News Plan to open


distillery bar THE location of a new Maidstone distillery has been earmarked for a former hairdressers. Aplanning applicationwas sub-


mittedto convert theUrbanEscape unit inMarket Buildings. The pro- posals also include creating a visi- tor centre, tour opportunities, a shop of spirits and merchandise, and, in time, a bar where cus- tomers canmake their own spirits. If successful, it will be run by


Bearsted dad-of-three Darren Graves (42), along with his wife, Sam and master distiller, Gerard Evans, producing gin, rum, vodka andwhisky using a 400-litre still.


Newdirector


STAGECOACHSouthEast has ap- pointed JoelMitchell as itsmanag- ing director. MrMitchell (42), fromKent, joins


Stagecoach fromc2c Rail and lives inHarrietsham. He is the vice-chairman of gov-


ernors at the local primary school, coaches the Under 10s at Maid- stone Rugby Club and is a keen volunteer in the community.


downsmail.co.uk


Election formsmix-up a blowfor LibDems


THE failure of a Liberal Democ- rat candidate to get his nomina- tion forms in on time has thrown wide open one of themost hotly- contestedwards intheboroughin recent years. Cllr Rob Field (pictured), the in-


cumbent and deputy leader of the local Liberal Democrats, missed the April 4 deadline, to the “frus- tration” of one colleague. It means that the Lib Dems will


have no presence in North ward, where there are four other candi- dates, including thenewTory front runner, Robert Eves. Cllr Field blamed his campaign


teamfor a “mix-upwith thedates” for theMaidstone Borough Coun- cil poll onMay 2. He added: “I didn’t get themin,


no. It was left with the campaign team and there was an error over the dates, I believe. It is very frus- trating but these things happen.” The seat is now likely to be a two-way fight between the Tories


and Labour. Cllr Clive English said: “He's


been a very effective councillor, Rob, but hedidn't get hispapers in. It is frustrating.” Cllr Field won the seat fromthe


Tories at a by-election. The Con- servatives had narrowly won the seat by 25 votes in a shock victory in 2015. Observers feel that Labour,who


came fourth four years ago,will go all out to scoopup the left of centre


vote. The Labour candidate is Maureen Cleator, a localwoman. A Labour spokesman said:


“We’ll give it a good go.” A Tory spokesman said: “Rob’s


a reallynice guy.These thingshap- pen, but I suppose it blows the whole electionwide open.” With the balance of power deli-


cately poised, the loss of a seat without evencontesting it is a blow to the Lib Dems and gives an un- expectedwindowfor the Tories. The Tories are the numerically


most superior party in the town hall, but the Lib Dems have an al- liance with smaller parties to run Maidstone Borough Council. The Conservatives would need


to pull off at least five gains andre- tain existing seats,whichmost be- lieve is unlikely on current form. Standing in North ward are:


Steve Bax (UKIP), Steve Cheese- man (Green Party), Maureen Cleator (Labour) and Robert Eves (Conservative Party).


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Maidstone May 2019


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