http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/newsarchive.php Recent News Stories from Maidstone and the Weald Liberal Democrats en-GB Maidstone and the Weald Liberal Democrats http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2008 Maidstone and the Weald Liberal Democrats 2008-08-29T00:27+01:00 United Kingdom http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000116/peter_carroll_takes_national_gurkha_campaign_to_cranbrook.html Lib Dem campaigner Peter Carroll took his national Gurkha Justice campaign to Cranbrook on Saturday. Gurkha soldiers who retired before 1997 are still threatened with deportation a situation which campaigners are fighting to change. 2008-08-19T09:04+01:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000115/carroll_launches_maidstone_community_survey.html Newly selected Maidstone Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesman Peter Carroll has launched a Community Survey of local residents views on key issues affecting the area. The survey which also includes a petition to save services at Maidstone Hospital will be distributed across Maidstone over the summer, and is also available to download on-line. 2008-08-01T13:53+01:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000114/maidstone_lib_dems_select_national_campaigner_as_their_parliamentary_candidate.html Maidstone & The Weald Liberal Democrats have selected well known fuel duty campaigner and fighter for Gurkha rights, Peter Carroll, as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate. 2008-07-27T18:26+01:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000113/temporary_closure_to_maidstone_east_station_high_level_footbridge.html The temporary closure of the high level footbridge between Maidstone East Station and Buckland Hill, for much needed refurbishment and repairs, has now been reprogrammed to be carried out during the August school holiday period. 2008-07-10T09:32+01:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000112/hammer_blow_to_labour_as_last_councillor_joins_the_lib_dems.html Maidstone Lib Dems have enthusiastically welcomed the decision by the last remaining Councillor on Maidstone Council to leave Labour and join the Lib Dems. Cllr Daniel Moriarty said, 'Labour has lost its core values of looking after the working class, pensioners and the underprivileged. Following many recent decisions by the Labour government, not least the scrapping of the 10p starter rate of income tax in the last budget, I have resigned from the Labour Party. I tendered my resignation on 29 April, prior to the election results, and joined the Liberal Democrats. In Maidstone, the Liberal Democrats have demonstrated their commitment to residents by delivering the lowest council tax increase in Kent, more affordable housing and a quality recycling scheme - alongside retained weekly bin collections'. 2008-05-15T09:00+01:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000110/concessionary_fares_the_facts.html The Conservatives are claiming that the Liberal Democrats wilfully refused to support a fully costed scheme which would have preserved tokens for the disabled and vulnerable. 2008-04-24T12:46+01:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000109/september_set_for_m20_safety_and_pollution_scheme.html Following the intervention of Cllr. Fran Wilson, Lib Dem Leader of Maidstone Borough Council, the Government's Highways Agency has now set a date for the introduction of an innovative Controlled Motorway initiative on the M20 between junctions 4 and 7. The Controlled Motorway, which allows speed limits to be set in response to prevailing road conditions to improve traffic flows and safety, was piloted on the M25 near Heathrow with great success. 2008-04-22T08:05+01:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000108/big_needle_find_in_fant_ward.html This shocking picture shows Councillor Nick Schnell and Lib Dem Environment Chief Tony Harwood with just a few of the hundreds of used hypodermic syringes discovered on the River Medway tow-path in Fant ward during a Spring Clean led by local Liberal Democrat Councillors. 2008-04-20T10:29+01:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000107/that_incinerator.html From the outset, the Liberal Democrats opposed the 500,000 tonne per annum incinerator that in now operating in Allington Quarry. They always thought it was too big and that there were better solutions for waste disposal. However, it is here now. The best use possible must be made of it to recover energy and to use the associated recycling facility to recover materials for re-use. Councillor Malcolm Robertson and others will keep the operation under the very tightest scrutiny to make sure that it is posing little or no risk to our community. 2008-04-20T09:47+01:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000106/battle_of_maidstone_reenactment.html This year will see the 360th anniversary of the 1648 Battle of Maidstone. Lib Dem Councillor David Pickett has worked hard to instigate a very special festival weekend which will take place between 30 May and 1 June. The event will include a unique exhibition at Maidstone Museum and there will be a food fair and craft market in the town centre. 2008-04-20T09:35+01:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000105/asbestos_discovered_by_volunteers_in_town_centre_nature_reserve.html A group of Lib Dem councillors taking part in a regular weekend work-party in a town centre nature reserve discovered large quantities of fly-tipped asbestos. The illegally dumped asbestos boards, the remains of a demolished out-building, is now being removed from the River Len Nature Reserve by a specialist cleansing team from Maidstone Borough Council. The asbestos rubble was found between the river and the rear gardens of properties in Square Hill Road, Maidstone. 2008-04-10T12:02+01:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000104/another_big_boost_for_recycling_in_maidstone.html Maidstone town centre visitors no longer have to throw away their drinks cans, plastic bottles, plastic sandwich wrappers or newspapers. Maidstone Borough Council has installed ten special recycling bins in the town centre and a further two at Coxheath Parade so that shoppers can throw away their litter with a clear conscience that they will be recycled. 2008-04-10T11:58+01:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000102/a_link_between_foreign_lorries_and_safety_on_our_roads.html A petition has been set up on the Downing Street petitions web site calling for the Prime Minister to look at the safety issues surrounding the foreign lorries on our roads. 2008-03-24T13:19+00:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000103/coxheath_gets_a_spring_clean.html Local Lib Dems have initiated a 'Big Spring Clean' in woodland off Hunton Hill near Coxheath. The Coxheath and Hunton Liberal Democrat Councillors accompanied by local campaigner Moira Walter and other locals spent Saturday morning clearing dumped tyres, traffic cones, building trade debris and litter from picturesque woodland flanking Hunton Hill. 2008-03-24T05:04+00:00 http://www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk/news/000101/concessionary_fares__statement_from_the_leader_of_mbc_fran_wilson.html The new statutory national concessionary fares scheme, which will be introduced in April, is far more generous than the current Maidstone Borough Council scheme, in that it gives concessions on local buses anywhere in England for those aged 60 years or more, and for disabled and people with mobility problems of any age. 2008-03-22T14:46+00:00