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Festive ice park won’t go ahead


A SHOWPIECE Christmas event in Mote Park being staged by Maidstone


Borough Council (MBC) has been cancelled.


The green spacewas to be trans- formedinto the county town’s “Ice Park” from December 21 to Janu- ary 5.


The fortnight of family fun was to feature a rink, a slide, Father Christmas and his grotto and dodgems on ice.


MBC confirmed that contractual demands froman Italian company supplying an ice rink meant or- ganisers could not afford to run it.


with regret


An MBC spokesman said: “It is that


the Ice Park


planned this year has been can- celled. The decisionwasmade fol- lowing requests from the Ice Park Maidstone organiser to the equip- ment suppliers to personally guar- antee the event equipment arriving from Europe. Having failed to reach an agreement with the sup- pliers the decision was made by the organiser to cancel the event for


this year and pursue an alternative supplier for a 2020 event.


“Maidstone Borough Council and the Ice ParkMaidstone organ- iser were not willing sign off on this event without the public's in- terests being guaranteed and due to the lack of time to reinstate an al- ternative supplier, thedecision has been made to cancel this year’s event."


MBC said no public money had been spent on the venture.


Organisers have been taking bookings since June. The council has


Withtime running out, itwasde- whether those who have paid for cided to cancel the event.


tickets will be


so far not commented on refunded. The


event's website has been taken down.


Mote Park has been used in re- cent years as a venuewhich raises revenues for hard-pressedMBCas central Government has squeezed budgets since the economic crash about 12 years ago.


The hard rockmusic eventRam- blin’ Man Fair has been staged there successfully for a number of years.


Scan service praised


ASERVICE offering private ultra- sound scans to pregnant women in the Maidstone area has been rated good by the Care Quality Commission.


TheWindowto theWomb fran- chise, operated by Kent Ultra- sound Studio, opened in Union Street,Maidstone, in 2016.


This CQC inspection, carried out at short notice, found staff treated women with compassion and kindness, respected their pri- vacy, and took account of their in- dividual needs. They provided emotional


support to women tural and religious needs.


treatment. Records were clear, Tenterden up-to-date, stored securely and


The inspector found the service provided mandatory training in key skills. Staff kept detailed records of women's


care and


available to all staff. The service alsomanaged incidentswell. The report noted: “The unit’s leadership had the skills, experi- ence and integrity needed to run a high-quality sustainable service. “Staff felt respected, supported and valued. The service promoted equality and diversity in daily


their families and carers and un- work and provided opportunities derstood patients’ personal, cul-


for career development.” London


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DM 07/19 Maidstone November 2019 5


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