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downsmail.co.uk I HAVE lived through remarkable


times – the SecondWorldWar, National Service, man on the moon, the VietnamWar and so much more. Now I add the Brexit debacle. I think Brexitwill live inmost


Brexitmemorieswill last lifetime MailMarks


DENNISFOWLE President dennisfowle28@gmail.com


memories forever and,whatever your view, after three years no one can be sure of their own happy ending. Why is it so historicallymemorable? 1 In the largest national referendum vote,more than 17million (52%) voted to change the UK’s national and international directions by leaving the EU,with subsequent and repeated support fromthe two key political parties in the Commons; 2 A U-turn bymanyMPs in both parties resulted in political upheaval and an unprecedented series ofmassive defeats for Government; 3 A PrimeMinister under intense pressure because she lost confidence of somany of her ownMPs over both her negotiating stances and tactics and seeking a partnershipwith the Opposition, leading to Conservative Partymembers voting for an extraordinarymeeting for her urgent removal. They could not stand an agreementmaking us subservient to an EUwe voted to leave. This loss of confidencewas


highlighted in our ownMaidstone and TheWeald constituency,where a survey of Conservativemembers resulted in 84%ofmore than 100 responses supporting about 70 other


Schools protests ‘pointless’


THIS is a le�er I have sent toMaidstone Borough Council’s planning commi�ee regarding the approval of the schools near theM20 J7. It reads: “Whilst I have a lot of respect


for you and your work, I feel what you and your fellow councillors did tonight was a slap in the face of democracy. “You as chair and others spoke out


against the planning application for the two schools, but then said you had to pass it as the lesser of two evils. “To decline would, in your opinion,


mean you would lose on appeal and as such would lose all the beneficial ‘conditions’. “What you all fail to understand is that


any developer on a £10+million project will agree to whatever you want, and then do what suits it. “You have no power to police these


‘conditions’, as you amply demonstrated with the nature reserve ‘condition’ for KIMS. “If you can tellme that when the


schools are built and pupils are at the door and you find out that some agreed trees were not planted or there are three


46 Maidstone June 2019


constituencies around the UK. They demanded a national Conservative meeting calling on her to consider her position, so a newPrimeMinister could be elected. Maidstone voted 58%to leave the EU and canvassers are reporting fury onmany doorsteps. None of us can remember such


political turmoil in our lifetime. Yes, thesememorieswill stay forever.





Popular grammars I AM very suspicious of the story


that grammar schools in Kent are struggling to a�ract pupils. Parental desire for children to gain a place seems more powerful than ever – and Kent’s grammars are the envy ofmany in London and neighbouring counties. A national campaign organisation,


Comprehensive Future, haswrongly interpreted 2017 statistics claiming 1,568 pupilswere admi�ed to Kent grammar schools after “failing” the Kent Test, also indicating some grammars had problems filling places. In fact the figure reflects Kent’s


carefully-evolved selection procedures. Roger Gough, KCC’s cabinetmember for children, young people and education, explained: “Most grammar


less parking spaces than agreed, you can stop it opening until they comply, then you are delusional. “Your commi�ee, on big projects, is a


play thing for a developer. For a single householder you can be draconian, the bullied becomes bully. “You should have shown some


backbone and refused this plan as you all agreed you wanted to. “The community would deal with the


planning inspector. “As a ‘ local’ planning authority you


haven’t the skill or power to deal with the big developers. Instead you let your officials lead you by the nose and pretend you have no choice. “It has been a set-up fromstart to


finish. The le�er about not hearing the two applications tonight, which I stupidly believed and so didn’t get to speak, pu�ing the land application after the building was just a cynical twist. “You could have saved us all a lot of


time and effort by pointing out you had to pass it and all objections are pointless because, as you demonstrated, they amounted to nothing.” Peter Rabba�s,Maidstone


schools are oversubscribedwith childrenwho have been assessed grammar suitable. “Most have qualified through Test


scores, but head teacher panels are an important part of assessment, taking account of studentswhose overall academic performancewas, for whatever reason, not fully reflected in their Test outcome on the day.” Allowance is alsomade for parental


appeals to independent panels. This a�ack on Kent grammars comes across as comprehensive nonsense.





BusyMote Park MOTE Park is nowset to become


more popular then ever this summer as many of the newa�ractions bed in. Wemade a family visit over the hot


Easter holiday and joined children crowded into the expanded and exciting playground area.What a joyful buzz. There ismuch to come.Maidstone


Council is investingmore than £4min these latest improvements. Climbers are in for a ball,with high


ropes and climbingwall. Therewill also be adventure golf and Segways aswell as the skate park. Also on theway are a newvisitors’


centre and café; newtoilets; and extra footpaths.Wisely, parking is being expanded. At times itwas difficult to find a space at Easter. What awonderful parkwe enjoy, It is rightly cherished by somany.


Church structure outdated


REFERENCE your article on possible church closures inWestMalling. I am appalled by theway inwhich the Church of England structures itself. We have two dioceses in Kent –


Canterbury and Rochester (three if you include Southwarkwhich covers parts of themetropolitan areas of the county). Howmany businesseswould run an area structure subdivided in thisway? If the twoweremerged, the “head office


overheads” could be cut and themonies savedwould put less pressure on parishes to submit their “parish shares”. I’msure the Bishop of Rochester could be accommodatedwithin an enlarged Canterbury diocese, as the former Bishop ofMaidstonewas in the past. Reduced a�endances surely demand


closures of some of the churches built in the halcyon days of the 19th century. Sale of redundant church land and buildings, and investment of that capital in fewer buildingswith 21st century facilities would be away of a�ractingmore worshippers to amodern and streamlined organisation. Richard Ratcliffe,Maidstone


Comment


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