Cllr Claudine Russell - Marden and Yalding Ward MBC

At my last surgery a lovely resident came and spoke to me about the condition of the bus stop in Nettlestead. I think you can see from the “before” photo below that it wasn’t good. It took me a little while to establish that it was an MBC rather than KCC bus stop and for the Street Scene team to get the permits to install (and finish it) but I hope you’ll agree that the “after” looks much better. Thanks so much to John Edwards and his fab Street Scene Team and to my resident for bringing it to my attention. Maidstone Borough Council

Last night I chaired Overview and Scrutiny, the meeting that was called to discuss my call-in of the cabinet decision to spend nearly £3million on top of the £3.1million government grant to decarbonise Maidstone House.

At the cabinet meeting no discussion was had, just a quick agreement based on a thin report to spend the extra money (costs on this project have already risen by 41% without a contractor being appointed yet).

I reasoned that this required more scrutiny and had concerns over the following;
🔹The project internal rate of return is 1.9%, we usually look for 5%. This falls far beneath target and essentially means that savings from this project will not pay back the capital loan used to fund it.
🔹Costs for the project are not yet finalised and I questioned whether the 10% contingency could be a cap on spend instead, this was dismissed and no ceiling has been set for this project.
🔹I queried where the priorities lie, all of this spend comes from one capital budget line for climate change and biodiversity action. This large spend project will mean that there will be overall less money for other projects that also seek to meet the MBC net zero goal.
🔹I reasoned whether other projects would have been more appropriate and asked whether they had been considered for this money, over 29% of the CO2 emissions from the borough come from homes whilst Maidstone House building can not be accessed by the public.

It was an interesting discussion and I was pleased to hear more detail from the cabinet that I thought was lacking in both the original papers and the silent meeting.

Ultimately, my group were outvoted and the decision stands and I have the overriding feel on this item that it is green at any cost, and that does worry me going forwards for the overall revenue budget and all of the things that we use it for to provide for our residents.

I believed in this project when it was a grant and a £600,000 council contribution, I voted for it, but I think we’re in danger now of providing an open chequebook for it and I don’t ever think it’s wrong to keep a check on the public finances, every £1 is somebody’s hard earned money.

Cllr Russell said: “The Local Plan process is a wheel that a local authority never climbs off, but we are a good local authority, with a good track record of delivery and a plan that has been reviewed and recently adopted.

“To hit us with yet higher targets while simultaneously reducing the London targets is awful, we don’t have enough infrastructure for these numbers.

“Yet more farmland will fall to housing and it seems that the new government is build, build, build, which is all well and good until we run out of food.

“The concept of food security seems lost on them.”

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/town-told-to-increase-house-building-by-10-311015/?fbclid=IwY2xjawEjTyNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHX15MdqV4ghG_477vzGfV2nAACtwa8wE3f8R5Hy6FUro_GGQ1MnW8MtFiw_aem_lJToQh1KlmA23DtQaOzuQA

Town told to increase house building by 10% Labour’s plan to increase housing targets by 10% in one borough has been described as a ‘slap in the face’ by its MP.

⛔️🚧Emergency roadworks

BIN UPDATE 30/07/24 🗑️🚮♻️

Over the past 6 weeks SUEZ have carried out a review of the routes, firstly to incorporate the two new additional frontline rounds and also to resolve many of the issues related to narrow access collection routes. This work has now been completed and identifies around 6000 properties across the Borough that require a change to their collection day or week. Most properties affected by the changes are narrow access collections. Letters will be sent out to the affected residents this week and the changes will be implemented from Monday 5 August 2024.

Many areas across the borough only have small numbers of changes (

I visited the Maidstone Borough Council Depot on Saturday to learn all about the new fleet and many of the new technologies that are employed to catch fly-tippers across our borough. It was good to put faces to names of some of the newer members of the team and to refresh my knowledge of how to help my residents with various issues that might be raised.
Finished it off with a sit in the new dustcart, at £250,000 it’s the most expensive vehicle I’m ever likely to sit in!

The new administration at MBC don’t seem to have made a specific commitment to either a new or a fully refurbished leisure centre in Mote Park, despite it being allocated within the capital programme along with a timeline for implementation and preparatory work being done. They swerved a question at full council raised by an independent colleague and have refused to commit.

Please help us by signing our petition if you feel strongly that quality leisure and swimming facilities should be provided in our County Town.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, detail and page for signing is below. 👇🏻👇🏻✍🏻

We demand a long-term commitment to provision of an updated leisure facility at Mote Park, including a full swimming offering from Maidstone Borough Council Our administration left office with a clear commitment to either a new or fully refurbished Maidstone Leisure Centre to be provided within the capital programme with a clear timeline for working towards that goal.

It will be a committed cyclist that takes the proposed route from Marden to Bearsted, cycling up Linton Hill is no mean feat!! Well the consultation is open - have your say. ✍🏻📣

Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) is asking for views from residents, businesses and visitors on proposals for 18 new and improved walking, wheeling and cycling routes across the borough as part of a Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP).

The consultation uses an interactive map to gather comments on the proposed cycling routes and walking zones which encourage residents, businesses and visitors to make more journeys on foot or by cycle.

Results of the consultation will help inform:

* A network plan for walking and cycling, which identifies preferred cycling routes, core walking and wheeling zones, and key walking routes.
* A plan for integrating the LCWIP into active travel planning policies, strategies, and delivery plans.
* A prioritised programme of infrastructure improvements for future investment for walking, wheeling and cycling.

The consultation closes on 19 August 2024 and the survey takes around 6 – 10 minutes to complete, take part now: https://letstalkmaidstone.uk.engagementhq.com/maidstone-local-cycling-walking-infrastructure-plan-2024

Read the full article: https://news.maidstone.gov.uk/home/news/2025/july/have-your-say-on-proposed-cycling-and-walking-routes

I was disappointed after all the hard work and planning that the officer team and I did that this doesn’t seem to have been carried forward as a priority for the new administration.

The leisure centre is the building with the biggest carbon footprint in the councils portfolio and, having been on trips to other councils such as Spelthorne, a new centre can lead to much better health outcomes for local residents and can be combined with other services/community facilities to really become a hub of the town. As many of you might know, I work in a sector of the leisure industry with horses and I know how much sport can improve lives.

I mentioned some of this in my response to the priorities that were outlined by the new Green Leader as did my colleague Cllr Paul Harper, detailed in the article below. Cllr Harper and I had worked well, cross party prior to the change in administration to set out a clear timeline for provision, along with the Policy Advisory Committee and it’s disappointing that it doesn’t seem to have continued as a commitment, especially when Cllr Naghi (Lib Dem) was as keen as we were to provide a new facility when it was talked about at the PAC, and despite his role in the new administration, the leisure centre was not mentioned.

Things may change I guess but, as I outlined in my response to the priorities speech it will be interesting to see what the new administration spends your taxpayers money on.

Doubts over £60m set aside to replace ‘aging’ leisure centre A town may not get the new leisure centre it was promised by 2031, despite £60m being set aside for the project.

It was so lovely to be invited to the Maidstone Annual Cruise Survey of the river. We saw swans and cygnets and the Swan Master counted them. The river was extremely peaceful, weather fantastic and beautiful views of our lovely town of Maidstone. Lovely to talk all day with the various boat owners and experts and many thanks to the Hampstead & Yalding Cruising Club and especially Kevin and Cheryl whose boat we were on, for an amazing day.

I attended the One Council event this morning which showcases the work of the council from the previous year. So many talented staff were recognised and the speech from George Elokobi was amazing.

I just thought I’d write a quick update on last weeks work;
📎I visited the Loc8 business park to find out their future plans and to see what businesses had already moved on to this new site.
📣I attended the Climate Transition, Corporate & Environmental services PAC as a visiting member to object to a plan for off-site net biodiversity gain sites that would be offered to developers to allow them to meet their requirements off-site. The ward members had not been involved in discussions and I objected to that, along with the scheme in principle as I feel that developers should be made to provide their net gain on-site.
📝I attended the Planning, Healthier Stronger Communities PAC where I sit on the committee.
✍🏻I attended the Nettlestead Parish Council Meeting.

📧I answered lots of emails from residents, helping with bin queries, planning issues and chasing up local ongoing actions that I am involved in, phone box removal, bus shelter replacement, road sign renewal etc.

A reminder, if you need me, my email is [email protected]

Let’s see what this week brings.

MBC have launched the Community Safety 2024. To have your say either scan the code below or go to;

https://letstalkmaidstone.uk.engagementhq.com/community-safety-survey-2024

🚨Yalding High Street and Yalding Hill Roadworks 🚧 🚗⛔️

The flock has arrived in Maidstone and they are looking fabulous. We found a few today and many more to go and we popped into the shop in the mall to purchase a mini traditional Shaun for the garden. It was so great to see one of the designs that we picked in full size and looking resplendent outside the town hall.

Don’t forget to download the app and have fun finding the flock https://shaunheartofkent.co.uk

It was great to support the Nettlestead Village Hall today by having a table at the indoor boot fair. Great to have a chat with everyone and so pleased that they’ve raised another £300 to keep the hall going. Look out for future events on their page.

📅 My next village meeting will be in Marden tomorrow!

📋 I'm holding village meetings to give people a chance to ask any questions you may have.

📍 I'll be in the John Banks Hall at 6:30pm. Looking forward to meeting you all!

⛔️Road Closure⛔️

Yalding High Street and Yalding Hill for resurfacing. Detail below.

Pleased to be graduating from the LGA Political Leadership Course with my colleagues from LA 219. I always take training when offered to try to improve my skills to serve my residents better. I also met a great bunch of people from the whole political spectrum and I hope to keep in touch with many of them and I’m sure some of them will be poltitical stars of the future.

A very poignant day today for the 80th anniversary of the D Day landings. Thank you to Marden Parish Church and Rev Nicky Harvey who led a wonderful and moving service and then had the bells ring out, followed by Yalding Parish Council who put on a fantastic tribute and lit the beacon.

We will remember them.

A couple of road closures that Marden and Hunton residents might need to be aware of. 🚗🚙🚧⛔️🛑

Today, we remember the sacrifices made by all those involved in the D-Day landings.

On this day 80 years ago, more than 5,000 ships and landing craft delivered 150,000 troops to five beaches in Normandy. 4,440 Allied soldiers lost their lives on D-Day - the first day of Operation Overlord, which ultimately brought about the liberation of German-occupied Western Europe.

It was the opening event for the Lives in our Landscape gallery at Maidstone Museums this morning. This was a great ending to my time as the Cabinet Member for Communities, Leisure and Arts and the fabulous museum team worked extremely hard along with the rest of the board, designers, fitters, mount makers and many others to get this gallery to such a high quality for all to enjoy providing a lasting legacy for Maidstone. It was also great to meet Hugh Dennis and see him cut the ribbon with a stone axe!!

So many thanks, to the amazing Lyn, Natalie, Sam, Alex and the whole brilliant museum team, to Alexa and the fabulous Mark, I know I will have forgotten someone (which is why I hate name checks) so I apologise in advance! Also to Andy and Richard from KAS David and Nike - it was lovely working with you all. Finally to the many wonderful sponsors, MBC, the MMF, The William and Edith Charitable Trust, KAS The Kent Archaeological Society and many many more it would not have been possible without you all. I’m so proud of what we have all achieved together.

Step Free Access at Marden Station moves to the next stage of feasibility testing and has been awarded funding. I’m so pleased that this got on to the chosen list and thank you to Helen Grant MP for supporting me to reinvigorate a campaign that so many others have put weight behind with a letter to the Department for Transport again last year. Read more about it here…. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/railway-stations-awarded-access-for-all-accessibility-funding/railway-stations-awarded-access-for-all-accessibility-funding

So it was the Annual Meeting of the Council today and the Greens and the Lib Dem’s have agreed a power sharing arrangement which saw Green Cllr Stuart Jeffery being voted in as Leader for 4 years, with Lib Dem Cllr Clive English as Deputy Leader. Remembering that within the Green group they have independent members as they have formed a Green Independent Alliance.

There are now 8 cabinet members rather than the 6 that we had, an immediate cost to the public of circa £22,000 per annum for the uplift in cabinet member numbers.

They have bold plans which look to include an early review of the newly adopted Local Plan and the creation of a River Task Force amongst other things. Their leadership programme is to be unveiled at the next Full Council meeting in July.

I can’t lie, I’m worried that the 2000 houses at Marden will make a resurgence, but as the Green election promises were to not build on any greenfield site then this shouldn’t happen??? As the Lib Dem leader moved a motion to substitute Marden in for Lidsing at the Reg 19 Meeting however, this still concerns me.

Anyway, I’m off back to the back benches, albeit as leader of the Conservative group on the council. My porfolio is handed over and I’m pleased with what we achieved over our 3 years in control. We achieved the highlights of a balanced budget in challenging times, an adopted Local Plan, a new leisure contract, and new social housing amongst many many other things. I wish them all the very best for their term and as Leader of the Opposition I will be scrutinising decisions and the spend. Over and out, as far as the running of the council goes, from the Blue Team. 💙

Green and Lib Dems agree power deal A new coalition has been formed to run a borough council.

If you have a community/police issue and you are not sure where to report - the following information may help. 👮🏻‍♂️🚨🚓

I was really pleased to be able to present the KALC Community Award Scheme to Jackie.

She has done so much for the community of Nettlestead, from running the Chatterbox club, setting up the warm space intiative to continuing the annual memorial to Anthony Blumer, she is a church warden and a Parish Councillor.

Jackie is a wonderful asset to Nettlestead and an all round good egg. I was so happy to be able to hand the award over along with the Chairman Alison Green. Thank you for all you do Jackie. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Thank you all so much for putting your faith back in me and electing me for another 4 years. Your votes mean a lot.

I’m pleased to say that I was also elected by my group to be the Leader of the Conservative Group at Maidstone Borough Council and it is a great honour to serve the residents of Maidstone.

I couldn’t have said it better, so I won’t try to - I’ll just share it and keep everything crossed. However this goes tomorrow and on the count on Friday I can honestly say I’ve always tried my best, and ultimately that’s all you can do and I’m happy to be judged locally on my record.

*Local Election 🗳️✖️
Tomorrow *Thursday 2nd May* is a big day for us. Both Claudine Russell and Tristan Russell are standing for election to Maidstone Borough Council to represent our local Marden and Yalding Ward. Claudine has worked so hard for her residents over the last three years of her term and I have tried to assist and support her however I can. I have decided to stand this year as well, as I think I have something to offer and we as a team can give even more back to our communities, working on their behalf a borough level. There is much to do and we both have the passion, commitment and belief that with hard work and by taking sensible, evidence based decisions great things can be achieved.

We hope, we have shown over the years that we do not shirk responsibility, from starting Marden Planning Opposition Group (MPOG) to Save Marden to Claudine becoming a hard working borough cllr and achieving adoption of a Local Plan which does NOT include 2000 houses in Marden. We have shown over the years that we have a passion for our unique, individual local communities and a commitment to stand up for them. So please Vote for Tristan Russell and Claudine Russell on your ballot papers tomorrow and encourage others who live in Marden, Yalding, Collier Street, Hunton, Nettlestead, Laddingford, Chainhurst and Benover to do the same. Thank you, wish us luck 🤞

BIN UPDATE 29/04/24 🚮🗑️

Sorry - bins again! On Friday I spent over an hour at the depot with one of the managers who kindly agreed to go through all of the roads/lanes/farms with me to make sure you were all on the routing. The Waste Manager from Maidstone was out on one of the vehicles today as well, double checking the crews.

I’ve been advised today that the collection was much improved with all of Marden being collected, they are on to Yalding to finish off at the end of the day. 4 out of 5 garden waste rounds were collected.

If you need my help to report please email me at [email protected] - the links and online web chat should be working now as well and please do check your postcode on here as more detail is given if they know you’ve been missed;

Find your bin day Welcome to Maidstone Borough Councils website. Our site provides access to information and online requests about the services delivered by the Council and our partners.