Shepway Liberal Democrats would like to offer our condolences to Folkestone Town Councillor Richard Theobold and his family on the hugely sad loss of his wife Odette, who died on 27th February. Our thoughts are with them at this time.
The Liberal Democrats have revealed figures showing that the declining value of the Winter Fuel Payment means it only just pays for a quarter of a pensioner's fuel bills. While the amount of the Winter Fuel Payment has been frozen at £200 for five years, fuel bills and the profits of energy companies have both risen.
From the Shepway District council web site: a page describing the etiquette, terms of address and precedence of the Chairman of the Council. The first sentence of the page at www.shepway.gov.uk/content/view/1539/1604/ reads "The Chairman of Shepway District Council is the First Citizen in the District of Shepway, and takes precedence over all others including the Town Mayors of Folkestone, Hythe, New Romney and Lydd."
Following the success of last year's Folkestone Multi-Cultural Festival which attracted thousands of visitors and residents to join in celebrations of the town's many different cultures, a bigger event is planned for 2008 - and the organisers are inviting participation from ethnic and other groups and also from schools which would like to their pupils to be involved.
Householders could end up paying an extra £70 into Whitehall coffers over the next three years unless the government fulfils its promise to give money raised through landfill tax back to councils, local government leaders have warned.
Conservative Hythe West Councillor, Linda Oliver, who is currently at the centre of a storm about failing to resign as a Councillor for Hythe West despite moving to Bath, failed to turn up to the key Shepway Council budget setting meeting at Shepway Civic Centre in Folkestone last night.
At last night's Shepway District Council budget meeting Lib Dem Councillor Peter Carroll slammed the ruling cabinet for a massive hike in spending on 'leadership and strategy'.
Shepway District Councillor and Local Liberal Democrat Party Chair Tim Prater has joined the calls for Conservative Councillors for Hythe West Linda and John Oliver to resign. The call in interviews with BBC South East and local radio station KMFM adds to those of local residents and the local Herald newspaper, who are also calling for her resignation.
Former Hythe Town Councillor and current Kent County Councillor Christopher Capon has been found to have breached the Councillors Code of Conduct THREE times by the Standards Committee at Shepway District Council. The Conservative Hythe Councillor was censured by the committee, which was the only punishment open to them.
Hythe Lib Dem campaigners Darren Briddock and Neil Matthews have today written to the Chief Executive of Southern Water to demand an explanation for the delay in fixing a collapsed sewer that serves the residents of St Nicholas Road and Frampton Road in Hythe.
In a key meeting today, Kent Fire Authority have voted for cuts to Folkestone Fire Brigade. The Conservative dominated Authority voted by 14 votes to one against for the cuts to the Folkestone Brigade, which will now lose its second full-time engine, 24 full-time fire-fighters and lose its turntable ladder. The only member of the Fire Authority to vote against was Liberal Democrat Andy Stamp.
On Wednesday 20th February, the Kent Fire Authority is meeting to decide whether to implement cuts to the Fire Service in Folkestone. The proposed cuts will mean the loss of 24 firefighters, a full time fire engine, and an extendable turntable ladder from Folkestone and the surrounding area.
