News Drunk driver hit a


tree after night out A DRUNKEN sales consultant crashed her company car into a tree nearly three times the drink drive limit after a night out after work, a court heard. A witness had seen Elsbeth


Pope (25) swerve into the tree in Ulcombe Hill on July 18 and sus- pected she had been drinking. The court heard Pope lost her job


as a result of the offence and is “struggling” to come to terms with being unemployed. Prosecuting, Julie Farbrace said:


“At around 10pm, a member of the public saw Miss Pope’s Fiat Abarth swerving across the road and hit- ting a tree. A roadside breath test indicated she was 91mg, nearly three times the limit.” Maidstone Magistrates Court


heard Pope had gone to the Malta Inn for dinner and drinks after work. Defending, Tobias Burroughs said: “She was about to leave work when her friends invited her out where she had two large glasses of wine. “She says she felt okay to drive


when she got in her car, but she is thankful she wasn’t injured and did- n’t injure anybody else. The com- pany car she was driving is a write- off and her bosses were not im- pressed. “She feels she let her family,


friends and boss down. Her em- ployers have told her she can’t do her job without a car. She is strug- gling to come to terms with being unemployed.” Chairman of the bench, Jacqueline


Curtis said: “This could’ve ended very differently.” Pope, of The Acorns, Smarden,


admitted drink driving and was given a 12 month community order, 40 hours unpaid work and a £175 fine. She was also disqualified from driving for 24 months.


downsmail.co.uk


Council admits tax rise is ‘under consideration’


COUNCIL taxpayers face a hike in rates next year, the borough has admitted. The Liberal Democrat-led au-


thority is currently “scenario plan- ning” and a request has already made for a zero increase next year. Finance chiefs will take into ac-


count the cost of providing serv- ices, improvements in “efficiency” and its ambitions to generate more income. All councillors were briefed re-


cently by the council’s senior offi- cers about the council’s strategy going forward. It is not known what the likely increase would be until the Government of the day sets the national upper limit. But the decision is likely to be


made along party political lines with the outcome an issue for de- bate before the May elections. A Maidstone Borough Council


spokesman said: “The decision re- garding council tax will be made at the MBC full council meeting


23 when it was requested to in- clude zero per cent council tax in- crease and raising it in line with inflation within that planning. MBC will provide information to councillors to allow those and other options to be considered – which will also include raising Council Tax to the referendum limit for the year. “All options will also consider


the ambitions set out in the MBC Strategic Plan including service cost pressures, efficiency improve- ment and income generation.” Marden councillor David Bur-


currently scheduled for February 26, 2020, with recommendations taken from the Policy and Re- sources Committee Meeting of February 12, 2020. MBC is cur- rently scenario planning - as re- ported to the Policy and Resources Committee meeting held on July


ton said it was “too early” to call for a council tax freeze and his group are studying the detail of the council’s finances. He added: “But I am a Conser-


vative, so, of course, I do believe in cutting taxes.” Langley Tory Wendy Young,


pictured, said it would be “pre- ferrable” if residents were spared another rise in 2020.


Gardeners’ best on show


THE choice of a new venue in Allington for this year’s Late Sum- mer Show has come up roses for Maidstone Horticultural Society. A large number of visitors and


four new members were the rich harvest of the new venue of St Nicholas Church Hall. The difficulty parking in Maid-


stone led to the experimental de- cision to take the event to Poplar Grove, which offers a large amount of free parking.


A member said the society was


delighted with the choice of venue, the high turn-out and standard of


entries, and the enthusiasm for the children’s classes, which attracted, amongst other exhibits, a cour- gette dinosaur in the fruit and veg- etable animal class. Major winners were Roger Sim-


mons, who took the Autumn Cup for best vegetables and the Honey Dahlia Cup and new member Glen Chambers, who picked up the prize for best Floral Art. Trophies will be awarded at the Society lunch in December.


Share plans for organ donation


A CAMPAIGN to encourage people inKent todonate their or- gans to save the lives of others has been hitting the road. Organ DonationWeek, which


ran from September 2 to 8, was designed to increase the number of donors in the county. In 2018, more than 120 people


inKenthadtheir lives savedby a transplant but 100 are still wait- ing for that life-saving call. The campaign aimed to high- light that next year, the law


30


around organ donation is chang- ing in England. Fromspring 2020, all adults in


England will be considered as having agreed to donate their own organs when they die, un- less they record a decision not to donate or are in one of the ex- cluded groups. Arecent survey forNHSBlood


andTransplant found thatwhile 84% agreed it was important to let those closest to you know your views on organ donation,


Maidstone East October 2019


only 40% had shared their deci- sionwith a loved one. Anthony Clarkson, director of


Organ Donation and Transplan- tation forNHS Blood and Trans- plant, said: “We need more people in Kent to talk about organ donation to increase the number of transplants. “Even after the law around


organ donation changes next year, families will still be ap- proached before organ donation goes ahead. So it remains very


important to talkto your families about your views. “Register your organ donation


decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and tell your family. If the time comes, we knowfamilies findthe orgando- nation conversation with nurses or medical teams much easier if they alreadyknowwhat their rel- ativewanted.”  Find out more and join the NHS Organ Donor Register at www.organdonation.nhs.uk and


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