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Local elections so hard to read MailMarks
AT this stage, with a month to go, it is
spin of the coin time again for forecasters of who will really control Maidstone Council after the elections on Thursday May 5. As usual it is a close battle, with the Con-
servatives probably needing a net gain of one seat to ensure their desired overall con- trol.With this would probably come the sig- nificant position of leader of the council, whichwas lost last May when LibDemCllr Fran Wilson had a majority of one vote at the annual council meeting when she was also backed by the majority of Independ- ents, Ukip and Labour councillors. The Conservatives hold 25 of the 55 seats.
Two Independents usually vote with them. They feel they are well-placed to win con- trol but they campaign hard to achieve a comfortable majority. There are many un- certain ingredients – but one certainty is the local Lib Dems will still be punching well above theirweight to strengthen their posi- tion.
There are several key battlegrounds in the
relevant 19wards and the power battle will probably be decided by the results in these nine: Bridge, Coxheath & Hunton, Fant, Heath, High Street, North, Park Wood, Shepway South and South. A political change in any of the other 10
wards (Allington, Barming, Bearsted, Boughton Monchelsea&Chart Sutton, Box- ley, East, Headcorn, Marden & Yalding, North Downs and Shepway North) would be a significant surprise. The Conservatives will need to hold in the
three marginal key seats of Bridge, Cox- heath & Hunton and Fant – no easy task – and look for gains mainly in Lib Dem-held Heath, High Street, North and South or in
Appalled by phone-tracking
Dear Sir – Regarding your article about tracking mobile phone habits, I amboth amazed and appalled at the news that this is happening. I amamazed that it is legal, and appalled
that both Maidstone Council and Maidstone Town Centre Management condone this activity. Itwas only a short time ago that we had the press tapping into phones; how is this any different? Whilstwe are told that individuals cannot be identified, how canwe be assured that this will remain the case, as I am sure that the technology exists? I have a contract phone so my details are
stored somewhere.We are already targeted with junk mail and annoying phone calls where details of purchases are sold on to third parties; I’m sure this will be the beginning of new marketing tactics. Your report states that it’s just location
and usage.Well, I don’t really want people knowing where I am, let alone what I’m
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Stephen Eighteen Editor
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44 Maidstone Town April 2016 Diane Nicholls
Assistant editor
diane@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 232
Jane Shotliff Journalist
jane@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 233
Dawn Kingsford
Journalist
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DENNISFOWLE President
dfowle2011@aol.com
Current council make-up Conservative
LibDem
Independent UKIP
Labour
25 20 6
2 2
Labour-held Shepway South and Inde- pendent-held Park Wood. The Lib Dems have dominated High
Street for many years but it is award where population migrates more than most, and it became marginal last year when Cllr Fran Wilson ended with a 119 majority over the Conservatives. The Tories are targeting it in May and believe their hard work can now bring success for Joe Mamo against former Mayor, Lib Dem Cllr Denise Joy. The Tories also believe they can succeed
again in Northward, where they pulled off a surprise victory last year after long Lib Dem dominance. It was only a 25-vote win – but with long-standing LibDemCllr Jenni Paterson now standing down, there will be an intriguing battle between Michelle Hastie (Lib Dem) and Jeff Tree (Conservative). South ward has often fluctuated and the
Tories see their chance with the retirement of stalwart Lib Dems’ Cllr Ian Chittenden (Paul Wilby is the new candidate). There were only about 100 votes in it last year and
using my phone for. That’s personal. Your report also states that November
2015was the eighth month in a row that footfallwas down. Have the two organisations above not worked it out yet? Maidstone traffic is a nightmare, parking
is expensive and there are too many pop- up shops and empty shops; not a great experience really. It’s free to park and shop out of town with less traffic and a beer shopping experience. I realise that retail is tough with the age
of online sales, which to be fair I amusing more and more. However, some shops I do go back to because the customer care is so good.
Tracking phones will only compound the problem and keep shoppers away.Will the public be warned with signs stating that we will be entering a tracking area? Shouldn’t we be asked before being snooped on? We’ve known for some time that big brother iswatching us with the cameras about town; now he’s tracking our phones. Neil Cole, Grove Green
Paul Cooper will be looking to overturn that.
The reverse applies in Coxheath & Hunton, where prominent Tory Cllr John Wilson is retiring. The Tories believe they have a strong replacement in Ron Leagas, but the Lib Dems hold the other two seats in this ward and they will be looking for a gain to ensure the hat-trick though youthful local candidate Emily Fermor. Both the national and local political scenes
make forecasting so difficult this year. The Tories did well last year on the back
of a successful general election campaign while the Lib Dems floundered. Has that tide turned at all? Labour defend Shepway South locally, but will divisions nationally over the party leadership affect local sup- port? Will passions over theEUreferendum im-
pact locally? In Maidstone borough the Conservatives reckoned they suffered because they had to lead the essential but controversial local plan which required very heavy residential development. This year council leader Fran Wilson has had to front the local plan and take flak from many unhappy residents. It is a poisoned chalice she has drunk from bravely. I did not have courage to forecast the final outcome last year. This year it is even more difficult…
The EU vote LAST month’s Mail Mark when I rea-
soned why I will vote for Brexit brought a record number of emails and other contacts. Thank you. I will touch on them next month.
Mote Park is fine as it is
Dear Sir – Having lived in Maidstone all my life, I have seen Mote Park change, but I’m afraid a lot of the recent changes have not been for the beer. Many of us appreciate the peace and tranquillity of the park and the nature which makes its home there and would like it to remain thatway, without the need for even more building and commercialisation. Yes, perhaps it does need a new cafe, but
only because the present onewas built with such a definite lack of forethought and planning and one of the biggest problems has always been the lack of stock control. I have been in the cafe at least three times only to be told I couldn't have a cup of tea as they had no milk. On another occasion during the school holidays the only ice creams they hadwere the very expensive ones.A lot of the mothers weren’t too impressed with this and none of this is hard to sort, but unfortunately that is theway it always seems to be.
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