News


Burglar alert POLICE are looking for a sus-


pected burglar in Marden. They were called to a house in Staplehurst Road at about 12.15pm on Saturday, August 29 after receiving reports it had been vandalised.


Armed officers, forensics ex- perts and a police helicopter scrambled to the scene, but a sus- pect was not found. The road was closed in both di- rections while enquiries took place.


A Kent Police spokesman said:


“The suspect remains outstand- ing and enquiries into the circum- stances surrounding the incident are ongoing.”


Walks back


GROUP health walks are back on the agenda in Headcorn. Public group walks have been


hit by Covid-19 regulations, but Headcorn Health Walks team leader Barry Walker has found a solution. Starting on Wednesday Septem-


ber 16, there will be two walks per month. Two teams of five will set off 10 minutes apart, along the same route. Walkers will maintain social distancing. Places will be allocated on a first booked basis. Walkers will need to take hand sanitiser. To book a place, call Paula on 07525 260539 or email barry@wa- tersideoast.com.


Missing girl


A MISSING nine-year-old girl sparked a huge police response in Maidstone.


A helicopter was seen hovering


over the town centre at around 12.15pm on Friday, August 28. The child was found safe and well at about 1pm.


A Kent Police spokesman said: "The helicopter was helping us to search for a missing person who was found safe and well within the last couple of minutes."


Market date


FUNDING has meant the West Malling Farmers Market will be able to return this month. A one-way system is now in place around the site and addi- tional measures will be in place to help with social distancing. Contactless card payments and hand-sanitising stations will be available.


The next West Malling Farmers Market will take place on Sunday, September 27.


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downsmail.co.uk


Multi-storey car park planned at campus


A MULTI-level car park is now proposed at the Kent Medical Campus to serve the expected growing demand there.


The plans were revealed in doc- uments relating to KMC’s appli- cation for a temporary 42-space car park to serve Maidstone Bor- ough Council's |innovation cen- tre” office block, pictured, which is currently under construction. But the papers note: “In the


longer term, it is stated in the ap- plication that a multi-level car park will be provided as a cen- tralised facility to serve existing and future proposed develop- ment across the wider campus, al- though there is no timescale given for delivery.”


MBC’s temporary facility would provide the centre “with additional parking capacity to re- flect both general higher parking demands for that type of use and with the need to cater for events and conferences”.


It adds that while the “pro- posed car park is not fully consis- tent with the indicative masterplan and would not be considered to be acceptable as a permanent feature” it is impor- tant for the premises’ viability in its “critical early years”.


The temporary car park would be located in a “sunken corner plot to the south of Gidds Pond Way and east of Newnham Court Way”, where access will be gained. Recent additions to the site in-


clude the step-down recovery fa- cility and the controversial Cygnet mental hospital, which houses a proportion of high-risk, violent criminals.


Under construction next door are primary and special needs schools, to be run by the Leigh


Thanks to Christi


A WEST Farleigh woman has been thanked for delivering her parish mag- azine for 45 years in all weathers. Lifeline's distribution in


Lower Road since 1975 has been down to Christa- bel Morgan and will be taken on in future by a neighbour. A recent edition of the magazine recalls: "It was 1975 and John and Christi’s first home here (Burnea bungalow) was still under construction when Christi was “cor- nered” by Belinda Wallace who lived at the Old Par- sonage, and given her job of distributing Lifeline from the school to Dove Cottage. "In those days, Lifeline was a single sheet. The school was still function-


ing then (it closed in 1976), and their daughter Mossy was probably one of the last children to be enrolled there, under the tutelage of Pippa Wake- field. John and Christi still exchange Christmas cards with the Wallaces.”


Academies Trust, which were met with fierce local opposition. The plan was approved at MBC’s planning committee on August 20.


Committee chairman Clive En-


glish said: “The car park came be- fore us because the council has an interest in the site. Otherwise it might not have.” The innovation centre will pro- vide 30,000sqft of workspace which the council hopes will gen- erate 270 jobs. The complex is due to be completed by next summer.


A sad start for


new minister HEADCORN Baptist Church’s new minister Steve Smith has de- scribed the difficul- ties in taking up his role at the start of a pandemic.


Rev Smith, who


moved into the vil- lage with his wife Caz in May, told


Headcorn's monthly magazine the timing was "challenging". He added: “The past few months


have been fruitful and enjoyable, but touched with sadness. “In my first month here, I had to conduct the funerals of two long- standing members of the church. “Their sad loss was made more difficult for the church and for their families due to not being able to celebrate their lives with full memorial services. Hopefully, this can be rectified at some future date.”


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