No. 221 Bid to end ‘phoenix’ ﬁrms tax loophole · business owners to achieve a strong on-line web presence that is vital for creating and developing new customers. Webexpand

Maidstone Town | Maidstone East | Maidstone South | Malling September 2015 No. 221

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mittee recently agreed to write offthis debt.

However, since October 2014they have been directors of ClubTrading Ltd, for which the regis-tered address is 28-32 Gabriel’sHill. The following month Straw-berry Moons issued a health andsafety statement that confirmed thebrothers remained directors of thenightclub.

Robert Wilson said: “It is withdeep regret that these companieswent into liquidation due to the re-cession. It is also unfortunate thatMaidstone Borough Council hashad to write off £15,000 in rates.

“Everything has beendone in the correct and legal

News

Obituaries

�46-47

�34-35

Crime Reports �47

Students celebrate SCHOOLS across the boroughhave reportedstrong exam results.�18-19

Cost of livingANNUAL service charges at acontroversial housing scheme inBearsted will be as high as £1,342 �5

Hospital boostTHE local NHS Trust says thetreatment of strokes isimproving.

Parish Councils

Comment �36

�46-47A NEIGHBOURHOOD plan refer-endum might take place inBroomfield and Kingswoodearly next year; Dog mess on theOld School playing field inDetling would be addressed; lit-ter and air quality had becomeproblems during Operation Stackcongestion in Harrietsham,where traveller activity wasnoted; rubbish had been dumpedin the church car park and behindthe sports pavilion in Leeds; theparish council clerk in Ulcombehad resigned.

Congestion hopeMANSTON Airfield will be used toease the misery causedby Operation Stack. �28

�20

�12

Villagers’ bidto buy up landRESIDENTS in Bearsted andThurnham are staging a raceagainst time to save part of the for-mer KIG land from possible devel-opment.

Two large plots of greenfield landtotalling more than 43 hectareshave been put up for sale at BridgeFarm, Water Lane.

The site has remained underthreat even after the Kent Interna-tional Gateway road-rail freight in-terchange proposal was refusedfive years ago.

As Downs Mail went to press,more than £500,000 had beenpledged by locals towards the pur-chase of the land.

More than 100 families have con-tributed £1,000 each, in addition totwo lots of £50,000, five of £10,000,10 of between £2,000 and £5,000,plus 30 smaller amounts.

The two plots advertised for sale,with guide prices of £550,000-£600,000, and £300,000-£325,000, are at the western�4

A GARDEN statue was damagedin Bearsted, where also a horsewas taken from a field and a re-cycling bin from outside a home.

Bid to end ‘phoenix’firms tax loophole

The recipient is known as aphoenix company and although thepractice is legal, Maidstone Coun-cil is lobbying for a change in thelaw after recently writing off£636,883 in unrecoverable businessrates from 18 failed public limitedcompanies, accumulated duringseven years.

Downs Mail can reveal that MarkWilson (52) and his brother Robert(56), who live at separate addressesin Discovery Road, Bearsted, havecontinued to run StrawberryMoons despite being directors of astring of companies registered atthe nightclub's address of 28-32Gabriel’s Hill that wound up withdebts of £2.89m.

This figure includes more than£630,000 owed to the taxman and£63,895 to Maidstone Council.

The brothers were additionallydirectors of two Ashford-basedcompanies – one previously trad-ing as Strawberry Moons Ltd – thatwent under with debts of £1.4m, in-cluding £327,000 to HMRC.

In all, one or both of the Wilsonbrothers have served on the boardsof 10 companies that have folded inthe past seven years, owing £4.29m.

One of their failed companieswas 1MK Ltd, which had the sameaddress as the nightclub and wentunder in May last year, owingMaidstone Council £15,403. Thecouncil’s policy and resources com-

THOUSANDS of pounds of tax is going unpaid because of entrepreneurswho claim their Maidstone-based businesses are bankrupt, only for theirassets to be transferred to a company with a different name.

A STUDENT from Maidstone whowas turned down for his 11-plusexam is hoping to inspire othersafter picking up a first-class honoursdegree.

As pupils across the boroughreceived their A-level results, LukeCoomber (21), from TheHedgerow, Grove Green, provedthat academic success can beachieved without attending agrammar school.

Luke (pictured) said: “You arevery young when the choice ismade as to whether or not you aregood enough to go to agrammar school. At that �3

Luke’s degree of success

Market in townA NEW art market containing 80stalls is coming to Maidstone. �29

Internet boostFREE wifi is to be set upat Boxley’s Beechen Hall.�30

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Continued from page onetime I was a very different person,more interested in my friends.”

Luke left St John’s Junior Schoolin Grove Greenfor CornwallisAcademy. It wasthere, says thestudent – whohas hopes of be-coming a univer-sity lecturer – that

things began to change.He said: “The teachers were ex-

cellent. They got me interested inscience and the different processesbehind how things work.”

Luke’s hard work secured himeight GCSEs, many of A grade, anda Btec in business. He could havetransferred to a grammar school at

this stage, but decided to stay on atCornwallis to sit his A-levels.

He said: “When I began my A-levels it was a wake-up call and I re-alised I had to knuckle down.”

Now home after three years at theUniversity of Essex, in Colchester,Luke’s degree in biomedical sciencetakes pride of place.

He said: “As well as the teachers,my parents were always there if Ineeded support.”

Luke now hopes to study for aPhD. He said: “I’m particularly in-terested in the development of an-tibiotics and, one day, hope tobecome a university lecturer.

“If someone had told me at juniorschool I would go on to be a scien-tist I’d have been lost for words.”�Exam results – see pages 18-19

Luke’s first-class reward

Village enjoys sun and gamesABOUT 100 people enjoyed thefourth annual Olympicnic hostedby Downswood Parish Council atMallards Way Park, Downswood.

The free event, supported byMPE Football Club, aims to bringthe community together for a fewhours of fun, games and friendlycompetition.

There was a wide variety ofraces including running, sack, eggand spoon, piggy back, three-legged and relays. Wellies werehurled great distances in the verycompetitive welly throwing con-test, endurance and skill were ev-ident in the standing long jumpand speed bounce competitions,while women demonstrated theirsuperior strength by winning thetug-of-war against the men.

The Health MOT Roadshowcame along to encourage visitorsto enjoy a healthy lifestyle, andMPE provided a delicious barbe-

cue and a face painter. The glori-ous weather boosted ice creamsales and families and friends en-joyed picnics in the sunshine.

Pictures: Andy Archer

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News | Woodcut Farm

MAIDSTONE Council still be-lieves land at Woodcut Farm issuitable for office and commercialuse – despite residents doingeverything within their powers toprevent it.

The council’s strategic planningcommittee has designated land atWoodcut Farm for mixed employ-ment in its upcoming local plan –although this still has to go out forpublic consultation.

The land is part of the site of theKent International Gateway freightproposal, refused on appeal in 2010.

A report to the committee states:“There is a unique opportunity inthe borough to provide a presti-

gious business park at Junction 8 ofthe M20 that is connected to themotorway network and that canprovide for a range of job needs upto 2031.”

Bearsted Cllr Val Springett saidthe decision would make the coun-cil a laughing stock, having foughtoff Kig and, more recently, two ap-plications to develop land south ofthe A20 at Waterside Park.

She said: “You cannot mitigatedevelopment on this site in anyway whatsoever. You cannot hideany development from the NorthDowns – it will be visible formiles.”

Planning chief Rob Jarman said

he believed it was possible to min-imise the disturbance to the topog-raphy and exercise strict controlover any permitted development,insisting on enhancements to boththe landscape and the biodiversityof the A20 corridor.

He said that although planninginspectors had refused to allow Kigand Waterside Park, they had notvetoed all types of development.

Council leader Fran Wilson feltWoodcut Farm was the “lesser oftwo evils” as it did not involve cut-ting deep into the landscape, as didthe proposals for Waterside Park.

She said: “This is another of theawful decisions we have to make.”

Woodcut Farm now joins a site atMote Road in Maidstone, BarradaleFarm in Headcorn and two in Pat-tenden Lane, Marden, as sites “suit-able and available” for futureeconomic development.

The committee heard that EclipsePark was already “accounted for”and there had been no proposalsput forward for Detling Airfield.

Cllr Springett stressed that devel-opers must be prevented from buy-ing up private land in the area togive them ease of access to the siteand it was crucial development wasnot allowed to “creep” to the west,towards Bearsted and the landwhich was now on the market.

Farm earmarked for business use

Continued from page oneend of the former Kig site and forma sizeable green belt between resi-dential development in Bearstedand the M20.

The new Kig – Keep It Green – to-gether with the Bearsted WoodlandTrust and Bearsted and ThurnhamSociety were hopeful enoughpledges would enable them to putin a bid prior to the closing date ofAugust 28.

If the bid is successful, the team

will launch a full-scale appeal fordonations – both large and small –as well as making approaches forgrants and organising fund-raisingevents.

Mary Richards, from theBearsted and Thurnham Society,said: “I would urge and encourageas many people as possible to takepart, however small. Fighting Kigwas a real community effort andthis could be similar.”

Richard Ashness, feasibility

study co-ordinator for the Bearstedproposal, said: “It is a tribute to oursense of community that so manypeople are prepared to be so gener-ous.”

The parish council has agreed inprinciple to give £80,000 from itsland and buildings fund towardsthe purchase, if residents are will-ing to stump up the remainder.Half would be met during the cur-rent financial year and the remain-der in April 2016.

Residents pledge cash to buy development landCash reservesWHILE agreeing to pledge£80,000 towards the appeal,Bearsted Parish Council agreed toretain some funds in case otherland in the village was to come onthe market.

Within hours of its August meet-ing, land at Banky Meadow andFauchons Lane was advertised forsale with a guide price of £80,000.

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New CEO atLeeds CastleSIR David Steel is the new chief ex-ecutive of Leeds Castle.

He takes onthe day-to-dayrunning of thecastle followingthe departureof Victoria Wal-lace and sevenmonths withestate directorBill Lash as in-terim CEO.

Niall Dickson, chairman of theLeeds Castle Foundation, said:“Admiral Steel has had a stellar ca-reer and brings a wealth of experi-ence, including responsibility forthe major heritage site atPortsmouth, which contains HMSVictory.”

Admiral Steel has moved to Kentfrom Portsmouth.

Upgrade forHE centreSTUDENTS at MidKent Collegewill have state-of-the-art facilitieswhen the college’s Higher Educa-tion Centre opens in OakwoodPark, Maidstone this autumn.

The centre will be home tohigher-level courses in construc-tion, engineering, teacher trainingand education, business and IT.Access courses will prepare re-turners for degree-level studiesand the college will also offer pro-fessional qualifications in account-ancy, personnel development andleadership and management.

The £19m investment in the cen-tre is the second phase of thewider redevelopment of MidKentCollege’s Maidstone campus,which has cost nearly £40m in all.

The building being redevelopedwas formerly the University forthe Creative Arts (UCA).

Sir David Steel

Christmas lights switch-onTHE Christmas lights will be switched on in Maidstone’s FremlinWalk on November 19.

Maidstone Town Centre Management is hoping to attract acelebrity to perform the switch-on as well as entertainment fromschool choirs and the Salvation Army band.

Efforts are also being made to co-ordinate late-night shoppingopportunities, possibly for two weeks in the run-up to Christmas.

Approaches will be made to Maidstone Council about parkingconcessions.

RESIDENTS wanting to buy ahouse in the planned RoundwellPark scheme in Bearsted will haveto pay an annual service charge ofas much as £1,342.

The 50-home scheme on landwest of Cross Keys, which wasgiven planning permission inApril, will be managed by PremierEstates, who will pocket almost£25,000 every year from residents.

The charges will apply to theowners of all 43 purchased homeson the development – rangingfrom £250 for affordable homes to£1,342 for the most expensive five-bedroom home, paid annually inadvance – to cover day-to-daymaintenance. However, there is aquestion mark about whether Pre-mier Estates will be responsible formaintaining the access bridge thatwill go over the Lilk Stream.

Roger Vidler, of the Bearsted andThurnham Society, told MaidstoneCouncil’s planning committee:“Premier Estates have a critical in-terest in how this is maintained.There must be some joint responsi-bility.

“What safeguards will be put inplace to ensure that essential main-tenance of critical systems, such as

the private rain gardens, is not sim-ply ignored by the residents orbuilt over? What happens if peoplerefuse to pay the service charge?”

Matthew Stevens, managing di-rector of applicant Country HouseDevelopments, said that GoldingHomes was happy with the fees forthe 20 affordable units.

He added: “It is wholly appropri-ate that the management feesshould be apportioned based on thesize and value of each property.Premier Estates looks after 24,000homes and they say they suffer veryfew non-payment issues.”

Cllr Clive English, chairman ofthe committee, said: “If manage-ment committees are not doingtheir job then residents can find an-other management company.”

The committee signed off theSection 106 developer agreement,which included a £25,000 contribu-tion to open space and woodland.

It was voted through by six votesin favour and six abstentions.Angry members of the publicbranded the decision to confirmthe go-ahead of the scheme a “dis-grace”. One shouted: “You have tovote – you can't hide behind yourabstention.”

£25k annual fee forRoundwell homes



News downsmail.co.uk

David is Lions’ new president

TECHNOLOGY is being used in-creasingly to connect more andmore people.

From social networks, whichkeep friends and family in touch, toprofessional networks such asLinkedIn, technology is rapidly re-placing the written and telephonicword.

Now, in a bid to reduce social iso-lation in the borough, Maidstone ishosting the Kent Connects “Trans-formed by You” challenge to bringpeople together in a new and excit-ing way.

Maidstone has one of the highestconcentrations of home-based busi-nesses in Kent, with about 9,000homeworkers in the borough, ofwhich half own their own business.

Some of the wards with lots ofself-employed homeworkers are in

rural areas, such as Marden, Yald-ing, and Boxley.

With the population of the bor-ough expected to increase by 10.2%(16,400) in the next 10 years, thetown’s challenge is “People are bet-ter together; how can we connectthem?” and local residents arebeing invited to get involved.

A council spokesman said: “Youdon’t have to have technologicalknow-how – we’re just looking forideas to get the ball rolling.”

The challenge is in two parts.First, people are being asked to

submit their ideas which couldhelp anyone who might experiencesocial isolation – from local busi-nesses looking to collaborate fortheir mutual benefit, to those whohave just moved to the boroughand are looking for like-minded in-

dividuals to share an interest.Then, the top ideas will be taken

forward to a ‘Hack Day’ on No-vember 21 in the Business Terrace,Maidstone’s new enterprise hub.

Here, developers and those withan interest can come along to helpbuild a prototype solution, andhave the chance to win a package ofsupport to help make that proto-type a reality.

The spokesman said: “We wantto take advantage of technology tomake sure that people have theopportunity to build networks andreduce isolation in our communi-ties.”

If you think you have a techno-logical solution to a problem re-lated to social isolation, submityour idea online at www.trans-formedbyyou.com.

Bid to beat isolation blues

DAVID Priestley has been chosen asthe new president of MaidstoneLions Club. A retired building societymanager, he has been president ofthe Maidstone club three times be-fore.

David, who lives in Loose Roadwith his wife Sandra, was involvedwith Loose Swiss Scouts for morethan 30 years, many as chairman.

He is pictured with Lion MarionBrooks, the club’s outgoing presi-dent. During her two years as presi-dent the club donated more than£44,000 to charitable causes,mainly in the Maidstone area.

Maidstone Lions Club belongs tothe largest service organisation inthe world. For more details callDavid on 01622 745023.

New voice onrural issuesA NEW group has pledged to pro-vide a united voice on some of thebiggest issues affecting rural com-munities.

The Conservative “collective”,The Rural Alliance, has emergedafter a string of approvals by Maid-stone Council for developmentsimpacting directly on countrysidecommunities.

Rural Alliance member Cllr Mar-tin Round says the group willspeak out not just on housing andinfrastructure but on aspects in-cluding rural “invasions” by gyp-sies and a “scant regard” forneighbourhood plans, the protec-tion of habitats and rural cultures.

The group comprises nine Con-servative borough councillors andparish and county council mem-bers. It promises to use its positionon the borough council, its good re-lations with the area’s MPs andpartnerships with groups such asKent Association of Local Councilsand the Joint Parishes Group toraise rural concerns with the bor-ough council.

Such issues include alarm thatjunction 8 and the surroundingarea could become an industrial es-tate, planning decisions based onthe threat of appeal rather thanmerit and action to deal with trav-ellers.

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A POPULAR borough councilloris fighting his way back to fullhealth after doctors gave him onlya 20% chance of surviving a cancerscare.

Cllr Brian Mortimer, who lives inHeath Road, Coxheath, went toPembury Hospital in May with asuspected perforated bowel.

He was admitted and woke up 10days later in intensive care, havinghad both a cancerous tumour andabscess removed.

He said: “Don’t ask me whathappened during those 10 days – Ihave no idea. I was totally out of it.Apparently, the doctors tried towake me up four times withoutsuccess; it was only on the fifth oc-casion, after 10 days, that I openedmy eyes.”

At one point, Cllr Mortimer’swife Dianne and close family weretold he had only a 20% chance ofpulling through.

The former Mayor of Maidstone,known for his jovial and outgoingpersonality, went on to developsepticaemia (blood poisoning) anddeveloped a second abscess in hisleg, both of which were success-

fully treated.He said: “I consider myself to be

a very lucky lad and am onlythankful I am here to tell the tale.”

After being bed-bound in hospi-tal for a month, Cllr Mortimer (61)now faces a six-month spell ofchemotherapy as a preventativemeasure in case any cancer cellshave survived.

He said: “I’m not looking for-ward to it, but it is the sensiblething to do.

“Every day is now so very pre-cious to me, as there is still a lot Iwant to do – but I’m alive and kick-

ing, that’s the main thing. I love life– and I’ll be back!”

The former electrician andbuilder, who has served Coxheathand Hunton ward since 1996, paidtribute to his family and friendswho had rallied round during hisconvalescence.

He said: “I’ve had kind wishesfrom people I don’t even know!”

Although it will be some time be-fore he is back to full strength, CllrMortimer has every intention ofgetting back into the council cham-ber in the autumn.

He said: “My brain still works,but my body soon gets tired and Iget frustrated that I can’t do much.”

Brian has been a stalwart of thecouncil, and a regular member onvarious committees, since his elec-tion 19 years ago.

When not attending councilmeetings and serving his wardmembers, he enjoys playing theguitar and playing in a band. He isalso a keen member of the Cox-heath twinning association.

I’ll be back, promisescancer scare councillor

For more local newswww.downsmail.co.uk

Cafe’s newlease of lifeA TOWN centre cafe has found acreative way of making a living.

The Living Café in Earl Street hasprided itself on serving nutritious,locally-sourced food in a friendlyand intimate atmosphere.

Now, when the soup and sand-wiches are sold out, the cafeswitches at 4.30pm to serving liq-uid refreshment, thanks to theCrafty Alehouse – a new micro-pubpouring pints from four casksstored in the cafe’s cellars.

Sandwiched between the Earl’sand Druids pubs, the Crafty Ale-house is run by brothers Sam andJoe Otway, and estate agent BenSiggins. The new owners hope toattract customers looking for aquiet drink before or after a meal.

Leaders wantedSPORTING volunteers are beingsought.

They are needed for MaidstoneHarriers, Weavering AFC, Maid-stone Canoe Club, StaplehurstCricket & Tennis Club, AllingtonChestnuts, Maidstone Lacrosse,Barming Table Tennis Club andMaidstone United FC.

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Finance can be a minefield even for the mostexperienced of us, especially with so manychanges to regulation and criteria, so getting ahelping hand from someone who knows themarket can be invaluable in saving you bothtime – and money.

Although the word ‘mortgage’ is synonymous

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THE owner of a dance and eventsvenue in Tonbridge Road, Maid-stone says she was prepared to re-fuse developer access had a schemefor five homes been approved.

Margaret Preedy (pictured) livesat No 33, from where she has run her

dance studios for 15years. She stronglyobjected to a pro-posal to develop onthe former BudgetRent-a-Car sitenearby, and toldMaidstone Council'splanning commit-

tee, before its decision to refuse thescheme: “The only access to this pro-posed site is across private land,owned by me. There is no inde-pendent access.

“I have the right to move this ac-cess at any time with two months’notice, which I could be forced to doto protect my business, thus makingthese plans non-viable.

“I run classes six days andevenings a week for adults and chil-dren as young as four years old. Irun school holiday clubs with chil-dren on the premises all day. I have

party and wedding bookings in forevery weekend this year, and into fu-ture years.

“It would be wrong to accept thatany of these events could be watchedby overlooking residents. This pastweek, in excess of 1,400 people camethrough my front door. Over a yearthere could be 100,000 visitors.

“The front windows of the pro-posed development will be less than2m from my busy car park with myguests leaving late in the weekdayevenings and past midnight at theweekends.

“I will not be prepared to accept

any complaints that may arise fromthis and will insist on no windowsfacing my premises and full soundinsulation used in the build.”

Mr Atkins, representing the appli-cant, said the site had been marketedfor business use for two years, buthad no takers.

However, Cllr Stephen Paine, amember of the committee, said: “Ithink I have supported every brown-field regeneration scheme since I be-came a councillor [in 2008].

“But for this one I really do haveconcerns. The layout is very denseand there is a lot of overlooking. Ithas happened before, when we havehad housing next to a business, theresidents start a campaign. Beforeyou know it, a successful businesswill have an enforcement notice,which is the last thing we will want.”

Cllr Brian Clark, also on the com-mittee, said: “It is ironic that a Rent-a-Car site caused less harm thanhousing but we are shoehorning inlarge family homes. I can see somegreat problems if this goes ahead.”

The committee voted to refuse dueto the proposal's cramped designand its lack of amenity area.

Access threat helps toscupper homes scheme

The premises in Tonbridge Road

Facelift to boost“twilight” zoneWORK to revamp The Mall inMaidstone could see a new “twi-light” shopping facility to bridgethe gap between day and night-time activities.

A £5m facelift, most of whichwill take place during the night,will see new flooring, lighting andentrances installed to the towncentre shopping outlet in a bid toencourage more shoppers.

Longer-term, owners Capitaland Regional plan to spend£100m on creating a cleaner,brighter centre that will encour-age shoppers to stay longer intown – and spend more money.

New leisure facilities and addi-tional food and drink outlets areplanned to bridge the gap be-tween daytime shopping and thetown’s busy night time economy– restaurants, bars, cinemas andnightclubs.

The trademark canopy in KingStreet will be taken down as partof the first phase, being replacedwith a bright new glass entrance,along with changes to the othermain entrance at the bottom ofGabriel’s Hill.

Capital and Regional say im-provements to another of theiroutlets has seen a 2% increase infootfall.


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A BEARSTED chip shop is to do-nate a day’s takings to the mem-ory of Matt Carapiet (23), whodied in the Nepal earthquake inApril.

He had been helping to build theSelf Help Community Centre, nearSiem Reap, Cambodia, as part ofhis gap year travels through Asia.

Following Matt’s death, morethan £11,000 was collected to helpcomplete the project and pay forteachers, stationery and food.

Matt enjoyed nothing more thana plate of fish and chips from hislocal “chippie” – the Marino FishBar in Ashford Road, so for everymeal of fish and chips bought onMonday, September 7, a donationwill go towards the community cen-tre fund.

Matt’s mum Jill said: “Matt’sdream was to use his skills to im-prove the quality of life for com-munities in poor countries and heput this into practice in Cambodia.”


MAIDSTONE Mencap is hopinglocals will dig deep to help thecharity keep its historic base in thetown’s Mote Park.

The charity, founded 47 yearsago, runs a popular playgroup, aswell as holiday and youth clubs, atits base in the park’s Cobtree Hall.

But the former church is fallinginto disrepair and now needs£160,000 spending on the roof, gut-tering and stonework to ensure itssurvival.

Maidstone Mencap is £52,000short of funds for the first phaseand would need an extra £30,000 tocomplete the second.

At a time when the charity is al-ready struggling to stay solvent,the news has come as a bitter blow.

The group is loathe to relinquishthe historic building in a pictur-esque setting where the childrencan play safely both inside and out.

Consequently, it has launched acampaign to raise funds and secureany appropriate grants and dona-

tions toward the cost of the work.Maidstone Mencap caters for

children and young people withboth learning and physical disabil-ities. Many of them also have addi-tional medical needs, are autisticand have difficulty communicatingor challenging behaviour, any ofwhich may mean they are excludedfrom other clubs.

The playschool runs each Tues-day and Thursday in term time,from 10am to 2pm, catering for upto 25 children aged two to five fromMaidstone, Malling and the Weald.A team of volunteers means thechildren get one to one care.

The charity gets no governmentfunding so is entirely dependentupon donations.

For more information on how tohelp, donate or volunteer, visitwww.maidstonemencap.org

Help charity tobridge shortfall

Chip shop cash for Matt


A 12TH-century hall in Maidstone,mothballed for 15 years, is to opento the public after a renovation.

The Corpus Christi Hall in EarlStreet is now available for privatehire. It was home to MaidstoneGrammar School for 300 years, from1549, and housed the Whitbreadbrewery. Part of the building wasmost recently used as the receptionfor Avis Rent-a-car, while the restlay empty for 15 years.

The hall still has original features

including two crown posts withchamfered tie beams, a passage withfive stone arches, and traces of awooden partition that originally di-vided the hall in two.

The renovation has restored thebuilding, with its original sprungfloor and vaulted ceiling. Now, thehall boasts a bar and kitchen.

The public can view the premisesfrom noon to 4pm on Sunday, Sep-tember 13, as part of MaidstoneCouncil’s Heritage Open Days.

Ancient hall is re-opened

Donda

Michaelas

will donate

a day’s

profits to a

charity in

memory of

Matt

Carapiet,

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Stephen Charles Thomas (62),who is registered at a MiltonKeynes address, was a director oftwo separate companies based atLockmeadow that have gone bust.

He was the sole director of NSG(Maidstone) Ltd, which went intoliquidation in January this yearowing Maidstone Council £56,705in business rates.

Mr Thomas was also one of twodirectors of TMH (XL) Limited,which went into administration inJuly last year, owing the council£59,318.

The council’s policy and re-sources committee agreed to writeoff the £116,000 debt.

Going back to the 1990s, not longafter the Lockmeadow complexwas built, the premises has seen avariety of clubs – including JumpinJaks, Liquid and Envy and Ikon –come and go.

For the past three years, its rein-carnation as Wonderland hadyoung clubbers flocking to the west

side of the Medway. However,Maidstone Council has approvedan application to turn part of theclub into a trampolining centre, tobe run by Gravity Fitness Ltd.

Wonderland closed its doors thissummer for the final time with afoam party for under 18s.

News Business rates | downsmail.co.uk

£100k debt wri�en off

Continued from page onemanner. We are currently employ-ing over 100 people full- and part-time in Maidstone town centre.

“We have been operating in Maid-stone for over 22 years, contributingmillions in taxes and rates and willcontinue to do so in the future. Wepersonally took heavy losses (ap-prox £1m) but have continued toreinvest into the Maidstone econ-omy that is now coming out of oneof the worse recessions in history.”

Despite the debts already accruedin charge of businesses that wentinto liquidation, the Wilson brotherswere able to launch The Brenchleyin the High Street two years ago. Atthe time their failed companiesowed at least £667 to MaidstoneTown Centre Management, who

still promotedthe opening ofthe pub in itssummer 2013newsletter.

The councilhas sent a letterto the LocalG o v e r n m e n tAssociation call-ing for a changein the law re-garding the

ease in which debts can be writtenoff and phoenix companies created.

The leader of the council Cllr FranWilson (no relation to Mark orRobert) would not comment on in-dividual cases but said: “If a com-pany known to us closes andreopens under a different name

there is absolutely nothing Maid-stone Council can do about it, otherthan collect business rates in thenormal way. Until the Governmentdecides to legislate against it there islittle we can do.”

Cllr Steve McLoughlin, a memberof the policy and resources commit-tee, said a possible solution was todemand the payment of businessrates upfront from companies con-sidered a risk.

Of the business rates that Maid-stone Council successfully collects,it gets to keep 40%, with 10% givento KCC and the remainder to theGovernment. Although more than97.6% of Maidstone businesses paytheir rates on time, the council iscurrently owed more than £1.5m inunpaid rates.

WHEN a company goes bankrupt, asecond company can start upovernight with the same directors –but without any obligation to payfor the failed company’s losses.

This is because they appear to bedifferent entities. The new firm isknown as a phoenix company.

Fraud happens when directorsabuse the phoenix companyarrangement by transferring the as-sets of the failing company belowtheir market value before insol-vency, which reduces the fundsavailable to creditors.�There is no suggestion of any ille-gality in any of the companies wehave featured in our investigation.

MAIDSTONE Council has written off more than £100,000 in unpaid busi-ness rates associated with the recently closed Wonderland nightclub.

Ailing pubkept aliveA MARRIED couple have been ableto keep hold of The White Horsepub in London Road, Maidstoneafter being forced to put theirstruggling company into liquida-tion.

Palmers Pub Company Limited,owned by Lee Palmer (58) and hiswife Sandra (56), went into liquida-tion in November 2014, leaving a£34,000 debt in business rates thatMaidstone Council has written off.

Due to difficulties in meetingrunning costs of The White Horse,which the Allington couple haverun since 2009, they lost their homebut remain the pub’s landlordsafter a family member took it overunder a new company name.

Lee said: “It is unfortunate that,despite all the hard work and effortwe have put into this business, wewere advised to go into liquidationdue to ever increasing outgoingsthat we could not keep up with.The biggest losses were ours, over£100,000, forcing the sale of ourhome, which has now all gone. Wedid not let any local suppliers gounpaid at any stage.

“Thankfully, a family memberwas able to buy what was left andallowed us to continue to stay atthe pub. We put our heart and soulinto what we do here to offer a de-cent and safe environment for peo-ple to relax and enjoy themselves.

“We are great supporters of localmusic and of local charities. Wehave helped to raise over £3,000this year alone for various causes.We will continue to provide a serv-ice to our community for as long aswe can.”

OTHER failed companies whoseunpaid business rates were re-cently written off by MaidstoneCouncil:

�Farmshop Restaurant Ltd, oper-ating as Turning Tables, 62-63aHigh Street (£57,609).�Virgo (London), Ltd, 365/366Dukes Walk, The Mall (£56,705).�Saffron (London) Ltd, 68 WeekStreet (£53,279).�Super-Fly Clothing Ltd, 23 Frem-lin Walk (£40,761).�Invent Events Ltd, 34c Gabriel’sHill (£30,883).�Infinite Leisure Hospitality Ltd,15-17 King Street (£18,936).�Wimpy Maidstone Ltd, 5Gabriel’s Hill (£16,915).�STC Fashions Ltd, 51 WeekStreet (£12,720).�Footchain Ltd, 17 The Mall(£419 – previous debts alreadywritten off).

Call for legislation to close loophole

Mark Wilson

Wonderland nightclub in Maid-

stone’s Lockmeadow complex could

become a centre for trampolining

IN the past half-decade eight pub-lic limited companies, of which ei-ther or both of Mark and RobertWilson have been directors, havegone bust with huge debts.

Documents seen by the DownsMail confirm that they are alllinked to Strawberry Moons’ reg-istered address of 28-32 Gabriel'sHill, Maidstone. They were liqui-dated on the following months:February 2010 Wilson Fun Com-pany owed £1.1m, including£130,962 to HMRC.March 2010 Partner Club owed£703,842, including £82,305 toHMRC and £32,937 to MaidstoneCouncil.

January 2012 Big Fix (Robert Wil-son only) owed £104,679, includ-ing £82,771 to HMRC and £3,611to Maidstone Council.April 2012 Kent Nightclub (addi-tional director June Wilson (83), ofOak Croft, Bearsted) owed£188,142, including £101,971 toHMRC and £8,163 to MaidstoneCouncil.May 2013 Mad Star (minus RobertWilson; additional director JuneWilson) owed £102,863, including£78,969 to HMRC and £3,500 toMaidstone Council.May 2014 Kent Club (additionaldirector June Wilson) owed£317,495, including £24,553 to

HMRC and £281 to MaidstoneCouncil.May 2014 1MK Ltd (additional di-rector Valerie Cradduck (62), ofPenenden Street, Maidstone)owed £141,737, including £41,452to HMRC and £15,403 to Maid-stone Council.March 2015 Openscore (additionaldirector June Wilson) owed£318,705, including £88,323 toHMRC.

Government and council both big losers

WHAT are your views on phoenix companies? Have you lost money inunpaid debts because a company went under, only for its owners tocontinue to trade the same as before? Should there be a change in thelaw? Contact the editor on [email protected]


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Patients’ gallery of memoriesTerminally-ill patients who attend

day care sessions at MagnoliaHouse, part of the hospice complexat Preston Hall, Aylesford, are leav-ing their legacy for the future in a se-ries of paintings.

Inspired by nature, and sometimestheir memories, about a dozen pa-tients put paintbrush to paper eachweek to create watercolour works aspart of their art therapy.

The first selection of work went ondisplay at the Heart of Flavour cafébar in King Street, Maidstone to co-incide with Dying Matters week,with other paintings on display inthe hospice itself.

Now there is a plan to extend thedisplays even further – with a possi-ble auction of work.

Art therapy was introduced to thehospice in January by therapeuticarts facilitator Linda Walker. Shesaid: “The patients find it very relax-ing and by focusing on the artprocess itself, they are able to lose allsense of time and temporarily forgettheir cares and discomforts.”

Chris Avery from Loose andRoger Hillier from Bearsted areamong those who find it easy to es-cape into watercolour landscapes,Lakeland hills and bluebell woods.

Roger (76) was diagnosed withprostate cancer 11 years ago and has

been attending Magnolia Place eachweek for the past year.

He said: “I look forward to comingto the hospice. We are not here tocreate masterpieces but I do find itvery therapeutic and enjoy the ad-venture of using colour in mywork.”

Chris said: “We usually have aquiz as well – but that means usingour brains, while painting is morerelaxing, something you can get ab-sorbed in.”

Diagnosed with motor neuronedisease nine years ago, BrianThomas (69), from Bearsted, said:“When you are painting, it allowsyour mind to wander, instead ofthinking about other things – it’svery calming. I have also found outmore about my disease by chattingto patients with the same condition.”

Only one of the current artists hashad any professional training and allconsider themselves to be “enthusi-astic amateurs”.

As well as painting, Linda readspoetry to some of the patients anddiscusses art and artists with someof the others who are too poorly topick up a brush themselves.

One of the most inspirationalthings is how many of the patientspaint memories from their child-hood and places they have visited.

Kate Hopper, who was diagnosedwith leukaemia 10 years ago, was re-ferred to the hospice for communitycare and support when her condi-tion worsened.

She said: “When I paint, I get lostin my painting. I go somewhere elseand forget my illness. I feel I can beanyone I want to be when I paint.”

Linda said: “People are surprised,but we have a lot of laughter here atthe hospice. It is not a sad place. Theart in particular is one way we cancreate something positive out ofwhat could be a negative situation.It’s all about giving the patients thebest quality of life they can have. ”

Some of her pupils have becomeso engrossed in their new hobbythey now paint at home as well asduring their weekly hospice visits.Roger said: “I can paint in my con-servatory for hours on end.”

Kerry Harrison, the head of out-reach and deputy director of healthservices, hopes the hospice can soonstart a “creative Saturday” whenfamilies can come along and workon projects together.

She said: “It is all about prevent-ing regrets and allowing the patientto remain in control until the end –not taking away their independ-ence.”

The hospice will soon be launch-ing a sunflower garden, where peo-ple can plant a sunflower in memoryof a loved one. It is also hoping tobuy a minibus to help convey pa-tients to and from their day care. Inthe meantime, they would welcomeoffers of help from drivers whomight be able to spare a few hourseach week.

PATIENTS at the Heart of Kent Hospice have discovered it is never too late to learn a new skill.

Patients

Chris Avery

and Roger

Hillier find

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A GROUP of keep-fit fans haveraised £1,400 for Kent WildlifeTrust.

The group of 16, who meet at Ty-land Barn, Sandling, signed up to apilot Wellness Camp, launched byDayOne Wellness.

The organisation, which pro-motes healthy living, donated 70%of profits from the camp to thetrust.

Pip Lawrence, from DayOne Well-ness, said: “The course had threeaims: information had to be easy toconsume; the changes we encour-aged needed to be sustainable andthe programme had to be fun.”

The group meets every Thursdayfor a nutrition/lifestyle workshop,followed by an outdoor exerciseclass and a 10-minute relaxationsession. Participants are set goalseach week and have access to a pri-vate Facebook group to ask ques-

tions and keep each other moti-vated.

The next Wellness Camp atTyland Barn starts in September. Tobook a place visit www.Day-OneWellness.co.uk/wellness-campor email [email protected].

A healthydonation

Solar successfor councilMAIDSTONE Council’s cost sav-ings from solar panels have provedso successful that the scheme is tobe extended.

Renewable energy technologywas installed at the council’s ParkWood depot as a trial in March andhas exceeded all expectations interms of projected energy savings.

The council has agreed to installfurther panels at LockmeadowMarket Hall, Vinters Park Crema-torium and Magnolia House inCripple Street, at a cost of about£125,000.

The council would also like to seesolar panels on Maidstone Houseand the Gateway building in KingStreet – but these are owned byCapital and Regional. If installedon these buildings the councilwould buy the electricity gener-ated, not only reducing the coun-cil’s costs but also delivering CO2emission reductions.

A council spokesman said: “It’sappropriate to invest in improvingthose assets that we do own whilealso generating savings, but alter-natives need to be looked at forbuildings that we don’t own, butwhere we still want to achieve sav-ings and CO2 emissions reduc-tions.”

Betty Blue EyesValley Park School, Hazlitt TheatreTHERE will not be a better musi-cal at The Hazlitt this year – thereis just a chance it could be equalled,but never bettered.

The opening number of Betty

Blue Eyes, “Fair Shares for All”, setthe standards of energy, singing vi-tality, team work and acting thatran strongly through the wholeperformance.

Catherine Butler as the ambitiouswife, Benjamin Anderton as thesensitive chiropodist husband andJosephine Biggs as the convinc-ingly-awkward granny were all ter-rific as the Chilvers family.

James Goodbody was outstand-ing as the evil doctor. Ryan Clarkalways convinces and Samuel Mur-ray's farmyard dance with Ben-

jamin Anderton was a memory totreasure. The whole cast and en-semble had brilliance and ability indepth.

However, the scenery took toolong to change. Could the cast havehelped? Could we have watched?But the orchestra was wonderfuland played well during scenechanges. Costumes and hairstyleswere perfect and the programmewas well designed.

Next February there is anotherValley Park production at theschool. Make a note in your diary.

JOHNMUNSONSHOWTIME



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If finding a traditional countrypub with a warm welcome is likefinding treasure – then The CockHorse is certainly a hidden gem.

Tucked away in the quiet villageof Detling the Cock Horse Inndates back to the 14th Century.Publican Steve Thomas hasn’tbeen around quite that long buthe does have a wealth ofexperience in the trade – havingworked for Whitbread for 14years - and certainly knows whatis required to create that warmfriendly feel of a traditionalcountry pub. Steve is keen to takethe pub back to its roots and be atthe heart of the local community.

The charming dining area istucked away to the rear of thepub where diners can enjoyclassic dishes such as cod & chips,salmon, rib eye steak, steak andkidney pudding plus vegetarianoptions such as wild mushroomtagliatelle. With a new chef nowin place they are sure to be

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News | GCSEs downsmail.co.uk

At Invicta Grammar School,every student achieved at least fiveA*-C grades and 62% of all gradeswere A* or A.

Of all 173 students, more than aquarter achieved straight A*/Agrades.

More than a fifth of all studentsachieved at least 10 A*/A gradesand nearly half gained eight A*/Agrades. Notable achievementscame from Claire Tipton, who re-ceived 13 A*/A grades and an A inAS maths, which she took a yearearly; Pratima Gurung, MollyReeves, Jessica Gladwell, NataliaNadolska, Rhiannon Thomas,Jessie Hammond, Molly Mackayand Abigail Vant, who achieved 12A*/A grades; Verity Adams,Phoebe Dow, Emma Collier, KieraPhillips and Jessica Thornton, with11 A*/A grades and an A grade atAS level. Kerry Finch also achieved12 A*/As and an A in her AS maths,in which she scored almost fullmarks in all modules.

Top performer Claire Tipton willbe returning to the school to studyA-level maths, chemistry, Englishand politics. She will also beamong three Invicta students rep-resenting the UK at the WorldSchool Forum in Italy in October.Claire is hoping to study law atCambridge.

Classmate Kerry Finch hopes tostudy maths at Cambridge aftershe finishes year 13 in Invicta.

An overjoyed Molly Reeves willcontinue her studies with maths,classical civilisation, English andhistory at A-level and is hoping tostudy history at university.

Students at Valley Park Schoolare celebrating another record-breaking set of GCSE results, with59% achieving the gold standard offive A*-C passes, including Englishand maths – 3% up on the previoushigh of last year.

With 208 students sitting GCSEexams this year, the overall passrate of A*-C was 67%, with 13% ofgrades at A* and A.

High achievers were Bilson Gu-rung, Hannah Everest, NicoleKakel, Josie Edwards, HarryWheelwright, Stefan Crowhurstand Alexander Roberts, who allachieved at least six A* grades.

At Swadelands School inLenham, special mention went toChristine Bordean, who achievedthree A*s and seven A grades; EllaOttoway, who achieved 10 GCSEsincluding four at A grade andCaitlin Spiers who earned 11, threeat A* grade and eight at A.

At Maidstone Grammar Schoolmore than 50% of all subject entrieswere graded A* or A – 1% higherthan last year.

More than 98% of studentsgained five A*-C grades includingmaths and English, with almostone in five achieving five or moreA* grades.

Sixty per cent of students gainedfive or more A*/A grades and 87%of the year group were awardedthe English Baccalaureate.

Twenty-two students achievedsix A* grades or better, with five –Samuel Baxter, Max Green, SauravParmar, Joshua Shaw and LewisWhite – earning at least 10 A*s.

Thirty per cent of students atMaidstone Grammar School forGirls achieved 10 or more A*/Agrades and 66% at least five at thesame grades.

Deborah Stanley, Headteachersaid: "Particular congratulations goto Emily Saunders and BethanGilmore, who each achieved atleast 12 A*s."

Four students at Sutton ValenceSchool broke all previous recordsby achieving 43 GCSE A* and Agrades between them.

The teenagers will continue theirstudies at the independent school

with the hope of achieving similarsuccess at A-level.

They were Emelia Browning,William Grabowski, Sam Gray andJessica Grindlay, all of whom out-performed their predictions, withJessica coming top of the class with12 A*s. In addition to the individ-ual successes, overall results saw athird of students achieving five ormore A* or As. In fact, 93% ofpupils achieved five or more A*-Cgrades, while the national figurewas nearer two-thirds.

Months of hard work and deter-mination paid off for students col-lecting their GCSE results at NewLine Learning Academy, in Maid-stone, with Cameron Croucher andShannon Ashby leading the way,with six A*s and As each.

Laura Valach secured five A*sand As; Emily Morrison, four A*sand As and Liam Boellitz three A*sand As.

Overall, 93% of studentsachieved five or more GCSEs.

Cheers of joy could be heard atCornwallis Academy, in HubbardsLane, Linton, as students opened

their envelopes to find top GCSEgrades.

Aisling Hunt achieved an im-pressive eight A*s and As, includ-ing biology, chemistry, Englishlanguage and literature, maths andphysics; Toby Newman andPhoebe Cox both collected six A*sand As; Ashleigh Burr five A*s andAs and Joseph White and Zach Stiffboth secured three A* and As.

The school’s overall pass rate, forfive or more GCSEs, was 93%.

At Oakwood Park GrammarSchool more than a third of stu-dents achieved at least five A*/Agrades and an average point scoreper entry of 10 As.

Outstanding performances camefrom Benjamin Gowers whoachieved 12 A*s and Cameron Gib-son who earned 10 A*s and two Agrades.

Other students gaining A*/Agrades in 11 or more subjects in-cluded Isaac Bourne, Kamal ElBadawi, Jonathan Hook, Daniel In-glis, Neil Langridge, Callum Mac-Gregor, Josiah Mulabi-Kalete,Rohan Raju and Alex Sheppard.

Exam success for pupilsTHERE was plenty of celebrating in schools this week as GCSE students picked up their results.

Clockwise from above, girls at Invicta Grammar School celebrate

their results; Sutton Valence School students Jessica Grindlay,

William Grabowski, Emelia Browning and Sam Gray got 43 As and

A*s between them; Liam Boellitz and Cameron Croucher were

among the top performers at New Line Learning Academy


downsmail.co.uk A-levels | News

At Invicta Grammar School, stu-dents achieved 69% A*-B grades,alongside raising more than£43,000 for charity.

Head Julie Derrick said: “The stu-dents have achieved 200 A* and Agrades and from our 160 students,100% achieved A*-E grades, 90%A*-Cs, with 12% A* grades.”

The number of students achiev-ing an A*-B grade in two or moresubjects rose from 21.7% to 42.5%.

Lisa Phipps earned a place tostudy veterinary science at Edin-burgh as did Kate Boniface at theRoyal Veterinary College and BethRose at Bristol; Charlotte Summerswill go on to study medicine inBirmingham and Katie Driver, thesame subject in Bristol.

Kiera Doughty, with five A*s,will study mathematics at Cam-bridge; Lauren Satchwell, five A*and As, management, Bath; LisaPhipps, five A* and As, veterinarymedicine, Edinburgh; MercedesBrown, four A* and As, physicswith astrophysics, Bath; FelicityMurray, four A* and As, psychol-ogy, Bath. Head girl Katie Driverwill study medicine at Bristol aftergaining four A*/As.

Valley Park School had a recordset of results, with its 80 Year 13students achieving a 57% pass rateat the top A and A* grades and 87%at A*-C.

Fourteen gained A and A* inthree or more subjects. High per-formers were Briony Everest,Ayesha Cooper, Poppy Harris, Ro-jina Giri, James Kiell, Titas Kuprys,Zoe Noble, Emily Nurden, NelsonRai, Mitchell Ranger, Sam Read,Harry Simpson, Danielle Spry andKim Warren.

Eighty per cent of sixth-formersat Swadelands, in Lenham, cele-brated gaining an A grade in atleast one of their subjects, with 69%achieving top grades in two. Arecord number secured places atuniversity in subjects including oc-cupational therapy, criminology,dance, media and sport.

Shannon Higerty, Harvey Willis

and Danny Cook gained five A-lev-els. All three plan to attend univer-sity in September.

Results from Maidstone Gram-mar School were even better thanlast year, with just under 60% of allA-level entries graded A*-B andnearly one in three grades at A* orA. Twenty-five students achievedat least three A grades or better,while 14 gained two A* grades orbetter and nine achieved three A*sor better.

Top scholars were Sam Coward,with four A*s and William Grace,with four A*s and top grades in allthree Step exams for entry to Cam-bridge for mathematics. This wasthe first time any MGS student hadgained top grades in all three Steppapers. The school also achieved itsbest AS-level results yet.

At Maidstone Grammar Schoolfor Girls, 98.9% of pupils achievedfive A*-Cs including English andmaths. Sixty-nine per cent of pupilsscored five or more A*/As, with60% of grades either As or A*s.

Sixth-formers at Future SchoolsTrust, which covers Cornwallisand New Line Learning acade-mies, set a new record with thisyear’s A-level results, with 75% ofall grades being A*-C.

Head girl Rebecca Hubbard is offto the University of Greenwich tostudy event management after se-curing A* grades in travel andtourism, and business. She was alsoawarded a B in design technology.

Cara Brown achieved an A* in so-ciology, an A in RE, and Bs in Eng-lish literature and history. She willstudy sociology at Bath University.

Deputy head boy Philip Hol-lamby secured the grades heneeded to enrol on a primaryteacher training course at Canter-bury Christ Church University. Heleaves with an A* in business, a B inEnglish literature and a C in geog-raphy.

Students heading off to RussellGroup universities include LaylaRichardson, who is going to Cardiffto study archaeology and AmberRose Mckenzie, who will studyEnglish literature at Liverpool.

At St Simon Stock CatholicSchool, students notched up a100% pass rate in their A-level andvocational examinations, with 92%achieving two or more A-levels and43% the top A*-B grades. This is arise of almost 10% on the previousyear.

The highest performing studentswere Sarah Pattinson and ClaraSenior, followed by Grace Tashie-Lewis, Lara Epsley, MikaelaD’Souza, Matthew Brown, DomasDregva and Daniel Ellesmere.

Head Brendan Wall said: “Thehighest achieving students gainedgrades equal to our best in 2013and will be attending the top Rus-sell Group.”

A third of sixth-formers at Oak-wood Park Grammar Schoolachieved A*-A grades.

Rabey Chowdhury will take hisplace at Cambridge, studying nat-ural sciences, after gaining threeA*s and an A.

James Handy, Nelson Talukder,Ivan Pilfold and Andrew Collins allgained two A*s and two As. Jamesand Ivan will do mathematics atWarwick University, while Nelsonwill study physics at Imperial Col-lege, London.

Great Britain fencer Simon Daceymanaged to combine the rigours oftraining with his studies and afterachieving four As will be taking agap year prior to studying chem-istry or biochemistry at a universityin London. After his A-level resultsand a rigorous selection process,Nelson Sinclair Strong has beenawarded a scholarship at the RoyalAcademy of Music in London.

Maplesden Noakes School, inMaidstone, reported “outstandingresults”, showing “year-on-yearimprovement” in its results.

Michaela Porter earned two A*sand an A, securing a place at War-wick University; Jordhan Stateearned a Distinction*, two A gradesand a place at Surrey University;Charlie Powell earned two As anda B and a place at the University ofKent; Mukeh Lansana an A*, A,and B and a place at the Universityof York; Amie Hine gained a Dis-tinction*, two Bs and a place atSouthampton. Jack Batters, TomCalvert, Ellis Rose and Josh Gilbertall achieved Distinction* for theirBTEC in sports studies.

Students at Sutton ValenceSchool celebrated some excellentresults, with 17% gaining As or A*s.

For the second year, the A*-Bpass rate was 70%, despite Ofquallimiting grade inflation by reduc-ing the number of A gradesawarded since 2010.

Every candidate passed theirexams, with 86% gaining A*-C.

The independent school had 44%achieving the top ABB results re-quired by the UK’s leading re-search universities (the RussellGroup).

MANY youngsters across Maidstone have been celebrated their strong A-level results.

Students make the gradeSwadelands pupils Amber Qizilbash, Alfie Costiagn, Hannah Owen, Hannah

Qizilbash, Ellie Byrd, Harvey Willis and Shannon Morley

Dual success for girls from Invicta Grammar School, which also raised more

than £43,000 for charity

Cornwallis

students

Amy

Pearce,

Harry Gol-

lop, Shottie

Hopkins,

and head

girl Rebecca

Hubbard


News | Health downsmail.co.uk

Speeding upappointmentsSUE Southon (pictured), lay mem-ber for patient and public en-gagement, reported to the Clinical

Strategy Group ofWest Kent CCGthat there wasoften a publicmisconcept ionthat it was diffi-cult to get a GPappointment and

she said this should be challenged.Dr Bob Bowes, chairman of

West Kent CCG, said there wasvariation between practices. Hefelt practice participation groupscould investigate changes to im-prove a practice system.

For information about your GPpractice go to www.nhs.uk/service-search/gp/locationsearch/4

WORK has started on the nextphase of ward redevelopment atMaidstone Hospital with the £3mtransformation of Jonathan Saun-ders and John Day wards into anew respiratory ward.

This latest scheme combines thewards into one large dedicated res-piratory ward with better facilities,improving privacy, dignity andcomfort for patients.

Patients will be treated in new

four-bedded bays with en suiteconveniences rather than the hos-pital’s older six-bedded bays,which have no en suite conven-iences.

Other schemes that have recentlybeen completed at Maidstone Hos-pital include:� Extended and developed hos-pital admissions lounge to pro-vide more privacy, dignity andcomfort for patients.

� Improved facilities within themain entrance with a brightermain reception area, new shopsfor Maidstone Hospital League ofFriends and a new coffee shop.Way-finding has also been im-proved in the hospital.� Improved facilities forwomen’s colposcopy services.� A new 12-bed unit for the eld-erly and frail.

Wards combined to improve service

Be�er care for stroke patientsLatest data shows 55% of patients

were scanned within an hour at Tun-bridge Wells and 33% in Maidstone.The data for 12 hours was 86% forTunbridge Wells and 89% for Maid-stone.

The trust says there was a“tremendous improvement” atMaidstone, which was given an Arating for October-December com-pared with a previous D rating.

But both hospitals were given Dratings for thrombolysis becausethey did not hit the 11.1% nationalaverage.

Maidstone admitted 44.4% of pa-tients to the stroke unit within fourhours and Tunbridge Wells 27.3%.In the first three months of this yearMaidstone was above the nationalaverage but Tunbridge Wells wasbelow.

In April specialist assessments bya physician were completed within24 hours in 69% of cases in Maid-stone and 68.2% in Tunbridge Wells.Figures for the quarter were 73.5%and 76.5%.

Stroke is the third biggest killer in

the UK and a major cause of long-term disability. People who havehad a stroke need rapid access to aspecialist medical team around theclock to maximise their chances ofsurvival and recovery.

NHS clinical commissioninggroups across Kent and Medway,which plan and buy local healthservices, are reviewing how strokepatients are managed within thevital first 72 hours.

In West Kent, Maidstone and Tun-bridge Wells NHS Trust and NHSWest Kent Clinical CommissioningGroup (CCG) have already under-taken work with Healthwatch Kent,

residents and patients to look at peo-ple’s views of stroke services. Thisfound:� There is public support for newhigher standards of care coveringthe critical first 72 hours of a strokepatient’s care and a need for theNHS to develop ways of achievingthese.� The NHS needs to improve thewhole of the stroke patient’s pathway, including the care stroke patients receive out of hospital. � The NHS needs to improve theinformation and support availableto patients and carers after a stroke.�Quality needs to be maintainedwithin a timeframe that providesmaximum opportunities of recovery for patients.� The NHS needs to improve plan-ning about how and when a strokepatient can leave hospital and thenext steps in their rehabilitation.

Now NHS West Kent CCG, as partof the Kent and Medway-wide re-view, wants to build on what hasbeen heard so far by asking localpeople what they think of the Kent

and Medway picture of stroke care,and what would be important tothem if they had just had a stroke.

The focus in this next round of dis-cussions is on the care providedacross Kent and Medway in the first72 hours following a stroke andwhat might make it possible for theNHS to meet in full the nationalstandards for care in this vital pe-riod.

A report to West Kent ClinicalCommissioning Group says thestroke service provided in Kent doesnot meet recognised quality stan-dards set out in the National StrokeStrategy (2007).

The group says there is difficultyrecruiting specialist staff. A keyproblem is that consultant numbersare about 50% of the recommendedlevel. There were problems, too, re-lating to nurses and therapists.

A Case for Change is currentlybeing considered for approval acrossKent and Medway. The public andstakeholders will be involved andpeople who have experienced strokeservices will be sought out.

MAIDSTONE and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is reporting ”encouraging” improvement in treating strokes, with Maidstone continuing as the top stroke unit in North and West Kent.

GPs’ concern at reports delayINCREASING concerns about delays in receiving diagnostic reportsfrom Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospitals have been reportedby GP members of West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group.

GPs (and patients) require speedy reports on CT and MRI scans andthe group continues to voice concern “about time to report, work out-sourced and governance/consent in place”.

Now the group has written formally to Maidstone and TunbridgeWells Trust and the trust has been asked to report in person at a per-formance meeting. The group has requested a further report coveringX-rays and ultrasound.

The problems lead to delays in GPs recommending to patients re-quired treatments – and frustration for patients who are unable tomake GP appointments until they know their report is in hand.

By Dennis Fowle

MAIDSTONE and Tunbridge WellsTrust is reporting nurse vacanciesacross all directorates.

In May, vacancies rose to 12.3%,compared with last year’s 8.6%.

Recruitment has been successfulfrom Italy (13 new nurses) and 33

new starters commenced work inMay/June. The trust is attemptingto improve recruitment through so-cial media, its website and adverts.

One impact has been an increasein the nursing and medical agencyspend.

Nursing shortages increase

Incident app AN app on hand-held devices forreporting incidents has been intro-duced by Maidstone and Tun-bridge Wells NHS Trust as a safetymeasure for staff.

Nurses and junior doctors areamong the first wave of clinicalstaff at the trust to also be equippedwith devices to record a patient’svital signs and have remote onsiteaccess to these at any time.

The move follows a successfulward trial and is being rolled outon all wards during the summer.The benefits are widespread andhospitals using this technology areseeing a marked improvement inpatient outcomes.

Not so happyAN annual drop of 2.4% has beenrecorded in the percentage of pa-tients who report their experiencewith GP services in Maidstone andthe rest of West Kent as “verygood” or “fairly good”, taking thecurrent 86.6% further from the 93%standard. West Kent is above aver-age for Kent and Medway and thenational average of 84%.

Bullying policyTHE NHS West Kent Clinical Com-missioning Group is updating itsbullying and harassment policy fol-lowing a staff survey and will en-sure employees are more fullyaware of the processes and supportprovided.



Tiny Tots Nursery SchoolEst.1969 • OFSTED Inspected

Tel: 736270 / 630001Memorial Hall, Manor Rise, Bearsted ME14 4DB

Weekday Mornings9.15 to 12.30 for children 2 to 5 years of age

SCHOOL HOURS

Teeny Tiny TotsA very successful parent and child group.

Grandparents welcome too!Wednesday afternoon 1.30pm - 3.30pm for children 0 to 2years. (Term time only)

also

We encourage and develop the skills required for schoolby learning through play, in a friendly, stimulating and

happy environment.

Mon-Fri 9.15am-12.00 term time with extended sessionsfor older children

Toddler Group Wed 9.45am-11.30am

OFSTED INSPECTEDregistered charity no. 1014449

Contact Kate on 07803 979317www.3bearspreschool.org

W.I Hall, The Street, Bearsted

Bourne Musicians Music Classes

Term times classes inBearsted &

Hollingbourne

Babies and children aged 3 months to 5 years

See the classes in action atwww.bournemusicians.co.uk

Or call 01622 880377 for more detailse: [email protected]

Follow us on Facebook

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Book Now For September

LEARNINGFOR LIFE

Take a look at our five pagefeature on education

Open

MorningPreparatory School (Nursery to age 11)

Friday 2nd October 2015T: 01622 842117 | E: [email protected]

An Independent co-educationalday and boarding school for

pupils aged 3-18 in theheart of Kentwww.svs.org.uk

One School many journeys


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Although we tend to link theconcept of education withschooling, in reality it’s somethingthat begins at birth and continuesuntil the day we die: we neverreally stop learning.

The trick is how to maximise theresources that are available to us!

It’s well documented thatlearning becomes more difficult as we grow older. With pre-school children soaking upknowledge like tiny sponges, thechoice of a nursery or play groupshould be just as important as their eventual choice ofuniversity.

It’s also a good time to startthinking about teaching yourtoddler a second language –picking up vocabulary is so muchsimpler for children under the ageof 7.

When you tot up the costs ofextra-curricular classes, however,- whether in French, music, balletor football - you may want toconsider investing in privateeducation. With bursaries andscholarships available at mostschools, it needn’t be as costly asyou think.

A well-run nursery, whether inthe state or private sector, should

combine the various aspects oflearning – cognitive skills,thinking and reasoning, motorskills, good habits and social skills– with structured play.

A motivational curriculumstructured around play will teacha whole host of skills to your pre-

schooler, without them evenrealising.

The first day at ‘real’ school isalways emotional for mums anddads but here in Maidstone we arefortunate to have a wide choice ofgood schools, both in the state andprivate sector.

For many of us, September issynonymous with the start of a newacademic year. Little ones startnursery, older ones move fromprimary to secondary – and theteenagers fly the nest for universityor further education.

LEARNING FOR LIFE

-

-


LEARNING FOR LIFEMost people will opt to send

their children to the primaryschool closest to their home – but,increasingly, popularity and over-subscription mean some childrenare having to go elsewhere.

So, moving house to be close toyour preferred choice of schoolmight not be such a good planthese days!

But all is not lost. Small, ruralschools might be favoured byparents wanting a ‘home fromhome’ environment, but the biggerschools tend to have betterfacilities – particularly for sport.

Free schools and academieslikewise have more freedom inhow they use their budgets and, atsenior school level, can be a goodchoice for those wishing to pursuea vocational career.

Kent is one of the few places inthe UK still to have grammarschools – although many parentschoose for their children not to sitthe Kent Test and go to the schoolof their choice, which may offer acurriculum more tailored to theirabilities and future career path.

Although a string of goodgrades at GCSE and A level is stillconsidered the prime route into

University, well-rounded studentswith a broad-based knowledgetend to be highly sought – hencethe introduction of the IB(International Baccalaureate)which is now available in several

Maidstone sixth forms. It’s a system which has

worked well in Europe for many years and one whichenthusiastic, good ‘all-rounders’find especially attractive.

Students who are still strugglingto reach a career decision aregenerally advised to follow thesubjects they enjoy. There’s littlepoint headscratching with mathsand further maths if you’re moreof a wordsmith; likewise, unlessyou’re keen on science with a benttowards medicine or veterinarywork, you may want to thinktwice before battling with biologyand chemistry.

You’re more likely to get goodgrades from subjects you enjoythan those that you find mentallydraining.

No career path runs smoothly,however, and all is not lost if thosekeenly-sought exams fail to makethe grade.

Adult education classes offer awealth of options for academicand vocational study – and there’salways the Open University forthose who want to combine acareer with further education.

Increasing numbers of retiredand semi-retired people aresigning up for the OU as well asthe University of the Third Age(U3A) proving you’re never tooold – or too young – to learn!


Open Evening: Tuesday, 22nd September 2015, 5.30pm-8.30pm

Open Mornings: 22nd, 24th, 25th, 28th and 29th September 2015

LEARNING FOR LIFE • LEARNING FOR LIFE • LEARNING FOR LIFE • LEARNING FOR LIFE

Open Evening

Parents and their daughters are warmly invited to our 11+ Open Events.

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Your child’s future starts here...

Est. 1989

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Kent ME14 5JR

Linden Lea Day Nursery SchoolOfsted grading of outstanding in all areastake children from 3 months old from 8am - 6pm. Call... 01622 735094 for details or arrange a visit.

LINDEN LEA NURSERY SCHOOL Based in the lounge of Downswood Community centre from 9am-1pm (term time only) for 2-5 year olds.Please call 01622 735094.

Free childcare available at both nurseries for 2 & 3 year olds.

LINDEN LEA OUT OF SCHOOL CLUB PICK UP FROM: Madginford, Roseacre, Thurnham & St Johns. Please call 07947 817766 for details.

Day Nursery SchoolNursery School

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Tel: 01622 759036

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Open Evening 20155 pm – 8 pm, Thu 8th Oct.

Open Mornings 20159 am, Mon 12th – Fri 16th Octby prior appointment only

WE ARE NLL

LEARNING FOR LIFE • LEARNING FOR LIFE • LEARNING FOR LIFE • LEARNING FOR LIFE

This page is sponsored and edited by:

Bearsted Parish Councilwww.bearstedparishcouncil.gov.uk

Council Office: Madginford Hall, BearstedTelephone: 01622 630165E-Mail: [email protected]: Fiona Redman

MEETINGS HELD SECOND TUESDAY OF MONTH (7.30PM)AND THE PUBLIC IS VERY WELCOME

News | Sponsored parish council downsmail.co.uk

Bank holiday proposalfor Music on the GreenTHE organiser of Music on the Green is hoping to bring Bearsted a bankholiday bonanza in 2016.

Plans for a day-long festival ofmusic and fun in July had to beshelved when it was discovered itwould clash with cricket club fix-tures.

Now Bearsted Events, the not-for-profit organisation founded toarrange the music extravaganza, ishoping both the club and farmers’market will jump aboard for an Au-gust Bank holiday weekend withsomething to cater for all tastes.

Bearsted Events spokesmanJoanne Conner said: “We had cho-sen the date in July without realis-ing the cricket club has first call onthe Green throughout the cricketseason.

“There has been a lot of supportfor Music on the Green and we areduty-bound to bring those support-ers an event.

“It is just unfortunate that anagreement is in place that the ma-jority of the parish council was notprivy to. Had they been, we wouldhave gone about things very differ-ently.”

The licence with the cricket club,which allows the club to use a sec-tion of the Green for an annual pep-percorn rent of just £1 on eachSaturday throughout the season,was only signed last year, after athree-year tussle between lawyers

acting for the club and the previousparish council. It cost the parishcouncil £950 under a fixed fee agree-ment, while the cricket club endedup with a £6,000 legal bill.

Mrs Conner said: “The licenceclearly stands and must be re-spected. However, we are trying toreach a compromise which willkeep everyone in the village happy.

“At the moment, this looks like itcould be the August Bank Holidayweekend next year.”

The provisional plan would be forcricket as per the fixtures on the Sat-urday, music on the Sunday and, ifthe stallholders are in agreement,

the farmers’ market and the annualcharity cricket match between theclub and the Bearsted and Thurn-ham Club both taking place on theMonday.

But Mrs Conner said: “We don’twant the farmers’ market stallhold-ers to think we are pushing themout, so the decision has to be theirs.”

With the market manager on hol-iday, negotiations were ongoing asthe Downs Mail went to press.

Mrs Conner said: “It seems to bethe best option on the table at themoment which will provide some-thing for everyone – music, sportand great local food and produce.”

Property fundto be built upTHE parish council has voted toput £5,000 each year into itsland and buildings fund.

The fund was started in 2011,following the Kig inquiry, tobuild up a pocket of reserveswhich could be used to purchaseland or property for the benefitof the village.

The council increased the pre-cept with the aim of raising thenecessary funds, but failed toset any money aside in the fundafter the first year.

Members agreed to put in thesum of £20,000 to cover thepast four years and voted toadd a further £5,000 each yearfrom now on.

Call to enforce drive decisionTHE parish council is to chaseMaidstone Council over the issue ofunlawful development on a patch of“no-man’s land” adjoining the vil-lage green.

Now that the council has refusedto grant the owner of 1 Smarts Cot-tages a certificate of lawful develop-ment, the parish council wantsenforcement action to remove theworks which have been put in place.

These include two sets of gates, afence and a block-paved drive on

land which does not belong to theproperty.

The parish council has contactedKCC to get the path listed as a pub-lic right of way but has been told thebacklog is so great that this couldtake up to two and a half years.

It cannot be added to the deedsfor The Green at the land registry, asthe land is not owned by the parishcouncil, as it once thought.

Cllr Richard Ash has agreed totake up the matter of enforcement.

Back to schoolTHREE members of the parishcouncil are to speak to local school-children about British values anddemocracy.

Roseacre Junior School ap-proached the council, along withMaidstone Council, to addresstheir pupils about the local govern-ment system.

Parish council chair Fiona Red-man will visit the school in No-vember, along with Cllrs DanConner and Paul Young.

The chairman has also agreed toapproach Madginford School to seeif it would like a similar visit.

It has also been suggested thatthe schools might like to get in-volved in designing a logo for theparish council.

Green faceliftTHE village green is about to get aspruce up for spring.

The parish council has agreed topowder coat all the metal bencheson the Green once the cricket sea-son ends, provided an initial trialproves successful. It will cost be-tween £60 and £80 to powder blasteach bench, which will be takenaway and worked on two at a time.

The council has also awarded acontract to Arbour Tree Surgery totidy up trees and overhangingbranches in the conservation areaand Rosemary Road.

Members are seeking advice onthe best way to manage the willowtree, which overhangs the pond.

Lights quotesFIVE companies are to be asked totender for replacing the ChurchLandway lights.

After repeated attacks by van-dals, the parish council has decided21 of the present 23 bollard lightswill be removed, leaving just one ateach end.

In their place, there will be sevenevenly-spaced four-metre tall blackcolumn LED lights.

It is hoped the work can be com-pleted by mid-October, before thenights draw in.

Festive celebrations on GreenCHRISTMAS is coming … to a Green near you! The parish councilis considering arranging a festive event on the Green, which couldinclude a Christmas farmers’ market, Santa’s grotto and carols sungby local choirs.

Discussions have already begun with the farmers’ market stall-holders over potential dates in late November/early December.

Music on the Green could return for August Bank Holiday next year



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Manston plan to solve StackThe decision to make temporary

use of the disused airfield nearRamsgate while Operation Stack isin force follows a series of meetingsinvolving the Government, High-ways England, Kent Police, KCCand representatives for the ports,Eurotunnel, and lorry drivers.

Operation Stack is implementedwhen problems at the Port of Calaislead to delays on ferry services anda backlog of lorries, which force theclosure of the M20, usually coast-bound from junction 8 nearHollingbourne.

Prior to the Manston decision,Operation Stack had closed theM20 on 27 days this summer, caus-ing gridlock throughout the Maid-stone area.

The idea of a contraflow, offeringcoastbound motorists access to theM20 on the London-bound car-riageway, had been seen as a likelysolution. But Highways Englandhad rejected the idea as “too dan-gerous”.

It says using Manston’s runway,when required, as an alternative forfreight traffic will provide short-term additional capacity to helpmanage freight traffic on its way tothe Port of Dover.

It says it will work alongside Op-eration Stack to reduce disruptionon the M20, with holiday-makers“clearly sign-posted” to the portsand tunnel, and perishable, healthand hazardous freight, includinglivestock “routed directly to theChannel Tunnel and Dover” ratherthan being stacked.

Transport minister Lord Ahmaddescribed the decision to useManston as a “viable short-term so-lution”.

He said: “By using Manston Air-field we have secured an interim

solution while we work to find alonger term resolution.”

The deputy chief constable ofKent, Paul Brandon, said: “We havebeen in a critical situation in Kentsince the middle of June and, inthat time the situation in Kent hasbeen acknowledged as a very real,national issue.

“The option to divert freightbound for Europe to Manston Air-field, whilst very challenging, hasbecome more feasible in terms ofresourcing and logistics.”

KCC leader Paul Carter said:“Our principal concern has been tokeep Kent moving.”

THE use of Manston Airfield should ease local traffic congestion, according to the Government.

High price oftraffic chaosMP Helen Whately has revealedthe extent of local problemscaused by Operation Stack.

The Mid Kent MP said: “VisitingMaidstone Hospital I heard aboutmidwives whose journeys to workare taking two or three hours in-stead of their usual 20 minutes.Pregnant women are worryinghow they will get to the hospital intime when they go into labour.

“I have had letters from busi-nesses unable to pay wages be-cause customers have stoppedcoming. Leeds Castle is seeing ahuge hit, and funeral services saymourners are missing services; Icould go on, but I suspect almosteveryone reading this knows howbad the situation is.”

She called for compensation tothose in Kent who had lost money,including police (more than £1mlost), social services (more than£5m) and businesses (£1.5m eachday Stack is implemented).

A spokesman for Leeds Castle,which is located off M20 J8, said:“Due to Operation Stack, we areapproximately 30% down on bud-geted visitor figures which trans-lates as roughly £90,000 incomeloss for the charity.”

Survey requestBUSINESSES are being asked tocomplete a survey to let the Gov-ernment know the full cost to Kentcommerce of Operation Stack.

A handful of questions quiz busi-nesses about their concerns and askbosses what should be done aboutthe ongoing problem.

Responses will contribute to ajoint KCC and British Chamber ofCommerce report to ministers.

To complete the survey go towww.surveymonkey.com/s/Oper-ation_Stack.

How scheme will workHow Manston Airfield will be used when Operation Stack is in force:1. All freight will first be stacked coastbound between M20 junctions 8(Maidstone Services) and 9 (Ashford), and this section will be closed tonon-freight traffic.2. If more space is needed the closed section will be extended to junction11 (Westenhanger).3. “When required” (says Highways England), certain “non perishable”freight will be diverted and stacked at Manston Airfield, near Ramsgate,until it can be directed to ferry services at Dover.

WHEN MANSTON AIRFIELD IS IN USEFreight�Dover-bound freight coming from the west will use the M20 to junction7 (Maidstone), where it will be diverted via the A249, M2, and A299 toManston.�Dover-bound freight coming from the north (Dartford Crossing) will usethe A2, M2 and A299 to Manston.�From Manston, freight will use the A256 and A2 to Dover.�Channel Tunnel-bound freight will stay on the M20.

Tourists�Dover-bound tourist traffic will be encouraged to use the A2, M2 and A2.If already on the M20, Dover-bound tourist traffic will be diverted off atjunction 7 (Maidstone) and via the A249, M2, and A2 to Dover.�Channel Tunnel-bound tourist traffic will use the M20 and A20 followingsigns marked with a hollow circle diversion symbol.

Highways England says routes will be clearly signed and key sitesmanned, with vehicle recovery resources at strategic points.

THE Kent Agricultural Society,which runs the Detling show-ground, has unveiled improvedfacilities for show-goers who optto camp or caravan close to thevenue.

The site – less than a minute’swalk from the showground – hasproved so popular that the societysought permission to upgrade itsfacilities.

Scragged Oak Caravan Parknow offers new showers and toi-lets, a new reception area, laun-drette and a shop – all part of a£150,000 investment. It follows

multi-million pound improve-ments, offering increased confer-ence and event space, at the KentEvent Centre in recent years.

The Mayor of Maidstone, CllrDaniel Moriaty, who officiallyopened the site, spoke highly ofthe initiative and said he believedit would be a perfect base for visi-tors touring the area.

The site, open from March 1 toOctober 31, is set in woodland onthe North Downs and has 80pitches, many with electric hook-up. It is managed by wardensHarry Flavell and Jan Perry.

Kent County Agricultural Society fi-

nance director Glyn Charlton (left)

and vice-chairman James Forkhall,

with Maidstone mayor Cllr Daniel

Moriarty at the opening of the re-

furbished camp site close to the

Detling showground

Camp site delight forDetling show-goers

Missed a story? Find archived editions of theDownsMail FREE at www.downsmail.co.uk




MORE than 14,000 people in distressturned to the Samaritans in Maid-stone for help last year.

The figures were reported at theannual general meeting of the localbranch, which has been offering sup-port for 40 years.

The Maidstone centre’s 70 volun-teers spent 224 hours a week listen-ing to people’s problems. Without-of-hours calls diverted to otherbranches, the Samaritans were ableto offer help all day, every day.

Maidstone Samaritans also works

with a number of other groups andorganisations, including Cruse, forbreavement support; Maidstone DayCentre, to assist the homeless; andthe Listener scheme in local prisons.This year it also piloted a referralscheme with a GP practice.

Founder members Laurel and BillCooper, Mandy Perrin, from Samari-tans Central Charity, and the deputymayor of Maidstone Cllr Derek But-ler were among the guests invited tocelebrate the branch’s 40th anniver-sary at its AGM.

Helpers listen in – for 40 years

Deputy mayor Derek Butler pres-

ents a long-service award to re-

tired Samaritan Daphne Earnshaw

A VIBRANT art market is set toshake up Maidstone’s Lock-meadow, where the market hallwill be turned into a colourfulfantasia of fascinating art andmusic.

The first Maidstone Art Markettakes place on Saturday, September19, in the historic LockmeadowMarket Hall.

The market, from 9am to 4pm,will feature some 80 stalls withartists from across Kent and theSouth East.

Exhibitors include Emily Tull,

one of the national finalists in theSky Arts portrait artist of the yearcompetition; street artist HannahAdamaszek; award-winning musi-cian Rennie Pigrim and Ieuan Ed-wards, a printmaker based inBroadstairs, who has producedstunning artworks for album cov-ers and books.

There will be singers, poets,dancers and performers to provideentertainment throughout the day.

A charity art auction will raisefunds for Maidstone and Mid KentMind and The Foundling Museum

in London and donations have al-ready come from artists includingRalph Steadman, Gavin Turk, Stu-art Semple (ambassador of Mind),Tessa Farmer, Nick Veasey, SadieHennessey and comedian MickyFlanagan.

Secret bids for the auction can bemade at www.artmarketme14.wordpress.com and the auctionwill be hosted by Raj Bisram fromChannel 4’s Four Rooms.

Project manager Ali Farmer said:"We wanted to deliver an event thatwas unique to Maidstone and

something nobody had put on be-fore. We hope that it puts Maid-stone back on the map and injectssome vibrancy back into its artisticculture."

“I want to champion the arts –making them more accessible lo-cally. We have had such a massiveresponse from everyone that I hopein the future it will become an an-nual or a two-day event."

Art market to wow town

Fire crews cutman from carA MAN involved in a two-car colli-sion in Sittingbourne Road, Maid-stone had to be cut free by firecrew.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service wascalled to the accident where thetrapped man, in his 30s, was com-plaining of neck and chest pain.

Firefighters gave the man oxygenand first aid while they used toolsto remove the driver’s door.

He was then taken to hospital bySECAmb paramedics.


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CHAIRMAN: Ivor Davies CLERK: Pauline Bowdery ASST CLERK: Melanie FooksParish Office, Beechen Hall, Wildfell Close, Walderslade, ME5 9RU

Tel: 01634 861237 email: [email protected] Website: www.boxleyparishcouncil.org.uk

Contact details for parish councillors can be obtained from the parish office, the Useful Contact Details leaflet or the website

News | Sponsored parish council downsmail.co.uk

Discover nature withlatest walks leaflet

Boxley Parish Mail

It can be purchased for £1 fromKWT Tyland Barn and the walks canbe done individually or combined,so you can do three miles, 5.5 milesor 7.5 miles. The leaflet also has a“What to look for on the walks” sec-tion, which is handy if you are un-sure about plants etc.

Representatives of the parishcouncil had a preview of part of oneof The Larches walks. One council-lor said: “We had a delightful timelearning about the various plantspecies and grass chalkland man-agement on this site. It did mean wedidn’t do as much of the walk as weexpected because we were con-stantly stopping to see interestingplants and insects, including or-chids, scarlet pimpernel, stemlessthistles, ground pine, butterflies,

buzzards and many more species.”The chalk grasslands at the North

Downs are extremely precious andcovered by local and European leg-islation so KWT's management isvital for these habitats.

Parish council chairman IvorDavies said: “The parish council isproud to have the headquarters of

KWT in the parish and the work ofthe wardens, officers and especiallythe volunteers is to be applauded.

“Special thanks must go to HelenKnell for producing the walk leafletsas she has done a fantastic job andwalked all of the routes.” The parishcouncil gave a grant to KWT for pro-ducing the series of walk leaflets.

BOXLEY Parish Council and Kent Wildlife Trust have launched anotherwalk leaflet which takes in Boxley Warren and The Larches.

Wifi at hallTHE estates committee agreed thatequipment could be bought toallow free wifi at its hall and parishoffice. With the increasing use ofthe hall, hirers and trainers willfind the facility very useful.

Provision of this service neededcareful investigation to ensure thatthe council’s financial and admin-istrative systems were kept secure.

Councillors and members of thepublic attending parish councilmeetings will have internet accessif they want, say, to check sourcesof information or to email informa-tion to their own accounts.

Facebook pageDURING the school holidays theparish office has been using itsFacebook page and website to ad-vertise events in the area that mightbe of interest to families.

This will be repeated close to andduring every school holiday. Theparish council also uses the websiteto notify residents when thefreighter service is in the area etc.The parish office would welcomecomments, via email, on how theservice could be improved.

Flora andfauna returnIT is now three years since theWeavering Diamond Jubilee Or-chard was opened and it is slowlymaturing.

Some trees have needed replac-ing but as anyone visiting the areawill see there are apples, damsons,hazel and cobnuts. The top orchardpart of the site is gradually beingre-colonised by wildflowers andgrasses creating diversity and habi-tats for wildlife.

It was a deliberate decision of theparish council to allow this part ofthe site to return to meadow and itmaintains grass walks through itfor residents and dog walkers. Tosome people it may look neglected,but in fact it is a wildlife haven.

The play area is well used and intheir regular visits to check thesafety of the equipment and site,councillors and office staff are oftenapproached by residents sayinghow welcome the site is.

Prior to the parish council takingover the site, the grass was regu-larly closely mown which meantthere were fewer habitats to sup-port much wildlife. Due to thechange in the maintenance regime,wildlife recently spotted includesgreen and lesser-spotted wood-peckers, bullfinch, starlings, grasshoppers, moths and blue tits. Thesite has some reptile and hedgehogareas and an insect hotel is soon tobe added.

Grant for hallGROVE Green Community Hallhas been awarded a £500 grant to-wards the cost of a defibrillator forresuscitating victims of cardiac ar-rest when at the hall.

Training will be undertaken, butdefibrillators can be used by un-trained people as the machine givesstep-by-step verbal instructionsand it won’t allow anyone to shocksomeone who has a pulse.

Many villages and commu-nity/public buildings are installingthese units and the parish council’sown hall and office has one.

AllotmentsTHERE are vacant plots at theparish council’s allotments for res-idents interested in growing theirown fruit and vegetables. Detailscan be obtained from the parishcouncil website or the parish office.

WALDERSLADE Woodlands Group (WWG) has had its new storage unit in-stalled at Beechen Hall.

The group,which under-takes volunteerwork in Walder-slade Wood-lands, obtaineda National Lot-tery grant to-wards the costof an additionalstorage unit.Rob Burrows,chairman of thegroup, said: “The support of the National Lottery is vital for small com-munity groups like us. The new unit allows for secure and safe storage. Theparish council’s grant supports the day-to-day costs of the group but everynow and again there is a large scale project where we try to source addi-tional funding and of course we were delighted to receive this.”

The photograph shows the team taking a break from improving accessto the new store.

Volunteers’ storage boost

New date for next meetingTHERE is a change to the date of the next meeting. It will now beon Friday, September 11 at the European School of Osteopathy,Boxley, starting at 7pm. MP Helen Whately will attend.

Members of

the parish

council

enjoy a

preview of

the walk at

The Larches


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Mary BlackMARY Black (84) lived in Bearsted from1986, and previously lived in Bower Close,Maidstone from 1976.

She was a Lib Demcouncillor forAllington and mayorof Maidstone between1990 and 1991.

Born Mary Penricein Glasgow, herprevious homesincluded a Londonhostel where shestayed while working

for the Civil Service.Mary married Robert, “Bob,” in 1957 and

the couple raised daughters Deborah andShauna. They moved to Cuxton when Bob’scareer with HM Customs and Excise tookhim to the Medway towns. Mary taught inStrood and for a number of years at ClarePark in West Malling. Prior to becoming acouncillor Mary stood for parliament as aLiberal Party candidate in the Medway areain 1974, coming close to securing the seat.

Daughter Shauna said: “My mother caredpassionately about education and had astrong sense of fairness. She was the kind ofloyal friend who would always step in andhelp others, and was also quick to laugh.

“Her teaching and communication skillswere exceptional, she got excellent resultswith challenging pupils and authored aseries of “How To…” books which soldnationally and were aimed at helpingyoungsters who struggled.

“My mother was always resourceful andinventive; along with her writing skills shewas also a skilled artist.”

Mary – who was widowed in 2012 –leaves her daughters and fourgranddaughters – Natasha, Farrah,Madeleine and Alana.

Roy ManserROY Manser (81) of Charlton Lane, WestFarleigh was one of the best known andlongest serving members of San Fairy AnnCycling Club.

His membership of the club went back 68years and he achieved national recognitionas a racing cyclist.

Barming-born Roy followed his fatherinto the blacksmith trade and went on tostart his own engineering business –Andian Construction. The company wasnamed after his sons, Andrew and Ian, whohe had with his wife Pamela.

Many of his former club mates, friendsand family have commented on hisachievements and passion for cycling.Among his early feats was a fifth place inthe national 25-mile championship in 1958.

In 1989 Roy and Anthony Wallis set anational 10-mile tandem record of 18min

17sec. Roy also won the Kent CyclingAssociation’s Best All RounderCompetition four times between 1959 and1969. He remained competitive in the sportand for the San Fairy Ann club well into hisold age. Roy famously ended his stint ofnational service in Cyprus by cycling homefrom the island. He also enjoyed otheractive sports including diving and skiing.

Roy’s engineering skills were applied tocycling and he built bicycles for fellowcyclists. Roy was taken ill on a “Wednesdaywobblers” ride with San Fairy Ann onAugust 5 and his condition rapidlydeteriorated to the point where paramedicscould not save him.

Roy leaves his wife and son Andrew. SonIan pre-deceased him when he was killed inan accident while out cycling some 18 yearsago.

Tony RobinsonTONY Robinson (78) of the Square,Lenham was central to local life in thevillage for more than 40 years. He moved

locally with wifeCarole as proprietorsof Lurcocks shop,offering adelicatessen, off-licence and othersupplies. Hisbackground was inretail and Tony hadan in-depthknowledge of wine.

Tony soon became a noted local character,known to most in the village.

He and Carole ran the shop until theyretired in 2003. Tony maintained hisinvolvement in local life by working withthe parish council as the village handymanand was a trustee of the DouglasAlmshouse charity.

Parish clerk Margo McFarlane said:“Tony was very active and well known andrespected. He was a member of the teamwhich established the new communitycentre and remained closely involved withit for the last 11 years.

“He was a member of Lenara, the localactive retirement association and theLenham Enhancement Association, whichinvolved him doing work on the colourfulplanters throughout the village. In hisyounger days Tony was a keen sportsmanand he played cricket for Lenham.

“He made a massive contribution to thevillage and he will be missed by lots ofpeople.”

Tony leaves his wife, childrenChristopher and Joanne and threegranddaughters.

Amanda MillerAMANDA Jane Miller (50), of Hunton, waswell-known locally from the work she didsetting up and running the county-wide

property managementbusiness Simon Millerand Company.

Born Amanda Smithin Essex, she trainedas a secretary andworked as a medicalsecretary in MarbleArch.

Amanda methusband Simon at a

party in 1980 and the couple were marriedin January 1984. Prior to Hunton theirhomes were in Gillingham and Larkfield.

Amanda was baptised as a Jehovah’sWitness in 1981 and remained dedicated allher life. She was mother to Lauren,Alexander, Constance and Morgan.

Simon Miller and Company wasestablished in 2000, growing to a well-known and county-wide operation. Thecompany’s website paid a fulsome tribute:“Amanda was characterised by herseemingly inexhaustible cheerfulness andenthusiasm for life. She was considered oneof the most modest and humble womenwho, despite tremendous ability, alwaysshied away from publicity and praise.”

Amanda had ba�led breast cancer since2007, a fight notable for the positivity anddetermination she brought to it.

She leaves her husband, children,grandchildren Hamilton and Fox-Belle,parents, one brother and one sister.

Frank ConnFRANK Conn (92) lived locally for about 27years. He moved to Detling where he wasvery active in the local community, living

there for 18 yearsbefore spending fiveyears in the RoyalBritish Legion Villageand a further fouryears in Allington.

Born on the Isle ofDogs, Frank was inthe fire service at thestart of the war andwas mobilised into

the Army, for whom he served as a groundgunner in the Shetland Isles and Irelandbefore being transferred to the RAF anddoing the same job at Detling and Manstonairfields.

Frank’s time in Detling eventually led tohim becoming central to the campaign for,and design of, the memorial that nowstands in the village commemorating the

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service and sacrifice of the airfield in thewar.

Frank’s working life included time in thecar trade, working as a baker, a milkmanand a bus driver, and clerical work for thepolice. Before Detling, he lived with Alice,his wife of over 60 years, in HighWycombe and Orpington. Frank wasfather to Stephen and Joyce.

Son Stephen said: “My father wasinvolved in a lot of Detling life. My fatherand mother were paperboy and girl to thelocal village and also turned up on ascooter to do duties as Father and MrsChristmas at the local school. He got onwith everyone and was a loveable and niceguy who kept his energy until very late inhis life and donated to lots of charities”.

Widowed nine years ago, Frank leaveshis children, four grandchildren and sevengreat-grandchildren.

Henry FulcherHENRY Fulcher (18), of New Romney,was a talented footballer well known

from his time at theSoccer Elite FootballAcademy atSwadelands School inLenham.

Henry died afterlosing control of hisVauxhall Corsa andhi�ing a tree inTenterden.

The player was

named Twopack by team-mates and hadgraduated from the youth ranks to thesenior squad at Hythe Town. Havingturned out for the first team last seasonHenry scored his first goal in a pre-seasonfriendly against a Maidstone United XI thissummer.

Tributes included a Facebook RIP pagewith more than 1,000 members, some ofwhom contributed at a fundraising eventin Lenham, raising £170 for a wreath in theshape of a Vauxhall Corsa.

Hythe Town FC paid tribute to Henrystating: “Henry was one of the nicestpeople you could meet and had thepotential to go all the way to the top andwe at Hythe had high expectations of himin what would have been his first fullseason at senior level.”

Neville PhillipsNEVILLE Phillips (84) was well known asa housebuilder and farmer.

Born in Chatham he moved locally as aboy and a�endedMaidstone GrammarSchool. His homesincluded about 30years inHollingbourne, timein Bearsted,Willington Street,Barming and 25 yearsfarming near Marden.

Neville wasmarried to Be�y for more than 55 years

and was father to twins Mark and Sarah.Son Mark said: “My father will be clearlyremembered by many people locally. Hewas a master builder involved in housebuilding from the 50s to the 70s, a time inwhich he built houses in places likeLenham, Spot Lane, Willington Street andmany locations around the Maidstone area.

“He had talent as a sportsman andplayed rugby as a boy. He opened both thebowling and the ba�ing for RumwoodCricket Club in Otham and in his 30s tookup golf, playing at Bearsted andRinglestone and playing his last round atthe age of 84.

“People will remember my father as alarger-than-life character; intelligent,interesting and funny.”

Neville, who was widowed in 2013,leaves his twins and grandchildren James,Alice, Sophie and Tom

Damen CromptonMAIDSTONE’s Damen Crompton (36)died in a motorcycle accident.

Damen was heading to his home inReculver Walk, Senacre on the A229 LooseRoad when he lost control of hismotorcycle. Damen’s partner LianneFarrow paid tribute at the scene of theaccident.

Damen worked for the past four years atDempson Ltd, a packaging company inHermitage Lane, Maidstone. The companyhas supported his family through thetragedy.

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PLANS are being prepared for theMaidstone Churches Winter Shelterscheme.

The scheme, launched two yearsago, offers overnight accommoda-tion for the homeless during someof the coldest nights of the year,supplementing the services offeredby other homeless charities in thetown.

In 2013/14, seven churches of-fered a welcome to 10 guests eachnight for eight weeks; last winter,this was extended to 15 guests for12 weeks.

The plan is that this model will bereplicated in winter 2015/16, start-ing on Monday, December 14.

Last year, more than 200 volun-teers helped to run the scheme,which hopes to get a similar – orgreater – amount of support thisyear.

Bill Miller, the minister of Maid-stone Baptist Church in KnightriderStreet, has taken over as chair of theMaidstone Churches Winter Shelterfrom Major Grayson Williams, whohas retired from the Salvation Armyin the town.

Pastor Miller was chair duringthe first season so is already wellused to the work involved andthere are a number of new trusteescoming on board.

A small number of staff co-ordi-nate the work of the many volun-teers and the scheme is nowactively seeking funding from arange of sources, including charita-ble trusts.

Mr Miller said: “Until we secureenough funds to employ the work-ers we cannot recruit, but we arehoping to have our first worker inplace earlier in the year than waspossible in 2014.

“This will help greatly with allthe necessary preparations and en-gagement of volunteers.”

Even now, volunteers are work-

ing to get funds for the ongoingwork of the shelter scheme.

Mr Miller said: “We have a planin place and are working towardsanother winter when a warm wel-come can be offered to those whowould otherwise be sleeping roughin our town.

“The outcomes in previous yearshave been amazing – often life-changing.”

The trustees hope each churchcan appoint a volunteer representa-tive to help communicate and co-ordinate volunteers and churchcongregations.

Shelter for town’s homeless

A SLEEP-OUT is being held in Maid-stone at the end of September tohighlight the plight of the homelessin the borough.

On Friday, September 25, theMaidstone Deanery is hosting asponsored sleep-out, led by archdea-con Stephen Taylor.

Each church in the town is beingasked to nominate one representa-tive prepared to sleep outdoors from10pm to 8am, with only a sleepingbag and cardboard box for comfort.

There will be a limited amount ofshelter if it rains.

The event is being organised byHeather May and Diane Enfield onbehalf of the deanery.

Spokesmen Andrew Sewell said:“We want to raise awareness of thehomeless in town and the servicesavailable and the launch the re-cruitment of volunteers for the win-ter shelter, as well as raising fundsto support the homeless in Maid-stone.”

Archdeacon leads the wayGardens openTWO gardens in Back Street, Leedsare open on Sunday, September 20in aid of Heart of Kent Hospice.

At Arnold Yoke, formal landscap-ing complements the 15th-centuryWealden farmhouse, while the gar-den of Inverarnold houses a collec-tion of more than 200 deciduousand evergreen trees and shrubs.

Both gardens are open 2pm-5pm.There is limited wheelchair access.Assistance dogs will be admittedand refreshments will be available.

Charity lunchFORMER Spandau Ballet singerTony Hadley will be the specialguest at a ladies’ lunch at The Mer-cure Hotel, Maidstone on Friday,October 9.

The event, in aid of children’scharity Action Medical Research,starts with a drinks reception atmidday followed by a two-coursemeal and live entertainment fromTony, plus a raffle.

The singer has been a supportersince 2003, when he took part in thecharity’s trek to Peru. As an ambas-sador he performs at social eventsand joins fund-raising treks, as wellas hosting the annual Tony HadleyGolf Classic.

Tickets priced at £45 are availablefrom action.org.uk/kent-ladies-lunch-tony-hadley.


RECENT Maidstone Council invest-ments have improved Mote Park magnifi-cently to make it even more popular locallyand see it rated second best in the nation.

Purchased for £50,000 from the LordBearsted family almost 100 years ago, MotePark has proved a wonderful council in-vestment and residents will want it pre-served and improved for years to come.

I think few will complain about a pro-posed new parking fee of £1 for six hours,especially as the income will be used tomaintain and further improve the park.

Government has imposed massive finan-cial restrictions on local authorities in thetroubled economic times and funding non-essential services is a great problem.

I think most of us who pay to park willappreciate its great value.

Ramblin’ ManI welcome Maidstone Council’s policy

to increase attractions (and income) fromMote Park – but I expressed fears aboutnoise from the big two-day Ramblin’ Manmusic festival.

I was close to it for two days at The Motecricket ground and was impressed. The fes-tival was professionally organised and thelarge audience was mostly mature, friendlyand responsible. The nearby roads werebusy at times, but with visitors arriving overa long period, and leaving at non-peaktimes, I was not aware of serious problems.

How about the noise? On the cricketground side it was no problem at all whenI was there. The wind was blowing fromthe west and I am sure this helped. Friendsliving in Downswood, Vinters Park, GroveGreen and Bearsted heard much more, butI believe there were few complaints. Noiselevels were monitored and limits were notbreached. Perhaps limits could be reducedsomewhat in future.

The festival brought a lot of people andmoney to Maidstone and I believe therewere many happy visitors and businesses.

I understand it could well return.

Political footballThe political football of Maidstone’s

local plan is being booted in the directionof the right goal at long last.

When the Tories were in control theycommissioned an expert independent re-port on the evidence-based need for morethan 19,000 new houses in the borough forthe period 2011 to 2031. They knew this ev-idence would be tested by a Governmentinspector and if it failed, the desperately-needed local plan would be rejected.

This figure was strongly challenged asmassively over the top by local political op-ponents in the build-up to May’s generaland borough elections. I always felt theywere playing to local voters worried aboutthe level of development, especially insome rural areas, rather than working tomeet Maidstone’s greatest need.

And KCC leader Cllr Paul Carter (Con)was still more vociferous in damning thenumber – even after KCC commissionedits own independent report which, to hisfury, largely mirrored the report commis-sioned by Maidstone Council.

These long delays may well cost Maid-stone dear, as we currently have little pro-tection against developers with their ownideas for using greenfield land for housing.It is not a good scene – and sadly Maid-stone Council is now subject to ridicule.

New Lib Dem leader of MaidstoneCouncil Cllr Fran Wilson is working wellto bring together all politicians, includingKCC, to finally get the local plan on theroad. Tough decisions must be taken in theface of continued local resident opposition.If not, the borough’s housing target couldwell swell under government pressure tobeyond the current evidence-based 18,560.She has accepted she has “failed” to reducethe target substantially.

The Tories will have a wry smile – buthopefully they will continue to play a lead-ing role to see past wrongs righted.

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Mote Park well worth a quid

Rugby club to make fresh start

�

�

�

Bypass v old firsDear Sir – In the August Downs Mail amention was made about who was going tofinance the Leeds-Langley bypass.

Mr Schroeder says he would finance the

bypass if the planners would let him builda village in Kingswood.

This would make sense – pulling out oldfir trees instead of building on the GreenBelt. David A Last, by email

MAIDSTONE Rugby Club lookset for a new ground – leavingThe Mote after more than 50years in the centre of town.

The move follows a successfulseason on the pitch for the club,but disagreement with The MoteCricket Club, which own andshare the ground.

Earlier, the cricket club had sug-gested houses would be built onpart of the rugby club’s trainingground to finance developmentsthat they say would transform theground’s sports facilities.

However, the rugby club werenot happy with having to relin-quish part of their trainingground, forcing cricket club chair-

man Glen Aukett to say that theseplans were “on ice”.

Now the rugby club’s vice-chairman, Paul Firmin, appears tohave offered a way out for bothsides by allowing them to moveelsewhere in the town. Up to threepotential sites are under discus-sion with Maidstone Council aspart of a larger development planconcerning Mr Firmin.

The rugby club say the opportu-nity to move away from The Motehas received the backing of theclub committee and the member-ship will be presented with the fulldetails shortly. They say initialdiscussions between the club, MrFirmin and Maidstone Council

representatives have been posi-tive, although they recognise sig-nificant hurdles need to beovercome before a more formalconfirmation of the details can bereleased. Maidstone Rugby Clubremain a significant tenant of TheMote and their lease agreement isup for renewal next May.

The Mote Cricket Club will con-sider in the next month their pol-icy regarding the lease. DennisFowle, chairman of The Mote CCdevelopment committee, said:“We have delayed any new leaseoffer to rugby since the end ofMay until the rugby club’s plansare a little clearer. Our priority isto safeguard the cricket club and

this magnificent site for local sportand the community. Building anew pavilion and improving facil-ities are integral to that.”

The rugby club’s Jim Tinsleysaid: “Regarding the ongoing sagaon development at The Mote, theprotracted discussions which in-volved the rugby club, the cricketclub and Maidstone Council werenot able to be resolved as we in therugby club are not prepared tosacrifice playing and trainingspace to allow development onour 1st XV pitch.

“Our proposed exodus fromThe Mote should allow both clubsto realise their full potential as im-portant sports centres in Kent.”

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FUSION Maidstone, Healthy Living Centre, based in Parkwood,Maidstone, is a well-established and growing voluntary

organisation with ambitious plans for expansion of its services.New Trustees are sought to complement existing Trustees and

bring further passion, drive and experience to its Board.

We are looking for community-minded individuals from a range ofbackgrounds, including the local community, commercial, public,charitable, health/social care/education/Church sectors, and who

can demonstrate a track record of effective performance,strategic thinking and sound and effective judgement. We are

looking for up to four new Trustees to complement FusionMaidstone Board of Trustees.

For an initial discussion and to request an information pack please contact:

Martin or Tracey on 01622 691177 or email [email protected] /

[email protected].

TRUSTEESHIPS MAIDSTONE

STEPHEN GRAYState Registered Chiropodist

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and weekend appointments available

Goods Vehicle Operator’s LicenceMr Jon Martin trading as Glebe Fencing Ltd of 108Hockers Lane, Detling, Maidstone Kent ME14 3JJis applying to change an existing licence as follows.To to keep an extra 2 goods vehicles and 0 trailersat 108 Hockers Lane, Detling, Maidstone KentME14 3JJ

Owners or occupiers of land (including buildings)near the operating centre(s) who believe that theiruse or enjoyment of that land would be affected,should make written representations to the TrafficCommissioner at Hillcrest House, 386 HarehillsLane, Leeds LS9 6NF stating their reasons, within21 days of this notice. Representors must at thesame time send a copy of their representations tothe applicant at the address given at the top of thisnotice. A Guide to making representations isavailable from the Traffic Commissioner’s Office.

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Broomfield and KingswoodPolice report Two crimes were reported –theft from a motor vehicle at GravellyBo�om Road and criminal damage inCharlesford Avenue. Anti-social behaviourreports within the park could not beaccessed as they fell under a different ward.The clerk was asked to write to Anne Barnes,Police and Crime Commissioner, regardingthe lack of reporting other local crime issuesas had previously been available, andappeared to still be available to other localparishes.Neighbourhood plan The proposedschedule, leading to a possible referendumin January/February was discussed. Theclerk was asked to contact Designscape andarrange a meeting to discuss the outcomes ofthe parish public consultation as soon aspossible.Sports field Work on the removal of theLevercrest area would commence at the endof September. A revised quote for thefencing from Jacksons had been receivedwhich had increased the cost of theinstallation considerably. Councillors agreedto order the fencing from Jacksons but to askJohn Baker to install it. The annual safetyreport had been received but the clerk hadbeen unable to circulate it as was requested,by email. There were many queries as to theaccuracy of the reporting for which the clerkwas still awaiting replies. The clerk had alsorequested to be informed when theinspection would take place so that shecould a�end, but for the third year running,Playdale had not complied. Sherecommended another company be used infuture.CCTV A meeting had been held withMaidstone Council community supportofficer regarding temporary installation ofCCTV at the sports field. However, a cameracould not be supplied due to the lack of anadequate secure electricity supply. A quotewould be obtained to install the requiredpower supply.Padlock Additional chains and a padlockwould be bought for the main gate of thesports field as the chain had been stolen.Handyman There had been threeapplications for this post. It was decided toappoint John Baker. Regulations required,where possible, employment of localtradespeople and the other two applicantsdid not come from within the parish.Tall Trees The cost to the parish council forthe sale of the Tall Trees leased area and torelinquish the lease would be £500 plusdisbursements plus Vat for each piece ofland. The costs for the purchase of the landwere similar. The tenants had offered to pay£3,500 each on the basis that the parishcouncil pay all costs. The clerk was asked tocontact the tenants and inform them that itwas now the parish council’s intention tohave the land valued as per legal advice andthat due to anticipated costs, it wouldrequire all costs to be paid by the purchasers.

DetlingScragged Oak Action was being taken byKent Highways regarding this junction.Public forum A resident spoke regardingovergrown trees at a property in PrincesWay. The clerk was asked to write to theowner. The issue of overgrown trees at therear of Princes Way was also raised.However, these were covered by

preservation orders. It was agreed that theparish council would write to the owner,stating that it would support an applicationto have these cut back.Neighbourhood Watch Clr John Claytonspoke regarding the need to have an activeNeighbourhood Watch scheme withinDetling and to have details of police contactspublished for residents’ information. Theclerk would liaise with PCSO Megan Dayregarding an article for the Detling News.Grants Cllr Kennard was looking intopossible grants for a community shop.Dogs Concern was raised regarding the dogmess on the Old School playing field. Theissue would be placed on the next agendafor further discussion.Monks Meadow The fence had beenrepaired by John Monk. The chairman notedthat the poppy seeds distributed around theparish had grown well at Monks Meadow.Wildlife Kent Wildlife Trust hadundertaken a survey at the Scragged Oakviewpoint.Showground traffic Cllr Evernden raisedconcerns regarding the traffic problems atthe Elton John concert at the showground,stating the traffic had been backed up on theA249 for hours. He raised concerns aboutthe traffic management of the event andfuture events. A meeting was being arrangedby the showground management. It wasagreed the clerk would liaise with KCC CllrJenny Whi�le and borough Cllr Nick deWiggondene regarding this ma�er.

DownswoodCounty report KCC Cllr Gary Cookeconfirmed that the road markings at thejunctions of Deringwood Drive and minorroads would be repainted. Assurances were

given that liaison with Arriva and KCCtransport department was taking place dailyto avoid disruption of the bus service duringthe planned road works.Play area Foxden Drive play area was duefor completion by September 1. A quote hadbeen received for £320 for leylandii pruning.Len Valley Derek Doyle, liaison officer ofLen Valley Preservation and Angling Society(LVPAS), gave an update on the currentstatus of the society now that there was anew commi�ee. Various issues werediscussed and a joint meeting was arranged.Defibrillator Installation costs of £545 pluselectrician’s fee and purchase of children’spads were agreed. There was likely to be afurther cost for a key pad as it was agreed topurchase a lockable cabinet.Garden competition In addition to winners’prizes supplied by the parish council,Rumwood Garden Centre would supply £10vouchers for three highly-commendedgardens. Pictures of the winning gardenswould be published on the parish counciland Rumwood websites. Prizes would bepresented at the Christmas event.Fete The Downswood CommunityAssociation fete was successful. Moneytaken at parish council stalls was passed tothe association.Spires Medical Centre Borough CllrGordon Newton and the chairman hada�ended a meeting with GP Dr Singh.Despite lengthy discussion, it seems that thecentre, owned by Dr Singh, was to close,although the parish council had yet toreceive official notification. The desination ofsection 106 money set aside for DownswoodSurgery was to be investigated, as well as GPpractices in Maidstone town a�ainable viabus and willing to register patients fromDownswood. A le�er would be sent to the

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DEBATE continues about the merits of Maid-stone hosting the Ramblin’ Man Fair but theorganiser of the largest rock concert everstaged in the town has already confirmed an-other event for the weekend of July 23-242016.

Super Early Bird tickets are already on salethough no specific acts have been confirmed.Among this year’s festival-goers most com-ments were positive and tickets for 2016 havebeen bought. Adrian Powell, who camped outover the weekend, described the festival as“well organised and enjoyable [with the] rightnumber of people.”

Some residents were not so positive andMaidstone Council confirmed it had received25 formal complaints, a few of which camefrom residents of Audley House, which hadthe sound system from the main stagepointed in its direction.

Philip Urquhart, village manager of AudleyMote House, said: “We are aware of some Au-dley Mote House owners raising concerns re-garding the level of noise and lightdisturbance that carried on until 11pm… as amanagement company we also contactedthe council on their behalf.”

Maidstone Council’s reply to the com-plaints said: “The environmental enforcementteam along with an independent acoustic en-gineer monitored the sound levels through-out the event. Although the music wasaudible in some areas around the park, the

sound levels set in the license were notbreached at any point during the event.” Ithas promised to monitor this issue in futureand to ensure the emergency hotline fornoise complaints extends to an out-of-hoursservice in 2016.

Sainsbury’s near the site saw a sales boostfrom festival-goers, while the Eden Café incentral Maidstone saw extra breakfast busi-ness on the Saturday from campers at thefestival who had endured a wet night. HMVin town confirmed increased sales of CDs ofsome acts who had appeared.

Liz Marks, of Downswood said: “The noisewas extraordinary and relentless…we may aswell have been right in the park for the vol-ume we had both days, well in to the night. Ihad many friends say the same.”

Ramblin’ Man will be back

There were few complaints from those whoattended the Rambin’ Man Festival


MP and copied to health minister JeremyHunt.Open spaces Cllr Greenhead reported thatthe Jubilee Stone area needed to bemanaged. An open spaces working partyhad cleared Foxden bank of ne�les to givethe whips a greater chance of survival.

HarrietshamWarden’s report Community wardenMartin Sherwood had changed some of hisshifts so he could monitor the Glebe Fielddue to recent reports of anti-social behaviourand possible traveller activity. He asked thatanything untoward be reported to the policeon 101, before contacting him or the parishcouncil. He had not been able to spend asmuch time in the area as usual as he hadbeen assisting with Operation Stack and hadbeen working with trading standardsofficers on providing support for vulnerablepeople in Maidstone who have sent moneyto scammers.Public forum A resident reported there hadbeen an increase in the amount of li�er inthe village since Operation Stack had comeinto force. Another resident said she hadcompleted a li�er pick every Sunday andusually filled 1.5 black bags with rubbish.Since Operation Stack had been imposed,this had increased to four bags which tookabout four hours to collect. It was suggestedthat further volunteers be found to assist thisby posting something on Facebook. Aresident complained about the state of theroads in Goddington and Holm Mill Laneswhich were used as a rat run duringOperation Stack. These had been reported toKent Highways. The issue would be raisedagain at a forthcoming meeting with KentHighways.Neighbourhood planning Terms ofreference for the neighbourhood planningworking group were adopted. These statedthat the working party would consist ofcouncillors and volunteers from thecommunity. Councillors could now start toestablish the group.Rural service centre Cllr Amanda Chinnery

had circulated a report as to why she feltHarrietsham should not be designated arural service centre (RSC) in Maidstone’slocal plan. It was agreed to write toMaidstone Council to object to Harrietshambeing designated as a RSC.Air quality Cllr Kay stated that the airquality during the past six weeks haddeteriorated to the point that he had nowbeen given an asthma pump. Informationabout the current issues in Harrietsham hadbeen passed to MP Helen Whately. It wassuggested that all the villages along thediversion route should get together tocomplain about the issue.Flytipping There had been a large numberof complaints about the items that had beenflytipped on the Booth Field. This is privateland which makes removal difficult. Thechairman of the trust, Richard Cook hadconfirmed that the damaged fence andvegetation in the walkway between ChurchLane and St Welcume’s Way would berectified. Maidstone Council’s new cleansingmanager, Ian Packer, had been very helpful,confirming that the items had beenremoved.New account format The proposed newformat had been circulated which wouldhelp members of each commi�ee see thebudget for which they are responsible andhelp each commi�ee to supply budgetinformation from November 2015, ready forthe new financial year (2016/17). The precepthad almost doubled in recent years and thetarget should be for no increase next year.Remix The group had received a lo�eryfund grant of £9,000 which would be used torun a new group called Remix Rewired andform part of the Monday evening youthclub. The grant would provide a tutor fromRhythmix, a group which helps with mentalwellbeing through music, and would supplystudio equipment for the children to recordtheir own music. It was hoped in the longterm, that the studio could be used by othersto help raise funds for the parish council andvillage hall trust.Glebe Field The recent report of travelleractivity at the field was noted. It was agreed

that soil, costing up to £1,500, should beplaced in strategic places around the fielduntil a permanent solution was found.

LeedsHighways Sightings of HGVs in the villageshould be reported to the clerk or on thewebsite – a photograph and/or registrationnumber is needed. Potholes should bereported to Kent Highway Services.Speed Watch Cllr Ian Bowles was makingprogress with Kent Police and the se�ing-upof a Speed Watch group.Website The village website was now upand running, with plenty of information.Residents could also sign up for the villagenewsle�er or make comments on the forumpage.Playing fields The new swing seats hadbeen fi�ed and funding for tennis courts andthe extension of the car park was beingconsidered.Li�er There had been fly-tipping in thechurch car park and behind the sportspavilion. Maidstone Council had beeninstructed to remove and dispose of this butthere would be a charge as it was deemed tobe on private ground. Rubbish was stillbeing dumped in the recycling area in thechurch car park. If this persisted, therecycling bins would have to be moved.

UlcombeCrime report There had been 17 minorincidents reported to the police, most ofthem in the same location. There were noreports of anti-social behaviour. Residentswere warned to be aware of bogus callersand traders and to report anythingsuspicious on 101.Resignation The clerk had given notice ofher intention to resign from the post as clerkand responsible finance officer. This was dueto a change in her personal circumstances.Recreation ground A noticeboard and picnicbench had been bought for the recreationground.

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A STATUE in the garden of a residentialproperty in Willington Street, Bearsted wasdamaged. A second statue was also movedin an attempt to steal it.

An unsecured vintage bicycle was stolenfrom the back garden of a home in New CutRoad, Weavering.

A horse was taken from a field inRoundwell, Bearsted.

A tree was cut down without permissionin Yew Tree Close, Lordswood.

Two Boardman bicycles were stolen froma garage at a home in Chatham Road, San-dling.

A plastic wheelie bin was stolen from Yeo-man Lane, Bearsted.

A resident was woken by a dog barkingin Fir Tree Grove, Lordswood. On lookingout to see what was happening they foundthat someone had attempted to force theirgarage door.

A phone was stolen from a van while itsowner was working at a property inRoundwell, Bearsted.

A Bailey Olympus caravan was stolenfrom a field in Scragged Oak Road, Detling.Fencing at a farm had been cut.

Kent peg roof tiles were stolen from aproperty in Grange Lane, Sandling.

Tools were stolen after entry was made to

a van in Dogwood Close, Lordswood.A Giant mountain bike, a Dewalt plane,

an angle grinder, a ladder and fishingequipment were among items stolen from agarage in a block in Blenheim Close,Bearsted.

A parked vehicle was entered in WareStreet, Weavering and a wallet and its con-tents were taken.

An office at a block of flats was brokeninto in Holland Road, Maidstone.

A parked vehicle had its window lockdamaged in Basmere Close, Vinters Park.

Tools including a Makita grinder, Dewaltsaw, Makita drill and generator were stolenfrom a garage in Ashford Road, Bearsted.

Tools were taken from a van in DogwoodClose, Lordswood.

A garden table and five chairs were stolenfrom the garden of a home in Taylor Close,Harrietsham.

A Citroen parked in a driveway was bro-ken into in Creve Coeur Close, Bearsted

Park. A TomTom satnav and a pair of sun-glasses were stolen.

The wall of council premises was dam-aged in Oxford Road, Shepway.

Two parked vehicles were keyed in FoleyStreet, Maidstone.

Solar lights were stolen from the gardenof a home in Bramley Crescent, Bearsted.

An attempt was made to steal a post boxin Ringlestone Road, Wormshill.

Fencing was damaged at a premises inCharlesford Avenue, Kingswood.

Neighbourhood WatchWorking to reduce crime. Call Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 or local police

Crim

ere

po

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