Late yesterday afternoon, all Councillors from Maidstone Borough were invited to attend a photoshoot today to recreate a photo that had been found in 1946 of the opening of Maidstone Police Station.

Unfortunately, the late notice meant that only a few Councillor’s could attend, but I’m very glad to say I was one of them.

 This is a copy of the picture taken on 27th March 1908. The subjects include the Mayor of the time, Borough Councillors and senior Police officers. (Please click on the picture to see an enlarged version).

As can be seen by the photo, there were of course no women involved with the local Council, or indeed in positions of seniority in the Police. This made it all the nicer for me to be included in todays recreation. Although so few of us could make the photo, it still shows how times have changed. The Mayor sat in the centre of the photo, with his wife the Mayoress beside him, and I am there as a female Councillor too! - Plus, none of todays Councillors had top hats on!!!

I’m really looking forward to seeing the photo’s taken today, and just hope I’m not doing my normal cheesey grin, or blinking at the wrong time!

I’ll post the new along with the old when I get a copy!

By just 511 votes, Nick Clegg has been voted the new leader of the Lib Dems.

Hooray!

Sadly, I learned today (via the Mayor’s office) that a second member of 36 Engineer Regiment (stationed at Invicta Park Barracks) was killed in Afghanistan last Friday (9th Nov). Lance Corporal Jake Alderton was just 22 years old.

I’ve been thinking and thinking about how to finish this posting, but there’s nothing more that can really be said is there? I looked up his details on the Ministry of Defence’s website where it was clear to see that Jake was clearly a popular, friendly and dedicated soldier who will be very sadly missed and grieved for by his friends and family. My condolences go to them all.

The Kohima Epitaph:

When you go home,

Tell Them of us and say,

For your tomorrow,

We gave our today.

St. Andrew’s Park is a beautiful listed (grade II) building that was previously part of Barming mental hospital. Around 5 years ago, it was converted into apartments with a lovely amount of open green space around it. Sadly though there have been issues with the development and it’s been difficult to get the developer to complete the works to the standard expected. Local homeowners have campaigned hard to have many of the problems fixed and have felt they’ve met with silence from the developers and that the council hasn’t offered the support they expect.

Today saw a meeting held with members of staff (known as officers) from Maidstone Borough Council, residents of St. Andrews Park and myself. Finally, things are moving along with this. The developers have been written to with a letter which states all that needs fixing and clearly states a time frame in which it should be done. A schedule of works should be submitted by 2nd December, followed by completion of works three months after that.

The items to be fixed on the building are:

• rendering on blocked out windows
• rendering & colour of both walkways under the buildings
• repointing
• replacement of plastic drains with metal ones

Separately, officers will be meeting with the developers on site to discuss the problems with the open space. This area should have been ‘adopted’ by the council by now. However, it is in such a poor state that they are unable to. The issues that will be raised here include:

• The lighting (poor quality, mostly broken inappropriate street lights)
• Poor finish and maintence of site - trees and grass etc
• Bins not emptied (the developers responsibilty until council adoption)
• Pavillions - what will/can be done

In addition the officers are investigating whether local residents can begin to lock the gate by the lodges in the evening (a condition disallows this on the plans). Currently the poor quantity of working lights means the area is full of youths getting up to no good and then disappearing into the darkness (which is what happened on halloween). With the gates locked, hopefully these problems will calm down.

In mid December, officers, residents and myself along with Peter Hooper will re-meet to discuss what’s happened. If the schedule of works has not been received by this time, the issue of enforcement will be ‘brought to the table’.

Following the sad deaths of so many, through Clostridium Difficile (C. Diff) Maidstone Hospital has been in the press for all the wrong reasons in the last few weeks. Because of this I really didn’t want to take baby Travis for his outpatient appointment (to have his squint checked) today.

Since my last visit (a couple of years ago) things have changed. The first thing you now see when you walk in through the big doors is a MASSIVE display asking you to clean your hands with the alcohol sprays provided there. There’s at least 8 bottles - all at different heights so everyone can use them. In addition, there are leaflets to be found on C. Diff and hand hygiene in many points around the hospital. The alcohol sprays are to be found all around the hospital and at the entrance to every ward.

I watched for a short while, (before going to Travis’ appointment) all the people entering the hospital. I was horrified to see less than 50% of people stopping to clean their hands. Whilst, I obviously believe it is imperative that Doctors and Nurses ensure that they keep their hands clean and use the sprays between each patient, illnesses and germs such as C. Diff will only go if EVERYONE gets on board and starts using these sprays.

I only met Rose Gibb once - during a council scrutiny meeting. She is an incredibly articulate woman who spoke clearly on her vision for the hospital, however I did find the meeting rather like being spoken to by a brick wall. She spoke and then ignored every question and suggestion made. Her mind was clearly made up on the changes that were proposed with a real ’stuff local worries’ attitude about herself. Now I don’t know if these ‘clean your hands’ stations were placed in the entrance and all around the hospital while Rose Gibb was in post. If they were, having seen people ignore the oppurtunity to clean their hands today, I actually feel that the blame cannot lie with her and the trust alone. We as patients, visitors, volunteers, in fact anyone entering the hospital MUST take our part in hospital hygiene seriously.

All we are being asked to do is clean our hands and we must do this.

It takes seconds, isn’t sticky, doesn’t smell and helps ourselves, our loved ones we’re visiting and indeed the hospital itself….

… rant over - and if you’re interested, the lovely orthoptic doctor has given young Travis the all clear with the squint!

The next focus is off at the printers as we speak. Big excitement here in West Maidstone as we’ve decided to do an A3 focus for the first time outside of an election.

You can see it before it comes through your door here

Anthony Hull has resigned from his position as Borough Councillor for Shepway South ward on Friday. This means we will be having a bi-election in the next few weeks.

Elections always mean extra work - delivering leaflets, telephone canvassing, etc  - and for this reason I was incredibly grateful to Gordon Brown for deciding against a General Election just a few weeks ago.

Typical - you think you’re off the hook and then someone comes and puts you straight back on it… thanks Anthony!

Jo Bennett (husbands neice) and Rob Osbourne tied the knot today in Torquay.

Congratulations and lots of love to you both.

Today marked day one of six weeks of ‘clean sweeps’ in and around Maidstone. These are for those of us fed up with fly tipping and litter around the town. All equipment is provided - litter pickers, high vis jackets, gloves and bin bags and you set off to pick up what you can.

The photo shows just some of us that were litter picking today. Travis looks exceptionally bored, but the rest of us look pretty happy. It was a nice day for it though! One passer-by asked us if we were doing community service and couldn’t believe that anyone would willingly pick up other peoples litter without a big reward. A nicer area to live in is reward enough for me though!

Groups and individuals are invited to come along to one of these arranged events, or indeed arrange their own. For further information please contact Annika Fraser at Maidstone Borough Council on 01622 602559.

Lack of posts have been due to an overloaded schedule this past week. Four Council meetings, a few campaign literature meetings, a PTA disco (for which I’m treasurer) to help with arranging, a ‘Morsbag’ making session, attempting to arrange kids Christening, general kids taxi service, full-time mum and a fair few constituent problems cropped up this week as well.

I can honestly say that this week I’ve discovered what the saying “my feet haven’t touched the ground” really means, although it might be more honest to say “my backside hasn’t touched a sofa!”

So for all this running around, there should be lots of positive outcomes to report…

• Buying from Bookers for the PTA disco meant I discovered that Wispas are now being sold again - I’ve emailed Cadburys regularly for their return - ’bout time too!
• PTA disco raised £374.21 - well done everyone involved
• Lib Dem Members newsletter will be posted out in the next couple of days
• We’ve got about 20 bags made and have approached the Mayor’s office about help getting publicity when we hand them out.
• I attended a very positive “Fant/Heath MAPS” meeting this week. MAPS stands for Multi-Agency-PartnershipS”. These are meetings where all local agencies (Police, Primary Care Trust (PCT), Maidstone Housing Trust (MHT), Maidstone Council etc etc) all come together in one forum to share experiences and work together for positive outcomes in the area. There is a fair danger that these can just be talking shops. However, at this meeting we discussed the Springwood Estate in detail. It has been subject to a fair amount of Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) but this has finally ‘come to the top of the list’ and is now to become a ‘PACT’ (Police And Communities Together) area. There was a community day held on Barming Heath yesterday for this - more information will be updated when the ‘results’ are in. Residents should also be represented on MAPS, but we currently don’t have any. If you would be interested in attending, please get in touch and I’ll give you more information.
• I’ll post the link to the webcast of the Regeneration and Sustainable Communities Scrutiny meeting (when it’s available online) here. Topics under discussion were Maidstone Market and Maidstone Housing Trust.
• Constituent problems are being addressed
• Christening plans have been thwarted by lack of a postal service… must be number one priority next week…

And the negatives of the week:

• Bookers is a bulk sale cash & carry meaning that Wispa’s mentioned above were sold in packs of 48…. I have come out in a MASSIVE spot due to over-indulgence…

I’m glad Gordon Brown decided not to call a General Election last week - If he had, I think I’d be a gibbering wreck by now!

Following the sad death of Corporal Ivano Violino after just 16 days in Afghanistan, a fundraising event for the 36 Royal Engineers Benelovent Fund was held today.

Six teams of six people took part in a sports challenge event in the Mall Chequers. Each team raised a minimum of £500 to take part and a tombola raised a further £200.

Maidstone’s Mayor, Richard Ash (who always seems to do well at these things!), won some pantomime tickets as well as some body lotion.

Congratulations to The Bob Prowse Health Club, who won the event and commiserations to Maidstone Borough Council who may not have been in the top five, but who put up a very respectable fight!

The highly contested, controversial, multi-million pound incinerator at Allington was shut down today following further problems. For some weeks local residents and those that drive near the area have been overwhelmed with a truely awful stench eminating from the incinerator. This has allegedly been caused by a backlog of waste to be burnt.

Thousands of tonnes of stinking rotting rubbish have piled up and are now an explosive risk due to methane build up. This rubbish will now have to go to landfill.

Due to what can only be described as major design faults (the lining of the furnaces are falling off), the incinerator will be closed for up to 6 months. As well as burning our waste, the incinerator is designed to generate electricity. However, this too has broken. Parts that needed to be, were not being oiled - this was missed due to an electrical fault on the system that should have warned them! Apparently this will not be fixed for up to 12 months.

As Cllr Malcolm Robertson (who represents Allington) said on Meridian news this evening, this time we’ve been lucky… it may cost in excess of £1 million to fix, but at least there has been no damage to human health.

According to Kent County Council, the millions of pounds it will cost to repair the incinerator will not be paid by tax payers. Well who will then? At the end of the day, whether it’s via higher running costs in the future, or in some other way, of course we’ll end up paying for it…

Further information can be gained by calling the incinerator’s “community line” on 0845 803 8845 or by emailing info@kentenviropower.co.uk

It was full council tonight. The main topic for debate was funding of the recycling strategy. If people voted against it (as many of the Conservatives did), it would have meant we would have had to continue with the previous administrations plans to switch to alternate weekly collections. Thankfully, the recommendation was carried, and in February additional recycling will take place along side our existing weekly refuse collections.

As usual, there were Councillors talking a load of rubbish at the meeting -  I guess trying to win some points from somewhere… However, there were one or two valid points raised by members of the opposition. Councillors Chris Garland, Paul Oldham and Eric Hotson (all Conservative) made some fair comments against the proposals. Paul in fact proposed that the suggestion to take profits from the museum to pay for increased recycling should be removed. This motion was seconded and I’m very pleased to say unanimously carried.

Rightly or wrongly, I feel that some Councillors (from all parties) do not listen to the comments made by members of the opposition, having already made up their mind which way their vote will go. When I arrived at the meeting last night, I was certain that I would be voting for the proposal - it was one of our key election promises that we would do whatever we could to retain full weekly refuse collections. However, when Councillor Oldham made his proposal, I felt he was spot on, and was left panicing as to what to do… Could we afford to drop this money from the budget and still have enough to fulfill the increased recycling?

Thankfully the leader of the Council, Councillor Fran Wilson, quickly pointed out that we could afford to drop this and so with a major weight lifted, I very happily voted “for” this proposal.

Final votes were:

24 for the proposal (all Lib Dem, Labour or Indepdant); 18 against the proposal (all Conservative) and 5 abstentions (2 Lab - Hull & Moriaty, 3 Con - Ash, Garland and Ring).

Bridge, Fant and Heath Wards all held their quarterly Councillor’s surgery this morning. As usual it wasn’t particularly well attended, but people that did come had never before contacted any of us (their local Councillor’s), and so it was worth putting on.

Issues brought to Peter Hooper and myself (representing Heath Ward) were very close to the hall which we’d hired this time - so clearly there is value in changing venue each time and moving around the wards.

Sadly, as with every surgery we’ve run, the majority of problems people have is with anti-social behaviour - mostly aimed at teenagers. When I was a teenager (about 100 years ago according to my 6 year old), I was no angel, and I defy anyone to prove they were a perfect teen! However, I’d never hurt anyone, damage property or ‘answer back’ if caught doing something bad.

I remember one occassion when I was about 17, I had a boyfriend who had a car (this was a big deal and I was the envy of a few mates!). Anyway, this being in the days when there wasn’t a certain fast food outlet on every street corner, my boyfriend drove my mates and I, about 30 minutes away to buy a load of burgers etc and then we ate them on the drive back to my friends house. When we arrived, I left all the rubbish on the pavement opposite my friends house. A lady who lived there, saw what I had done and shouted at me to pick up my mess. I was so ashamed of myself, I immediately picked everything up and to this day have never dropped litter again.

By contrast, I recently (while still pregnant with Travis) watched a kid chuck down a half eaten burger in the town centre (right in the middle of the pedestrianised bit) surrounded by about 50 people. Seeing history repeat itself, I asked the lad to pick up his rubbish, thinking he wouldn’t do it again in a hurry. I got told to f**k off. Being a bit hormonal, and not quite believing my ears, I asked again for him to pick up his rubbish. The response I got this time was a little more eloquent, but still peppered with a fair few choice words. The burger remained on the floor. In the end, I picked up the burger and put it in the dustbin (that was about 1 metre from the drop point). I felt a complete idiot, until an older lady came up and congratulated me on having the nerve to stand up to the lad. She said, she’d had much the same response that I’d received in the past and wouldn’t ask anymore.

When did kids stop respecting their elders?

Whilst at the surgery, husband phoned to let me know that he’d just arrived at local (under 5’s) playground with kids, only to find it covered in obscene images and words. Trust me on this, you never want to answer a 6 year old asking: “What does **** mean Mummy?”

A local resident was cleaning down the worst of the graffitti, but there’s only so much you can do without industrial grade equipment - unfortunately, the remaining graffitti must stay until Monday, when Maidstone’s ‘hit squad’ go back to work…

I’ve added a new page to this web site entitled “Current Issues“. I think this will be easiest way for anyone to monitor what it is I get up to and what issues people have advised me of!

I’ve found it frustrating writing up just a few of the issues that I’m working on as it reminds just how much of my role as Councillor is just chasing up people time and time again.

One of my favourite films is “Shawshank Redemption” a film all about a wrongly convicted prisoner who after 19 years escapes having dug a tunnel with a rock hammer…

I digress because for years the lead character writes one letter a week to various authorities requesting funds to expand the prison library. Eventually he receives not only funds, but also box upon box of second hand books along with a letter telling him they expect to never hear from him again! Instead he states, he’ll write two letters a week!

Sadly, a lot of my time seems to be spent sending one letter a week (well email in all honesty) but I’m just not sure my (and my constituents) needs are sinking in. I guess it’s time to start sending two a week…

To ease some anti-social behaviour occuring on the Freshlands Estate, it has been agreed that one of the pieces of trim trail equipment will be moved.

Currently, one of the pieces is just a few feet from a property and has become a ‘hang out’ bench, rather than the fun activity it was designed for. To discourage people using it as somewhere to sit and have a cigarette, or ‘nose’ into the neighbouring property, it will be moved to a site behind the playground, further away from houses.

The cost of moving it will be covered by the developers, so there will be no cost to any individuals or the council.

Whenever a new development is built, the council can ask for a contribution (known as section 106) towards the local area. It can cover contributions towards highways, local Doctors facilites, local education/schools, and play equipment (as in this case) as well as many other things. The design of the Freshlands estate was established and approved well before I was elected, but I really think the developers and council got it right - with a great play area, and a good amount of beautifully maintained green space.

My kids and I often wander around the edge of the estate playing on all the pieces of equipment culminating with a trip to the play area. This is one of our favourite activities and is, of course, FREE - making it that much the better!

From the 1st October, the No. 8 bus service that runs from Maidstone Hospital to Downswood is having a slight cut in service.

The detailed changes are that the following journeys are withdrawn on Mondays to Fridays:

0845 Downswood to the town centre.

1555 Hospital to Downswood,

1643 Downswood to Hospital,

1730 Hospital to Downswood

1815 Downswood to the town centre.

The Saturday service remains unchanged.

Timetable for No. 8 Bus service

With so much negative campaigning being done by the Conservatives, its time the record was set straight…

FACT: Conservatives commissioned report into future of Coombe Quarry Park and Ride.

FACT: Conservatives set the parameters for the report including consultation levels.

FACT: The park and ride report proposing closure of the Coombe Quarry park and ride was programmed to be published in February – for some reason it did not appear in the run-in period to the local elections.

FACT: We assumed control to find the report recommending closure waiting for us.

FACT: Conservatives set a 2007/8 park and ride budget falling far short of the cost of running the service in 2006/7.

FACT: The Council is locked into the Conservative budget for 2007/8.

FACT: Liberal Democrats introduced park and ride to Maidstone in the face of Conservative opposition.

FACT: The Liberal Democrats are ensuring that resources released by the closure of the Coombe Quarry Park and Ride will be used to deliver improved public transportation in south Maidstone.

FACT: Local bus services were decimated by Conservative deregulation of public transport.

If you have any further comments or questions on the Park and Ride service in Maidstone please get in touch.