Watling Focus

Watling goes for Vitality and Experience

Medway Liberal Democrats are delighted to announce that both Cllr. Diana Smith and Paul Chaplin are their two Candidates for Watling ward in the Local Elections on 7th May.

Paul, who is the Treasurer of the Medway LibDems, has been working tirelessly for the ward along with Diana, who has been a ward Councillor for 23 years in Watling. If Diana is re-elected and Paul is elected with her, you can be assured they will continue to vigorously represent the interests of Watling's residents.

Diana brings a wealth of local experience as you know and Paul brings a fresh vitality that will help to boost and invigorate the team. He is a man who is keen to get things done and is not slow when challenging authority if he believes things to be wrong.

Diana has achieved much for the ward over the years, but just imagine what could be achieved having two LibDem Councillors once again working hard in Watling ward!

Vote for Diana AND Paul on 7th May. You have TWO votes, use them both by voting for Diana and Paul!

Gillingham & Rainham's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate

Medway Lib Dems are delighted to announce that Paul Chaplin has been duly selected to stand as the Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Gillingham & Rainham in the General Election, which falls on the same day as the Local Elections, 7th May.

We believe Paul would make an ideal local MP and hope that you will all support him in every way possible in the General Election.

Paul declared that in the event of his being elected as both Constituency MP and Local Councillor, he will not draw his Councillor's allowance, as he considers that to do so would be unfair on local council-taxpayers.

Local news in brief

Will Adams Roundabout:

Now the disruption to traffic to install the foundation for the Japanese Garden is over, Diana is pleased we will not have to wait too long to see it finished. The plans look impressive and will be something for Gillingham to be proud of.

For absolute clarification: the majority of the money was not funded from Medway's budget.

Valley Road Resident's Meeting

Cllrs. Diana Smith and Geoff Juby, with Paul as our Parliamentary Candidate for Gillingham & Rainham, all attended a residents NHW meeting to discuss the anti-social behaviour in both Valley Road and Sturdee Ave. The next day, your Lib Dem Councillors were updated as to the ownership of the much vandalised Forrester's Hall and told that moves were now afoot to make it safe. Other investigations were now under way with regard to the possibility of gating off the alleys where much of the anti-social activity seems to take place.

Liberal Democrats; Listening, Respondingand taking action!

Diana and Paul inspect the Forrester's Hall in Sturdee Avenue. There is evidence of vandalism, dereliction and fly-tipping within the grounds.

Diana and Paul are jointly working with the Lib Dem Team in Gillingham South to resolve these issues.

Age Uk's Warm Homes Debate

Diana and Paul attended Age UK's 'Warm Homes' meeting on Friday 6th February, where Paul was on the panel answering questions from residents and the public who were concerned about such matters as fuel poverty.

Paul was proud to be able to inform residents of what the Lib Dems have achieved in Government to tackle energy prices and to point out that it is the Lib Dems who have helped out pensioners by restoring the link between the National Average Earnings and the State Pension after Mrs. Thatcher scrapped it back in the early 1980's. With the 'Triple Lock', the State Pension is now guaranteed to increase annually by the greater of National Average Earnings; the Consumer Prices Index or 2.5%.

However, Paul recognises that much more needs to be done to improve the energy-efficiency of homes.

Free School Meals

Diana and Paul are very pleased that £566,681 to fund Free School Meals has been received by Medway Council, thanks to the Lib Dems and that 25 Medway schools have been assisted from this money, including Barnsole Primary school. National surveys have demonstrated that this helps improve behaviour and helps to boost learning. It also saves parents money on their shopping bills.

But we urge all parents of eligible children for free school meals to let their school know this, for without this information, the school will not receive the Pupil Premium for that child and our hard working schools need every penny to help the children of Gillingham receive the first class education they deserve

IS YOUR CHILD ATTENDING AN ACADEMY SCHOOL?

Do you know that if your child attends an academy school then the local council can no longer help with problems or complaints?

With some of our Primary Schools and all Medway's Secondary schools (except for St. John Fisher) being academies, your ward councillors are finding that some parents do not know how to deal with concerns and complaints.

The first step is to look the school up on the Web; then you can download the complaints procedure for that academy. If this is ignored, the only recourse is to go direct to the Department of Education.

If you have access to a computer, you can go to the DofE for their complaints form, or alternatively, write to:

Ministerial & Public Communications Division,

Department for Education

Piccadilly Gate, Store Street,

Manchester . M1 2WD

We hope you never need this information, but hold on to it just in case!