Brian Paddick's autobiography Line of Fire is due out on 25th March, and can now be pre-ordered from the Shepway Lib Dems shop at www.shepwaylibdems.org.uk/amazonshop
Kent Trading Standards, Community Wardens and Kent Libraries are working with the Office of Fair Trading on their 'Scamnesty' campaign. Members of the public are being asked to collect any scam mailings they have recently received in their junk mail, and drop them into designated 'Scamnesty' bags. The bags will be at all libraries across the county until 27th February. Kent residents are asked to 'drop in' and 'drop the scammers in it'.
Thousands of Garden Tax demands for the £35 Charge for Brown-top bins have been hitting households across Shepway - including thousands of households without a brown-top bin. The huge billing exercise will cost many thousands of pounds, is expected to have a low return level and could lead to reduced recycling levels in Shepway.
The Tory Cabinet on Shepway District Council clearly does not have the best interests of pensioners at heart. Without the decision going to a vote of Council, Shepway's Cabinet has imposed a time alteration for holders of a free Bus Pass. From April the earliest a Bus Pass holder can travel free of charge will be changed from 9.00am to 9.30am.
The Liberal Democrats have released figures showing that up to 2,500 English Primary Schools are at risk from Government policies which oblige local authorities to close schools with surplus places - often in rural areas. Kent is one of the worst hit areas in the country, with 87 schools at risk.
Conservative run Hythe Town Council decided on Thursday evening, at its Full Council meeting, to amend its 'fees and charges' and make Allotment Holders fork out an extra £2 per perch.
A meeting at the Gurkha Community Centre on Mackenzie Drive in Cheriton today head members of the Gurkha justice campaign outline some key outstanding areas of discrimination against ex-Gurkhas. The meeting was attended by many ex-Gurkhas, others from the Nepalese community, the Royal British Legion, local Lib Dem Councillors and other Liberal Democrats.
All members are welcome to our Shepway Lib Dem Murder Mystery Evening on 16th February, start 7.30pm, at the Newington Village Hall, Newington (near J12, M20).
I was recently called by Meridian TV to discuss the state of Kent's roads, and the backlog of repairs needed in the area. There has been a recent AA report about a £200 million repair backlog across the Country, and here in Kent, a massive £27.8 million has recently been spent not on road repairs, but on merging the existing highways offices into 2 "super-depots" - a plan that seems to generate no direct cost savings!
The party's spring conference will see a major debate on a set of new health policy proposals, which were published by the party's health policy working group in January. Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Health, will be taking part in an online discussion next Tuesday to enable members to raise any questions ahead of the conference debate.
Lib Dem campaigner Maureen Speller has reported the state of the steps and pavement outside St Johns Church on Radnor Park Road to Shepway Council. The area was strewn with litter on Friday 1st February, much of which had been there for several days.
The Liberal Democrats have published plans to protect Britain from the worst effects of flooding, as the Met Office warns that severe flooding is due to worsen in the years ahead.
