


Accounts Dept.


accounts@downsmail.co.uk 01622 630330 ext 229


Mail Publications Ltd Forge House


Bearsted Green Business Park Bearsted, Maidstone ME14 4DT


Maidstone East February 2019 47 Malling


Comment


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