News Music night


MOONLIGHT Sonata and the music from StarWars will feature in a festival of favourites for the Heart of Kent Hospice in Ayles- ford. The Heart of Kent Orchestra,


conductedbyAdrianGosswithpi- anists Simon Proctor and Oliver Poole, will perform from 6pm on Saturday,April 27. As well as favourites including


Ride of the Valkyries,Morning, In theHall of theMountainKing and Rhapsody in Blue, Simonwill per- formhisnewconcerto basedonthe music ofAndrewLloydWebber. Doors open at Invicta Grammar


School for Girls, Maidstone, at 5.30pm. For tickets, at £15 or £10 for children, call 01622 790195.


Road closure


AYLESFORD’S Forstal Road is closeduntilMay 17 to allowfor the installation of a newwatermain by South EastWater. It is shut from The Community


Centre entrance toRochesterRoad. The diversion is via Rochester Road, Kits Coty slip southbound, A229BlueBellHill,ChathamRoad, RunningHorse roundabout.


downsmail.co.uk


No competition for borough candidates


TWO borough councillors have been elected to a Tonbridge and Malling ward, a month before voters even go to the polls. Ann Kemp and PiersMontague


were named members for Downs and Mereworth because no other candidates threwtheirhats into the ring. Their seats were among 54, rep-


resenting 24 wards, which were supposedto beupfor grabs at elec- tions on Thursday,May 2. While it is not unusual for seats


at town and parish level to go un- challenged, the lack of candidates for a boroughwardhas raisedeye- brows. A council spokesman told


DownsMail: “The lastuncontested ward in this borough was Cage Green andHighamin 2007. It is an unusual occurrence.” MrsKemp,who has represented


Downs andMereworth since 1999, was equally taken aback. She had


PiersMontague and Ann Kemp


been expecting rival candidates to oppose her, butwas told by coun- cil officers that she had been re- elected instead. “Itwas a total surprise,” she said.


“I don’t know why other candi- dates didn’t come forward.” Mr Montague, who was elected


to Kings Hill in 2015, moved into Matthew Balfour’s borough seat unopposed, leaving the county councillor free to concentrate on his Kentwork. Political commentators, con-


cerned that voting numbers at the forthcoming elections could be rocked by irritationwithWestmin- ster’s handling of Brexit, fear that disillusionment in the democratic process may also spread to those looking to go into politics. Former minister andMaidstone


and the Weald MP Ann Widde- combe warned that Brexit was threatening to turnelections into “a minority occupation”, adding: “A lot ofBritonsnow, I think,have just lost thewill to live.” In conjunction with the Downs


andMereworth result, borough re- turning officer Julie Beilby said a swathe of the 269 parish and town council seats had also been uncon- tested,with entire councils return- ing to power unopposed. These included West Malling,


Wateringbury, Ditton,Addington, Trottiscliffe, Kings Hill, Offham, Leybourne, Birling, Ryarsh, Snod- land and East Peckham.


Divorce and family law specialists


   


 6 Malling April 2019


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