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List of nominations Selected wards, served by Downs Mail AylesfordJohnBalcombe*(Con); David Smith*(Con);StephenClarke(LD); Julia Taylor (Lab)


Blue Bell Hill & Walderslade Peter Homewood* (Con); Allan Sullivan* (Con); Richard Baron (Lab)


Burham, Eccles & Wouldham Roger Dalton* (Con); Dave Davis* (Con);Tim- othy Fulwell (LD); Marion Mountford (Lab);Valerie Oxberry (LD)


Ditton Barry Stone* (LD); Jeanette Bel- lamy (Con); Daniel Frost (Lab); Carol Gale (Con); Paul Hatcher (LD); Alan Piper (Lab)


East Malling Liz Simpson* (LD); Chris- tine Woodger* (LD); Richard Brown (Con); Peter McDermott (Con); Stuart Millson (Ind); Sarah Palmer (Lab)


EastPeckham&GoldenGreenLizHol- land* (Con); Howard Rogers* (Con); Tony Dowdeswell (UKIP); Adriana Fabin (LD); Ralph Lovesy (LD); Terry Scott (Lab)


Hadlow, Mereworth &West Peckham Jill Anderson* (Con); Janet Sergison* (Con); CharlesVernon (LD)


Kings Hill Christopher Brown* (Con); Trevor Robins* (Con); Kathleen Garlick (Lab); Nigel Holland (LD); Terence Pullinger (Lab); DavidWaller (UKIP)


Larkfield North John Clements* (LD); David Thornewell* (LD); JanetDenbow (Lab); Mike Parry-Waller (Con); Russ Taylor (Con)


Larkfield South Anita Oakley* (LD); Timothy Bishop (LD); Peter Collett (Con); Nigel Day (Con); David Finn (Lab); Mark Forgione (Lab)


Snodland East LesWithey* (Con); Ju- lian Atkins (Lab); Steven King (Con); David Laverty (Lab)


SnodlandWest Barbara Brown* (Con); David Keeley* (Con); Anne Moloney* (Con);PaulHickmott (Lab); IainLaverty (Lab);Wayne Mallard (Lab)


WateringburySimonJessel(Con);David Mitchelmore (Lab); Stephen Patt (LD)


West Malling&Leybourne SashLuck* (Con); Brian Luker* (Con); MarkWor- rall* (Con); George Demuth (LD); Julie Lusher (LD);Yvonne Smyth (LD); Peter Stevens (UKIP); JeremyTeesdale (Lab) .


* Denotes sitting councillor


Four-way ballot fight THEREwill be a four-way fight in the Marden and Yalding ward of Maidstone Borough Council, which includes parts of the Downs Mail’s Mallings distribu- tion area such as Nettlestead. Conservative Annabelle Black-


more, the sitting councillor, is up against Liberal Democrat Carol Jacques, Labour'sEdithDavis and Jim Chalice of the Green Party. The council is currently made


up of 27 Tories, 22 Lib Dems and four Independents. There are also two vacancies. About a third of the council’s


55 seats are up for grabs. Several senior members are seeking re- election, including deputy coun- cil leader Malcolm Greer (Boxley) last year’s mayor Peter Parvin (Leeds), cabinet member Marion Ring (Shepway North) and plan- ning committee chairman Richard Lusty (Staplehurst).


Polytunnels a poll winner?


THE spread of polytunnels has emerged as a significant issue at next month's local elections. In a borough that is dominated


by Conservatives - many repre- senting the interests of the farm- ing community - there are strong feelings of frustrationanddiscon- tent among residents who claim there has been a lack of action over the creeping carpet of plas- tic covering the countryside. Now some of them are taking


BACKERS of Hugh Lowe Farms' applica- tion say their 'whole farm' plan identifies the scheme’s boundaries, ensuring there will be no tunnel 'creep'. It provides continued maintenance of


the environment, creates employment and injects finance into the economy. One letter of support said: "We must be


their case to the ballot box. One such is Paul Spensley, who is standingasanIndependent in the Borough Green and Long Mill ward where three Tories, includ- ing mayor Sue Murray, are defending their seats. Mr Spensley lives at Hamptons in Park Road, Had-


careful not to run our farmers out of busi- ness by over-constraining them in an al- ready competitive market. We lose local family farmers at our peril...no one else is as in tune with their surroundings - it is in their blood. "Kent's title as the Garden of England


is under increasing threat. We must not lose our fruit growing heritage."


low,onthe border ofWest Peckham,wherethe parish council is one of several objecting to a huge retrospec- tive application by Hugh Lowe Farm, Mereworth. The area, covering about 1,200 acres in all, extends


from Kings Hill, south west through Mereworth to West Peckham and south through Nettlestead to East Peckham. The application was first submitted in December


2008 but has still not been determined. Aresidents group, Landscape Matters, of whichMr Spensley is a member, teamed up with the parish council to channel their concerns. MrSpensley stressedheis notanti-farming, nor ishe


standing for election on the single issue of polytun- nels. "Our concern is not to get rid of them all, though


they are not very pretty. But we do feel they need to be controlled." He is annoyed that, after two-and-a-half years, theissue will still not have been de- cided until after the May 5 election.Meanwhile, the plas- tic sheeting continues to spread. Tonbridge and Malling Council insisted that all views on the application be submit- ted by the end of January."We were expecting a decision in March but that's been pushed back for a site visit in April, then a decision in June."


Mr Spensley said the ruling on poytunnels will af-


fectwhathappens in future in places likes Plaxtoland Shipbourne. "Itwouldset a precedent, by legitimising them." He added: "We are saying 'why is it taking so long?


Can we have some guidance and laws that satisfy the needs of farmers and the protection of the country- side."


"Some of my best friends are farmers, we are not


anti-polytunnels.The farmers aremakinganawful lot of money out of this. That's fine, but we have to look at the amenity of the countryside for everyone." Two other Independents have been nominated in


the ward, Tim Shaw and Mike Taylor. Three Labour candidates are all members of the Hayman family, James, StephenandVictoria.Thethree Conservatives are David Evans, Sue Murray andTony Sayer.


Downs Mail asked the main political groups on Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council to explain why they believe you should vote for them at the ballot box onMay 5


‘We will not cut borough services’ By Cllr MarkWorrall, leader of the Conservatives


INDIVIDUALS, families, communities, private companies and public services are all facing the worst situation for our country's economy in a lifetime. We are determined to focus on people's priorities - making sure that essential


services are in place and high quality, whilst keeping costs low. Our record shows that we are good stewards of your money and protect services and jobs. Unlike other parts of the country, we continue to support community and vol- untary groups such as Citizens Advice, drop-in centres for older residents, younger people and young mothers. We have frozen council tax, diverted over 92% of domestic refuse from land-


fill, avoiding landfill tax, and built over 900 affordable homes. Of nearly 1,000 leisure centres in Britain, only 55 are in the elite ‘excellent’ rating, and only three of these are in Kent. All three are in Tonbridge and Malling Borough. The Angel Centre and Tonbridge Swimming Pool are rated 11th equal and Lark- field Leisure Centre 4th throughout the entire United Kingdom, whether privately run or in the public sector. We have demonstrated that with common sense and principle, focusing on the needs of residents, even


in these difficult times, Conservative councils cost you less, with no increase in your council tax, no cuts in your services, no redundancies, continued support for community groups and additional money for community enhancement. The Government's inspectors rated ours as the best local council in Britain, and we hope that you will give us the opportunity to continue to represent you in Tonbridge andMalling.


‘We need a better-balanced council’ By Cllr David Thornewell, leader of the Liberal Democrats


THE local election on May 5 is about choosing the best people to represent their area and the borough at councilmeetings. At present, the 53-member council comprises 46 Conservatives and seven Lib-


eral Democrats.We feel such a large one-partymajority is bad for local democ- racy and a better-balanced council is needed. This would improve decision-making and help ensure all local views are heard. Planning is one of our main jobs and there has been much new development


in recent years, with some still to come for new homes at Leybourne andWould- ham. Liberal Democrats welcome the Localism agenda and hope this will lead


to more local decisions.We want to protect the countryside and there is also a need for better targeted planning enforcement to deal with sites having a bad local impact. We need to do allwe can to support village centres and we would resist any attempts to bring in park-


ing charges for car parks such as atWest Malling, Snodland or Martin Square, Larkfield. The recent plans for a commercial waste-recycling centre at New Hythe need careful scrutiny, espe-


cially the impact on local roads. We need to persuade KCC to give even greater attention to basic road maintenance and stop the end-


less reorganisations of this service. We stand for as much local decision-making as possible with councillors concentrating on local issues andmaking sure our borough voice is heard by others, such as at County Hall and in central government.


To contact Downs Mail just phone 01622 630330 Malling 23


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