John Prescott interviews Rodney Chambers
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Chatham has been highlighted as a national beacon of deprivation
in a TV programme.
The Kent area, which suffered hugely from
unemployment when the dockyard closed in the mid eighties,
was pinpointed as an area where young people 'languish in the
bottom 15 per cent nationally in terms of employment,
education and training.".
The programme, Prescott, the North South
Divide, went out on BBC 2 at 9pm yesterday.
Chatham was highlighted as an example that not
everyone in the south is affluent and living a yuppie
lifestyle.
It said "many parts of the district are rundown."
But the programme said the Medway town was not the worst area
for negative factors, citing Jaywick in Essex as suffering from
greater social exclusion problems.
Medway Council leader, Cllr Rodney
Chambers, spoke about Medway’s regeneration programme and his
views on the north/south divide.
Mr Prescott interviewed the leader about the
closure of the dockyard, how this affected the area, how the
council has helped people get back in to work, and the regeneration
of Medway.
Do you agree with the programme's slant on
deprivation? Or, like Cllr Chambers, do you think the town has
plenty going for it? Join the debate by clicking on the Make a
Comment tab below.
He also asked questions about a
north/south divide, and what he thought about people’s northern and
southern accents.
Cllr Chambers said: “Being interviewed on the
programme gave us an opportunity to present Medway and all its
achievements on a national stage.
“We were able to show how this area has come
through the closure of the Royal Naval Dockyard 25-years ago and
how regeneration is gathering pace.
“Already, we have Chatham Maritime and four
universities based here, attended by 10,000 students, and the
regeneration of Rochester riverside, Gillingham waterfront and
Strood riverside will open up the river.
“The programme aimed to show how the north and
south compare.
“I think we showed John Prescott and his
television team how Medway is leading many areas, both north and
south, in terms of regenerating and improving where we live for all
residents.”
The programme will be repeated on
BBC2 at 11.20pm today and can be watched on the BBC iPlayer
for the next week.
Thursday, October 15 2009
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