Town October 2014

downsmail.co.uk

Parties choose their candidates for election

CANDIDATES are emerging as parties begin to choose who will stand against ConservativeMP Helen Grant for the Maidstone andWeald seat in the General Election of May 2015.

Eddie Powellwas selected by UKIP members at a hustings event in East Farleigh, attended by about 70 mem- bers. He beat rival candidates Colin Nicholson and Roy Philpott. Mr Powell, one of four UKIP bor-

ough councillors elected to Maidstone Council inMay, promises to campaign against Maidstone Council’s “exces- sive” housing targets and promote the need for more grammar schools and extra funding for the NHS. He says withdrawing from the EU

would save the country £53m a day, which could be used to plug the gap in NHS funding. Former GP Dr Paul Hobday will be standing for the National Health Ac- tion Party, which was launched in 2012 by healthworkers and those dis- illusioned by NHS reforms. Dr Hobday, who retired last year

after 30 years as a GP in Sutton Va- lence, is calling for a halt to NHS pri- vatisation, an end to the housing crisis and for parliamentary reform. He told the Downs Mail: “Tragi-

cally, we have seen deaths from clostridium difficile when past man- agement tried to run down Maidstone Hospital to pay for the new hospital at TunbridgeWells. “We lost the fight for our maternity

unit despite 95% of GPs (and the pub- lic) being opposed to its closure—this is totally inconsistent with the Gov- ernment lies of giving GPs and pa- tients power.

UKIP’s Eddie Powell, NHAP’s Dr Paul Hobday and Labour’s Allen Simpson “There are many more examples

and this will be the future unless this damaging and dangerous policy is changed.” The party’s co-leader Dr Clive

Peedell, who is running against Prime Minister David Cameron in Witney, said: “Paul is a very serious candidate, with strong local support, who has a real chance of causing an upset and ousting ToryMPHelen Grant.” Labour announced earlier this year

that a former Maidstone Grammar School pupil will be its candidate. Allen Simpson (31) is originally from East Malling, but currently lives in Dulwich, south London andworks for Barclays Bank. If elected he plans to move back to Maidstone, where both of his parents live. He supports Maidstone Council’s emerging local plan, which calls for 18,600 new homes in the borough be- tween 2011 and 2031.

the CivilWar in 1648 is simply grotesque. Barbara Long, Rosemount Oast, Bearsted

Barbara, although the majority of the people who move into the borough are not from foreign countries, the influx from the Continent into parts of London and the South East increases the price of housing, forcing many to seek areas such as Maidstone as an affordable place to live. While it is arguable whether this is having a major effect on the borough socially and culturally, there is no doubt that this poses immense physical challenges regarding infrastructure and retention of open countryside to retain our quality of life. Response by Stephen

Lights a waste of money

Dear Sir – I am writing to express my complete agreement with Mr PeterNSmith regarding the traffic lights at the junction of Willington Street and Madginford Road. What a complete and uer shambles these

lights are. Theywere only put in because they did not cost the local authority a penny

Stuart Jeffery, the leader of Maid-

stone Greens,sayshewillnot be standing for the seat in Maidstone, but will assist in finding a candidate. Mr Jeffery represented the party against Helen Grant in 2010, coming fourth with 655 votes. He will stand for the Canterbury and Whitstable seat next May. “In the meantime, he will continue

to work with Maidstone Greens as secretary. He added: “We will have a candi-

date in place by the middle of October following an internal election. There are at least two excellent candidates.” Former journalist JasperGerard has

long since declared that he will stand for the Lib Dems in the forthcoming election. Among his pre-election promises is

a determination to fight for a reduc- tion in the number of houses being proposed for the constituency.

as it made the developer of the residential home pay for them. We pay the real cost of thiswaste of time

and money by siing in the interminable queues they cause and breathing in the noxious fumes caused by queuing traffic. Itwas mentioned that these lights benefit residents by including a phase for pedestrians to cross the road to access Mote Park. What, all three of them per day? What about me? I access Mote Park at the

School Lane junction; where are my lights? It has been mentioned that the phasing prioritises the traffic onWillington Street. So why does the traffic build up to beyond School Lane but the most cars I’ve seen waiting on Madginford Road is just five? Get rid of these lights. They are an embarrassment, awaste of money and a major cause of pollution. JS Hartnup, The Beams, Maidstone

Group is not political

Dear Sir –We refer to your article on page 21 of your latest Maidstone Town edition

Affordable homes plan

MHSHomeswill build more than 300 affordable homes in Maidstone dur- ing the next four years. It is the social housing provider’s

first development programme in Maidstone. The first phase will include 136 apartments on the site of the borough council’s old offices in Tonbridge Road – one of three sites in the town. Thework is expected to be finished

next autumn. The development, which will be known as West Gate, will comprise 37 one- and two- bedroom apartments, including 25 af- fordable-rent properties and 12 homes for shared ownership. It is being built in conjunction withChart- way, which has employed two ap- prentices on the scheme so far. Further developments will be at Buckland Hill, near Maidstone Bar- racks, and a former factory site in Ec- cleston Road, Tovil. All are scheduled for completion in 2015/16.

Health questions

MEMBERSof the public are invited to question those providing community health services in Maidstone. Kent Community Health Trust will

ask “How didwe do last year?” at the Mercure Maidstone Great Danes Hotel on Thursday, September 25. The public should email comm- steam@kentcht.nhs.uk or call 01622 211940 if they wish to attend.

RNLI quiz night

THE Maidstone branch of the RNLI is holding a quiz night in Fant Commu- nity Hall, Fant Lane, Barming, at 7.30pm on Saturday, October 17. Tickets, £6, include a ploughman’s

supper – guests are invited to bring their ownnibbles and drinks. To book, call John Ashbolt on 01622 725435 or Alan Cocks on 01622 761004.

of Downs Mail regarding the Conservative group on Maidstone Council deciding not to pursue a proposal to remove the chairman of the planning commiee. We are not aware of who wrote this article, but it does give the impression that the North Loose Residents’ Association (NLRA) is very much linked to the Lib Dems. Iwould like to make it very clear that the NLRAis a non political association. The residents of Southward elect the councillors and it is then up to us towork closely with them to obtain the best resultswe can for our area and residents. Planning decisions should not have any political input and should be decided upon the strengths,weaknesses and planning laws relating to each application Sean Carter, chair of the NLRA planning group.

Thanks Sean, there was never any suggestion in the article that NLRA has any political affiliations and I would like to emphasise this again.

Response by Stephen Maidstone Town October 2014 41

Comment

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