NewsNews Plan to open


distillery bar THE location of a new Maidstone distillery has been earmarked for a former hairdressers. Aplanning applicationwas sub-


Disabled travel vouchers axed


mittedto convert theUrbanEscape unit inMarket Buildings. The pro- posals also include creating a visi- tor centre, tour opportunities, a shop of spirits and merchandise, and, in time, a bar where cus- tomers canmake their own spirits. If successful, it will be run by dad-of-three


Travel Voucher (DTV) scheme.Darren Grav s (42), along with his wife,


THE axing of a £50,000 scheme which helped hundreds ofMaid- stone’s most vulnerable people has come under fire. As of April 1, Maidstone Bor- ough Council has stopped giving funding to Age UK Maidstone, which administered the Disability Bearsted


The scheme was aimed at those Sam and master distiller, Gerard Evans, producing gin, rum, vodka andwhisky using a 400-litre still.


who are too ill or disabled to use public transport. MBCblames central government


Stagecoach fromc2c Rail and lives inHarrietsham. He is the vice-chairman of gov- er An 88-year-old woman from


STAGECOACHSouthEast has ap- pointed JoelMitchell as itsmanag- ing director. MrMitchell (42), fromKent, joins local authority, yet


leadership managed to


£50,000 to attempt a doomedHigh Court judicial review against an- other


takes


away funds from the very people who are the fabric of our society.”


nors at th local primary school, coaches the Under 10s at Maid- stone Rugby Club and is a keen volunteer in the community.


Loose,who has arthritis andispar- tially sighted, asked her son to reapply for her vouchers, only to


Newdirector lor, Eddie Powell, said: “TheMBC


cuts and firstmade the decision to axe theDTV inMarch 2017. Independent borough council-


find


THE failure of a Liberal Democ- rat candidate to get his nomina- tion forms in on time has thrown wide open one of themost hotly- contestedwards intheboroughin recent years. Cllr Rob Field (pictured), the in-


cumbent and deputy leader of the local Liberal Democrats, missed the April 4 deadline, to the “frus- tration” of one colleague. It means that the Lib Dems will


discover the scheme had ended. Thewoman,who askednot to be


named, told Downs Mail: “I am fortunate in having the means to make other arrangements, but I feel for many, many others who sawthis excellent scheme as a life- line.Nowit has been taken away.” MBC contracted the service out


have no presence in North ward, where there are four other candi- dates, including thenewTory front runner, Robert Eves. Cllr Field blamed his campaign


teamfor a “mix-upwith thedates” for theMaidstone Borough Coun- cil poll onMay 2. He added: “I didn’t get themin,


no. It was left with the campaign team and there was an error over the dates, I believe. It is very frus- trating but these things happen.” The seat is now likely to be a two-way fight between the Tories


to Age UKMaidstone, which ad- ministered the scheme. Users re- ceived £70 in vouchers, valid for a year, to usewith taxi and commu- nity transport organisations. Chairman ofAgeUKMaidstone


Bryan Vizzard said: “We did urge the borough council to think again, but the decision had already been made at committee level. “We are seeing the loss of a valu-


able service to themost disadvan- tagedmembers of society.” MBCsaidit hadtakendecidedto


remove the grants after considera- tionat twocommittees –Policyand Resources, and Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transportation.


POLICEmoves to install new secu- rity fencing at the force’s training centre have been put on ice while planners weigh up the environ- mental impact of their proposals. A team acting for Kent’s Com-


downsmail.co.uk


Election formsmix-up a blowfor LibDems


Police fencing on hold


missioner Matthew Scott (pic- tured) had hoped to rip out existing 2m-high boundary fenc- ing at the Boughton Monchelsea complex, and install a higher, state-of-the-art replacement. But environmental consultees


from Kent County Council torpe- doed the planning application be- cause it carried no detail of the move’s anticipated effect on nearby trees and hedgerows. Maidstone Borough Council sen-


and Labour. Cllr Clive English said: “He's


been a very effective councillor, Rob, but hedidn't get hispapers in. It is frustrating.” Cllr Field won the seat fromthe


Tories at a by-election. The Con- servatives had narrowly won the seat by 25 votes in a shock victory in 2015. Observers feel that Labour,who


came fourth four years ago,will go all out to scoopup the left of centre


ior planning officer, JocelynMiller, subsequently told police that, in order to rule on the application “all necessary ecological surveysmust be carried out,with the results and any mitigation proposals submit- ted”. Shewent on towarn that, if they


ploughed ahead with the plans in their existing form, she would re- fuse them“on the grounds there is insufficient information”.


vote. The Labour candidate is Maureen Cleator, a localwoman. A Labour spokesman said:


“We’ll give it a good go.” A Tory spokesman said: “Rob’s


a reallynice guy.These thingshap- pen, but I suppose it blows the whole electionwide open.” With the balance of power deli-


cately poised, the loss of a seat without evencontesting it is a blow to the Lib Dems and gives an un- expectedwindowfor the Tories. The Tories are the numerically


In response, the commissioner’s


most superior party in the town hall, but the Lib Dems have an al- liance with smaller parties to run Maidstone Borough Council. The Conservatives would need


agent, Jeremy Bromfield, agreed to pull the plug on the proposals temporarily. He said: “Following further consultation with my client, we will resubmit the appli- cation in due course.” The police team is now working


to pull off at least five gains andre- tain existing seats,whichmost be- lieve is unlikely on current form. Standing in North ward are:


on ecological and arboricultural re- ports. The proposals do not incorpo-


Steve Bax (UKIP), Steve Cheese- man (Green Party), Maureen Cleator (Labour) and Robert Eves (Conservative Party).


rate the entire perimeter fencing, but stretches that run parallel to Pested Bars Road and behind houses on Lansdowne Avenue.


downsmail.co.uk


12


Maidstone May 2019


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