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Minister fights traffic to meet Tory hopefuls


ELECTIONcampaigningmoved upagear with the arrival of the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, inMaidstone. Describing the traffic from


Aylesford to Loose Road as “busy”, theminister faced pressure fromhis political allies on issues in- cluding rail services and the prob- lem of how the borough’s aready clogged-up roads will cope with the council’smassive house-build- ing plans.MrGrayling,whowas in the area to meet eight of the 18 Tory borough council candidates onMay 3, told Tory activists gath- ered at the heavily-congested Wheatsheaf junction on the A274 hewas aware of the local problems. Maidstone andWealdMPHelen


Grant said: “We have a Tory gov- ernment, Tory county council and with a Tory-led borough council wewill be able to press in a united way for the infrastructure changes needed in Maidstone, such as a south east relief road.” OnOperation Stack, theminister


maintained that work to reinforce the hard shoulder between junc-


tions 8 and 9 of the M20 would allow traffic to stay on the motor- way and keep moving, should an Operation Stack situation arise post-Brexit, as it did in 2015. He said capacity for lorries at


Dover had been improved and a fresh consultation for a permanent lorry parkwas imminent. While he conceded that the gov-


ernment had been forced to “return to the drawing board on this long- term solution”, he said the site at Stanford remained a firm con- tender. He also felt the use of Manston


airport as a back-up, but costly, provisionwould not be necessary. On increased housing in Maid-


stone, Mr Grayling said the gov- ernment was making £5 billion available to local councils to ad- dress infrastructure needs. Those councils who had applied for help would learn shortly if they had been successful, he added.


Transport secretary Chris Grayling and candidate PaulWooding


THE Conservatives have announced they are to field a full slate of candidates in the borough council elections on May 3. The candidates, by ward, are: Allington Bearsted Boxley Bridge


Barry Stephen Ginley Mike Cuming Bob Hinder


Jonathan Purle


Coxheath & Hunton East Fant


Harrietsham & Lenham Headcorn Heath


High Street


Marden & Yalding North


ParkWood


Shepway North Shepway South South


Staplehurst Lottie Parfitt-Reid


Cheryl Janette Taylor-Maggio Graham Alexander Jarvis Karen Louise Chappell-Tay Martin Round


Alan Robert Chell


Samuel Peter James Lain-Rose David Christopher Burton Joseph Paul Mamo Daniel Rose Alan Bartlett Paul Cooper


Paul KevinWooding John Anthony Perry


Lib Demto stand down Cooke stands


HEATH ward councillor James Willis is standing down from the borough council and will not con- test his seat onMay 3. Cllr Willis (left),


considered a hard- working and popu- lar


Liberal


Democratmember, has made the deci- sion because of “personal circum- stances” and no


longer lives in theward he serves. Taxi driver Ashleigh Kimmance


(below)will stand in his place. In a letter to Downs Mail, Cllr


Willis said: “I am no longer living in or near theward so I have to step down. “It is vital that


this beautiful area has ultra-local rep- resentation that Liberal Democrats promote. “It is really pleasing to introduce


local campaigner and taxi driver Ashleigh Kimmance. I can, from experience, say he has a great track record of standing up for local peo- ple and is truly embedded in the community.


“During the last four years, it has


been an honour to have worked hardwith the brilliantHeathWard residents and I amlooking forward to continuing to work as a volun- teer to fight for this area.”


THE Liberal Democrats will field a full slate of candidates across each of the 18wardswith seats up for election. At the time of going to press, one seat remained unconfirmed. They are: Allington Bridge


Dan Daley


Coxheath & Hunton East


Heath


High Street North South


Bearsted Boxley Fant


Harrietsham& Lenham Headcorn


Marden & Yalding ParkWood


Shepway North Shepway South Staplehurst


David Pickett BrianMortimer Nicola Fissenden


Ashleigh Kimmance Clive English Tony Harwood DerekMortimer Lizzie Hare


Andrew Cockersole Rosaline Janko TBC


Merilyn Fraser Charlie Arthur Dinesh Khadka Steve Beerling Milden Choongo AndrewWatson


he learnt that local parish council chair- man Bob Hinder (right) intended to stand. CllrCooke said: “I


thought itwas in the best interests of the party to promote unity, rather than have a candidates’ battle before an election. Iwish Bobwell.” Independent Maidstone candi-


date for Shepway South, John Barned, said: “Gary has tried un- successfully to become a borough councillor four or five times,which was beginning to grate on himand that is why he wanted a nice, easy seat.” Sources say Cllr Cookemay look


to Downswood and Otham, held by Independent Maidstone’s Cllr Gordon Newton, in 2019.


Maidstone East May 2018 19


Elections |News


aside for Bob TORY county councillor Gary Cooke haswithdrawn as candidate for the safe Conservative ward in Boxley. He decided to stand aside when


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