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Correspondent: Jean Watson Mob:

07966 361434 Tel: 01622 687053 Get Together: The weekly Get Together meeting at the Baptist Church will be closed on April 12 for Easter. Meetings will resume on April 19 at 2.30pm. Fuchsias: At the next Mid Kent Fuchsia Group meeting in St Nicholas Church Hall on Thursday, April 13, Derek Dexter will give a talk entitled Fuchsias My Way. Starts at 7.30pm Maidstone Flower Club: The club will be holding a workshop in the Baptist Church on Thursday, April 13, entitled Easter Celebration. If you would like to join in take foliage, spring flowers, a basket or container and embellishments and prepare for a fun creative evening. Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Visitors £6, membership £30 per annum. Ample free parking. Garden club: Next meet on Thursday April 6 in St Nicholas Church Hall from 7.30-9.30pm when Darren Everest will give a talk entitled Dahlias and Sweet Peas. Visitors £3 per visit. Subscriptions £12 per year. New members welcome Get walking: Free guided Maidstone walks have been introduced by the Bower Mount Medical Practice and will take place every Thursday. People new to walking are particularly welcome. Meet in the Practice waiting room: 1 Bower Mount Road at 10am for a 10.30am start. Time of walks are approximately 60 minutes and walkers can enjoy post walk refreshments in the practice. on the Memorial Playing Field on Sunday April 11 from 8am. Pitches £5 in advance, £10 on the day. To book, call Valerie on 01622 843232 or Gloria on 01622 746509. need to book an appointment for either. PARISH COUNCIL: Following the receipt of the invoice for the share of the cost of the new speed sign to assist the work of Speedwatch, it was agreed to pay it. It was agreed to give a donation to Dandelion Time, a local charity based in West Farleigh. It has been noted that the finance committee proposed to increase the level of donations to £900, of which £300 would be donated to each of the Heart of Kent Hospice and Kent Sussex Surrey Air Ambulance. Website: Following a meeting between the clerk and Avongate, it was agreed to accept the initial changes and that a meeting of the editorial board should be convened as soon as the work was complete, to discuss training and other modifications. The following applications were discussed by the planning committee and, in the absence of any controversial elements to the plans, all were recommended for approval. Demolition of a store and erection of a detached single-storey annexe at Homestead, 107 Heath Road. Demolition of garage and erection of two-storey side extension and porch at 4 Dane Court. Conversion of a garage into a home office and the addition of a window to the rear elevation at 14 Murdoch Chase. Erection of a single-storey ground floor rear extension and front and rear first-floor dormer extensions at 57 Amsbury Road. In addition, the following planning matters were noted. The borough council had approved the installation of a drop kerb and front drive at 70 Huntington Road. Also approved the erection of a rear conservatory at 6 Dane Court. A meeting had been held with the parish council and representatives of Westerhill Homes (part of the Chartway Group) to discuss the proposals for the design and layout of the development at Linden Farm, Stockett Lane. In general, the discussions were satisfactory, although there is some confusion over the ownership of the community land. It seems likely that the developer will retain ownership and management responsibility for most of the 1.5 acre site. There would be a small area reserved for the parish council to construct a multi-use games area; the rest of the area would be open parkland with a covenant attached to it to prevent any further future housing development. A meeting had been held with representatives of KCC Highways to draw their attention to the access and traffic issues arising from the proposed Forstal Lane site, if it were to proceed. It had been agreed that both parties would remain in contact as the situation develops. The following maintenance issues had been raised and brought to the attention of the appropriate person/ department. The uprooted bollard outside the Heart of Kent Hospice shop; cleaning of the traffic bollards on both build outs in Heath Road; restoration of the salt bin on the approach to the roundabout at the end of Burston Road.