News Choral date
BEARSTED Choral Society’s spring concert this year was held at a church in Rainham, perform- ingworks byHaydn and Vivaldi. The singers, accompanied by a
small orchestra,werewarmly ap- plauded at the end. The concertwas held in support
of Demelza hospice for children and for which a collection was taken during the interval. Bearsted Choral Society’s next
concert is entitled A Night at the Opera and will take place at St John’s School in Grove Green on Saturday, July 13. For further information contact
www.bearstedchoral.org.uk.
Bin arrest
A MAIDSTONE man was found hiding in a compost bin after stealing a vehicle froman address in Coxheath. Officers found the 20-year-old
man in the back of a garden at a house in Lockham Farm Avenue onMay 7 just before 1pm. Police said he was suspected of
stealing a car, burglary, theft and failing to stop for police.
Business Focus
downsmail.co.uk
Relief roadwould be ‘just the beginning’
STUDIES into the viability of a Leeds-Langley relief road have progressed to the next stage, DownsMail has learnt. Surveys conducted by Kent
County Council are being exam- ined jointlywith a specialist high- ways firm to determine the way ahead. Relief road champion and
county councillor Gary Cooke hopes to invite parish councils to a meeting in July to update them on what the studies have con- cluded. Thereafter, potential relief road
routes could be determined. ButCllrCooke claims that,with
Maidstone Borough Council’s massive house-building pro- gramme beginning to bite, any so- lution must be seen as the “beginning and not the end”. Cllr Cooke said: “It is clear that
this can no longer be seen in iso- lation as a south east Maidstone
issue. The reality of this is going far further. The congestion that is impacting people’s lives is not just happening on the A274 or in Langley or in Leeds. It is every- where. “Ifwe can get this one goingwe need to look at all the other places
affected by the explosion in hous- ing in the borough.” MBC has 17,600 new homes in
its Local Plan, passed in late 2017, and will have to include an esti- mated 8,000 more when it is re- viewed in the coming years. Liberal Democrat councillor
Clive Englishwarned that a relief road might come at a huge price – evenmore homes. Cllr English said: “It depends
on the funding mechanisms out there. The relief road is a good idea but we don’t want to build a relief road and build thousands more houses to pay for it. “The fact of the matter is that
KCCdoes not have a lot ofmoney for any major road projects - the Leeds-Langley relief road or any- thing else, for thatmatter. “It has been shown in the past
and elsewhere that you can’t al- ways build yourself out of this sort of situation.”
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Maidstone June 2019
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