Maidstone will face severe congestion under new plans to park lorries along one side of the M20, forcing other traffic onto the opposite carriageway, Kent Liberal Democrats have warned.

The Government's latest scheme to cope with freight delays caused by post-Brexit border issues is to use the southbound carriageway of the M20 between junctions 8 & 9 to park lorries destined for Europe. Other traffic would be diverted onto the northbound carriageway in a contra-flow system.

The future of Maidstone's high speed rail link remains in doubt after train company bosses again refused to guarantee services.

At Monday's Rail Summit meeting at County Hall, David Statham, managing director of train operator Southeastern, would not give an assurance that peak time high speed services from Maidstone West to London St Pancras will be maintained. Mr Statham was responding to a question from Rob Bird, leader of the Liberal Democrat Group at KCC, and councillor for Maidstone Central.

Kent Liberal Democrats are calling for electric car charging points to be included in all future parking development to speed up the county's conversion to electric vehicles.

At full council meeting on Thursday, May 17, Antony Hook, Liberal Democrats spokesperson for economic development, will propose that KCC adopts a raft of measures to make it easier for Kent residents and businesses to switch to electric vehicles.

Following the successful National Productivity Investment Fund bid, Kent County Council has been awarded £9.4m of Government allocation. This combines with £1.5m in developer contributions and £500k investment from Maidstone Borough Council to deliver a congestion busting improvement on the A249 Bearsted Road. This involves the widening of the carriageway between Bearsted Road and New Cut Road roundabouts, the connection onto the M20 and other works necessary to join other connecting local roads.

Full marks to Sandgate Parish Councillor Kurt Stephens for cleaning up in Sandgate today!

Following the weekly rubbish collection a whole host of smelly rubbish had been strewn across Sandgate High Street this morning (Wednesday 9th May).

Kurt got his brush and bucket out and cleaned up: the High Street looked and smelled a LOT better after he had!

The Sandgate Escarpment referendum is taking place today (Wednesday 9th May) from 9am-9pm at Sandgate Library.

The vote is on the proposal from Sandgate Parish Council to buy woodland on Sandgate Escarpment including Martello Towers 6 & 7. A proportion of that land has planning permission for 5 houses on it gained by the current owner. If the Council buy the land, the planning permission will NOT be used and the woodland will be retained and made more accessible to local residents and walkers.

Kent mums with difficulty breastfeeding may not be able to access specialist care when they need it under Conservative plans to redesign the county's breastfeeding support services.

At Tuesday's meeting of the Health Reform and Public Health Cabinet Committee, Conservatives refused to give an assurance that new mothers with breastfeeding problems would be able to see a specialist Lactation Consultant within two days, under the new Infant Feeding Scheme.

Access to Lactation Consultants, who are able to help with more complex infant feeding problems, is key for both mums and babies, and was one of the main concerns of mothers who campaigned against the Conservative's infant feeding service proposals.

Up to one in ten babies is born with tongue-tie. This may require a small specialist procedure and/or more specialist breastfeeding advice for the mother. Crucially, unless this issue is dealt with quickly, the child will struggle to put on weight, which is vital in early days, and the mother will be suffer from increased stress and anxiety.

KCC proposes just one Lactation Consultant clinic per week in eleven of Kent's twelve districts (with Dartford and Gravesham sharing a clinic) together with home visits and telephone advice.

Additional Lactation Consultant support will be 'spot purchased'. However, no-one can guarantee that Kent's mums will be able to see Lactation Consultants when they need to.

In recent years fewer than one in five mums has been provided with infant feeding support in Kent. UK rates of breastfeeding are amongst the lowest in the world, and at 71 per cent Kent's rate is below the national average of 73.8 per cent.

Two boroughs, Swale and Gravesham, have breastfeeding rates well the national average at 64 per cent and 63 per cent respectively.

There are significant and well known health benefits breastfeeding brings to both baby and mother.

For the baby, breastfeeding brings early resistance to infection, fewer cases of Infant Sudden Death, childhood leukaemia, obesity, and cardio vascular problems, and possibly better speed of learning.

For mums the immediate benefit is a faster return to pre-pregnancy weight, and internal organs shrinking to normal size together with reduced long term incidence of breast and ovarian cancer.

Leader of the Opposition at County Hall, Rob Bird said: "The Liberal Democrats strongly support the provision of a universal service across Kent, but we remain concerned about fast access to Lactation Consultants when new mothers need it most.

A regular meet-up on the first Wednesday of every morth for Liberal Democrat members, supporters and the Lib Dem curious in the Folkestone and Hythe area!

Simply come along for a social drink and a chat: no speeches, no leaflet delivery. It's a "buy your own" event (sorry!) but come along and say hello to our Councillors, campaigners, members and friends.