Conservatives set out for another year 


SO the Tories have another


year at least in power to imple- ment their Maidstone Council plans and had good cause to cel- ebrate at the election count where their overall majority in- creased from one to five. There were so many factors


this time, making predictions al- most impossible. It was the slump in the national Lib Dem vote that was key. After years in the doldrums, Labour will be encouraged by some signs of a local resurgence – but not enough to give them a single seat. The political cycle will change things for Labour andmanywill welcome a return of sensible socialist comments to the local scene. But nationally they still suffer


from appalling handling of the economy by former Prime Min- ister Gordon and his cabinet – leaving us all very deep in the Brown stuff. His profligate use of credit


card UK means we shall all pay a very heavy price for years. I can never forgive him. It takes a brave, dedicated per-


son to be a councillor with eco- nomic problems dictating so


MailMarks 


DENNIS FOWLE - President Kent Campaigning Journalist of the Year 2001 email: dfowle2011@aol.com


much. But the localTories seem ambitious and confident andwe must all wish them well.


Still plans to keep 


hospital services WITHfuture management


of the NHS in such turmoil, where does that leave the 250,000 population of the greater Maidstone area who have witnessed the grand lar- ceny of their local hospital serv- ices to meet the business plan for a new hospital at Pembury? By this autumn all these serv-


ices will be 18 difficult miles away at Pembury: emergency and orthopaedic surgery; con- sultant-led maternity; children’s ward and special care baby unit; gynaecology; chronic pain unit and more. Maidstone is rightly furious


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


Postal delivery bother Dear Sir - I read with interest your comments on postal deliv- eries. They have botheredme for some time. Though we live in the town boundary we can expect to re- ceive our post anytime from noon to late afternoon. Most concerning is that on


some days we get no delivery at all.


Someone who lives in a differ-


ent part of the borough told me when he challenged Royal Mail he was told certain deliveries were curtailed. How does that help someone operating a busi- ness from home?


DonWright By email


Dear Sir - I was interested in reading your comments on the Royal Mail deliveries in the April edition of Downs Mail and to make you feel better you might like to know of our ap- palling service. Up to approximately two months ago we had an excellent service, but then Royal Mail re- arranged all the rounds and changed the staff. Since that datewe are continu-


ally missing post and on contact- ing senders we are assured that it has been sent but clearly not de- livered. As a result, I have kept a check on deliveries and discover that we now only get a delivery every other day. We have tried to contact Royal Mail, but if you can make head


30 Town


and the HealthSecretary of State Andrew Lansley, who made the decision for women’s and chil- dren’s services, knows it. Our MP Helen Grant has had several meetings with him and KCC leader Paul Carter joined her at the last. He stuck to his decision – but


did agree our local GP commis- sioners could start work now (and not in two years’ time) on the case for returning women’s and children’s services to Maid- stone. Five surveys show how strongly Maidstone area GPs op- pose transfer of these services – so the battle goes on. It is sure to be backed by KCC, Maidstone Council, Maidstone division of the BMA, Maidstone Action for Services in Hospital (MASH) as well as just about everyone who lives in this area.


Having a laugh ABOUT 100 comedians


have rated Maidstone people as the third most difficult to amuse in the country. The TV channel Dave asked comedians like Jo Brand, Dave Gorman,RhodGilbert and Jason Byrne – and they putMaidstone just behind Liverpool and Not- tingham. I think this says a lot for the


folk of Maidstone – and not much formodern comedians. Occasionally I try to watch


them on television – but their manner and vulgarity very quickly turn me off. It looks as though I am not alone in Maid- stone. For much ofmylife I have en-


joyed many magnificent come- dians – and I can often find their wonderful recordings on TV channels. Of the newcomers only Peter


Kay has got through to me. I hope everyone saw his delight- ful rip-off of the over –hyped tal- ent shows like Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor. That re- ally was funny.


You can write to us at: Downs Mail, 2 Forge House, Bearsted Green Business Park, Bearsted, Maidstone, ME14 4DT or e-mail: info@downsmail.co.uk


or tail of their website you will understand why we have been unsuccessful.


Bryan Dewar Spot Lane Bearsted


Paying for doormen Dear Sir - I read with some inter- est the report regarding the Baby- lon nightclub and the trouble that occured there, although I was surprised to hear it was the Gurkhas, usually a very polite and courteous set of people. In- deed, it is the English (British) residents of Maidstone and sur- rounding areas that pour into Maidstone every Saturday evening, who should be blamed for most of the trouble. Almost every nightclub and


bar now has a group of security doormen at the entrance and in- side. I should know, I am one of them! Now why should clubs and bars feel the need to employ us? If you seriously don't know,


then please visit Maidstone one Saturday evening and watch and listen. It is rare that there is no trouble of one kind or another. Abusive and aggressive cus- tomers are not rare, overly intox- icated


customers are


commonplace and although ac- tual fights are not happening all of the time, the frequency is in- creasing. Often, the first line of defence


are the doormen, all of whom have been trained, passed strin- gent checks and paid a lot of money for their licences so that


they can keep the customers safe. What is their reward? Door-


men are often threatened, occa- sionally ganged up on and generally abused as they carry out their duties. Most of the time they attempt to carry out their duties in good humour, and at- tempt to be courteous and polite to customers upon entering and leaving the bar or club where they are stationed. For this they are very poorly


paid,mostly between £10-£12.50 an hour, which may sound rea- sonable.However, take into con- sideration that they do suffer the abuses mentioned above and are very occasionally the targets of violent assault, then the wages they receive pale into insignifi- cance!


Surely they should receive a


better renumeration than they currently do? Name and address supplied


Fewer museum staff Dear Sir - I learned from the'- Downs Mail (April) that Simon Lace was picked by Maidstone Council 'to give it (Maidstone Museum) a kick up the backside'. So far, he has kicked the coun-


cilwith a controversial extension by running up a £3.7 million bill, having only raised £2.2 million according to your article. To help reduce the deficit he is 'kicking out' experienced, able and senior staff such as the keeper of natural history, mar- keting, premises managers and security staff. These losses of staff alone will


seriously damage the ability of the museum to maintain a lead- ing position in the museum world and damage its ability to properly perform the functions that all feel are both desirable and essential to a successful fa- cility. Howmany valuable items will


have to be disposed of to make up the shortfall? How many items might already have gone at a figure less than their true value? Is there an inventory with valuations? Is there, perhaps, a case for in- vestigation by the district audi- tor?


Gordon Littlewood By email


Pheasant madness Dear Sir - What on earth is going on in Kent Highways? What sim- pleton would decide to close a narrow lane half way along it without putting notices at the en- trance warning motorists that it was a 'no through road'? That is precisely what KCC


have done to Pheasant Lane which runs from Sutton Road to Boughton Lane in Maidstone. A lorry, which was delivering a package to a house in Pheasant Lane, came to this dead end and there was no way it could turn around and had to reverse the whole length of the lane to get out.


What would happen if an emergency vehicle had to use this route in an emergency? Malcolm Luxton Address supplied


Have you got news for us? Phone our News Desk on 01622 734735


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