West Maidstone Community Day

I took a stall to Barming Heath yesterday. Good music and a little rain, but I think the day was a success.

Fant election campaign - my thoughts

Highest number of votes ever with a 66% increase in votes on 2009; my 526 votes was only 201 or 8% behind the winner yet I came fourth! Fant turned into a very tight four way marginal with all parties getting percentages in the 20s. Certainly the only ward like it in Kent.

Labour bused people in from London to fight the ward and their candidate beat me by just 16 votes. They fought hard (and fair) and put in months of effort so I take my hat off to their campaign and candidate. It was a shame that they targeted our best ward.

The Tories did nothing visible and won. Turnout was 37%, 4% higher than normal so it may be that the referendum pull out some Tory 'No' voters. Who knows!

The Lib Dem vote share fell as predicted, down from 46% in 2009 to 27% this time round.

It will be interesting next year...

Only the Greens can beat the Tories here...

No blog posts for a while. Out almost every night knocking on doors and delivering leaflets with little time for niceties.

Good to see an attack on us by the Lib Dems in Fant. This bodes well and suggests that they see us as a threat, which we clearly are given the catastrophic collapse in support for them.

The real trouble is that we get tarred with their brushes ("you are all the same"). Of course we are not, but if the ability of Lib Dems (and Labs) to say one thing and do something else is shamefully staggering.

I gather that Labour are targetting Fant. They have come last in most of the recent local elections (7% in both of the 2009 elections). They are wasting their time.

Only the Greens can beat the Tories in Fant... I gather that the Lib Dems hit the roof when they saw the bar chart on my leaflet.

Keith Taylor in Maidstone

Spend a hectic afternoon with Keith Taylor MEP in and around Maidstone yesterday.

We visited the Oaken Wood campaigners and Keith was very impressed with what they have achieved. It looks like Kent Wildlife Trust has objected to Gallagher's plans now and there is to be a public meeting in December.

We moved on to Fant Farm where 380 houses would be built under the current strategy that the council has. Keith and I signed a letter to Cllr Chris Garland asking him to redo the Strategic Housing Land Area Assessment. Also noted is a four fold increase in the social housing waiting list, so we shouldn't be reducing plans for housing too much, but perhaps refocussing them.

We moved on to Harrietsham to hear from the chair of the parish council about how the noise from the M20 is affecting residents there. The M20 runs right past the village and its surface is concrete rather than tarmac. The road noise a quarter of a mile from the motorway in the school car park meant we had to shout to be heard.

Finally we met with Janetta Sams who has been leading a campaign in Lenham (collecting 1000 signatures on a petition and presenting to the Maidstone Joint Transportation Board) to get 20mph limits around schools. Kent Police are blocking the proposal saying they won't endorse 20mph limits without traffic calming. Keith is writing to the Cheif Constable to ask them to reconsider.

Results from the Fant Ward by-election

Results from yesterday's by-election in Fant Ward, Maidstone.

Con        393 (26%)
Lab        102 (7%)
LibDem  702 (46%)
Green     317 (21%)

Turnout   23%

Analysis to follow, but just to say 21% is a great result and being just 5% behind the Tories is fantastic, especially given the very dodgy campaigning by other parties.

Onwards and upwards! 

Polling Day in Maidstone's Fant Ward

Five long weeks of campaigning 3000+ doors knocked on, most more than once. Two leaflets (plus a reminder today) from us, six from the LibDems and four (I think) from the Tories plus one from Labour. More garden boards and posters than I care to count. Aching backs and sore feet.

Another row between the Lib Dems and Tories today. Sounds like the Tories have dissed a Lib Dem. The Lib Dem are arguing the moral high ground "I publicly pledged myself, and my councillor group, to maintaining a high level of integrity when fighting elections" said Fran Wilson. What a shame their lealfets have fallen far short of this rhetoric.

No wonder people are sick of business as usual politics.

Must be time to vote!

An insidious disease

The Lib Dems seem to have put out what I think is their 6th leaflet in the ward (apologies if I have lost count...). Yet again the headline is focussed on not letting the Tories win, stating that anyone not voting Lib Dem is voting Tory by default, etc. - you know the script! Fortunately fewer and fewer people are believing that in this election as the Greens are very much in the running and have a good chance of winning. Of course they are also doing themselves no favours by putting out the mountain of paper - people are complaining!

The arguement that people should not vote for the party that represents their views is a dreadful function of our un-democratic electoral system, but the argument is worse than that. It is insidious disease in modern elections that enforces the appalling first past the post system, disillusions millions into voting for parties they don't support and that takes the policy debate out of politics.

Ian Dunt puts it well in his commentary on Caroline Lucas speaking at the Labour conference after a labour councillor launched an attack on her:

"At the end, he told her that by running she would merely allow the Tories in. Barring the practical realities of that argument, it is a pernicious and nasty piece of reasoning. It is the intellectual equivalent of threatening your wife with divorce every time you have an argument. If someone believes in something, they should vote for it, not have the eventuality of a Tory government waved in their face for daring to consider their options. Labour's been using this argument for about a decade now and to say it's grating is an understatement. It's logical conclusion leads us to a one party state – an eventuality entirely compatible with the police state the party has tried to create n modern Britain"

Fant Ward By-Election Fever

Seven hours of canvassing today and the feeling on the doorstep is very positive. With just one full day before the ward goes to the polls it looks like it will be a close race so there is all to play for!

On Thursday, Maidstone could have its first ever Green Councillor. This would send a very strong message to the other parties on the council and will show just how quickly the Green movement is building.

The feeling on the doorstep is extremely encouraging. Many people who have historically voted for other parties are prepared to support the Green Party in Fant Ward. During the Euros the party saw a massive growth in membership, a picture that was echoed in Maidstone. This election we have had a great team working their socks off throughout the past 5 weeks - lets hope it pays dividends!

Not slacking

Quick update. I want to let people know that we haven't been slacking...

• Excellent coverage of our suggestion for a Maidstone Pound in the KM last week. The reporter wanted Ann Widddecombe's face on it - I'd prefer Wat Tyler.
• The Sun apparently mentioned the Maidstone Pound - they liked the Ann Widdecombe angle! The Mirror and some bloggers are less sure...
  
• I was interviewed on Radio Kent's drivetime last night and tried to explain local economics in 2 minutes to people sitting in traffic wanting a cuppa - not easy.
• Our latest leaflet has gone out across Fant Ward - I'm really pleased with it
  
• Posters have started appearing in windows
• Met some of the Conservatives out canvassing on Saturday
• Just 8 days left till polling day
• Response of the door step started well and is getting better each time we go out.
• Lots more canvassing planned for the next 8 days
• Press release issued yesterday about how unemployment has doubled in the past 12 month in Maidstone and why the council shouldn't increase it further by making cuts. 
• A big thanks to the team so far - not long to go now.
  

More Fib Dems in the Fant campaign

I laughed off the first leaflet which claimed that the Greens can't win in Fant because we haven't got a councillor in Maidstone. That was clearly absurd and people in the ward thought so too. The latest leaflet from them is even very disappointing. No only do they continue the bizarre claim that the Greens can't win, but they go on to claim they are a green party. 

They have clearly forgotten that their parliamentary candidate opposed the South East's largest onshore windfarm. They have forgoten that Fremlin Walk was built under their watch. That one of their Fant Ward councillors wanted to knock down Fant Hall, a valuable community resource, and put housing on the site. That they opposed a CO2 reduction target for Maidstone Borough Council. That they refused to hold Kent County Council to account over their U-Turn on traffic calming in Fant. That they refused to make CO2 reduction a priority target across the borough.

They are claiming that LibDem councils across the country are leading green initiatives. Airport expansion in Liverpool, Manchester, Exeter and Norwich. Road building in many places including the M74 and Newbury By-pass. So Green.

They also claim that I came a distant fourth last time. Sure I came fourth, but distant it was not. Con: 679 (33%) - Lib Dem: 572(28%) - Lab: 470(23%) - Green: 326(16%). That looks like a fairly even split to me with all four of us at 25% +/- 9%. There are few places where parties are this close. Distant - my arse!

Please stop telling lies. It simply debases politics, shreds the turnout and destroys trust. How about discussing and debating policy?

I don't want to put a negative leaflet out exposing these lies but I am so tempted...

Canvassing for 8 hours.

Today's canvassing started at 11am this morning with Geoff and Marilyn from Ashford joining my mum and dad and me. Geoff and Marilyn went at 3pm and at 5pm we were joined by 8 more people... There were 11 of us canvassing right up to when the football started - thanks everyone!

A really good response on the doorstep again. Going out to do the sheltered housing during the day really helps.

Finally, please sign up to my Facebook Group "Stuart for Fant".

Green Party more popular than the Tories!

This is from the Independent today: "The Green Party is marginally more popular than the Tories among those who intend to vote for a different party." so not really more popular but the Comres poll that the story is based on puts the Greens on 6% nationally for the General Election.

Yesterday in the Guardian the editorial discussed the combined weight of the "Others" support in opinion polls over the past 13 years as they have noticed that the current "Others" total has reached 14%: "Back in August 1996, the three main parties accounted for fully 97% of the total in that month's ICM poll. Nine months before the 2001 general election the figure was also very high, at 95%. Even five years ago, at the same stage of the electoral cycle, the three parties still collected 91%.". The main parties are down to a combined 85% now...

Its a long game trying to build support, but one that is clearly paying dividends. Even at a very local level, we have been campaigning hard in Fant Ward for four year and it has taken that long to get to a point where we can win (the by-election in about 3 weeks).

Conferences and winable by-elections

Just finished a three day stint at the Green Party conference in Hove. It is always great to seem old friends and make new ones and every conference that I have been to has its share of tension and fun - this one was no different. Conference has also given me the chance to fully charge my batteries for the by-election in Fant Ward and to recruit helpers from outside of Maidstone to elect our first Green here.

We've campaigned hard in Fant Ward over many years and for the past couple I have stood as the Green candidate there. Last year saw a fairly even split between all four parties after intense campaigning by all of us. This year, with the County Council elections, there was no official count of the votes just for the ward so we counted the votes as the came out of the ballot box. It was very clear that there was a sizeable swing to the Greens in June.

There is a very real opportunity to elect a Green on 1st Oct in Fant Ward, and we will be working our socks off to make this happen. Business as usual politics has got us where we are today, the Greens have fresh ideas and are making a real difference in places like Norwich, Brighton, Oxford and London. Maidstone needs to follow their lead.

I'll try to keep up the blogging during the campaign, but my first tasks will always to get out there on the street and talk to people so I hope you won't mind if I miss the odd day or two!

By-elections, hard drives and missing blog posts

The exciting news is that there is to be a by-election in Maidstone's Fant Ward on 1st Oct following the resignation of Cllr Schnell as I understand that he is emigrating to Canada (Good luck and best wishes Nick!).

More details on the campaign as it unfolds but it will surely be an exciting one. Last year was a fairly even split between all four parties and judging by the returns in the county election we have already made excellent progress since then and have a good chance of winning.

However, just when life gets busy again, my laptop died last week and blogging has taken a back seat with just trying to squeeze on other people's PCs to check emails. Should be back up and running soon though...

Fant road safety - timeline and spin

The traffic calming debacle in Fant needs to be set out properly so below is a timeline of events:

Sept 2008: Greens collect 346 signatures from residents on Bower Place, Upper Fant Road, Gatland Lane and Glebe Lane calling for less traffic and better safety on their roads.

Autumn 2008: Lib Dems hold a demo on Gatland Lane / Fant Lane at the junction where traffic calming / improvements were already planned to be implemented. (We welcome these plans and I'll be commenting on them in a future blog). (p.s. I have subsequently established that although the scheme there was on the long list, it hadn't yet been agreed for funding).

Dec 2008: Petition goes to Kent County Council and Maidstone Borough Council

28 Jan 2009: Petition discussed at Maidstone Transportation Board. The minutes state: "The Board considered the reference from Council regarding the petition received on the Fant Traffic Campaign. RESOLVED: That it was noted the Kent Highways Services had received the petition and that design work had started on a scheme and that consultation will take place in due course."

A fairly amazing response which seemed too good to be true so we waited for other evidence that KCC had acted quickly in response to the petition...

15 Apr 2009: Committee papers detailing agreed schemes includes on page 12 a mention a a new scheme for traffic calming in Fant under in Agenda Item 8 in "APPENDIX A. Integrated Transport Improvement Schemes for Maidstone Borough"




Then in Agenda Item 11: "Integrated Transport Programme for Maidstone 2009/10 and
beyond" (page 27)...










In case the writing is too small it says "Integrated Transport Schemes approved for implementation in 2009/10, Fant Traffic Calming £85,000: Speed Cushions on Bower Place, Upper Fant Road, Gatland Land and Glebe Lane and a crossing facility in vicinity of Bower Grove School to reduce vehicle speeds"

Jun 2009: I spoke with Ben Hilden, the engineer at KCC to clarify when the traffic calming scheme would commence. I was told that there were two schemes, one going to be implemented this year and one next year. He also said that Glebe Lane would not be included.

29 Jul 2009: The agenda papers for the Transportation Board (Agenda Item 11):











I spoke at the meeting to demand an explanation for the U turn by council and none was given. They claimed that previous reports were produced by mistake! None of the councillors, neither Lib Dem or Tory spoke to back the urgent need for action on the other three roads or to question why KCC had got it so wrong.

While I completely acknowledge that the Gatland Land / Fant Lane scheme was going ahead first, it looks to me like they have used the agreement for that scheme as a way of saying that they have met the demands of the petition. This is appalling spin to say the least and frankly I am quite disgusted.

Tories confused over resident's parking charge

The latest Conservative newsletter in Fant Ward tells residents that their Conservative County Councillor is lobbying against the new resident's parking charge being introduced by... the Conservatives.

I inferred from the newsletter that the local Tory borough councillor is against the charge. Perhaps then he should have voted against it rather than putting out a newsletter that appears to speak out against it! It is such a shame that the borough councillor did not set out his position and say why he supported the charge rather than misleading people.

Carfull Maidstone

From Kent News (aka Kent on Sunday): "Maidstone Green Party has handed in a 347-strong signature petition to the council calling for road safety improvements."

Ian's letter was also in the KM as the star letter yesterday and the KM also showed a picture of me handing the petition to the Kent County Council Chair, Peter Lake. Last week I was on KMFM talking about this petition.

Thanks to everyone who supported it and those who came door knocking.

Let's hope the councillors listen!

Road safety petition handed to KCC

This morning I handed the fruits of this Autumn's door knocking to the Chair of Kent County Council, Peter Lake. The petition call for action by KCC to reduce the speed and volume of traffic along four roads in Fant Ward. These roads have no restrictions other than the usual 30mph speed limit, yet are used as a cut through to avoid the Tonbridge Road which is constantly subject to road works. They are Bower Place, Upper Fant Road, Gatland Lane and Glebe Lane.

We knocked on every door of these roads and collected about 350 signatures. As part of the petition we took a poll of ideas that residents would back, from road humps to cameras to a 20mph limit. Everyone wanted something slightly different by there was a great deal of consensus for a 20mph limit. Of course it is not a panacea but it would send a strong message that these roads are residential.

This was all on the back of a bad accident last month in the smallest and narrowest of the roads, Bower Place. The need for action is long standing with a variety of campaigns over the past 20 years. KCC announced in the Autumn that it would be putting some traffic calming in at one end of Gatland Lane, which is very welcome however the rest of the route needs to be addressed. Let us hope that the petition works...

LibDems join the road safety campaign in Fant

The papers have reported that the LibDems staged a protest on Gatland Lane against the speed of traffic at the junction with Fant Lane. While it is good to have cross party support for our campaign it seems, perhaps, that they are a little twitched by the diligent work we have been doing knocking on every door along the Fant rat run to collect our petition signatures.

It is also frustrating that they have represented the ward at both county and borough level for many years and the road safety problem still remains. The Lib Dems have had plenty of time to tackle this issue and have failed to do so; it's time to give others a chance.

When we were canvassing earlier this year, almost every person on the rat run from Bower Place to Glebe Lane wanted action taken to reduce the speed and volume of traffic. I have witnessed countless cars speeding down all four roads.

We need to recognise that these roads are where people live and should be driven along slowly and not used as cut throughs. We need a blanket 20mph limit across Maidstone and especially in Fant.