Teams from Kent Highways have been working on a variety of issues reported by Cheriton Councillor Tim Prater today, with some really long-standing problems receiving attention, including in Military Road and Horn Street.
Shepway Liberal Democrats were sad to hear that Elizabeth May, a former Lydd Town and Shepway District Councillor, died last week.
The Liberal Democrat Spring Conference today backed plans to reaffirm the party's opposition to university tuition fees, and voted to extend the policy of free tuition to part time students.
I'd like to thank Kent Highways for suggesting on February 26th that I report the faults I'd observed. They will be pleased to know that I reported them on February 18th using their online system. Given their response to the streetlights issue, I think it's pertinent to mention that the bus stop in that report wasn't fixed by the time the Herald went to print eight days later.
For the second time in two years, there has been an earth tremor in the Folkestone area, with the quake felt by residents across Folkestone, Sandgate, Hythe, Hawkinge and Densole.
Folkestone Town Councillors Bev Rolfe, Richard Theobold, Tim Prater, Gary Fuller, Lynne Beaumont were amongst the trainees on Saturday in using Folkestone Town Council's new "Speed Watch" equipment. The Speed Watch display uses radar to check the speed of approaching vehicles and display that speed to the motorist along with a "Slow Down" message if the vehicle is above the speed limit.
Local Lib Dem Campaigner Gary Fuller has been assured that, after a walkaround with the local County Cllr last year and the recent article in the Folkestone Herald, action is finally being taken to fix some of the many highways faults in Central Folkestone.
Lib Dem Councillor Tim Prater has warmly welcomed the consultation by Mundella Primary School on a potential change of name to "The Walter Tull Primary School".
Local Lib Dem campaigner Gary Fuller has expressed his outrage that the letter to Folkestone Town Council outlining the refusal of the Ministry of Defence to confer a posthumous Military Cross upon Lieutenant Walter Tull, the first black officer to serve in the British Army, seems to be based upon the premise that to do so might allow others to receive the award.
I agree that the numbers of potholes reported in January, more than double the normal figure, was partly a result of the big freeze (KM, Feb 27th). However the recent snow and ice simply showed up the problem of years of neglect on Kent's roads.
I come not to praise the maintenance of the roads and streetlights in Shepway, but to bury them.
Restriction of our fundamental rights and freedoms has gone too far. ID cards, more CCTV cameras per head than any country in the world, a database of children's fingerprints, a government that wants to conceal its own record on the disastrous war in Iraq - it's the stuff of fiction.
