Liberals wavering over Rochester Airport?In a bullet-point list in their latest election leaflet in Rochester South & Horsted ward, the LibDems had included the following:
Whilst in opposition on Medway Council...we have consistently fought to have Rochester Airfield recognised as an asset for all of Medway, not just a priveleged few.This clearly refers to their oft-stated wish to close the airport on the pretext of turning the site into some kind of high-tech employment opportunity. The "priveleged few" are, in their eyes, the numerous pilots whose light aircraft fill the hangars at Rochester Airport with more on the waiting list—hardly just a few!
As the above scan shows, this part of the Liberals' leaflet had been obliterated by felt-tip pen, but the original text is still readable. When asked about this, LibDem candidate Debra Enever stated to us that it was "a typing error", from which one could deduce that the erased text does not represent their current policy. One does naturally enough wonder why they are so poor at proofreading their leaflets that this was not corrected before they were printed...
Of course, it might not be this at all. What it is far more likely to be is a realisation that they have been wrong all along, but don't really intend to change their policy and don't want residents in the vicinity of the airport to know this. Therefore they have merely hidden the above quoted text on the leaflets they have delivered in those areas.
This is borne out by the fact that virtually identical versions of the leaflet (with only the candidates' details changed) have come to hand in other areas of Medway, and these do not have this wording obscured. Thus it appears that, in truth, the policy has not changed at all, but the Liberals are trying to conceal this from the areas they know are strongly supportive of keeping Rochester Airport green.