It was agreed that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman be able to respond to the questions posed by members of the public, as opposed to Leaders or Group representatives, as representatives of Kent County Council and Maidstone Borough Council respectively.

There were three questions from members of the public.

Question from Mr Duncan Edwards to the Chairman of the Maidstone Joint Transportation Board

‘Maidstone Borough Council has strong policy and planning for modal shift and active travel, but these are not always applied by planning applications.

For example, on land west of Church Road policies not applied were:

SEM3 of the walking and cycling strategy which sets the requirement to connect Sutton Road developments with H1(8) (land west of Church Road)  and Sustrans Walking and Cycling Assessment which sets out the need for a route to Mote Park from the South and makes specific recommendations on the Church Road site.

What steps can be taken to make sure the full value of the council's active travel policy is realised in future planning applications?’

The Chairman responded to the question.

The Vice-Chairman responded to the question.

Mr Duncan Edwards asked the following supplementary question:

‘Could I ask, as a member of Maidstone Cycle Campaign Forum, if Councillors could suggest anything more that the forum could be doing to help support MBC and KCC in promoting and developing active travel within the borough?’

The Chairman responded that a written answer would be provided.

The Vice-Chairman responded to the question.

Question from Mr James Willis to the Chairman of the Maidstone Joint Transportation Board

‘It is very good to see items being positive about cycling and especially agenda item 12 KB 18. However, this route only covers part or in fact a spoke of the Maidstone/TMBC border. I am sure committee understands there is much concern re congestion, pollution and cycling safety along Hermitage Lane.   

What can be done to provide a route as documented in the Local Plan for a Cycle and Walking plan strategy along the Hermitage Lane corridor and into Tonbridge and Malling?’   

The Chairman stated that an answer to the question had not been provided by Kent County Council officers. It was noted that a written answer would be provided to Mr Willis at a later date.

Mr James Willis asked the following supplementary question:

‘Could any work that comes back from that as the question, walking and cycling strategy along Hermitage Lane and into Tonbridge and Malling, which is the key to it, the fact that we need to keep talking to our neighbour, come back to this Committee in some written format or perhaps as a report? It is in the local plan for cycling and walking and at the moment there is no clear plan as I can see, to do that with the Section 106 monies in that area?’

The Chairman responded to the question.

Question from Mr Brian Smith-Lowther to the Chairman of the Maidstone Joint Transportation Board

‘Regarding the Willington Street/Sutton Road junction, why can you not put forward the simple solution to solve the traffic ‘problems’ by upgrading the traffic sensitive lights, as if you cannot give this a try, why not spend money on other alternatives?’

The Chairman responded to the question.

The Vice-Chairman responded to the question.

The full responses were recorded on the webcast and were made available to view on the Maidstone Borough Council Website.

To access the webcast recording, please use the below link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8XC_guOLfg