downsmail.co.uk


History stone blunder ‘sloppy and careless’


AMAIDSTONE BoroughCoun- cil officer has been “rebuked” over a spelling howler set in stone in the town centre. A large slab to mark a moment


in the county town's history mis- spelt “principal” as “principle”. Liberal Democrat ward council-


lor Clive English was furious, de- scribing the error as “sloppy, careless and embarrassing”. Had a final draft of the artwork


been shown to him, says Cllr Eng- lish, themistakewouldnever have gone through. Cllr English said: “I had to re-


buke a planning officer in private about this – it is embarrassing that such a sloppy mistake could get through. Itwas just careless.” The installation is part of a £3m


regeneration scheme in Week Street and Gabriel’s Hill,with his- tory panels at strategic points along the road. Aslab recently embedded at the top of Gabriel’s Hill reads: “1600:


Maidstone as principle market town”. Cllr Jonathan Purle (pictured) asked:


“The


question is how much will it cost the taxpayer to put this right? “Sadly, this just


sums up Maid- stone Borough Council nicely.


They claim to know what they’re doing, but the reality is that they’re careless in spending the council


tax,make a hash of town planning and have little grasp, if any, of our heritage and history. “The slabs don’t even appear to


be in any date order. They’re just randomly arranged and poorly spelt.” Acouncil spokesman said: “Un-


fortunately, the spelling mistake wasmissedwhen the design stage drawingswere checked. The stone will be replaced.” MBC was unable to say at this


stage howmuch theworkwill cost to put right.


News Village fair


MEMBERS ofUlcombeChurch are hosting the annual summer fair in the village. The event is at All Saints’


Church, from10amto 4pmon Sat- urday, June 8. Visitors can enjoy church tower


tours, a teddy bear parachute jump, a treasure hunt andtombola. As well as craft, plant and cake


stalls there will also be a cham- pagne and smoked salmon break- fast, a barbecue and an all-day bar available. To hire a stall for £10, please contact Molly Poulter on 01622 842988 orBridget Samuelson on 01622 890912.All proceedswill go towards the StLeger family and CardinalNewman.


Jay by the sea


FORMER Maidstone United boss Jay Saunders has signed a perma- nent deal to become manager at Margate Football Club. Mr Saunders (40), sacked by the


Stones last September after an in- different start to the National League campaign, confirmed the move in earlyMay after helping to rescue the seasiders from relega- tion.


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