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Devotion of carers won’t be forgotten


CORONAVIRUS has given us an even greater appreciation of key workers – from pharmacists to farmers. People who have continued working throughout the pandemic to keep us safe and provide the goods and services on which we depend. Some of the people who most deserve our thanks are those who work in social care. There is no question that the past few months have been tough for the care sector. As Care Minister, I have had the privilege of meeting some of the most amazing people who’ve been providing frontline care during this difficult time – including here in Kent. When most people think of social care, they think of older people in residential homes. But the care sector has many parts to it, from care homes to home care, dementia specialists to autism experts. They all have a hugely important role to play in looking after our loved ones when they need support. They have worked incredibly hard to provide high quality care during this pandemic. I know this has been a particular challenge in care homes, where staff have made huge personal sacrifices to keep people safe.


This hard work has not been in vain – 71% cent of care homes in Kent have managed to remain coronavirus free throughout the last few months.


In some other countries, the army was called in and found care home residents


By Helen Whately MP for


Faversham and Mid-Kent


abandoned and left to die. By contrast, ours have gone to great lengths to look after those in their care and keep up morale of residents in the absence of usual visits and activities. Kent County Council has received almost £67m in additional funding from the Government to help frontline services cope with the pressures of Coronavirus. The council has worked hard to get this money to where it is most needed – the majority being spent on social care services. This extra money has helped. But it is thanks to the hard work and dedication of carers that we have managed to limit the spread of the virus in care homes. I visited one care home in Bearsted, which has managed to stay coronavirus free, where staff had agreed to move into the home if there was an outbreak to help control the virus.


As life begins to return to normal, the debt of gratitude we owe to carers and all key workers will not be forgotten.


Take action on fly-tipping


WE ARE fortunate enough to live and work in a beautiful county, but a small minority seem de- termined to blight Maidstone and its surround- ing countryside with mountains of fly-tipping. In 2018/19 there were 1,634 fly-tipping inci-


dents reported on public land in Maidstone, com- pared with 1,041 in 2017/18 – a rise of 57%, the biggest increase in the county and one of the largest in the country. More than 20 of these in- volved asbestos, while 89 were categorised as tip- per lorry loads. The true figures will be even higher, as not all incidents are reported, and these statistics exclude private land. Last summer, recycling centre charges were in-


troduced, while fly-tipping rose during lockdown when centres closed. The Country Land and Business Association


(CLA) represents farmers, landowners and rural businesses. We constantly see the emotional, en- vironmental and financial cost of this crime. Authorities must clamp down hard. In Maid-


stone, just 14 fixed penalty notices were issued specifically for fly-tipping in 2018/19, none for household duty of care, and two for littering in conjunction with fly-tipping. Only eight vehicles


By Mike Sims


Communications manager for CLA South East


were seized, and there were no formal caution ac- tions, according to Defra. We appreciate authorities have budgetary


pressures, but failing to tackle fly-tipping could ultimately make financial situations worse if it means they face increased clean-ups costs. We can all play our part. Paying someone in a


van to remove your unwanted items could leave you facing a day in court if they dump it. The CLA advises Downs Mail readers to avoid


paying in cash, check if the individual or business is licensed on the Environment Agency website, and make sure you get a waste transfer note. We would also urge farmers, landowners and the public to report all incidents. For more information visit www.cla.org.uk or follow @CLASouthEast on Twitter.


Opinion


O THE 15th floor of the new block of Weston Homes’ apartments at Springfield for a reception, where I find the effervescent Liberal Democrat borough councillor David Naghi soaking in views of building works below. But the former mayor is in a rather nostalgic mood, especially when he espies a distant Maidstone Prison. He casts his mind back to when, as a teenager, he delivered morning milk there. One day, as his cart was being let in, the open gate was too tempting for an inmate, who promptly legged it to freedom.


T S


IR David Steel’s recent departure from Leeds Castle’s top chair for the


governorship of Gibraltar has left a great void for the many staff who came to love him. Perhaps not so for the trustees of the place. For it was not the first time His Excellency had resigned or, indeed, changed his mind. A chum discloses: “Sir David was a little hurt how quickly the trustees accepted his resignation this time.”


ENACIOUS stone mason and fiercely independent borough councillor Gordon Newton, whose recent heart attack and triple heart by-pass operation left him at death’s door, is living proof you can’t keep a good man down. “I’m as fit as a butcher’s dog now,” he growls with delight.


T T


O ROTARY duties. Fair to say one doesn’t expect a gong if you keep thumping a fellow member viciously in the back. But the Rotary Club of Maidstone’s annual Bernard Head Memorial Trophy has gone to past president Velia LeQuelenec, a retired nurse, for rescuing Rotarian Bill Stewart from a serious choking attack when pastry from apple strudel stuck in his throat during a lunch.


A


RESH from rebellion against her Tory group in a single vote (hers) defeat for a deferment of the huge Lenham housing proposal, I hear borough councillor Annabelle Blackmore is no stranger to doughty defiance. A press cutting from 2003 tells how the newly-elected member claimed she could represent Marden and Yalding from Bermuda, after her husband was posted there on business.


F Chin chin! 47


GOOD cherry farmer never gets the pip. Top Loose grower Brian Piper and family are used to winning champion prizes at Kent County Show, killed by Covid-19 this year. But Brian entered the National Fruit Show held at Faversham where his delicious Stella variety won top market-class prize.


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