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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
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 had were the very expensive
ones.Alot of the mothersweren’t too impressed with this and none of this is hard to sort, but unfortunately that is theway it always seems to be. In this modern stressful world, a lot of people love to escape to the peace of the
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42 Maidstone East April 2016 Diane Nicholls
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DENNISFOWLE President
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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 Dem Cllr Ian Chittenden (Paul Wilby is the new candidate). There were only about 100 votes in it last year and
park and do notwant this interrupted by Segways, noisy model boats etc. There are already too many cars in the park and one has to be very careful when taking small children or dogs over there. Less environmental damage might also
give the nature of the park a chance to recover. There has been talk about provision for nature but most of us long-term residents have sadly seen it all decline over the years. Ifwe don’t all help protect it, it will disappear altogether. This is one of the few places in Maidstone
wherewe can make a difference andwe ought to limit the damage. I do love Mote Park and care passionately
about its future. I resent all these commercial ventures. I met a number of mothers at Gillingham Strand last year and theywere moaning about the fact that they couldn’t come to Mote Park during the summer as they had several small children and didn't want to spend the entire day being pestered by their children to be allowed in the fair! I did complete the survey when asked at the park, but let’s face it, the questionswere
Tory Paul Cooper will be looking to over- turn 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 through youth- ful 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 Cllr 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 Marks 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.
worded to get the answers theywanted – not to get honest answers and opinions. Mote Park is not a London park and I for
one, whilst I do appreciate the path round the lake, would suggest hands off everything else. Leave us to enjoy it just as it is. Jean Howland, by email
Bypass moneywas there
Dear Sir – Iwas reading the comments about the Leeds-Langley bypass andwas interested by KCC leader Paul Carter’s statement that he would have to find £55m to do this project. Didn't they once put £50m into an Icelandic
bank, and would it not have been cheaper to carry out the work at this time? I would be surprised if he lives in Langley because you state that he uses the South Park rat-run to get to work. No doubtwe will con- tinue to have 44-tonnes lorries, some contain- ing liquefied petroleum gas, mounting the kerbs through the centre of town James Burnham, by email.
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