downsmail.co.uk
Conservatives Annabelle Blackmore – leader
“A Conservative-led council will continue to protect and enhance services across the borough. “A Conservative-led council un- derstands it is your money which must be used wisely.With the re- duction in the money we receive from centralGovernment, the Con- servatives are keen to seek com- mercial opportunities to generate income to maintain our important frontline services. We want a county town of which we can be proud and we want to create fur- ther jobs by supporting projects such as the Enterprise Zone at Junction 7. “The Conservatives want signif-
icant improvement in broadband speeds, especially in the rural areas. We will work with Kent County Council to assist in the
Lib Dems FranWilson – leader
“Running down our borough is easy.We can always find fault so it is good to reflect on whatwe have, such as ourwonderful countryside and a county town where over 50% of retailers are independent. “Lib Dems believewe must do a
better job of encouraging everyone to take a pride in where they live, but it is also our responsibility to ensure that, even with financial constraints, the borough council continues to deliver the frontline services that matter so much to residents. “For example, it is the council’s
job to maintain a clean and tidy borough, but there must be zero tolerance of those who persist in despoiling our streets and coun- tryside. “We must provide decent homes
Ukip Dave Sergeant – leader
“We have a strong team of candi- dates representing Ukip in this year's local elections, who are ex- perienced in business, local poli- tics and community issues. “With the state of the two main parties both nationally and locally I would not be surprised at us gaining a number of key seats. “Locally the Conservatives are
split down the middle while the Lib Dems are constantly changing their minds about our housing needs. These two things alone should cause voters to think about electing Ukip candidates. “Ukip participates in cross-
party talks, is represented on a number of committees and we voted against the recent council tax rise. Key issues include our in- ability to sustain the large amount
planning, routing and map- ping needed for the infra- structure to support this aim. “A Con-
servative- led council wants to drive further improve- ments in the frequency of the high- speed train service in Maidstone and attract businesses to the town. “The Conservatives will con-
tinue to protect our parks through careful management of these assets to ensure their long-term future is appropriately funded.We will seek opportunities to improve our recy- cling rates and further reduce the waste sent to landfill through changes to service delivery.
in suffi- cient num- bers. We cannot tol- erate fur- ther delays to our local plan as we must re- gain con- trol over where and when those homes will be built and where economic development will be encouraged. “Finally, Maidstone must lift up
its head as the county town to in- clude improved bus and railway stations, plus a first-class town centre toilet as these are things by whichwe are judged. “Huge challenges lie ahead but
Lib Dems will continue to work hard to make improvements hap- pen.”
of building in our rural areas and its effect on our infra- structure, which in- cludes ed- ucation, health and transport. Ukip en- courages tourism but more visi- tors should mean more toilet facilities. Ukip will be campaign- ing for more toilets throughout the borough. “During the campaign Ukip candidates, while positively pro- moting our policies, will not at- tack our opponents personally. We do reserve the right to chal- lenge any opposition party’s poli- cies thatwe deem to be wrong for Maidstone.”
Labour Paul Harper – new leader
“The Maidstone Labour Party ap- proaches theMayelections in good heart. Our membership has tripled since August. We are targeting to win up to four additional seats on the council in May, giving us six, to hold the balance of power.” Paul said the council’s top prior-
ity, after the local plan,was to focus on the housing crisis and the ability of people to afford a home in their communities. “Linked to this we need more quality well-paid jobs in the bor- ough,” he said. “Labour opposes over-development of the urban areas. We believe in improving public transport – more frequent buses on main roads and local neighbourhoods, new rail stations for Tovil/Fant, Allington etc will improve rail access. “Finally, we are the main party
Independents Fay Gooch, spokesman for the Independents
“Independent councillors have no party line to follow and no party politics. Our common sense and practical approach to decision- making meanswe are free to chal- lenge, ask the difficult questions and seek the right answers. “We recognise how vital it is
that Maidstone has a local plan in place as soon as possible if it is to fend off external pressures for yet more housing. Meanwhile we continue to fight hard to mitigate its impact on ourwards. “We support independent re-
tailers and small businesses and the vital contribution they make to the success of the town centre and to the borough-wide econ- omy; we particularly acknowl- edge the value and draw of large
Greens Stuart Jeffery – co chair
“We have fielded the largest num- ber of candidates ever in Maid- stone this year, reflecting the continued increase in the level of support we have seen over the past few years. Our message is one of social and environmental justice. “We want house building in Maidstone to be aimed at younger people and others in need of homes rather than unaffordable sprawling executive homes across fields and around villages. We want real action on air pollution which kills 130 people each year in Maidstone: investment inwalk- ing, cycling and buses to reduce the traffic on our roads. “We want to see communities
built and thrive, not see them de- stroyed by ideologically driven
Local elections | News
promoting cycling both for carbon neutral travel and leisure. All these will provide practical al- ternatives to the car. “We support schemes to im-
prove your neighbourhood’s envi- ronment, and are looking to see how we can increase street trees and protect open spaces including parks, allotments and playing fields.
“Maidstone has a strong cultural
sector, we will work with our arts community to use the arts to help regenerate the borough. Arts are a proven way to regenerate local communities.”
companies and the multi-na- tionals. We recognise that more needs to be done to en- hance Maid- stone’s prosperity and to attract inward investment. “We are well placed to face the decisions that need to be made, such as how to continue provid- ing value-for-money services for our residents in the face of ever- decreasing government funding, and how to offset the cost of ac- commodating the ever-rising numbers of homeless people. De- volution of services could bring opportunities for services to be provided even more effectively.”
austerity. Greens will fight against the closures of much needed public services such as the Dorothy Lucy Cen- tre and we are the only party op- posing the privatisation of the NHS. We want to see employ- ment in Maidstone move from its focus on retail, broadening the range of jobs and focusing on cre- ative arts, music and media. We really do care about our commu- nity, Maidstone can become a great place to live and work but only the Greens have the ideas and political will to make this happen.”
Maidstone East May 2016 31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64