You are not currently logged in.

Saturday, February 04 2012

You are here: News Medway Messenger Tales from Gun Wharf

Tales from Gun Wharf - The blog

by Alan Watkins

awatkins@thekmgroup.co.uk

Friday October 8, 2010

There is more to the planning arguments about the new Sainsbury's superstore at Strood than meets the eye.

On the face of it, the planning officers got it wrong. They recommended refusing the plans.

That would have cost the council five years' investment in public transport, including the provision of a park and ride scheme. In monetary terms, they were turning down £9.2 million.

It would also have made developers shake their heads in disbelief. After all, Medway is a cash-poor council and says it wants developers to invest here.

So what was wrong about the Sainsbury's site?

There are places that are earmarked for commercial developments. There are also places for industrial schemes to create jobs.

The trouble is, the Medway City Estate is designated as an industrial area - even if most of the new developments create virtually no jobs. The commercial areas are supposed to be in the town centres - and Chatham has a newly-designated area on Best Street where there is the room for Sainsbury's to build.

The split between the Conservative factions once again showed itself (most politely, it should be said).

As Cllr Diana Chambers, the Tory chairman and wife of council leader Rodney Chambers, said: "It is seldom that I agree with Cllr Hubbard."

Yet she and the Labour stalwart, Stephen Hubbard, ended up voting together against the development.

The old order is changing.

***

The order may be changing, but not the snail-like pace of the Standards Committee of Medway Council.

One of the many councillors being investigated for alleged breaches of the Code of Practice in Public Life is Nicholas Brice (or Nick as he prefers).

Once seen as a future high flyer, Cllr Brice plummeted to earth when the police caught him in a red light area of Chatham. The Tories were trying to clean things up in the vicinity, and had earned quite a high profile for their get-tough stance.

Faced with the invitation to cough up or face the beak, Cllr Brice avoided the courts by accepting a caution.

Shortly afterwards he was stripped of his chairmanship of the Audit Committee, resigned as a Conservative - and was reported to the Standards Committee. A year later he will finally hear whether or not he is to face disciplinary action under the 2008 regulations.

There is an inexorability about the process, even if - once again in keeping with the rules and regulations - an elected representative will be dealt with behind closed doors.

The committee - two laymen and Cllr Julie Shaw, the Labour whip - will consider a confidential report into the incident.

They will then decide if he should have a public hearing - or be let off.

The last time I spoke to Cllr Brice he was still clearly hoping he would be re-admitted to the Tory ranks.

His chances seem extremely remote. For one thing, his desk at council meetings is reminiscent of the way naughty little boys were treated at school: still in the classroom, but segregated from the rest. His requests at least to be seated close to the Conservative benches have been repeatedly ignored.

Meanwhile, if you thought you would learn officially of any councillor who is cleared of allegations, sometimes made maliciously, think again.

The rules are that the council cannot publicise innocence.

If you thought that was enough, once again have a rethink.

If you, as a councillor, are reported to the Standards Board or the Standards Committee you are told - but not what the allegation is, or who has made it, or when it is supposed to have happened.

Even traitors are informed what they are accused of doing.

___

Friday October 1, 2010

What gives in the Conservative ranks these days?

The young (well, most of them are) Rochester and Strood team seem to have their own agenda for the May elections.

The Rainham crowd have their own alternative views on a number of schemes proposed by officers.

The other night there was the extraordinary sight of Labour and Lib Dems being joined by the Conservative chairmen of Audit (Cllr Trevor Clarke), children's scrutiny (Cllr David Royle) and health scrutiny (Cllr David Carr) as they voted against an increasingly frustrated and angry chairman of the business support committee, Cllr Ken Bamber (also a Conservative).

Ken is in a difficult position. The Young Lions of Rochester have ousted him from standing anywhere on the peninsula next year. He's still whip, but no-one - least of all the other chairmen - seem to give a tinker's curse for the party line as he interprets it.

Delighted opposition councillors managed to keep their lower mandibles locked to their upper jaws - but only just.

The row was over the publication of performance indicators.

Ken wanted them pared down, which would save embarrassment for the Tories because the cash is being withdrawn by the ConDem government.

Cllr Glyn Griffiths, the opposition finance spokesman, rather logically wondered what was the point in having indicators if you drop them as soon as things start to go wrong.

Ken squirmed, the chairmen rebelled and the opposition won the arguments time and again.

Having swept to power in the parliamentary elections, the Conservative administration is increasingly riven by strife.

The muttering over the expensive by-election about to be restaged minus the victorious, now ex-Tory, candidate, David Craggs among the Chatham and Gillingham Tories is encouraging lots of flies to take up their positions on any blue walls around Gun Wharf.

***

You would be forgiven for thinking the sceptics against merging the Medway Towns into one unitary authority 12 years ago might have been right.

I refer to the plans for the new park and ride at the proposed Sainsbury's store a few hundred yards from the Medway Messenger office.

A press release from the developer promises a park and ride facility funded for five years by Sainsbury's.

It will run to Strood, Rochester and Chatham. Another would serve areas of Strood, Frindsbury and Wainscott.

Sainsbury's press release says: "The new Park & Ride is essential to Medway’s wider public transport strategy and would be a key asset in helping to alleviate local congestion and ensuring the future vitality of town centres in Medway."

This is the same area that is to get all the improvements to bus priorities.

Where are the park and ride facilities for the old borough of Gillingham, where a park and ride off the M2?

I know politicians will immediately say Sainsbury's will fund the Rochester/Chatham/Strood P&R (providing they get planning permission for their new super store on the Medway City Estate).

The point is the council has known about these problems for many years.

If we are to relieve our busiest roads of some of the traffic which needs it more - a dual carriageway'd road network, or an over-busy, increasingly stop-start, A2?

***

Children might be getting fat and someone has spent more than £1 million of council taxpayers' money without authority, but there was still an opportunity for a smile at Medway's cabinet meeting.

This week's meeting was delayed for a few minutes for teas and coffees.

One disappointed member was the education portfolio holder, Cllr Les Wicks.

Last to the table and last to his seat, he arrived at the meeting empty-handed.

"There's not enough hot water," he protested.

The acting chairman, Cllr Alan Jarrett, who was about to reveal with Cllr Wicks the story so far known about the unauthorised spending on the school extension at Woodlands Primary School in Gillingham, was none too sympathetic.

"I would have thought you were in enough hot water," he said.

***

One of the few occasions members of the public can argue with councillors is is at a site visit.

They are ordered from time to time when planning applications cannot be settled in a council room.

So they go out to the site to look and to make up their minds.

That's where the public gets a look-in.

Councillors will listen to arguments for and against the plans.

Next Monday they are going to two sites. One of those site visits is at 7pm.

Have a look outside at 7pm tonight - then consider how much the councillors will be able to see.

___

Monday September 27, 2010

There is something radically wrong with the way school buildings have been maintained in Medway.

When the council was formed in 1998 it took over more than 100 from Kent County Council. Many had not seen a lick of paint since they were built in the Sixties, let alone any proper maintenance. Few have since.

One of the most appalling features has been a lack of proper care over asbestos in the buildings.

Asbestosis and mysothelioma are cruel ways to die. Get a speck of asbestos on your lungs and half a century later you could be drowning in your own body fluids as your lungs become encased in asbestos-instigated "concrete". One the other hand, you might be lucky, played with it and never had a problem.

For decades there have been safety measures in place to protect workers and those (like children and teachers) who might be in classrooms surrounded by asbestos.

In Medway, however, school caretakers and contractors have happily banged in nails. They have drilled holes through walls and columns.

No-one has warned some of them that they were letting asbestos fibres loose.

A major Health and Safety Executive investigation has revealed two schools where, despite warnings, council education chiefs have failed to give staff warnings.

You would think it was a resignation case. It probably isn't.

If that wasn't bad enough, a Gillingham school (and no-one is quite clear how) has somehow been able to spend £1.2 million on an extension.

No-one has yet found evidence of any competition for the job - or details of the development - or who gave the job approval.

Nor how it was that for a year or more then money was paid out in dribs and drabs without anyone saying: "Why?"

Councillors gave officers across the council the power to award and run sizeable budgets. In some cases they can spend £1 million. After all, elected councillors have far more important things to do when running a £600 million business.

Last week I was repeatedly told there was no suggestion of anything illegal, it looked like incompetence.

Directors, assistant directors and planners, finance managers, teachers, governors, councillors and parents, all had accepted things were OK at Woodlands school. No-one checked.

The one thing that was authorised was planning permission. It was given by a junior officer.

The work began but (apparently) no one from building control went to look.

It was only when the cost, once estimated at £25,000 but later revealed to be £750,000, went over £1 million that alarm bells rang.

The contractors building Grange Farm paid the council (under a legal agreement called a Section 106) to provide educational facilities for their residents. It was from that money the school drew the cash to build their extension.

When the building work was stopped last year, investigations then began.

Ironical, really, that those investigations revealed that areas with asbestos in were disturbed.

Tomorrow, Cabinet councillors and the audit committee will start considering what lessons to learn.

There are many.

Councillors need to get closer to what is happening under their noses.

We elected them: We expect them to do their jobs.

What happened at Woodlands was done in our names and with our money.

Why?

It's the fourth time there has been high-profile, over-spending in the past five years.

There was Borstal's primary school where £300,000 was spent on architects' fees only for them to be told to return to the drawing board.

Walderslade Primary School's rebuilding was costed at £3.2 million. It is still not finished, and the bill is more than £5 million.

There were queries over the costs of Strood Academy, which was delayed three months until council chiefs could justify their plans.

Now there is Woodlands. Officers have often tried to reassure councillors by saying the cash is provided by the government - so don't worry.

Who pays the government?

In the past there has been plenty of criticism of the housing department's handling of contracts at Medway Council.

The education mess is far worse.

___

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 10 2010

Harold Wilson was wrong when he said a week is a long time in politics. If he had come to Medway he would know it was a %@*! long time.

At the heart of the shenanigans over the past few days has been Cllr Craig Mackinlay. He is looking increasingly isolated over his role as agent to David Craggs, the councillor who was elected for River ward only to resign less than a fortnight later.

By coincidence the former Medway Cabinet member, Chris Buckwell will act as agent for everyone (including Mr Mackinlay) for the May 5 local elections. Everyone, that is, within the Rochester and Strood Constituency Conservative Association.

A lot of mud has been thrown and background briefings given about the debacle.

The facts are that it cost taxpayers £11,500 to stage the election.

Labour fell 73 votes short of the Tory candidate who resigned 13 days later.

Mr Craggs was a headmaster, a Special Constable, a one-time Territorial Army member and therefore, on the face of it, ideal to be a councillor.

The by-election attracted 1,382 voters, and cost around £8.32 for each voter who bothered to turn out.

He might have seemed ideal. But he is a Special in the Kent Constabulary. That is Home Office-funded and therefore excludes local politicians from being Specials.

After all, councillors can be appointed to sit on the Kent Police Authority. It directs and deals with issues such as discipline.

Imagine what would happen if a councillor was the subject of a disciplinary hearing because he wore the police uniform.

The police regulations are not clear. What is clear is that the chief constable has to know of any conflict of interests.

In this case, Ian Learmonth faced the problem in his first days as head of the force. He ruled against a Special being a councillor. It was up to Mr Craggs to decide which he wanted to be. He chose the force he has served for 17 years, and ended his brief political career.

What has followed has become increasingly acrimonious and masks many questions.

Cllr Mackinlay is an experienced political campaigner. He has been fighting elections for many years.

He was Mr Craggs' agent. That gave him responsibility for ensuring the candidate was suitable and could be elected. The ultimate responsibility for the candidates lies with their agents.

In the past few days he published a party political leaflet for River ward residents in which there was an aggressive attack on Mr Learmonth, and saying that the police should foot the bill for the election to find Mr Craggs replacement.

Unfortunately, he is hazy about precisely who advised the association or himself about the legal aspects. That doesn't help his case.

He has also stirred up a massive hornets' nest.

The Chairman of the police authority is reporting him to the Standards Committee.

The police force led by Mr Learmonth is doing the same.

Both accuse him of making false statements and bringing his office into disrepute.

This promises to run and run.

***

The Rochester and Chatham Constituency Conservative Association issued a glossy all-colour newsletter for the Strood area. Somewhat inappropriately at the present time it's called In Touch.

There's a fine photograph of councillors Les Wicks and Jane Etheridge congratulating the latest member of the administration on his election.

The only problem is that the successful councillor was David Craggs.

He had already resigned, and told the media his brief political career was over by the time many people received the newsletter.

If you want the facts - read the Medway Messenger.

***

One major fact today is that the Medway Messenger is joining the campaign to get City status for Medway.

It is ridiculous that our go-ahead community has not had city status from the start.

It is among the biggest conurbations in the country.

It is spending £6 billion to revive the infrastructure, transform the shopping centre, improve public transport and attract business here.

Oxford is a city and has only two universities.

Medway is not a city and has four universities.

Some would argue that we lost city status for Rochester, but so did Perth - and they are making a bid to regain it.

We should build upon the achievements of our past. History is wonderful, but it cannot be allowed to be everything to the exclusion of the future.

The plans for transforming Lodge Hill and the military areas around Chattenden will preserve key parts of the historic remains.

It will open up traditional views that only troops have seen for more than a century.

It cannot be an expensive campaign. No one would blame anyone who criticised it if it overspent.

This will be a Budget Bid. The council has already started by motivating staff to take on the publicity work in their own time at no extra cost.

It will unite the five towns in a way that was projected with the creation of the unitary authority - but didn't.

It will put us on the map.

It will not destroy the towns' identities.

The five towns have been merging together for decades. That has not killed their individual identities, loyalties and supporters.

Nor should the City of medway.

The City of Medway will be unique. Not Five Towns but One City of five towns and numerous villages.

When it comes to troubled areas, Medway's housing has had more than its fair share of problems.

Everyone thought the problems had been solved - until last week.

That was when four members of staff (three of them long-term housing personnel) were suddenly suspended, and escorted from Gun Wharf.

The first most staff knew that there was another problem was an email advising them that the following day's retirement party had been suspended - because the person who was leaving was among the quartet who had been escorted out.

The full story is in today's Medway Messenger.

It makes sorry reading

• for those who had worked hard to turn around the department
• for those who are under suspicion of a potential fiddle involving homeless people
• for those who respected and looked up to them, and
• for those who trust the council to help them through difficult times.

The private sector housing team has been rocked by the suspicions that have been aroused. While nothing has been proved at this stage, investigations are going on and the police could yet be called in.

***

For the first time in three years, biscuits were provided at the start of the start of the Children and Adults scrutiny committee last night.

Behind it was Cllr David Royle, the chairman, who provided the biscuits last time.

Both times it was because he was celebrating his birthday.

Pity this time was that no one realised - because they were all concerned about tackling obesity among the children of Medway.

A malicious rumour has it has it that the real reason the free nibbles were cancelled was because the finance portfolio holder, Cllr Alan Jarrett, was starting to gain a corporation - and his wife demanded they were cancelled so that he couldn't be tempted.

If only all things were so simple.

___

Thursday September 9, 2010

There is a lot of criticism by politicians of the Standards system introduced by the last government.

The Standards Board of England is likely to disappear in the near future as part of the economic cuts.

It would end an enormous amount of red tape, much of which does not seem to have any logic about it.

The most ridiculous came last night when Medway's Hearings Sub-Committee sat twice in a hour to discuss two councillors who had been investigated. The hearings were closed to the press and public.

We are not going to be permitted to know who the councillors are. We are going to be banned from knowing what is being reported. And we will not find out if the person is cleared of the complaints!

Last night's cases were closed to the public for the very reasons they should have been in the open.

"This report," the agenda said by way of explanation for it being in private, "brings before the Sub Committee the Investigating Officer’s report into an allegation against a councillor."

We know the parish councillor was accused of concealing information that should have been in the public arena. Sound familiar?

So what about the other one?

Do we have a fraudulent member of Medway Council?

Was it someone stalking schoolgirls?

Has someone attacked a member of the public?

We may never know.

Under the forthcoming reorganisation, the Standards Committee at Medway would probably remain. I hope it does.

I also hope the opportunity is taken to open up the process. After all, we live in a democracy - don't we?

___

Thursday September 2 2010

Most political parties prepare for elections about two months before polling day.

Not Rochester and Strood Conservatives.

Their 22 candidates in next May's local elections were unveiled to the press last night - and half of them are new faces.

It was the start of the campaign to get them all elected.

Currently the Tories hold 18 of the seats.

Labour hold three and enforced Independent/shamed ex-Conservative, Cllr Nick Brice, has the other. Any hopes he has for a return to the party ranks have been firmly ignored by the association, which is determined to get Ruper Turpin elected in his stead.

Out to grass go six other well-known Conservatives councillors, some defeated at selection meetings, others standing down to pursue retirement or a private life.

They include three former mayors.

Going next May are ex-civic leaders Dickie Andrews (resigned), Sue Haydock (resigned) and Jane Chitty (dropped).

Also leaving are Mark Reckless (now the local MP, so he hasn't got much time for council work), and the husband-and-wife pairing of Janice and Ken Bamber (both ousted).

Cllr Les Wicks, the architect of the primary schools reorganisation, has been moved to Strood North ward where he joins forces with Cllr Jane Etheridge and newcomer Paul Rai.

Cllr Phil Filmer will defend his seat on the Peninsula. The association's communications guru, Chris Irvine, and Tony Watson replace the Bambers in the future line-up.

Miss Kelly Tolhurst hopes to fill Cllr Reckless' seat.

Organising Secretary, membership Secretary and now Agent-in-Waiting, Chris Buckwell insisted the association members had decided who would be selected.

"We are strong, we have over 300 association members and we intend to win all 22 seats in the constituency," he said.

Labour activists will need to get their act together if they intend to hold their seats, let alone go against the current national trend.

As for the rest, the Liberal Democrats are non-existent across the peninsula.

The one party that possibly would make a mark is the English Democrats. It might, but their candidates have an enormous mountain to climb.

***

Anyone who thinks the development bubble exploded with the start of the recession should look at Medway.

Major plans have been filed to bring around 1,000 jobs to central Strood, the Rochester Riverside development is finally moving forward, and the Hempstead Valley shopping centre has filed plans to give it itself a radical facelift for the 21st century.

Doom? Gloom?

No - just traffic chaos, dirt and dust for the nest few years. And a revitalised community.

***

One day he was there, as bold as brass. The next Dennis McFarlane's dream world had been shattered.

The Labour councillor and freemason aspired to be Mayor of Medway.

Yet he won't be after he carried out the most stupid set of benefit fiddles it was possible to imagine.

He claimed a string of benefits every fortnight for at least six months. Most of them were administered by the council with Cllr McFarlane blissfully claiming jobseekers' allowances, housing benefit and council tax benefit while saying his only income was child benefit.

Yet they knew he was lying - because they were separately paying him over £8,000 a year in councillors' allowances.

Last November the magistrates accepted his guilty plea, gave him a conditional discharge and ordered him to repay the council's costs.

The council then faced an expensive investigation by an imported solicitor who repeatedly chased - and equally repeatedly failed to pin down - the errant ex-councillor. They had to determine whether he had brought his office (and the council) into disrepute. The bill will run to thousands of pounds.

Last night the former councillor was told he was dishonest, lacked integrity, brought the council into disrepute and failed to uphold the principles of public life.

Hang, draw and quarter him?

Send him a bill for the investigation?

Not likely!

All the hours of detailed work and pursuit were hot air: all the independent standards committee could do was to censure him.

It means that if Mr McFarlane decides to stand for public office somewhere else, there would be little anyone could do to stop a man labelled a cheat and a fraud.

He could have been banned for holding any office.

But he had resigned - so he got away with it.

Did he say anything?

No - he didn't even bother to turn up.

***

Does it matter in the twenty first century whether or not a politician has sexual preferences?

Not really. What counts is their ability to do their job correctly.

So why the fuss around William Hague and the allegations that he did more than just share a twin-bedded hotel room with one of his aides?

The simple answer is that if he did indulge in activities unbecoming to a married man and it is proved, the former Leader of the Conservative Party will have lied to the public, to his wife, to his party, to the world.

Anyone in public office has to be whiter than white, purer than the driven snow, above suspicion - because we, the electorate - do not trust them.

An exposed liar is never accepted as meeting those standards. Someone in one of the highest positions in British politics must be better than that.

If nothing happened between the two men, William Hague was still damned stupid. He was a Foreign Secretary (a target for governments to pressurise). Yet he shared a hotel room with another man by his own admission more than once.

Mr Hague has been an active politician for more than 30 years: yesterday, he demonstrated he lacks political sense. Rumours (not facts) have dogged him for years, so if he cannot see such an action could be open to question, inference, pressure and embarrassment for the British government what other naive mistakes could he make at the FO?

For that alone, he should resign.

***

I must get hold of a copy of the latest horror book: "Tone hates Gord".

I'll make a point of buying it as soon as I see it remaindered - along with Mandy's backstabber… unless someone buys me copies for Christmas.

***

News has just reached me that Glyn Thompson, chief executive at Gravesham council, is to retire next year.

He has been one of the people masterminding the transformation of north Kent as part of the Thames Gateway from its earliest days.

I first met him when he was appointed the council's director of environmental services in 1996. He has always been a sincere man, committed to doing the best for his community.

He came from a council with problems: his committee chairman was the maverick deputy leader of Liverpool Council, Derek Hatton. He was able to steer him along the tightrope of what you can, and what you can't, do, and he still grins at the close calls that sometimes happened.

His gentle sense of humour, advice and support will be missed by a lot of people, not least the community he has served so well for 14 years.

___

Thursday August 26

Never go out to lunch - it should be tattoo'd on the eyelids of every reporter. That's the hour when stories have a nasty habit of breaking.

Yesterday your scribe broke with tradition, and went to lunch only to learn on his return that Medway's newest councillor had resigned less than two weeks after being elected in a costly, sometimes acrimonious, by-election.

It could be he went too soon.

David Craggs - private school headmaster, special constable, Army Cadet officer and (for the briefest of periods) a politician and elected member for the River ward in Chatham - was told by Kent Police he couldn't be a councillor and a special constable. He chose the uniformed role he had held for 17 years.

That has sparked a major crisis in the council, and a row that could find the controlling Conservative party's biggest constituency taking their close friends, the police, to the High Court amid accusations of bullying.

It couldn't have happened at a worse moment.

The Chief Executive and Returning Officer, Neil Davies, was on holiday.

So, too, was the council's legal chief and monitoring officer, Deborah Upton.

It left the Children's director, Rose Collinson, in charge, and without much backup to advise her.

Half an hour after Cllr Craggs resigned, the council was announcing another by-election could be (though not necessarily will be) called within 35 days.

But was it bullying?

As in all walks of life, there are people with political interests in police, newspapers, the courts, sport .... everywhere.

Kent Police seem to have a rule that says you can't do both. As a member of the constabulary you chose - and it doesn't matter whether you are a backroom boy or a multi-pipped senior officer.

The irony is that the Conservative Party has announced they want local police chiefs to be elected - just as they are in the Good Ol' Yew Ess of Aye. It will make them more accountable. It will also make them political - whether or not chief constables and personnel chiefs are happy with it or not.

***

The cost of the debacle that has once again left River Ward without a councillor is likely to top £10,000.

There were printing costs, election announcements, hiring polling stations, the election count team, the council's staffing costs....

Then there was the outlay incurred by the politicians. They published newsletters, banged on doors, bought rosettes, wore out shoes.... and, don't forget, there were six parties involved.

There were election fees for each of the candidates - most of whom failed to get into treble figures.

Now it all has to happen again if two River ward residents say they are unhappy only being served by one councillors, the erstwhile UKIP founder and leadership contender, Craig Mackinlay.

It is conceivable Medway's Blue Boys could end up sueing Kent's Boys in Blue, while they, in turn, are pursued by Lib, Lab, and assorted others wanting their wasted outlay refunded.

Chris Buckwell, Membership Secretary for the local Tory association, ex council Cabinet member and now an immigration judge, was spitting blood, and calling down the heavens on the heads of the cops' personnel team. Among his more restrained observations was an accusation of bullying.

Certainly, they have successfully managed to convince a democratically elected councillor to chose between the voters and plodding the beat.

The question is: should the police interfere with democratic rights and decisions?

It will need a judge to sort that out.

***

Thank heavens for the planning committee.

They saw the sense of a planning application to provide a play area in one of Medway's more under-provided wards.

The advantages (apart from keeping the kids off the street) were that it was well away from any neighbours, it met the needs of the community, and it had the backing of police and council.

The trouble was councillors were advised to refuse it. Because it was too far away from any neighbours, and the council and the police were against it.

That's right - while the local bobbies and the youth team had found an ideal place for a kick around - and the money, the planners and the Maidstone plods had a different viewpoint.

As one councillor said last night: if the local kids were going to be anti-social there are plenty of other places to do it.

So it went through.

The neighbourhood will get a play area - because councillors used common sense. Unlike some.

___

Tuesday August 24

The issue of consultations was highlighted last night at the health scrutiny committee.

Cllr John Avey, vice chairman of the health scrutiny committee was backed by his chairman, Cllr David Carr, over what they saw as inadequate consultations with the public about a major new mental health plan for Kent and Medway.

Cllr Avey particularly quizzed the report's author.

Were 118 responses enough?

Did people across the borough get a fair chance to answer if the consultations took place in the Pentagon shopping centre?

He was told that those figures were just the latest in a series of consultations undertaken by health chiefs over more than a year.

All of which makes one wonder yet again about the council's own consultation processes.

Hundreds of millions of pounds of our (taxpayers) money are being spent by the council to change the face of Medway and to bring about major changes in the way we live.

The promise is a better way of life, along with better services, shops and jobs.

And for the council, after a six week consultation exercise, 29 responses to the transformation of the High Street in Chatham were satisfactory just a week ago.

Did the councillors question that?

Did they heck!

***

One of the things which was briefly discussed at that meeting was the reporting of suicides.

A health director who wrote the report insisted there was evidence that irresponsible reporters helped to increase self-imposed deaths.

No evidence was provided, but at least one councillor was happy to listen.

It could be they were talking about the Bridgend deaths in 2008 when up to 30 deaths were alleged to be linked to the press coverage.

Except when it was investigated the coroner found no evidence to support that allegation.

Nor did the Press Complaints Commission.

There were suggestions that an internet chat group might also have triggered some (or all) of the deaths. That evidence was also lacking.

Just as was the allegations of irresponsible reporters working in Kent.

Reporters are pretty responsible people. They are not anything like those you see on TV dramas where entertainment is the thing.

Reporters in the local community are particularly responsible. After all, we live here, we work here and we meet the people we write about when we are off duty.

One or two of us are recognised in the pub or the street.

Reporters in the local community have to live with what they write, say and do. Upset a reader and it quickly becomes known.

When it comes to deaths in the community, we are particularly careful to establish the facts and to report them - responsibly.

Which is more than can be said for one or two politicians who are happy to make sly comments to grab the headlines.

___

Friday August 20

Holiday over for another year...

***

Those CCTV mobile spy vans may be Smart cars, but you have to question whether any of it has rubbed off on those responsible for them.

I have kept away from the rows about the cars because I think they are a necessary evil in Medway. Far too many people think a few seconds on the double yellow lines to drop off a letter, pick up a pupil from school, ask directions or greet a friend is perfectly all right. It isn't.

Equally as many believe the only reason for the CCTV cars is to provide the council with a ready-made source of additional cash.

It might be - but it wouldn't be the million pound earner that it is if there was not so much flaunting of the law by drivers.

Having said that, there is a clear lack of customer training for staff and a failure to crack down on the numerous abuses which they inflict.

I know one woman booked by the cars. A reasonable lady, she shrugged, accepted the penalty and got on with her life. Yet she apparently got a lot of abuse when there was a problem passing the CCTV car in the street.

The warden who recently accused a local resident armed with his own CCTV camera of harassment when they dared to turn it on him didn't know one vital bit of law: anyone can take photographs or film in the street, despite what some individual police officers may think in the wake of the anti-terrorism rules. Kent Police recently issued some simple guidelines to its own officers. One says: "The media do not need a permit to photograph or film in public places."

It also says: "In normal circumstances we have no legal power or moral responsibility to prevent or restrict what they record....Once images are recorded we have no power to delete or confiscate them without a court order, even if we think they contain damaging or useful evidence."

The public has exactly the same rights and powers as the press. No more. No less. Given the rapidly improving quality of mobile phone cameras, we will all have to get used to being filmed.

After all, the CCTV car wardens and the 500 CCTV cameras in Medway and Swale monitored by their colleagues in Strood are operating under exactly the same rights and powers. It's just that members of the public are more visible than people sitting in a bunker in Strood, or behind a Smart car windscreen.

(In case anyone thinks I might have a personal axe to grind, I don't. On the other hand, I was booked by one of the ground patrols yesterday while interviewing delighted students who have just completed their education in Medway...)

***

The election of David Craggs as Medway's 34th Conservative councillor must be causing some angst in the ranks of the Labour party as they lose another seat.

Meanwhile the four independent councillors who formed their own group (sans the ultra-right wing former chairman of Audit) are whispered to be planning to put up candidates of their own next May.

That could cause fears in the ranks of the Liberal Democrats. They saw their competent deputy leader suddenly move into the ranks of the indies only weeks after standing as their candidate in the Gillingham and Rainham constituency where he polled 8484 votes.

There have been investigations taking place into what happened to cause his sudden departure. Andy Stamp himself has to date refused to explain his reasons for crossing the Chamber.

***

The achievements of Medway's sixth formers have been remarkable this year.

School after school reported their best-ever results - or pretty close to it.

Probably the most satisfied will be the staff.

None more so than at the Hundred of Hoo school.

Headteacher Kevin Mahon has been under great pressure. His school has been in special measures.

So for the 94 students to get record levels of passes is a tribute to all the work that has been put in - by the pupils and by their teachers.

***

This week's regeneration committee contemplated four major reports. This most important of these - and one that could influence whether millions of pounds of government cash reach the community - is the 15-year Local Transport Plan.

Bus travel is always a political football and never more so than in Medway where public transport is anathema to some councillors.

Yet there are major plans for the buses - providing they don't interfere with the beloved car.

They include several park and ride schemes (something has to be done to divert the traffic away from Medway's once and future city centre).

Sainsbury's are expected to fund one next to the tunnel entrance at the Medway City Estate.

The council has eyes on a plot of land at Wigmore for a second one.

There is no talk of one near Blue Bell Hill. Maidstone council has proposed a joint park and ride serving both Medway and Maidstone. It would pick up traffic arriving in the Towns from the M2. The trouble is Medway wants to snaffle some of the trade going to the county town, but isn't prepared to sacrifice any of the trade currently attracted to Chatham's fine shopping experience that is the High Street.

As though Maidstone could do such a thing.

***

Car clamping on private land is to be banned by the government in the next few months. About time we ended the regime of the high fining, non-answerable clampers.

The problem, however, will not go away for property owners who suddenly discover someone using their land to visit the shop, the pub, or simply to leave their car for a weekend.

***

The first of a string of councillors investigated by Medway's Standards Committee for actions (real or perceived) gets hauled over the coals next week.

The likelihood is that the councillor (who resigned after being convicted of benefits frauds by claiming cash aid while receiving a councillor's pay) will not turn up.

Nothing has been heard from Dennis Macfarlane since his world collapsed.

Meanwhile, it will be interesting to find out who wins the battle between the Honorable Member for Rochester and Strood and three chief officers of Medway Council.

The Hon Member, Cllr Mark Reckless, has certainly got himself into hot water several times since he first gained public support as a Conservative councillor for Rochester West three years ago.

Apart from his clash with the council's chief officers he got elected to Parliament despite objections to his selection from Central Office.

Within days of election he was earning the displeasure of the whips, then missed the three-line whip to vote on the Finance Bill.

He was reported to the board by the Chief Executive, the Director for Children's Services and the council's Monitoring Officer following a public row in the Council Chamber.

His hearing is among the string waiting to be settled.

Meanwhile, there are whispers that the boot is on the other foot with allegations of bullying being made against senior staff. If that's true it will be interesting to see who investigates - and what the outome is.

___

Wednesday July 21

Fred Bacon, the former Strood socialist councillor who died yesterday, often had a quiet grin on his face as he debated issues.

It was in keeping with his sense of fun.

One day we were chatting and the subject got around to musical tastes.

It was as we were discussing this that we discovered we shared our admiration for Tom Lehrer.

In particular we both doubled up at one particular song - poisoning pigeons in the park.

On his last council meeting, he came across to the press bench and slipped something into my hand. It was a CD compilation he had put together of his favourite Lehrer songs.

I play it whenever I get a chance: it's by the side of my computer at home, in a well-thumbed corner of my collection.

I know Fred will be reading this when he gets a moment.

In which case, mate, enjoy Lehrer's words one more time:

     We've gained notoriety,
     And caused much anxiety
     In the Audubon Society
     With our games.
     They call it impiety,
     And lack of propriety,
     And quite a variety
     Of unpleasant names.
     But it's not against any religion
     To want to dispose of a pigeon.

(I thought I just heard a dry chuckle).

***

The bus station on Globe Lane has finally got the go ahead - and no one is going to slow it down.

That, at least, is the plan.

But rather like the problems facing the local buses, timing ambitions do not necessarily match timing realities.

Arriva has had problems with customers angry at the delays caused by the road works.

It has had bigger problems (if that was possible) with the Traffic Commissioners, who have threatened it with all sorts of problems if it doesn't improve its time keeping.

The next few months will test all of us.

The whole area from Medway Street to The Brook and all the way to Union Street are to be the subject of roadworks and tree planting.

There's to be road widening.... and the mushrooms - shelters for passengers patiently queuing (in Chatham?) until they know where their bus will be waiting for them.

It will transform Chatham... eventually.

Who knows, in two years time the Queen might confer city status on Chatham during her Diamond Jubilee year.

Then again, Reading and Milton Keynes might be preferred.

***

I like the story I heard last night from ex-councillor Mark Jones.

Labour's former education spokesman suggested there was a touch of austerity to the by-election in River ward.

Their candidate is John Jones, a former Midlands councillor.

"It helps," he admitted.

"We've got plenty of Vote Jones posters in stock."

Ed Miliband, who is fighting his brother, David, and several other candidates for the Leadership of the Labour Party, went on the knock to help Mr Jones (J.) campaigning for votes around Melville court.

"Hello," he said more than once to startled residents, "I'm Ed Miliband from the Labour party."

And with equal enthusiasm they replied: "Who?"

Campaigning 35 miles up the line in Westminster doesn't seem to have cut the ice in Brompton's densest housing development.

***

The outgoing councillor, Bill Esterson, now Labour MP for Sefton Central, also joined the campaign trail.

I hear he has been winding up the Conservatives in the Commons over the way the building programmes for the three Medway academies are currently hanging in the balance.

Among those stung into action was Cllr Reh Chishti, now also MP for Gillingham and Rainham.

Cllr Esterson - always one for sparring with the Rainham fireball - refused to stand down to allow him to speak.

Pity. It would have been interesting to hear his explanation if the Brompton Academy in his constituency fails to get the vital funds to rebuild itself to meet the needs of the pupils.

***

Cllr Les Wicks came out with a gem when introducing the new Youth Justice plan.

"This will make sure they are not left hanging," he said.

I thought capital punishment in Medway was replaced by a spell in the colonies.

***

That's it for a time. I am off for a couple of weeks, and plan to do an Otis - sit on the bay watching the tide roll in.

Before I go, I cannot avoid mentioning the demise of the public's few parking spaces at Gun Wharf.

The council requires you to book in advance for a parking space. Except there aren't any.

So grannies, pregnant mums, arthritic pensioners and others must park at the bottom of the hill (if there is an space at the library) then struggle up the hill.

I have advocated a number of times councillors upon election should be required to break a leg. That way they would discover what a lot of their decisions mean to a lot of local residents.

The sooner the car parking is 24/7 "pay and display" the better. Why is it that the public has to pay, but not the public servants they pay?

After all, 339 of them earn in excess of £50,000 a year (and don't pay for the privilege of parking).

Clearly, it really is time I had a holiday.

___

Friday July 16

There is plenty of talk from government ministers about the need for localism. It is a phrase that is going to become increasingly part of the vocabulary in the next few years.

Kent's leaders are talking about creating a local economic partnership (a Cameron alternative to saying localism) consisting of Kent and Medway.

Elsewhere councils are looking at creating partnerships that equate to courses for horses.

One such involves the Thames Gateway councils.

Another is along the A21 from Hastings to Tonbridge. It includes councils with little or no interest in county boundaries.

Several councils are exploring the idea of being in partnership with other authorities facing sporting challenges, for example, but teaming up with different councils to provide, say, housing support services.

Medway, Swale and Gravesham already provide a combined building control department.

There's a Multi Area Agreement over transport and other services. Dartford is added to the Medway/Swale/Gravesham mix.

Some council leaders are looking elsewhere than to KCC for their futures.

Which might reflect why Medway would look extremely carefully before considering a tie-up with KCC. After all, one of the prime reasons for arguing that there should be a unitary authority free of KCC influence was because of the way that Kent dictated to the other authorities, and cash that should have been spent in the Medway Towns on tackling their many problems was milked away to rural areas.

There is a Big Seven that includes Medway, Kent, and Brighton and Hove.

They've successfully teamed up to control costs - something KCC powered through some years ago when it started Kent Top Temps, then diversified into buses, stationary, furniture and gardening.

But these days Kent County Council is only of interest to districts, boroughs and unitaries for what it can offer - not what it controls.

***

Tough times call for tough measures.

There was a time when a bean feast for councillors included caviar, champagne and chauffeur-driven cars.

Not now.

You'll be lucky to get a slice of cake and a squash these days.

I hear that tomorrow the new play area at Capstone Farm country park will be launched by Cllr Howard Doe with a .... cup of tea.

It's tough being a Cabinet member in a recession.

Having said that, I thought it was down to mayors to open things...

***

Seems one of my contacts was wrong.

Cllr Janice Bamber, the portfolio holder for Customer First, is no longer wanted by her ward members after they voted to oust her (and hubby Ken) from their ward seats on the Hoo Peninsula.

Rumour had it she, at least, had found an alternative seat as a candidate for Rainham Central. This time the source was wrong.

Brigita Amey, the Gillingham and Rainham Conservative Association chairman denied the story, saying they have not yet started the selection process for next year's local council election and have not received an expression of interest or any communication from Mrs. Bamber.

Monday July 12

City status may be something that the council wants. It may also be wanted by a sizeable part of the community.

But not everyone is enamoured of the campaigning taking place to win support.

It would be nice to live in a city again.

I speak from experience: I was born and raised in a city where we smugly looked down on the rural riff-raff, and where you crossed a river bridge that was still called Foreign Bridge to differentiate us from them.

There are a lot of people, particularly in Rochester, who remember living in a city... called Rochester. And they still don't know how or why city status was lost when the new council was formed.

Suffice it to say it was - and it has never been recovered after civil servants pointed out that it was the second time in 25 years that Rochester's city status had been lost.

To lose it once is a shame. To lose it twice....!

The latest manouevres are around gaining city status for the Five Towns, plus the Hoo Peninsula, and the Medway Valley.

The Five Towns will still remain (if the politicians are entrusted with City status once again), but most likely will end up as suburbs.

The trouble is showing how strong is the support.

It appears 270 citizens have told phone canvassers that they like the idea.

The Green Party, which has kept campaigning in Medway ever since the general election, has collected 370 signatures against the idea.

They were well supported on Saturday.... in Rochester.

The council should have been a little more sensitive about its Castle Concerts banners. They talk about the City of Medway and have now downgraded Rochester Castle to "the castle" on their banners.

Not a wise move from Roffensians with long memories.

***

MP Mark Reckless's latest adventure was a costly session in the House of Commons bar when he was supposed to have been voting with the government.

According to lobby correspondents, the banker (already saddled with an unfortunate nickname bestowed by his party's whips) helped other MPs to run up a £5,000 bar bill.

The most famous political drinker was probably Winston Churchill.

Lady Astor once accosted him with the horrified cry: "Mr. Churchill, you're drunk!"

Churchill responded with interest: "Yes, Madam, and you are ugly. But tomorrow, I shall be sober."

___

Friday July 9

I get really annoyed about the quality of many plans that come before our councillors.

They pay (at best) lip service to the council's continual call for quality designs.

You can almost guarantee it will be skated over - to the delight of many officers.

Buildings can look spectacular and turn an area into a stunning location. But they can also drag it down.

Once approved the rest of us are saddled with those buildings for 50, 100 or even more years.

There are blocks of flats around Medway that were built in the 1960s. They were distasteful when they were planned. They stay up but they have gone downhill ever since.

There are housing schemes - estates and tiny developments - where the same has happened.

All too infrequently, there are also buildings where you want to stop and admire, to dream of living in them, or where your enjoyment of a street suddenly goes up after the contruction hoardings are taken down.

Attending many of the meetings of the planning committee one hears time and again councillors criticising the appearance of a development being proposed to them.

The development has often spent hours and days, weeks and months being poured over by council officers who should be hammering home to the developer the message of quality, quality, quality.

Too often, instead, you will hear them making apologies for developers. These multi-million (even billion) -aires intimate they can't make a profit out of improving the street scene.

They can - and if they can't Medway should be saying they (and their plans) aren't wanted.

We have seen too many houses squeezed into gaps too small for the cat to stretch to its full length let alone be swung.

Occasionally you hear councillors splutter in disbelief.

"It looks like a guardhouse!" is one comment I recall of a tiny rural house that was being proposed. The comment was absolutely spot on.

Sometimes plans come forward which make slab-sided warehouses almost irresistable.

Many developments are permitted without proper consideration of the impact on the community in which it will be built.

What happens is the rules are not being enforced by the officers... rules that have already been set - or are about to be set by the LDF.

It is going to establish conditions on height, quality, design, environmental impact - and a set of design orders that should be engraved on the hearts, minds and skins of every planning officer.

Fail to meet those rules and the developer must be told to go away and think again.

___

Wednesday July 7

Things are changing so rapidly in government that everyone was caught out by yesterday's announcement that the South East Plan had been scrapped.

The plan's objectives were sensible: to provide a long term direction to creating jobs, businesses and homes.

But it became tied up in reports, and inspectors, and hearings and rehearings, and things called core strategies.

Medway had hoped to get its part of the South East Plan through very quickly. But in Whitehall there were repeated changes to the ground rules, and in the midst of it were councils trying to work to one set of rules and inspectors working to others.

Medway's was the most fraught in the region.

The inspector was only interested in one aspect of the local plan - by then renamed the Local Development Framework. That was jobs - and the provision of land to meet the needs of businesses as communities and populations grew across the Medway Towns.

Eventually it was withdrawn at the last minute: the council faced it being rejected anyway.

Last night it was to be discussed at the regeneration scrutiny committee but it was withdrawn, to be rewritten again. It followed the morning's announcement that the over-arching plan - the South East Plan - had been scrapped by the government.

Now the team will sit down, without any clear guidance from MPs, Ministers or Mandarins, and try to come up with a set of rules that should earmark areas for development, areas for protection and other key issues.

The developers must be loving it. The chaos and lack of guidance is so enormous. If they don't get out the coach and horses to drive straight through Medway's plans I shall be astonished.

The Conservative administration must now be worried about the Medway Magna scheme to develop the Capstone Valley, and turn adjacent farmland into warehousing alongside the motorway.

They have been collecting numerous petitions agains tthe plan which, until now has been on a fluttering back burner.

Meanwhile the planning team under Brian McCutcheon, facing cutbacks to save money, may have to be retained.

And the plan? Unlikely to be discussed before September.

***

Medway, sadly, has far too few things to inspire the community.

Why, even its many heroes - that cities across Britain would kill to claim - are ignored or completely forgotten.

If we can call Charles Dickens ours, we can surely claim Francis Drake: as a small boy he was brought here by his father. It was where he learned to sail.

Kitchener is ours. So, too, is his hero, Gordon of Khartoum.

Stephen Borough, the first great arctic explorer who set out to find the North East Passage to China in the 1550s, is ours: he's even buried here.

The next generation created William Adams, the man who opened up Japan, and developed the British ability to create great heroes from failing (he was supposed to discover the way to China going the opposite way to Borough)

The first RAF VC holder was Gillingham-born James McCudden...

The list of heroes truly is enormous.

If we ignore our present, our future is dim and dull. Our past should not be like that - but for many it is.

__

Friday July 2

Frustrated sceptics who claim city status was a gravy train were a little off target this week.

No bottles of champagne were popped at the launch of the summer campaign.

If there was a gravy train (and no such substance was in evidence) it lacked any body.

The spirit was solely in the unveiling. The drinks were confined to tea, coffee and squash.

This is an austerity city bid - by an austere team girding its loins.

But it took them several hours to come up with how much was the bid budget.

We were assured it was being done on a shoestring, that it was a very inexpensive bid, that there were no consultants being recruited ... but "no, we can't give you the precise budget at this moment".

By early afternoon the total spend was advised - £4,673.10.

Never mind what Reading, Milton Keynes or Luton might spend on their bids to be the Queen's favoured community to become her Diamond Jubilee City.

As for losing Rochester city status (not once, but twice) it was a case of "Don't blame us - a previous administration should take the blame".

Surrounded in mystery, it will become legend how Rochester lost its city status in 1998.

Senior councillors from the Shadow Authority discussed Rochester's status at great length in their private meetings.

It was agreed that it was a matter for the new authority and a recommendation from the old City authority.

One proposal that had favour at the time was the creation of a parish council to be called the City of Rochester Town Council. It would keep alive the tradition, nearly 800 years old.

But what followed has never come out.

The final meeting of Rochester City Council took place just before the new council took over responsibility. Erra (the God of Mayhem) seems to have been ruling in the background.

The minutes of that meeting were never published. No one now knows who said what about it (if indeed they bothered to consider it). And if they did, those who were present seem to have conveniently forgotten.

Gillingham councillors didn't care. Rochester was "that lot down the hill", and it was not their place to set up a parish council, or to incur any debts for the city.

And so the City status slipped, inexorably, into the cloying mud of the Medway.

Do we get City status this time?

It is a matter for the Gods of Whitehall, aka the Queen's advisers. But there is a steely determination from the administration (even if the other parties weren't represented at the launch yesterday).

And, though no one would call me cynical, it would be a cheap way for the government to encourage the private sector to take over investing in the Thames Gateway.

A successful bid would give the opportunity for a massive street party in 2012 to go alongside the bicentenaries of the Sappers' arrival and our great author Charles Dickens' birth (in Portsmouth), the Olympians using our numerous expensive training facilities - and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

***

The machinations in the Conservative ranks at Rochester and Strood seem more than coincidental.

Peter Hicks and Chris Buckwell, the king pins in the local party, say it is the ward memberships' wish. It may well be.

But there was a lot of recruiting going on ahead of selections. And numbers of the younger party members have been muttering about "the old guard must change", about "dictatorial" behaviour and about the way the central party has a "different" viewpoint to the local views voiced by some.

Latest big name to face the chop is Jane Chitty, the strategic planning, ex Rochester City mayor, Cabinet member. She has been deselected at Strood North in favour of Les Wicks - the children's portfolio holder who lost the support of Strood Rural members.

Janice Bamber, a long-term Hoo St Werburgh resident (and non-driver as was pointed out to me) seems to have found a place in Rainham Central. But her husband Ken - Whip, Chairman of Business Support and all-round party tough guy - is still looking for a new political home, I understand.

A formal unveiling of the candidates will take place in a month's time. By then this round of manouevering will be over in Rochester & Strood.

___

Thursday July 1

Fifty jobs axed on Tuesday - but there could be as many as 1,000 going over the next four years.

Managers at Gun Wharf have been given a stark warning that if they think the £6.1 million of savings is bad, they are living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Those savings were the equivalent of about 1.5 per cent of the total budget. The government is calling for a 25 per cent saving over the next four years - and councils can expect to lose at least that much.

Grim?

You ain't seen nothing yet.

***

There was a hint of panic about some of the changes being announced at yesterday's cabinet meeting.

There were also some suspicions that there could have been a hint of political defcision making. But I have been assured by those beyond the political umbrella that this was definitely not the case.

And to be fair, the Tories have insisted that the whole council is involved in the final decision making.

Not that a number of decisions haven't already been taken.

One tale is that the entire house maintenace contract - including self-supervision - is being handed over to Mears.

UHL is out.

Strange that it is losing the shared portion of the contract because it had too many complaints. This at a time when there were officially only six complaints.

It turns out that in April there were 50 complaints alone logged on housing repairs...

__

Friday June 25

IT IS hard to be in Local Government at the moment.

You face cuts in pay and status - or worse.

If you are in a reasonable job you stand the likelihood that your wage will be published on the front pages.

If you earn more than the prime minister, someone has to account to him why you are worth more.

It's tough.

But it is right and proper that the public should know. They directly pay through their council tax and their government taxes. After all, you are paid considerably more than the vast majority of them.

Last Friday the Medway Messenger carried news of the payments made to Medway's leading officers.

In the next week the rest of Britain's councils will be forced to reveal how much the top kids in each authority got paid.

The question is, are they worth it?

There are well over 300 in "hard-done by", "small-spender", "lean and hungry" Medway Council who are paid in excess of £50,000 a year.

In Kent County Council there are three, each of whose total package is in excess of £200,000.

Top of the tree was the now-departed chief executive, Peter Gilroy. He was a few quid short of £300,000. His pensions contributions on their own were £56,223. And having left KCC with a £200,000 payoff he is now working for another local authority...

They do work long hours. They are always on call. And they have to play the game of being independent of the politicians, though that can be ultra difficult.

But are they worth what they are paid?

Should Medway residents fund it?

You must judge for yourself.

Meanwhile hundreds of lower paid jobs are being threatened by economies. The truth will be divulged next week. My money is supporting no massive cuts until next year.

But this year's will hurt many: watch for the way the council offloads services to the private sector.

***

Cllr Les Wicks (Con) seemed reasonably laid back about being deselected by his ward members.

He had covered the risk that his cheeks would be blushing by putting his name forward for several other wards - just in case.

Cllrs Ken (the Conservative Whip) and Janice (portfolio holder for customer first) Bamber are definitely out next May: they kept faith with their ward.

The Grey Suits in the ward did not reciprocate.

___

Tuesday June 22

There have been crisis meetings going on in Gun Wharf for weeks.

But this afternoon, the cries of pain could be heard in Strood and Rainham as the full impact of the first Osborne budget was felt.

Just to add to their pain, the Trades Unions were planning to march on the offices to voice their objections.

This is a Conservative council which has bemoaned the pains of living under a Labour government that kept to percentage increases.

It could never have dreamed that a year before the council elections it would see £6 million wiped off an approved budget - and then to have a spending freeze imposed.

Labour's shadow chancellor in Medway, Glyn Griffiths said this afternoon they should know where they would achieve the cuts.

They probably do.

The trouble is, they probably don't want to sink out loud!

***

It takes the biscuit how often council officers seem to lose the plot when it comes to the impact of the area's regeneration.

So there is confusion!

So there is annoyance!

It seems to be part of the officer mentality in some quarters of Medway Council that it's their way of getting back at the rest of us.

Take the press release that arrived late on Friday afternoon.

It was the first time that the council had formally acknowledged that Globe Lane was closing on Monday.

Fortunately, the Medway Messenger had its eyes open and ears to the groiund, so we were able to forewarn our readers.

But if you relied on the formal announcement it was way past the deadlines for all the local media.

By the time they could have published the news the road would have been closed. Drivers would have been queuing up, trying to find their way into the Globe Lane car park - or ignore it all together (which seems to be the case with the new bus- and taxi-only road that replaced the Sir John Hawkins flyover.)

Not that councillors can escape blame.

I have heard the Leader repeatedly warn that the officers must work out alternative routes (where is the alternative to using the old one way system?), be early with publicity (Ha!), and consult (if they get 200 visitors to the black hole that currently houses the Best Street consultations and the intermittent visits of staff to chat to anyone who finds their way to the three pannel display I shall be amazed). But where are the criticisms, the blood-letting, the heads rolling?

If you are in charge - and paid a premium as a portfolio holder or council leader - do your jobs. Once more, buttocks need to be kicked.

And Best Street?

I confidently predict the Cabinet will approve the plans on September 7.

___

Friday June 18

There were some surprised looks on faces - not least among cabinet members - at the full Medway Council meeting.

Protestors were out in strength to protest about the toilets - or lack of them - in Chatham.

At the centre of their campaigning was the 20p to have a pee revelation from the Pentagon Shopping Centre management.

They have taken over the council's toilets, accepted a regeneration dowry of £200,000 to rebuild and run the toilets, and now plan to charge.

The fee is being introduced by the management in a bid to stop needle-pushing and other anti-social behaviour (including the occasional druggie death).

Meanwhile there could be hope for the desperate, the elderly and nursing mums: Cllr Alan Jarrett told me the toilets in the new bus station should be free.

At least, they were going to be free until the scale of the economic crisis called that into question.

***

Cllr Les Wicks did a startlingly good impression of General de Gaulle last night.

The councillor was facing a call - some would say a suggestion - that he should resign over the way the Schools Adjudicator recently ruled against some of his primary school closure and merger plans.

There was a very firm, if anglicised, "Non!" to the call.

Nor was there an apology.

Meanwhile the handful of mums from St John's certainly knew how to make their views known.

Cllr Wicks lives to fight another day.

So do the schools.

***

One would think that if you were in power for the first time for 80 years politicians would be queuing up to make a name for themselves.

But Andy Stamp - one-time deputy leader of Medway's Liberal Democrat councillors, defeated general election candidate and popular character in the community - suddenly announced he was no longer recognising his party whip.

He has, instead, joined the Independent councillors.

It's not so much a walk across the chamber, more, a slide across from one table to the adjacent one.

But it is significant, and comes hard on the heels of grouses that he wasn't getting the support he expected during the election campaign.

***

It costs £140 to buy a first class ticket from Rainham to Birmingham by train - and a similar sum to come back.

But if you chose an offpeak train it can cost almost the same just to go to London.

Comparing trains on June 28, a check of the website, Raileasy, shows a return ticket on the HS-1 service to St Pancras at 10.15am costs £17.80. It costs just £1.20 more to carry on by the tube and Virgin Trains to make the return trip Birmingham.... using the same trains.

Something is radically wrong with our rail system.

___

Monday July 14

The council has begun the process of employing someone to replace the ageing cremators at Blue Bell Hill crematorium.

They plan to spend around £1.7 million replacing the four ovens with three new ones.

They also plan to enlarge the two chapels, though only one can be afforded at the moment.

And the car park is to be enlarged.

It is in the interests of better air quality.

The current process of cremating bodies with mercury-based tooth fillings means mercury is escaping into the atmosphere.

The majority of the 2,700 cremations each year since then would have had mercury fillings and the anti-pollution installation has become increasingly ineffective.

So - praise for the council for finally committing some of the cash.

Maidstone council, meanwhile, has itself got on with the job. Last week the mayor, Cllr Eric Hotson, formally opened the revitalised, improved, anti-polluting Vinters Park crem.

***

A Value for Money project is under way at Medway Council.

Neil Davies, the chief executive, has written to his colleagues confirming a council-wide investigation to find ways to cut costs and improve the service.

In a turn of phrase I am assured he used, Mr Davies says it should show ways"we can work smarter through simplifying, standardising and sharing common processes to eliminate waste".

It is, he says, part of Medway's response to the nation's current economic problems

The key seems to be how much they are putting into common activities such as enquiry handling, processing applications, assessments, general administration and paying bills.

Most of this was is work supposed to be done by the multi-million pound Customer First team. But often isn't.

In September the project is intended to reach its climax with a blueprint of how the new, improved, cheaper, (better?) council will look.

Mr Davies told colleagues: "This way we can make sure that we can concentrate on reviewing and developing those areas which will bring about the greatest benefits for our customers by designing services that are both high quality and low cost.

"If you have any comments or questions about this project can you please contact your manager in the first instance. In addition you can contact the Hotline on ******."

***

The Razz, Tazz and assorted other fun and games that from last weekend will mark the Mayor's annual Civic Service got off in fine sunshine.

It's the new-look service that combines the former service with the bun feast from the annual, increasingly political, annual meeting.

Will this be one of the money-spendings which Mr Davies might want to reduce?

He'd be a brave man. This was the idea of Rodney Chambers, the leader of the council.

And most councillors aspire to being the centre of attention in the cathedral at least once a year.

___

Wednesday June 9 2010

It was no surprise to many people closely following the campaigns to save St John's, and the sister schools of the Delce, that they should have succeeded.

But if you thought Les Wicks, the Education portfolio holder, was lumbered, and the days of education chiefs were numbered, think again.

Calls for resignations, heads being chopped and other mutilations of Cabinet members, are going to be ignored. Just as the news was not even mentioned at the Cabinet meeting yestyerday.

But what a meeting next week's council promises to be.

And what a time for the Tory administration to end up on the defensive again.

Except they won't defend themselves.

They will come out with all guns blazing, determined to protect all those involved in the campaign to close.

So why persist with the closures?

Could it have anything to do with the the rebuilding of secondary schools promised by the Labour government? It was so far in the future (2015) that other ways had to be found to replace the worn-out, tired and (frankly) decrepit school premises inherited from KCC.

Closing those that were Victorian/Sixties rush-built/under-used/poor performing/etc (educationalists deleted from this list as they saw applicable) could be justified by Labour's policies. Especially primaries.

Then, when demand increased (and it was increasing even without the Thames Gateway developments) there would be justification for building new schools.

The Medway grammar schools - currently facing falling roles - must be taking comfort from this. The primaries fought a logical campaign against political dogma. They won.

But watch out for the backlash.

***

There is further good news for pupils living on St Mary's Island.

The cabinet has agreed to fund a "yellow bus" to the secondary schools for more than 50 teenagers who currently face horrendous journeys (or a ride with Mum) to get to their schools across the Towns.

The full story will be in Friday's Medway Messenger.

___

Tuesday June 8 2010

In case anyone was wondering, Tales from Gun Wharf lurched to a standstill when I decided one night to turn left instead of pursuing my more usual right wing movement during the opening days of the election battle.

The result was that I had this sudden, unwanted sinking feeling - and a large pain in my gluteus maximus which persists to the present day.

Nothing to do with politics: everything to do with the call of nature... and the location of the stairwell at my home.

That fall still makes sitting down problematical - and a nuisance when one has to operate a keyboard.

But thanks, to everyone of whichever political hue, for their expressed sympathy. I even believed some of it.

***

Isn't it nice how the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are agreeing with each other? Not in Medway, they aren't.

The Conservatives are pushing ahead with their latest plan to neuter both opposition groups.

They have declared the Labour and Liberal Democrat political officers to be surplus to requirements (or at least partially surplus).

There are two officers, one for each group. They keep a fulltime eye on what the administration is up to (like miscalculating its budget sums, interpreting its decisions and watching for the slip-ups).

Both are now being reduced to part-timers.

The Conservatives' officer is unaffected. He continues as a fulltime employee.

It was, I was told by one senior Conservative, only fair. After all, the poor lad had to keep watching over the antics of two political enemies as well as those of his Cabinet members who occasionally make loose cannons appear decidedly secure.

I would just remind them that revenge is best cold. Labour have long memories.

***

It was inevitable that Mark Reckless would swiftly endear himself to the Conservative Whips. When he won the Rochester and Strood seat he was already earmarked for close attention by Central Office because he was not the candidate they wanted (but he was the one the constituency party had wanted for years).

The seat had been graced by such luminaries as the Tory Peggy Fenner and his predecessor, the ever-enjoyable Labour rebel, Bob Marshall Andrews.

Mark is a serious guy. It could be that whereas his financial views were thought too extreme, the pronouncements by his Leader in the past few days that we are all going to suffer from the imminent spending cuts could indicate that the two ranks in the Conservative Party may be closer than many thought.

***

It is said in many instances that you should "use it or lose it".

Never was that truer than at the present time when everyone is looking to cut spending.

"Essential users" at Medway Council get £1,239 a year simply for having a car available - and then 50.5p for each mile they use it. A total of 486 staff are entitled to the payments which last year cost council taxpayers over £1 million.

But 54 of them just collected the allowance - and never turned the wheel until they went home. Another 143 did less than 1,000 miles even though it was essential they had a car (and don't forget around 200 have essential car parking spaces in front of the Gun Wharf offices to keep their seldom-moving cars.

The Employment Matters committee meets on Thursday night to consider slashing the allowances. Those who collected the allowance and stayed in the office, and those who failed to clock up four-figure mileages top the target list. They'll become casual users who will be paid 65p a mile if they have to drive. It could save £233,653 - until someone decides to up the allowances.

***

I admire the way Paul Clark, who was my local MP until the General Election, has handled the defeat. He was an excellent constituency MP and (whatever may be said by political opponents), he did a lot behind the scenes to secure regeneration money.

Whoever had won the seats (and there were enough candidates), Medway's new MPs would need to keep their heads well down when the spending cuts hit the Thames Gateway.

The Medway Regeneration Board (once known as Medway Renaissance) meets next Tuesday at the SEEDA offices in Chatham Maritime. It is likely to be the last time - and one wonders how many of those present will survive to the next meeting.

***

The last of the Erinaceous Three - the whistleblowers who revealed hundreds of thousands of pounds was being thrown away on council house repairs by the contractor - has left the council, I hear.

George Allen was one of the surveyors.

I understand he has been declared redundant, and was told to clear his desk before the appeals procedure went ahead.

Dodgy in all the circumstances, not least because another birdie tells me his colleagues had appointed him their union rep.

___

Friday April 16

I'm sure my old friend, Reh (call me Rehman) Chishti was happy to pick up the plaudits from one Liberal Democrat yesterday.

The Medway mayor (and probably soon-to-be     ex-Liberal Democrat) Dai Liyanage appeared at a Labour Party publicity stunt.

There he told Liberal Democrats they would waste their vote and let in the Conservative candidate if they didn't swap and support Paul Clark, the Labour candidate.

Great for Mr Clark.

Not so for the Deputy Leader of the local Liberal Democrats, Andy Stamp, who until then was claiming to be only seven percentage points behind the Conservatives - and closing quickly on Mr Chishti.

He was impressive last night as he rejected a series of Conservative attacks led by Cllr Alan Jarrett, their Mr Hard Man.

He also revealed Mr Liyanage had immediately been suspended and wnt so far as to say he had been ejected from the Liberal Democrats.

Ahhh - at last we are in an election with blood, guts, corpses and tears!

***

There is an old saying about not counting your chickens before they're hatched.

That didn't stop the Leader of Medway Council, Cllr Rodney Chambers, from paying a premature farewell to one of his Cabinet members.

Cllr Chishti, Medway's enforcer, was in one of the front bench seats at the council meeting.

He hopes to win the Gillingham and Rainham seat currently held by Paul Clark whether or not the Lib Dems swap their votes.

Turning to him with a fatherly look, Cllr Chambers said: "This is probably the last time we will see Cllr Chishti on our front bench, but no doubt we will see him in another place after May 6."

Another Conservative councillor, Cllr Mark Reckless, did not get the same fatherly approach, but maybe with the large number of votes transferred to Rochester and Strood he might not need that light touch.

He did get a passing reference:

"Ditto everything," said Cllr Chambers.

"We offer our very best to Cllr Reckless."

And in a bid to tempt the Gods of Electioneering (or even St Chad), Cllr Chambers said: "I fully expect three Conservative members of Parliament."

Having said that while one rival - Cllr Geoff Juby (Lib Dem) - was joining in the debates, another candidate, Cllr Teresa Murray was out on the road, knocking on doors, and seeking to hold the seat for Labour.

One surprisingly present at the meeting was Cllr Bill Esterson. He had come down for the meeting from Merseyside where he is fighting Sefton Central for Labour.

"I couldn't let my voters down," he said. "I'll be back on the campaign trail tomorrow."

***

There is an interesting line from one of the Independents.

He is Gordon Bryan, who is standing in the Gillingham and Rainham constituency.

If he gets elected, he told me, he plans to consult the local public before each vote in parliament.

He will set up a website where you can tell him how to vote on every piece of legislation that is put forward.

He accused Paul Clark, the defending member of voting almost 100 per cent of the time for the government.

And he said both the Conservative and Liberal Democrats would toe the party line as new boys.

"Every person in the constituency would have the chance to vote on every piece of legislation," he promised.

"It would get away from pendulum politics."

***

Unless you were the one member of the public at the council meeting last night you will have missed the running gag.

Q: "What will Rehman Chishti do if he is elected to the Gillingham and Rainham seat?"

A: "Change the name of the Fifth Medway Town to Rehman."

Hmmm.

___

Thursday April 15

There have been curious things happening on the election front this week - so much so that it's been too busy to comment on them. Until now.

You may have seen the way we have quizzed the prospective candidates in Gillingham and Rainham on their knowledge (or lack of it) of local constituency issues, people and places. We've also posed similar questions to the other candidates who have made similar gaffs.

Give him his due, Mark Reckless, the Conservatives' prospective candidate in Rochester and Strood, knows his patch. He knows it so well he pointed out an error in the answer we gave (confidently based on information checked with the council) about election boundaries.

Red faces all round (except for the Blue's Brother, of course).

Mind, he should know his patch: he's hoping this will be third time lucky after a narrow defeat in 2005 by Bob Marshall-Andrews, the retiring Labour councillor.

Then there was Tracy Crouch, the Conservative candidate who claimed it was unfair to ask why 1984 was significant to Medway because at the time the candidate was only nine.

Tell that to the thousands affected by the closure of the dockyard by the former Conservative Defence Secretary, John Nott who got a knighthood following the shutdown.

As one of my colleagues commented in disgust: "Well I know it was when the dockyard was closed - and I was Minus One years old!"

***

Paul Clark should recognise quite a few faces from past election line-ups.

As well as Reh (call me Rehman) Chishti, who Labour and some of the lesser candidates happily point out was one of his colleagues five years ago, there are two independents (George Meegan and Gordon Bryan), Bob Oakley from UKIP and Brian Ravenscroft from the BNP.

It will be interesting to see if any of them saves their deposits this time around.

***

You may also have seen the tale of the Sunday Express photographer, the award-winning CCTV Smart Cars and the mysterious letter......

It is a curious saga with someone telling lies.

If not get today's Medway Messenger.

My colleagues and I have known the photographer for many years: Mike Gunnill is much respected and trusted.

He has no reason to tell lies about the latest story he pursued - that of Medway's two CCTV Smart spy cars.

They are so beloved by local residents for their ability to raise £1 million in fines from visiting drivers (no one in Medway would ignore parking rules) that they recently won a national award.

Mr Gunnill was commissioned to photograph them at work as they earned their public plaudits and went about their perky little business.

Perhaps not surprisingly, our merry public officials don't like the public to know who they are. They called the police, and then hurried back to their Strood base after doing their signature act of covering over their faces with their clipboards.

The poilice didn't appear, Mr Gunnill had done his job, and thought no more about it - until the following night.

That's when he had a visit at home from the boys in blue.

They said they had a complaint of dangerous driving they wished to bring to his attention. On that everyone agrees.

Mr Gunnill is quite insistent he was told by the officers they had a letter from Rubina Hafizi, Medway's parking manager, which they had to read out to him.

It accused him of jumping red lights, driving dangerously, going too fast and a host of other things (things of which the CCTV cars themselves have been accused in the past).

The police deny there was a letter. The council denies there was such a letter. Ms Hafizi also denies there was a letter.

No one has explained why should Mr Gunnill make it up if it didn't happen.

***

And talking of the CCTV cars brings me full circle.

The Canterbury Street offices of the Conservatives are heavily covered in publicity for Mr Chishti. So were two campaign cars parked outside the enforcer's office the other day.

One of the CCTV spy cars nipped past the pair, but didn't seem interested in the fact they were both parked on yellow lines.

I am grateful to the former council political oficer for the Liberal Democrats, Wilf Lower for that observation.

___

Thursday April 8

One of the things that amuses (or annoys according to your views of election) is the visits that are orchestrated by the political parties.

There is nothing unusual in this. It has been done ever since Julius Caesar was murdered in the Senate and Mark Antony seized his chance for power.

I had an email packed with literals last Tuesday. It came from one Nic Conner on behalf of Rehman Chishti, the Conservative candidate for Gillingham and Rainham. He wrote:

"Good morning,

"At 14:30 Rehman Chishti, the Conservative Part (sic) candidate for Gillingham and Rainham, will launch his campaign to bring in change to Gillingham and Rainham with the Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, David Cameron’s Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, at Gillingham High Street out side (sic) WHS Smiths (sic) where they will be hosting a street stall.

"All the best,

"Nic Conner"

When I arrived in the High Street, Gordon Brown was on his way to Rainham to visit the long-time Labour stalwart, Harry Keane, and his wife Mary at his house. It was standard fare early in the electoral campaign.

I had been barred from Rainham by the PM's press lady, Eleanor, because the KM Group political editor Paul Francis was also going.

So I went to see Mr Chishti.

He is a past master at setting up press visits and picture opportunities.

As soon as he arrived (late) in the High Street with Mr Maude he began the glad-handing, introducing Conservative council colleagues, grandchildren and party hierarchy to the former Party Chairman... oh - and the press.

Give 'em their due, the two of them walked up and down, meeting a lot of smiling faces and even bringing grins to a few of the less enthusiastic shoppers who were around Smith Square.

Meanwhile there was a scrum in High Elms, Rainham.

TV got precedence over papers. The snappers were told "Two minutes for photos and no more" - and promptly ignored the edict from the Socialist lady rottweilers.

Mr Chishti was later to tell the Daily Telegraph: "This is a stage-managed visit designed to give Mr Brown a nice photo opportunity with supposedly ordinary voters who are actually hand-picked Labour stooges."

Which of course was never in his mind when the press were invited to Gillingham High Street....

Mr Keane (who I used to work with at Gillingham council when he was chief auditor, I was a council rottweiler, and Mr Chishti had joined the Labour Party's younger aspirants.....) has now written to the Telegraph.

In his response he admits he was a long-time Labour supporter but said: "Since Mr. Chishti is himself a former Labour Party member, Labour councillor and Labour parliamentary candidate (Horsham, 2005), I'm surprised that he chooses to brand people as 'Labour stooges'.

"Of course my wife and myself are Labour supporters - Gordon Brown would hardly have gone visiting a couple of Tories - but the other invitees to our private meeting, representing different interests from the wider community, were not necessarily Labour supporters or even sympathisers.

"The same goes for our neighbours. We didn't decide which of them would line the street for the PM's visit, nor did we tell any of them not to ask him awkward questions. Our neighbours were not hand-picked by anyone, least of all us or the Labour Party.

"To imply otherwise is an insult to them; doubtless they will think long and hard before entrusting their vote to someone who has such a low opinion of their intelligence."

Ouch!

The campaigning really is under way.

___

Wednesday April 7

Visitors to Windsor last weekend were invited to support the Coldstream Guards in Afghanistan.

Several soldiers in the latest camouflage gear were standing around the castle precincts with collecting tins, and black, blue and white bands for contributors to wear on their wrists.

We give willingly, but what has this to do with the political news of the day?

Well, apart from the fact that most days we hear that a British soldier from this regiment, a Sergeant from that, has been killed, it is reminiscent of so many actions over the years.

Repeated reports of national servicemen being killed on Gloucester Hill, or Nicosia's Murder Mile and at the hands of the Mau Mau dogged the Fifties.

In the 19th Century - as the walls at Rochester Cathedral attest - it was Afghanistan and South Africa that dominated.

Go back to the 16th Century.

Margate's streets were blocked by sick English sailors dying in doorways after being dumped from their ships once the Spanish Armada had been scattered across the storm-tossed North Sea.

But we look after our fighters now - don't we?

Frankly, no, to judge by the dressed-up begging for extras in Windsor last weekend.

***

The Prime Minister went shopping for votes in Strood's Morrison store yesterday.

Surrounded by a bevy of press and photographers, battered by PR guys armed with bouquets to hand to housewives, one of my colleagues was watching the live scenes on the office TV.

Suddenly she squealed: "There's my mum.... and that's my sister!"

It brings home to you that the 2010 election really started in Medway.

Notably absent was the Labour rebel, Bob Marshall-Andrews, who will be missed by many in the constituency.

His last election campaign is over and done.

And we now search for a suitable replacement.

Bob, growl, white hair and wine store, will be a hard act to follow.

***

As the Labour constituency chairman for Gillingham and Rainham, Harry Keane, hosted PM and dozens more press, TV and radio reporters and photographers in his lounge in Rainham later in the afternoon, it was good to see the big whigs (that is to say, the Tory Suits) supporting the Conservatives in Medway.

None other than Francis Maude, erstwhile chairman of the party and a longstanding friend of their candidate, Reh ("Call me Rehman!") Chishti did the first hand pumpings for the Tories in Gillingham.

Expect more, many more, suits to grace our 'City In All But Name' in the coming weeks.

***

The BNP are still licking their wounds and appealing for funds after losing their court battle over who could be a member.

They have two candidates in the Medway campaign, but couldn't afford to sponsor a candidate in Rochester and Strood. They aspire to do better than their last General Election fight in 1997 when they fought the old Gillingham seat - and polled 195 votes.

The Monster Raving Loony Party (ah, where are they with their banana "bribes"?) polled 305 that year.

***

All the other main parties are planning to fight, though surprisingly the Lib Dems have gone to Belgium to select a candidate to fight in Chatham and Aylesford. He was still there this morning.

***

Did someone mention the Liberal Democrats?

I ask because there is a stunning silence from their ranks at the moment. Ditto the Greens and UKIP, who are also fighting all three seats.

___

Tuesday March 23

Is there such a thing as the Capstone Valley development?

It is a question worth asking.

The landowners have never come forward with any detailed proposals.

They successfully joined with others to bring crashing down the council's original strategy for the Local Development Plan. Two years on, the council may be in a position to pursue that again next winter. But the company stays silent.

Capstone Valley or Medway Magna as the company calls itself was an unpopular proposal when it was first mooted a few years ago. It still is, to judge from the petitions handed in to the Mayor with monthly regularity by local Conservative councillors.

The company had proposed to turn the area between the Darland Banks and the Maidstone escarpment into major housing and logistics warehouses either side of the M2 motorway between junctions three and four.

The council stands four square in opposition to the idea.

It is a beautiful area. In high summer the wind waves the corn crops in a golden sea high above the townships. The little byways beneath the Darland Banks are a joy at any time. Orchids can be discovered growing in a number of places, the walks are a challenge for the fittest. while a beer or snack at one of the infrequent pub-restaurants between Medway and Maidstone is always popular.

But is it a real proposition?

What it did highlight was that there was a shortage of development land to meet commercial needs. That has since been tackled, but a million square metres already has development approval to logistics and similar business park use.

The Medway Magna team is still around. But it keeps silent about its plans.

Just like the owners of the Pentagon Centre.

***

And what of tomorrow?

The Making of Medway conference is being restaged with new speakers and fresh setting.

Two hundred or more people will be in the audience as a host of people explain what is happening, and what is not happening, to regenerate Medway.

I remember the famous one with Sir David Frost many moons ago.

It was held in the former Colonial Mutual headquarters and was (as far as I recall) the only time the building has been used since the place as vacated at the end of the Nineties.

Sir David - a local lad made good - was value for money.

The PR arrangements for the media was not.

The plan was to show how advanced Medway was, and what it was going to achieve.

The local, national and specialist press were all there - but kept under a tight, tight rein.

None of us was allowed to interview the speakers.

We were barred from attending certain sessions.

And (worst of all) the national boys were ordered out at lunch time into an area where sandwiches and a cheap buffet was provided while the majority were enjoying a lavish lunch and wine.

Well, of course, that did it.

It was reminiscent of the occasion some years before when at a famous London hotel the sports journalists were kept waiting for about 45 minutes in a large room sans alcohol.

When the doors swung open the waitress came in with a tray piled high with bubbling champagne.

And of course the inevitable happened.

Half way across the floor she tripped and the tray smashed to the ground, a fizzing puddle of France's finest.

There was silence. Then a very famous BBC motoring reporter said: "Shall I say ****!"

Which is about what the journos said when they saw their stories and the fine lunch being kept away from them.

Somehow I don't think that will happen tomorrow.

Though I might be wrong: the kitchens at the St George's Centre have still not been built….

___

Wednesday March 17 2009

There is a logic in the Conservative administration's refusal to allow the opposition parties to know their budget plans before the annual budget meeting.

Last night there was a fresh bid by the Liberal Democrats' finance spokesman, Cllr Geoff Juby, to be allowed to hear what was being planned - and what was being dropped.

Had he been present and not laid out by a severe migraine the night of the meeting (and by coincidence the night of the Chelsea debacle) Cllr Glyn Griffiths would probably have said the same on behalf of the Labour group.

But Cllr Jarrett once again refused to countenance the possibility that opponents could tut and pick at budget plans.

"We have the majority, we have the responsibility and we shall set the budget," he has repeatedly said.

Last night his words were slightly different - but the facts were unchanged.

It was so reminiscent of General de Gaulle being asked if the Brits could join the Common Market.

Non!

***

Why is it that many people don't want to appear on the increasingly restricted Electoral Register?

The answer could be the council tax.

It was a theory advanced by Cllr Rodney Chambers, the Leader of Medway Council, to Business Services committee members.

If people thought they could avoid council tax by not appearing on the register, he said, they would. It was a problem for all Kent authorities.

There was a variation: the couple who would seek a 25 per cent reduction in council tax by claiming there was only one occupant.

It was his explanation for a three per cent drop in those named on Medway's tax registers.

My personal belief is that fewer people believe they can have any influence on the decisions that are reached by the council. Their rationale appears to be - why should they pay to keep it running?

It comes back down to the failure of the council to involve residents and businesses in the things that really matter to them: why they have to bump over ruts, why roads and paths are shut, why no one listens to their views...

Why, indeed.

***

Should a Chief Executive get a big payout if his face no longer fits?

It seems it is perfectly OK if it is big business (for example , imagine the payouts paid to any CEO no longer required by a bank).

But is it right to expect him (or her) to go without a commensurate payment if the boss's face no longer fits with the chairman of the council's board.

It is public money (but then so is the cash paying our bankers).

Have it out in the open. Let the public moan and groan.

But if you no longer want the head of your team because you have a different philosophy, you want to settle old scores or you perceive them to be too closely allied to the tasks of the previous administration, you have to cough up.

It's not as though the CEOs have dipped their hands in the till.

They have done nothing wrong: their faces simply don't fit.

Get rid of them by all means, but do it in a just and fair way.

___

Friday March 12 2010

It's been fun and games on the local political scene this week.

One or two of the candidates have been practising mixing earth and water to prepare missiles for the forthcoming campaign season.

Getting in some early net practice against the young Tory batsman, Reh Chishti, has been the new spin bowler in the English Democrats team, Dean Lacey.

He tried an early yorker by demanding Cllr Chishti came clean on Lord Ashcroft's contributions to his battle fund.

The youngest councillor on Medway cabinet (and one of the youngest barristers on the local scene) played a straight bat.

"Ashcroft has given us no money," he said.

"We do our own fund-raising."

Cllr Chishti could end the week by winning the First Test: the Ee-Dee's blog played on to his own wicket by resurrecting the saga of the E on the hill.

This was the Conservative administration's test run to see whether emblazoning "Medway" above the bridges carrying Eurostar and the M2 motorists over the river would finally tell the world where we are.

That it would cost £12,000 to put up, that the "E" did not have the requisite planning permission, that Hollywood had already got there first, and that the readers would be fleeing the country anyway, didn't matter to the administration.

But Mr Lacey told his readers: "Recently it spent £2,000 erecting the enormous letter 'E' from MEDWAY to get an idea of what the whole sign will look like.

"But engineers pulled it down after four days because the council has yet to achieve funding or planning consent."

Trouble was - it happened a year ago.

If the candidates are going to have a go at the Cllr Chishti's colleagues, they really should identify up to the minute things.

Heaven's above - Someone could next resurrect concerns that the Short Brothers have started flying boats off the river!

***

Whispers have it that the darling of the Liberal ranks, Andy Stamp, has upset his party faithful.

There is even talk that he could have the whip removed.

Bit rough - just as you are entering the election campaign, and bringing out the party Noddies.

***

Our two ministerial faces, the transport minister Paul Clark and Jonathan Shaw (the Chatham and Aylesford MP who is also Minister for the South East) have already taken the austerity message to heart.

As Mr Clark's boss announced 250mph trains taking 30 minutes to Birmingham, the Medway twosome have begun sharing press officers.

***

Not that there isn't party politics at the council.

The "Other" Party - also known as the council's officers - ignored the elected members and made their own housing policies, it seems.

Not surprisingly, given their long history of independence, that the housing team are the ones accused of setting policy.

The claims came at a planning committee after it emerged last weekend they had told mhs homes there was no need for sheltered housing in Rainham - what was needed were houses.

It hasn't sat well with councillors - notably the Conservatives who want more sheltered accommodation provided especially in Rainham where they dominate the local scene.

Medway Council's Renaissance arm is planning to sell off a large plot of land in the heart of Chatham, as soon as it gets planning permission for the first new housing in the so-called city centre of Chatham.

Five tower blocks (or as the planners insist on calling them, "podiums") are proposed along The Brook. That the 118 families will have children is not to be doubted (except if you are a planning officer: One let slip that there wouldn't be children in the one-bed flats.)

There will be landscaped gardens on top of the tweeny garages and (beneath them) the stores that will line The Brook.

The gardens will be secured by gates, so the kids can play. But they will only be able to ride bikes up and down, kick balls against walls (can you imagine the delight of the householders!) or spray messages to each other. There will be no play facilities, or swings.

As someone pointed out, play facilities were more important than 202 cycle racks which probably won't be used by the residents who will soon be demanding additional parking spaces to the "one per flat" rule.

***

Last night they elected a new chairman of the Audit Committee - and that caused a few smiles among the opposition congnoscenti.

He's Dickie Andrews, who succeeds the out of favour (and out of party) Nick Brice.

They had to find a chairman who was not getting a special responsibility allowance.

And that was the problem.

Virtually every member in the Conservative ranks is responsible for something (except the blame when the opposition finger is pointed). So they get paid an allowance.

And the chairman of Audit is not allowed to get responsibility payments.

Veteran Dickie has said he wants to stand down at the next local election, but he was pressed into service after a quick rundown on what the role demands.

Now he, too, gets a special responsibility allowance - as chairman of audit.

___

Tuesday March 9 2009

The Delce schools' fate may not be as clear cut as the Cabinet would have us believe.

The two schools face merger.

The council agreed last week (in the midst of an acrimonious row with opposition members, staff, governors and members of the public) to provide Medway with a Strood-based super primary. This gem of educational attainment (not recommended by officers such as the children's director, Rose Collinson) will have more than 600 screaming youngsters trying to learn in a single school environment.

The benefits? - saving less than £70,000 and ending the "trauma" of changing from an infant to a junior school.

One might almost suggest that (in the highest traditions of Henry II and that damnable Kent priest, Thomas A'Becket) it would also rid the children's portfolio holder of one troublesome head teacher.

However, there was a whisper that it's all one big act to do down the Labour candidate for Rochester and Strood, Cllr Teresa Murray, raise the standing of the Conservative candidate, Cllr Mark Reckless, and protect the standing of the Cabinet which ignored officers advice to create the micros' academy.

Apparently the Tory backbenchers firmly believe that it will be rejected by the schools adjudicator when faced with the views of the school, the teachers, the governors, the parents and the local community.

There were some gems in the debate where the most difficult task was that shown by the chairman of the scrutiny committee which twice threw the plan back to the Cabinet. Cllr David Brake somehow ended up proposing that the debate was over, and the council should now support the 10-man Cabinet.

Several of its  members were missing ...along with the Tory candidate. It reminded one of a famous call of nature some time ago.

Cllr Brake was told now he would never be selected for the Cabinet because he had blotted his copybook.

Another, ex Mayor David Carr, a veteran of nearly two years on the council and one of those to vote both ways, lectured the Labour ranks (and his successor in the chair) on the reasons why they should ignore the opposition and vote for the merger.

Cllr Glyn Griffiths (the dabbest voice in the opposition) thanked Cllr Carr for giving them the benefits of his weeks of experience. What a put down on the eve of his Golden Wedding!

But what a sad reflection on the administration: it is completely satisfied someone outside the borough should make the "right" decision for the children of Strood.

I recently visited the school to talk to a couple of the classes. The youngsters were interested, bright and not prepared to back down in an argument. In other words, there are some budding journos at Delce.

The idea of 600 of them racing round the playground, burning off energy accumulated in the classroom, and supervised by a horde of teaching assistants, should fill you with dread.

___

Wednesday, March 3

Now where was I before my holiday? - ah, yes...

***

The disruption to wildlife at The Paddock has been greater than many people thought.

The ancient pagan character, the Green Man, reappeared on the bus station site in a valiant - if futile - bid to stop the destruction of the trees.

Pigeons lost several favourite roosts in the past few days as the buzz saws sang. So they buzzed him in their bid to find a fresh place to roost.

Not that the objectors lack a sense of humour.

Several gnomes reputed to roam around their Paddock home have been looking for fresh lodgings at nearby Gun Wharf.

One found its way into the arms of press officer John Staples.

He tried to present it to one of the objectors, Tracey Coutts, only for her to deny it was any of her missing miniatures.

Last heard, Mr Staples was wandering the corridors of power seeking someone - anyone? - prepared to give it a good home.

Rumour has it there is at least one more gnome hiding in the council gardens.

Meanwhile, what were Medway Renaissance doing the other day advertising for treeloppers and crane operators?

Two placards suddenly appeared either side of the regeneration unit's swish doors next to Eastgate House.

***

It could be interesting on Thursday night (more so than the budget meeting when my colleague tells me there was more childish putdowns in a couple of hours than you would see in Medway's schools in a year).

Several objectors plan to tax Rainham's champion quiz kid, Cllr Rodney Chambers, about the way the council acted over the bus station development.

Rather like the buses, his renaissance guys have been running very late getting the bus station approved. Now they have suddenly slipped into top gear, put their toes down and are racing to get to finish before April 5 next year.

I suspect someone will propose cutting public question time short - it is helpfully allowed under the council's rules to spare anyone's blushes. But whether it is consulting with the people, communicating and being open is another issue altogether.

Also there will be the head teacher of Delce Infants School. She is publicly demanding an apology from the education portfolio holder, Cllr Les Wicks, over comments he recently made about her school and that of the neighbouring junior.

The merger of the two schools was something the Cabinet approved on Cllr Wicks' recommendation against the wishes of Rose Collinson, his director.

***

Good news for the vast majority of Medway's 11-year-olds with nearly 95 per cent getting a place among their first three choices for secondary school placements.

Cllr Wicks is already working on merger plans to create co-eds. And if his party wins the General Election it is reported all local authority schools will be removed from their influence.

***

Another of his colleagues, Cllr Reh Chishti, was in the limelight at the weekend.

While David Cameron spouted his six key points for the campaign to try to recover some of the ground lost to Labour in recent weeks, Cllr Chishti was in a favoured position on the stage at Brighton.

It resurrected thoughts that he might be a future Home Secretary, bringing lots more CCTV cameras, cars and enforcers onto the streets of Britain in the future.

Certainly he was striding the pavements of Medway again on Monday morning armed with his barrister's wheelbarrow - or was that his overnight kit from Brighton?

___

Monday February 15

THE present government has a history of changing the rules after tempting everyone to compete. It's been the modern day Whitehall Farce.

The classic is council tax levels: local authorities are given a broad guide, they set their tax and then find out whether the guide was wildly off target.

Two of the lowest funded, Medway and York, fell victims of that a few years ago when they tried to push the bounds for a few extra pounds.

Medway has fallen victim to another comedy of errors. This one is called Academies.

Schools chiefs saw a great opportunity to improve children's education.

They could get rid of five secondary schools with poor results, free up land (that could be worth a lot of cash to a developer), get £90 million-worth of new schools, and offload the responsibility for future funding to the government.

It was too good to be true - and they grabbed it.

That's when the Whitehall wallahs sprang their little surprise.

They would ensure each Academy started life with a clean slate. No debts, no blame, no responsibility for what went before.

To do that, they stopped funding the schools that were closing. But they were still trying to teach, they still had commitments and they were still running up bills that would have been funded by the government if they stayed open.

Five secondaries are closing (two already have). And the council - hoping to save money - has suddenly discovered it has to fund £1.7 million.

The thinking went something like this: "These were losses incurred by the schools - the remaining schools should fund it. After all, they have the government's allocation of school money."

The budget is controlled by the Schools Forum - not the education authority.

It is an unelected body. It has a responsibility for alloting money to every school.

It does; it has: Medway's 39,902 school children are to get 2.1 per cent more spent on their education from April than they had this year.

Or they will if the money isn't taken by the council in what might not be a legal move. That's something that was being considered over the weekend.

One should not forget that another £700,000 is being funded by the Forum for Special Educational Needs.

Where Medway was caught in another financial trap was its willingness to give more money to the schools than simply the government grant. That top-up (from another government grant) is used by some councils to provide a nest egg used when times get hard.

Some officers called it a loan. That's the problem. It wasn't. It was cash to improve children's education.

There are several other problems that feed the crisis.

The schools had to find people with a financial skill to manage their budgets. Some were pretty cute.

Then there are wages.

Teachers are expected to get a 2.1 per cent increase in wages. But underlying that, most school staff - about two-thirds - are entitled to an annual increment. It means they will get around six per cent more in their pay packets.

It is similar to the rest of the council's staff.

They are not going to get a pay rise this year. But the council will still have an increased pay bill this year thanks to the annual increments due to more than half the staff.

Some of those increments run for decades before you get to the top of your grade. It's not often mentioned but it does help local government officers to cushion inflationary problems.

So where does the council go now?

There are three options.

The first is just to hold on to the allocated cash - but that may be illegal.

The second is to cut other council services.

The third is to declare social workers, planners, leisure staff (and others) redundant to make the savings.

Last Monday finance chiefs were quietly content. They had managed to engineer a small surplus on this year's budget, and announced a balanced budget would be debated this week. That was what they said last Monday.

Harold Wilson said a week is a long time in politics. Given Thursday night's bombshell, half a week is pretty lengthy, too.

***

This blogger is taking a break until March for holidays. 

___

Friday February 12

The saga of Ken Bamber, Brian Kelly and the extremely flat Irish joke has attracted considerable support for the councillor who was left out of pocket.

How much may never be known, but I understand the council has to pay the same sum to Mr Kelly after he took them to the employment tribunal.

What is annoying many people is just how much the council paid out.

After all, we hear the mixed claims of under-funding by the nasty old government - and yet the administration will once more boast that it has the lowest council tax in Kent.

It would have had several thousand pounds more if it hadn't maligned Mr Kelly's Irish roots. Precisely how much the council refuses to disclose to the very people who have had to suffer the consequences.

***

George Washington said there's many a slip 'twixt the lip and the cup.

Watch that budget.

***

The Community Safety Partnership comes under the spotlight next week.

It has achieved quite a bit over the past year including the successful introduction of the SOS Bus that provides a safe haven for drunk and otherwise administered abusers to chill out and get assistance at the end of a heavy night of clubbing.

What it has so far failed to do is reduce the perceptions of anti-social behaviour in the Medway Towns.

Around one in 12 people still consider it is a very big problem even though the police try to tell us that crime is down.

Their problem is that what you might consider anti social may not be what your neighbour believes it to be.

It covers a multitude of sins.

For example, graffiti, spitting, swearing, litter, fly tipping and so on.

Where do you draw the line?

Is there any difference between the contractor who dumps a load of rubbish in a green field to avoid paying land tax and the postman who repeatedly drops rubber bands on his rounds? One spoils the countryside. The other leaves a risk underfoot, a potential hazard for wild animals and a trail wherever he goes.

You might not agree: I am angry at the number of times I have to pick up red bands outside my home that my postie can't be bothered to take.

But I am also angry at those who ruin a country walk or a lane.

___

Monday February 8

Next year's council tax is likely to be up 2.95 per cent - providing the government doesn't change the ball game and cap Medway.

The next two weeks should be interesting times as the Conservatives administration practices its lines at Cabinet, and the opposition struggles to guess what surprises the finance portfolio holder, Alan Jarrett, will unveil.

There is a joke that does the rounds from time to time that the Chief Executive will, in the not too distant future, do everyone's jobs. The signs are there.

At the moment there are 8,000 people working in schools, social care , finance, planning, regeneration, and transport. Not all of them work fulltime. Around 3,600 are part timers.

Now another "fundamental" review of jobs is under way - the fifth in 11 years.

It promises to be a none too jovial time for the staff.

No pay rises, job cuts (service managers being in the firing line), cuts in fuel allowances (with buses passing the front door every minute or so you'd think they could go anywhere by public transport - but they can't), and all they have to look forward to is annual increments (paid to about two in three staff).

What is so worrying is that to keep the services going these cuts are already being made.

Everyone expects really tough times to come, though the really tough time probably won't happen for a couple of years.

___

Wednesday February 3 2010

Hush, hush, whisper who dares….

Tonight's meeting of the Standards Committee at Medway is going ahead with the most interesting matter once again behind closed doors.

The digging continues to find out what it is all about.

The odds are now on a third councillor could be in trouble, and not the one done for fraud or the other done for kerb crawling.

Ahhh - it's good to know that Medway's councillors can hide behind closed doors when washing their dirty linen.

But I wonder why the officers are the ones so keen for it to stay secret.

***

A big row is breaking out over the way Kent County Council's Tory administration dealt with the snow crisis.

At the centre of it is Nick Chard, the county's transport portfolio holder, who appears to have tried to pass the buck to the districts when people complained.

Senior Tonbridge and Malling Conservatives did nothing last night to protect one of their own when an opposition councillor, Liz Simpson (Lib) called for his head.

It followed allegations that officers were saying one thing and Cllr Chard another.

But the classic was the failure to keep pavements clear. The county accepted responsibility for that task - but decided to do nothing, according to Tories at T and M.

He has a chance to redeem himself.

He's been invited to the joint transportation board he missed a few weeks ago. The next meeting is on March 8.

If he is truly brave, he might also attend with his officers the meeting of the local Parish Partnership.

But he should watch out.

The local hospital reported that in the five day spell of snow before Christmas they had over 250 additional cases in the accident unit…. and several of them were council members and local government officers.

***

In a few days we should have a clearer idea of what the council tax rise in Medway is likely to be.

In Tonbridge and Malling the borough council is setting a 2.94 per cent increase. I suspect something similar for Medway could be revealed on Monday.

In any event the Medway Messenger website will bring you the information.

Amid the rhetoric and blasting of the Labour Government for its handling of the economy what will definitely not be revealed will be the little extras.

These are what have successfully annoyed opposition councillors denied any part in Medway's budget setting.

Things like the money that suddenly appeared to fund the students cut price bus fares a couple of years ago.

It was a Labour idea but the Tories did a neat job of pinching the idea, finding the funds and stealing the coup.

There should be a bit of extra cash available for transport, given that the under 65s are about to be excluded from having free bus passes.

The kids have their Tweenies. Now the Boomers are being dubbed the In-Betweenies.

***

One of my old jobs was to argue the case for coaches to retain the same rights as cars when driving on the motorways. Coaches are the safest form of road vehicle.

I am proud to say I played a major role in keeping those limits at 70 mph and use of the outside lane.

Only after I left the transport industry in 1990 did the parliamentary campaigners manage to change the limits, ban coaches from the outside lane, and impose a 60mph limit.

Now the Gillingham MP, Paul Clark, better known these days as HM's Junior Transport Minister, has proposed cutting the speed of smaller wagons (those under 7.5 tonnes) from 70 mph to 60 mph - and upping coach speeds to 65 mph.

It gets my full backing.

___

Thursday January 28

Two decisions this week have left people stunned and questioning the logic of councillors.

One was reached last night, and that was the go-ahead to build Chatham's new bus station on the tree-covered area close to Dock Road.

The other was the peculiar decision by the Cabinet to ignore everyone's advice and arguments, and push ahead with a super primary for 630 children between five and 11 by merging two good Medway schools.

Repeatedly at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday members said it was for the children's better education.

But observers were left with the very clear impression it was being done for the betterment of the council's finances.

There was no talk of how a bigger school would improveme the academic achievements of the children.

Instead, repeatedly it was economies that emerged as the reasons for ignoring the scrutiny findings of the backbenchers, the advice of the education director, Rose Collinson, and her team, and the rational arguments of head teachers and governors.

There would be one management team, one budget, one assessment system, economies of scale, teachers would be able to move around…. oh, and (as an after thought) teachers should get a chance of develop areas of education.

These reasons were all advanced by Cllr Les Wicks, the children's portfolio holder, who proposed the merger.

Where were the answers to the poor education results of other schools?

Where were the action plans?

Could it be that Cllr Wicks has seen his amalgamation policy slowly shredded since St Peters Infants, St Nicholas and All Faiths were excluded by councillors from the merger plans?

***

And so to the bus station.

Councillors have been quizzed (and have in turn questioned their advisors) about whether it should be built at the Chatham rail station, to form a modern transport interchange, or in front of the Pentagon shopping centre.

No one has been able to answer why the existing bus station was not given the facelift that seemed logical to many.

Apparently the centre's owners want the buses out so that they can create an extra store site. But they have never said it publicly: it comes from sources within the council.

The interchange idea was rejected following public consultations.

Voters didn't want a long walk from the shopping area to their buses: it should be close to the shops.

Nor (so the same sources said) did the Pentagon want their customers making long walks.

But where can you put it?

The most suitable location would have been where the Sir John Hawkins flyover (of unlamented memory) once stood. That was also rejected.

And so the plans came down to that large expanse of land between the river and the shopping centre… the very place once identified as Chatham City's open waterfront parkland, the leisure area that would draw in the shoppers from Canterbury, Bluewater and Maidstone (especially the county town if you listened to the frenetic speeches of some councillors last night).

English Heritage have wimped out after objecting to the plans. They now say  it shouldn't affect the council bid for World Heritage status for the Great Lines.

What should have happened is that if the Pentagon bus station is no longer wanted, its replacement should have built on the flyover site. It would serve the High Street shops as well as the station, the Pentagon and the parkland overlook Rat Bay.

Better still, the bus station idea should have been scrapped.

Some of the money given by the government should have been used to carry out a modern transport analysis, to develop bus routes that go where people want to go, and meet where it makes sense to change buses. Instead the future routes will go where the bus station is built.

It was touching to hear two councillors say they had ridden on buses recently. Slumming with the electors, heh?

As soon as the snow lifted they were back to their cars, taxis or 4x4s.

The reason buses don't work in Medway in the way they do in Brighton or Belfast (or London in Red Ken's day) is because they are expensive, and because the council won't face up to the fact that our roads cannot cope with the growth in the population unless we change our travel choices.

If the buses won't go where I want to go, why should I (or anyone else) use them?

***

Just round the corner from the new bus station is Chatham and Rochester High Street, full of fascinating buildings and lots of good restaurants.

The historians tell us two great fires in the first half of the 19^th Century destroyed many of the buildings in the area.

But the archaeological evidence is that not only did Sir John Hawkins' almshouses survive, there are many fine buildings from that era to the present hiding behind cheap and not so cheerful frontages and layers of paint.

The street (it is, after all, just one road) is coming out of the depressive state that saw it steadily go downhill from the 1970s onwards.

That is because of an excellent regeneration project that has attracted private money as well as hundreds of thousands of pounds of Heritage Lottery cash.

The project has been masterminded by the council which matched the Lottery and insisted on top quality restorations along the street.

What may be the last buildings to be restored under the scheme were formally unveiled this week.

And what a magnificent job it is, using local skilled carpenters, builders, and architects to restore the buildings.

Cllr Jane Chitty, the strategic planning overlord, said she had started to look above the shop fronts since she became involved in the project some years ago.

The big lesson is if you want to see the majesty of the building legacy left to us by past generations raise your head and your eyes - and your spirit could follow.

Medway's towns - all of them - still have considerable gems if you look.

The trouble is commercial interests have made many towns look blandl simply because they have adopted the little box mentality, the one-size fits all perception.

Boots the Chemist is Boots the Chemist. WHS is WHS. Tesco is Tesco (their clock tower at Twydall is identical to those at a dozen other Tesco developments in the Eighties and Nineties).

None of them is guilty. It comes down to what planning authorities have allowed.

The High Street restorations show what can be achieved in partnership and with willing determination.

___

Tuesday January 26 2010

Someone in the police is being a bit naive to suggest that they didn't know they were attending a political rally when David Cameron came to town.

Kent's Boys in Blue lined up for photos for all the nationals as well as for the officially more humble publications such as the Medway Messenger.

A senior officer was quoted in the national media as saying they thought they were going to a road safety meeting after accepting an invitation from the Medway community safety portfolio holder, Cllr Reh Chishti.

***

That gathering was interesting for the way another of the Conservative candidates was apparently not recognised by his Leader.

Cllr Mark Reckless is hoping to wrest back Rochester (and Strood) from Labour when Bob Marshall-Andrews stands down.

Somehow Medway's tallest councillor ended up on a press seat - with Mr Cameron asking him for questions.

It was pretty innocuous, too, from a politician and barrister: would the Tories restore licensing to the courts instead of councils?

The great issues of the days paled into insignificance.

***

Alan Cherry, chairman of Countryside Properties, died last weekend,.

He was a key Thames Gateway influence, particularly across the Medway Maritime development.

He established the concept of mixed housing at the former dockyard to end ghetto estates.

He was respected by politicians of whatever hue, and every journalist who encountered him liked him.

***

It won’t be long before the National Identity Card for 16 to 24 year olds is rolled out in Kent and Medway.

London has been selected for the next run, so the South East won’t be far behind.

The carrot? - the £30 card is acceptable across Europe in place of a passport.

But why should people be charged to prove who they are using a card none of us wanted?

___

Friday January 22 2010

There is growing evidence of stress in the Conservative administration.

Recently the man who expects to become their next Rochester MP stepped out of line over school mergers.

Cllr Mark Reckless had already won the case for saving St Peter's Infants. Then he stood up for St John's in Chatham.

The diehards bristled.

Now the Conservative Whip Cllr Ken Bamber has done a U-turn over the Delce schools and - joined by last year's mayor Cllr David Carr - has ensured the children's scrutiny committee is finally 100 per cent behind saving them.

Which could make for some very interesting discussions in the Bamber household. Cllr Ken Bamber's wife Janice is one of the cabinet members and last December voted for the Delce infants and juniors' mergers despite advice against it.

The Cabinet will make a fresh decision on Tuesday.

The recommendation to them in the officers' report is intriguingly worded. Approved by the education director, Rose Collinson, it asks the cabinet to reconsider its previous decision.

The Independent councillor, Val Goulden, made a very pertinent point during this week's debate: "If the overview and scrutiny committee is to be overruled by the cabinet, what's the point in having it?"

There are some on the Cabinet who would agree: what is the point in having scrutiny?

The answer is that to stay where they are in the Cabinet they rely on the support of the backbenchers who serve on those scrutiny committees.

The odds should be on the Delce schools winning.

***

There were angry faces at that same scrutiny meeting. They belonged to five representatives of the four NHS trusts serving Medway.

Words like disgusting and appalling were thrown at them over the results of a government appraisal of their services for children and young people.

Their problem? - nine months after they had been found to be underachieving or completely failing, the chief executives and directors of the trusts were unable to tell the politicians what they were doing to rectify the faults.

Medway is a partner with the trusts and the elected councillors now have responsibility for making sure the NHS bosses do their jobs correctly (whether or not they like it).

It was pretty evident they certainly weren't happy being publicly ticked off.

They had better satisfy the councillors pretty quickly. The world of politics - and public services - is changing.

***

Housing chiefs have been told to delay moving sheltered housing wardens around.

It upset a large number of tenants who have got used to "their" warden.

The wardens used to be counsellors, tea-makers, friends, guides and entertainers, working much longer hours than they were paid.

Two and a half years ago there was a reorganisation. Jobs were readvertised and it was decided to move them around so they had wider experience.

The tenants should have been consulted but apparently weren't. Their organisation - MERGE - also denies it was consulted.

Now the more vociferous tenants have kicked up a fuss.

Health scrutineers called a halt to the process until the tenants have all been consulted. It will be done by Deborah Upton, the housing chief and legal eagle who took over after the re-recruiting took place.

It was a management matter but councillors agreed they will now make the final decision.

The residents may be in their 70s, 80s and 90s but there are plenty with experience of the barrack room and dockyard to make it a minefield for the professional lawyer.

__

Tuesday January 19, 2010

Just what is the role of Sir Terry Farrell in the Thames Gateway?

The man considered the Guru of the Gateway, and design champion for Medway, is also a member of the Thames Estuary Airport Board.

Members of the Medway Renaissance Board recently learned of his involvement with a scheme to which the council - and in particular the regenerators - are vehemently opposed.

It is curious that the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was quick to issue a press release saying Sir Terry was on the airport board. Yet Sir Terry's colleagues are claiming his remit had not been clarified, he had expressed no support for the airport, and the press announcement was issued before sufficient consultation had taken place.

Both the Leader of the Council, Cllr Rodney Chambers, and the Opposition Leader, Cllr Paul Godwin, are clearly not happy at the oblivion displayed by their respected Guru's conflicting interests.

If he is uncommitted to the the airport, and is treated as one more feather for the tonsorially-improved Boris, perhaps he would do well to say Up With The Planes I Shall Not Resort.

***

A fresh warning about the growing problems Kent councils are facing while trying to do their basic tasks has been given by the Audit Commission.

It recently raised concerns about the difficulty which Medway - with a half-billion pound budget - faced in fulfilling its duties.

Now Tonbridge and Malling's annual audit has thrown up an even greater warning.

The senior auditor praised the council for the way it had acted quickly in the past few months to identify and tackle the effects of the recessive downturn.

It's got £1 million salted away in the Landsbanki. That's one which the Icelandic government has taken over - and is now refusing to pay back. It has also wiped off £1,691,000 from its land and building values as the recession has savaged Britain. It was what the auditor liked to call "an impairment".

The auditor has given T&M a three star rating.

But he warns: "The downturn may have a significant impact on the ability of public sector bodies to fund the delivery of services and capital programmes.

"A continuing strong framework of financial and performance management will be essential if the council is to meet these demands."

___

Friday January 15

It would not have been unrealistic if someone had heard Ethel Merman's gravelly voice belting out: "There's no business like snow business….." at last night's council meeting.

A string of questions about the winter weather was posed by opposition councillors, but none criticised the administration over the state of the roads and pavements.

The portfolio holder, Phil Filmer, was politeness and pleasantry. He talked about learning the lessons from the way the Winter Weather programme operated - or didn't.

There were hints of things amiss, however.

Like - were the salt bins in their places (or had they been nicked - and had they been topped up?)

The pavements were unsafe. So sue. You won't win: we never promised they would be cleared, did we?

Oh, and praise for lots of people who got stuck in to keeping the roads cleared. So be grateful.

And the staff doing their jobs should be congratulated (after all they did work round the clock).

Looking at it from the sidelines (or if you prefer the back of the Chamber) the state of Medway's snow-covered roads was not up to the standard one expects in a thriving business community, the biggest conurbation in the South East of England.

As the sun burns off the last vestiges of snow today, the few inches unacceptably became inches of hard-packed ice, causing chaos for almost two weeks.

The salting was not as effective as it should have been.

The back roads - over 1,000 miles of them, apparently - were abandoned. This was where the taxpayers live. Just because you pay your taxes and/or rents on time, that's it: you shouldn't expect to go out if it snows.

The deliveries from the salt mines of Cheshire were at best iffy.

There was some valiant work undertaken, not least by two bobbies spotted salting outside Gillingham train station. Those gentlemen can expect a nomination for a Pride in Medway award, we learned.

But there were also some falls.

A woman broke her leg in Gillingham High Street.

A man is suing the council after his ankle snapped.

Oh, and Cllr Glyn Griffiths dislocated his shoulder when he fell over in Rock Avenue (not that he sought any sympathy).

Like many, he decided not to trouble the hospital. Instead he looked after himself. Yet the vision of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition merrily doing a Martin Riggs (a la Mel Gibson in the Lethal Weapon films) to slip his dislocation back into place is not one to pursue.

It was a good meeting - full of the usual.

Poor sound system (mainly because councillors will not use their microphones), dogma ("We can't afford it - and even if we can we won't bother to look!"), and frustration ("What is consultation supposed to be if the public are ignored, promised meetings never take place, and there is no information from which we can make constructive proposals").

Is it good to know that things will only get bitter the closer we get to an election - especially when most of the candidates not yet in parliament sit in the council chamber.

Heaven help us!

***

At least the meeting went ahead.

Tonbridge and Malling's Cabinet decided to call off their gathering this week - but forgot to tell the public.

One of the cleaners couldn't help.

"I thought it was supposed to be last night," she said.

"Never mind, luv. Help yourself to a coffee."

Monday's meeting of Medway Planning Committee is the one delayed from last week.

Unlike that, Tonbridge and Malling councillors are going to merge this week's agenda with the Budget meeting on February 2. Let's hope the snow stays away, and the councillors turn up.

***

This week's revelations that a councillor had been caught kerb crawling sparked some interesting backroom comments, and almost all of them offering sympathy.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if someone came up with a proposal to support legalised brothels in Medway.

It is something which has been mooted on the odd occasion over a glass of sherry or drop of vino.

I suspect that there might be more support around the chamber than people would credit.

***

Talking of councillors it was sad to hear the former Gillingham Labour councillor, Rod Clark, had died.

However, Ray Maisey was back following a bout of illness, and ex-Mayor Angela Prodger is recovering after a fresh bout of surgery.

And of course Cllr Griffiths warmed up for the budget debates next month.

___

Wednesday, January 13 2010

The sacking of the chairman of the audit committee from membership of the Conservative Party effectively ends Cllr Nick Brice's role as its financial whizz kid.

His views on spending often clashed with those of his own administration.

Some saw him as a potential key figure in any campaign to change the Conservative leadership in Medway.

He had strong views on spending.

It would have been an austere administration for which he would have worked. He made no secret of that fact.

The next few years are going to be financially difficult for any administration as the government (of which ever hue) cuts spending. It will be difficult to win votes with a cut - cut - cut philosophy.

***

The demolition of two well-known Medway buildings is underway.

After a long drawn out - and frequently very public - battle to save it, the Aveling and Porter Building's final days have arrived.

It served for years as the headquarters of Rochester-upon-Medway City Council and more recently Medway Borough Council (let's give it its legal title) until the Unitary team floated downstream to Gun Wharf.

The demolition team is now in, ripping out bits and pieces and then clearing it.

Why? So that it can become another car park area until a developer can be attracted to build homes, shops and possibly even offices on the former flood plain.

The last time that happened was with Rochester Riverside.

It took 20 years, millions of Government pounds, and a million tons of estuary gravel to raise the ground and make that attractive for building. And what have we got? - beneath the snow and the thin grass, a million tons of estuary gravel and a developer unable (or unwilling) yet to start building.

But what a car park the absence of the Civic Centre will provide! Its views of the castle, the Cathedral and Rochester Pier are unmatched.

The other demolition is at Sun Pier where mariners have now been warned to stay away.

A giant crane has been brought in to remove the pontoons. They provided a floating landing point for passengers. It failed 18 months ago.

Now the council is ripping them out, with no hope of restoring the pier to a working mooring in the foreseeable future.

It will be one of the bills that a Chatham waterfront developer will face in the next few years.

Gillingham Pier is becoming a no go area.

Strood Pier has closed.

Rochester Pier is accessible to few working boats.

Ship Pier at Chatham is now the last remaining mooring for working boats.

Medway City Estate's quays are privately used.

Upnor's two MoD piers are occasionally made available to visiting craft - but not to working boats.

A thriving river?

Someone said the river is the beating heart of Medway. At the moment it's suffering from arterial blockages.

***

If you wondered what had happened to the giant horse intended to stand on the hillside overlooking the approach to Ebbsfleet station - it's beginning to champ at the bit.

The planning application was filed by the Ebbsfleet Landmark Project team with Gravesham council yesterday.

It couldn't be more appropriate at the moment: a big white monster perched on the big white hillside....

___

Thursday January 7, 2010

The cancellation of last night's Planning Committee a couple of hours before it was to sit reinforced the old journalists' mantra - "Never take things for granted".

Having forewarning of the cancellation of the discussions over Holy Trinity Church, this blogger was ready to brave the elements for the rest of the plans.

Now they are on hold. For the first time since the recession began the councillors' next planned gathering promises to be pretty long.

***

The 3,000 council tenants in Medway have each set aside £10 to enable a handful of them to downsize in the interests of the homeless.

They didn't know it - and most of them probably don't have any intention of moving.

The tenants incentive scheme is a longstanding one, and Medway's budget - £30,000 a year - small.

The idea is that for every bedroom you release you will get £500 - plus a one-off £500-maximum payment to cover removal costs.

There are hundreds of homeless families, and dozens of tenants whose children's (and maybe partners) have left home or died.

It is a simple answer - move the small family into a smaller property, and the homeless family into the vacated home.

Solid socialist principles being cautiously supported by the Conservatives with dire warnings to any housing bosses who might consider steamrollering the elderly tenants.

There are two problems.

One is that the smaller family unit (to use council-speak) is almost certainly older - and are they going to want to leave familiar people, places and shops for somewhere they will have to build new relationships?

The other is that the government has provided £50,000 for a temporary officer to develop an overcrowding action plan for Medway's families.

The incentive scheme is part of his (or her) remit, and could attract up to 12 tenants a year.

It's a drop in the ocean - but 12 families housed is 12 less in bed and breakfast accommodation.

The really good news from the Cabinet this week was that 155 affordable houses - for renting, part-ownership and so on - will be built as part of the Temple Waterfront scheme.

And all the signs are that it could buck the recession and be built very quickly.

***

Whether as children by the Big Bad Wolf or as adults by TV murders, mayhem, autopsies and hospital drama "realities", we all like to be frightened.

And we laugh when we realise it is all fictional.

A new monster has appeared on the scene.

He's wild-eyed, and his hair refuses to stay in the right place at the right time.

That's right, the 21^st Century answer to Dracula and his fellow bats is the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

But there are real reasons for Medway, Kent and Essex residents being scared.

Big Boris, ex-newspaper editor, TV news goon and a man able to oust Ken Livingstone from a position of enormous power wants to spend a cool £40 billion (which probably means at least double that) to build an island to house a massive international airport.

It would be in the Thames Estuary between Shivering Sands and Sheppey.

Heathrow could then close, and Hounslow would vote for Boris to do just that.

We are all encouraged to think big.

This is certainly big thinking.

But what right has Boris to choose to despoil two counties and (after London) the biggest conurbation in the South East region?

None.

He has woken the slumbering tiger of Medway Conservatism, Socialism and Liberal Democracy, and they seem ready to man the barricades and raise the RSPB once again in defence of the people, the few remaining vestiges of greenery in Medway - and the birds of the Thames Estuary.

It defeated Alistair Darling when he proposed Cliffe International Airport.

Is Boris a more serious challenge?

___

Wednesday January 6, 2010

A happy New Year - and an immediate grumble.

The snowploughs and gritters were out in force again around Medway last night.

All the council's contractor's fleet was on standby, the weather was not as bad as many feared, and today the main roads were open.

But not everything this winter was as good as we have become used to expecting.

Before Christmas pavements were not cleared.

Buses stayed indoors (certainly at the beginning of the pre-Christmas falls).

There has been a shortage of the visible clearers.

Council car parks were covered.

Grit bins were in short supply - and even today were still empty from the pre-Christmas battles by residents to keep their roads clear.

A lot more snow is being forecast by Michael Fish and his colleagues over the coming days, but in 2010 Medway has been lucky … so far.

It is true. The service is not as good as in past years.

It is down to the privatisation of the service.

In the past, the various councils (Rochester City and Gillingham to 1998, Medway since) relied on their direct labour organisations. These were the street cleaners, the refuse removal operatives, the pavement sweepers.

Their philosophy was one of public service: get out and do it, then argue about the cost afterwards.

It may not have been the best way to manage finances.

But it was the best way to ensure the public was happy that it could walk on pavements, drive on roads and park in car parks.

There were no demarcations.

There is probably still the willingness among today's workforce. But they are privately employed, and working to a contract.

That imposes different criteria. The "They work for us" syndrome also brings the "They want it done this way - that's the way it will be." And anything else (like a suddenly disruptive snow storm or 10) must be negotiated and agreed, and a price fixed.

And that hasn't happened yet.

***

Tonight should have seen a fresh round in the growing saga of Holy Trinity Church, Twydall.

It is a stylish building: indeed, it is a unique building from the Sixties. But it has its problems, its detractors - and their solutions.

Permission to demolish it was rejected three weeks ago after it was Listed as a Grade Two building of special architectural merit.

Tonight a fresh application - this time to demolish a Listed Building - was to be discussed.

The church authorities have withdrawn the application.

It will give them time to consider the opportunities offered by the Planning Committee. Most said they would not object if the building was replaced by less new homes squeezed into the proverbial pint pot.

That means less income - and less to spend on the new church hall that is among the ugliest structures to be proposed to the committee in a long time.

***

What did Santa bring the Finance Portfolio holder of Medway Council?

Cllr Alan Jarrett has been fighting to cut costs and bring the council budget into line with his party's aspirations in an election year.

Seems Father Christmas must be a politician too.

Seems he's been cutting budgets as well.

Cllr Jarrett turned up for Cabinet this week unshaven and bearing a vaguely passing resemblance to the image at the top of today's blog.

Obviously the budget didn't stretch to a razor for the august deputy leader of the council.

___

Friday December 18

The Christmas jokes were flying at Wednesday's planning committee meeting with the usually straight-faced Cllr Ian Burt doing a superb imitation of Jack Dee.

His perception of some of the plans before the committee was not quite in accord with the officers or the developers who had proudly brought them forward for approval.

But he brought the house down when he described one property as more reminiscent of a guard's box than a house.

The property is the sort of place where the estate agents' traditional corruption of reality leaves everything to be desired.

"Bijou residence…suit a single person…easy to manage…." all sprang to mind.

Cllr Nick Bowler wiped the tears from his eyes, gasped for breath and congratulated Cllr Burt on the best comment of the night.

It was certainly the funniest - and most apposite.

Though Conservative veteran, Ted Baker's hope that Paul Clark has taken out a short lease on his new constituency office in Rainham did not sound 100 per cent genuine.

***

I sided with the planning manager, Dave Harris when he said he loved the unloved Holy Trinity Church in Twydall.

It is facing demolition by the church authorities so that they can build a tiny housing ghetto to fund a new community hall.

The existing church has its problems, not least the lack of care and maintenance which the unique Sixties building has received.

Mr Harris was kind when he described the proposed community hall as lacking architectural merit.

It looked similar to the breeze-block buildings thrown up in the desperate rush to provide homes after the Second World War - but lacking their grace, style beauty and architectural elegance.

No-one said it, but demolishing the church would be killing the soul of Twydall.

Surely the work of the church involves not just ministry but providing aspiration and inspiration… not destroying it.

***

If you expected riots, and campaigners chanting, banners waving, choirs praising their schools (something that has dogged the relentless drive to close a number of schools in Medway in the past year) you would have been disappointed at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.

There's been a hint of that throughout the battle to save Ridge Meadow and St John's.

St John's now clings on while a review of places available at CofE faith schools is undertaken.

Ridge Meadow's fate was formally sealed on Tuesday.

It's closure - and goodbye to a number of popular staff whose redundancy packages will add to Medway's financial woes.

St Nick's and All Faiths were saved despite officers' recommendations - and a number of councillors sighed mutual cries of delight that were probably shared by the parents, pupils and school staff.

But no-one will know - because there was a distinct lack of attendance at a meeting which saw 14 schools officially set to close (in reality merging together as seven primaries by 2014).

Cllr Les Wicks has taken an unrelenting pounding from critics in the past year. He must have been delighted to race through the agenda with so much speed (just 35 minutes) that by the time he got to the business case for the Strood Academy (a bit late if there wasn't one, given it began in September) he needed just two minutes to get it approved … all 809 pages.

***

Last night the Audit Committee pontifcated (all three and a half members).

Thoughts that they would approve the new rules for whistleblowers in the wake of the embarrassing defeat the council suffered this year with three of the housing staff proved wrong.

The key thing in the new rules is to stop whistleblowers talking to the press. They want staff to havet he opportunity to talk to councillors if all else fails.

Ironically, the Erinaceous Three studiously refused to speak to the media throughout the saga of the hundreds of thousands of pounds needlessly thrown at contractors supposedly turning council houses into Decent Homes.

I know. I tried repeatedly to talk to them.

One eventually did talk - but only after he had lost his job (and thereby laid the foundations for winning damages for his dismissal).

Medway has a lot of good managers and workers, but it seems to me these rules protect the bad bosses from embarrassment. They will certainly keep council taxpayers away from knowing about any possible fraud, certainly crass incompetence and mismanagement, and needless spending of our money.

If councillors had any guts, they would throw out the new rules, and insist that the managers were exposed to the public when they fouled up.

***

It was a bad day on Tuesday for workers.

Three hundred are to go to the BAE site, and three hours later it was announced an unspecified number will also go at the council in 2010.

Don't think the worst recession in Britain's history is over. It isn't.

***

That's my last word until the New Year, so all the season's greetings to you from all involved with Tales From Gun Wharf.

We'll be back in the New Year as the battle to find millions of pounds of savings at the council goes on.

It's also the time when we may find out whether Rodney Chambers, the Conservative Council Leader's forecast that whatever is said by the Men in Opposition (such as giving greater freedom to councils) is not necessarily what happens once they gain power.

___

Monday December 14

The most extensive alteration to schooling in Medway is expected to be approved by the Cabinet in a public meeting at the Corn Exchange tomorrow.

If everything goes the way the officers plan it, 16 junior and infants schools will become eight primaries over a period of several years.

And the fate may well be sealed for Ridge Meadow and St John's Church of England School.

The administration would argue that is the cake. If so, they might agree that getting the outline business case for Strood's new academy approved (three months after it started teaching the children of Chapter and Temple Schools) is the icing. Late maybe, but finally there in time for Christmas.

***

This week Holy Trinity Church in Twydall is likely to be saved for posterity, if not for its congregation. Councillors are being recommended to reject its demolition.

It might be a short-lived reprieve.

A fresh application to demolish the now-Listed Building is expected to appear before the same committee within weeks.

***

One of the strangest positions in the council is that of the monitoring officer.

It is a legal position and the holder now tells everyone from the chief executive and the Council Leader down what is acceptable and what is not.

It has, among many responsibilities, the duty to protect whistleblowers from victimisation.

The post is held by the council's legal chief, Deborah Upton.

Some months ago Ms Upton was also appointed head of housing.

She also gave evidence against three housing department whistleblowers, action that she had previously approved but which ended with a costly defeat for the council. It has never revealed how much the costs of the action was but in round terms the trio got over £70,000 in damages from the council for failing to heed their advice, and the lawyers probably got more.

On Thursday a new whistleblowing policy is to be discussed by the audit committee.

It talks of the importance of whistleblowers raising their concerns internally.

It sets out "conditions necessary for raising a concern direct to the media and emphasises that premature contact with the media may be a disciplinary matter".

The new rules state any employee considering contacting the press should seek professional advice first - and tell the chief executive.

Which doesn't sit very well with the problems that the Erinaceous Three encountered when they blew the whistle to their employers.

The men were unwillingly put in an unwinnable position. They didn't talk to the press, but we uncovered that payments were worthy of investigation were being authorised.

If the new rules are approved, employees will be able to talk to the press and be protected, provided they do it in good faith, their allegations are substantially true, and they don't act for personal gain.

But they also have to believe they would suffer if they went to their boss, the actions could be covered up, or they had already raised it with their manager.

Otherwise they face disciplinary action …. if none of those conditions is met.

___

Friday December 11 2009

There was good news for council officers this week despite the government salary cutbacks were announced by Chancellor Alistair Darling: they could be crying all the way to the bank.

Councillors were warned that despite the government cap of one per cent salary increases, it doesn't cover Medway's contractual arrangements introduced in 2002.

Staff were merged from three councils in 1998 to create Medway. and they all had different pay scales and salaries even though they were doing the same jobs.

A long drawn out process was agreed seven years ago that would bring them all into line - eventually.

The chairman of business support, Cllr Ken Bamber, wasn't happy that the deal - still unwinding - will effectively add three per cent to the salary bill next year, even though his administration approved the package.

The Tory Whip said at the employment committee (which he also chairs) that there had been recent discussions about ending the deal.

That would be worse than waving a red rag at a discontented bull.

But as more than one Tory colleague pointed out, many people in the private sector took wage cuts or had no increases - despite what one hears about bankers.

***

There is good news about Cllr Roy Hunter, the chairman of the regeneration committee. Taken ill on holiday in the summer he is now back home in Rainham slowly recovering.

***

The council's housing department continues to take two steps forward and one back.

They’ve just had an audit which (according to Howard Doe, the portfolio holder) showed lots of improvements.

There are now only 6,500 on the housing list and the number of families in temporary accommodation is down to 140.

But two council-owned houses have been turned into Precinct 13-style offices with spy cameras, security screens and a besieged wagon train of vans as contractors with (or maybe without) officers approval have turned them into offices.

Cllr Howard Doe - not a man who likes to be embarrassed - was forced to admit publicly last night that he had only just heard about it and was now investigating.

The adjacent corridors were already slick with blood.

No doubt his assistant director, Deborah Upton, will be donning her new fashion accessory - a "When I am wearing my Pink Hat I am not to be Disturbed" titfer as she quizzes the staff responsible.

Three bedroomed houses being used for offices - when there are people sleeping rough again this Christmas. It beggars belief.

***

It is not fair.

The (largely pensionable) cabinet members next week will have to bring in a mass of papers for their meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

Can you imagine the risk to hearts and hernias as they lumber in with two reams of paper (that's right, over 1000 sheets of paper) that they will of course have diligently read this weekend, understood and be able to answer detailed questions about.

The postage on mine cost almost £9 - and I didn't have the 809-page top secret business case for building Medway's answer to Waterloo Road - the Strood Academy.

Someone - contact NHS Medway to arrange paramedics and surgeons on stand-by.

***

A friend's wife popped into Rainham One Stop Shop the other day for a bus pass application form.

The staff member insisted on going through the form with her."Where it says 'name' you write your name.....where it says 'Address' you write your address....we will need proof of identity such as your driving licence but we won't keep it - we'll photocopy it and give it straight back to you......"

Why one needs to produce - of all things - a driving licence to get a bus pass defeats me - and her.Mrs Friend made it clear she wasn't senile. She actually worked for the council and could complete simple forms unaided.

She turned to leave only to be accosted by a young lady with a clipboard who enquired if she could ask some questions about her visit to the Contact Centre.

The usual range of questions was asked along with "Do you think our opening hours are good? (her response - I haven't got a clue and don't care!)

Was the person who dealt with your enquiry wearing his or her badge (she said 'just a moment', back to the counter to examine the member of staff before returning to state 'yes')

And "Do you think it's helpful that the police are at your service here since Rainham Police Station closed?" (to which my friend responded: "Where?"....there was no sign of any Persons in Blue)

Her husband told me: "It seems a waste of time and money (our money!) to conduct such surveys - clearly designed to provide evidence that, like Medway, the centres are wonderful!"

Gosh, such jaundiced views! And that at a time when the Audit Commission is demanding action to prove we taxpayers think it is Medway is as good as they say it is...

__

Wednesday December 9 2009

It is the role of any reporter to question, doubt and test the information that is pressed at news desks almost every second of every day.

Which means the public service spin merchants are viewed with considerable suspicion.

Today all the apocryphal tales about Medway being a great place to live, of its clean and wholesome air, its streets safe to walk at any time, and its fine homes has finally been proved to be ….. true!

The government’s auditors are a force that makes Harry Potter’s Death Eaters seem friendly souls.

They have ripped and harried at the services provided by the police, council, fire and Primary Care Trusts, examined the way they have traditionally kept themselves to themselves – and have found Medway to be almost flawless.

It won a green flag – the latest resurrection of a silly symbol – and just missed a second “by a whisker”, according to Neil Davies, the council’s chief exec.

The flags (yes, there are also red ones) indicate that every other community should follow Medway’s example.

No, not Medway - the council: Medway - the community.

We are cleaner, greener, lighter, brighter…. almost perfection.

And there is a team at work making sure the message filters out.

A local bobby got a rap over the knuckles the other day for protesting: “I’m not a social worker!”

His Chief Superintendent soon put him right: “Oh, yes you are – and don’t your forget it!”

It’s not the only battle being fought in Medway at the moment.

But they all shrink into insignificance when you realise the battle – identified by the auditors but known by all of us – is really with the rest of Medway’s society: it doesn’t believe the facts.

“You wouldn’t see me walking along the High Street at night!” is almost a Medway mantra. But as Cllr Reh Chishti once ambiguously said to the rest of the council: “I would be quite happy to walk the streets at 3.30 in the morning.”

The point is, if you walk Medway’s streets, the chances of being mugged, beaten, attacked, raped or whatever other misfortunes can be brought on you are much less than anywhere else in Kent – and almost as safe as anywhere in the South East region.

We are getting healthier – whether or not we want to.

We are living longer – which will be a problem for our grandchildren.

And we have lots to entertain us, whether it’s our libraries, our heritage, our festivals, are, sport …. But we don’t believe it.

Medway’s population lives in the Eighties. Our industrial heritage, from which the Medway Towns changed from fishing hamlets into famous shapers of the world, was destroyed in a half-decade.

And many still believe that to be the case.

Medway lost its pride. It was Knox-ed out of it.

So, while the Medway Local Strategic Partnership (which should call itself the Medway Partnership if it is to mean anything to anyone) is tackling the problems of teenage pregnancies, heavy smokers, poor rented homes, inadequate childcare and shoddy childminding, a shortage of affordable homes, and mounting deprivation, it is also setting out to restore Medway’s pride in itself.

I shall still doubt the spinners, and question the tales of achievement, but the population of 253,500 has one less unbeliever.

Things really are starting to change for the better.

***

The message about Magnificent Medway is going to get out far and wide if tonight’s meeting of the International Relations committee is to be believed.

A big delegation led by Council Leader, Cllr Rodney Chambers, is set to wing it to China in February to sign our friendship agreement with Guangzhou.

There’s a Medway schools film unit planning to go to film Valenciennes – and then another school group will come here to film Medway. Then they’ll presumably meet in the English Channel (or is it La Manche? And should it be on?) to edit the films.

And after a long absence Japanese leaflets are being produced to promote the attractions – and presumably the safety – to be enjoyed in Medway.

Ah-h-h-h!

___

Friday December 4 2009

There may be a chance for the Aveling and Porter building after all.

The red stone, Edwardian office block formed the core of the riverside Civic Centre at Strood for many years.

But it became a nuisance when the administration decided to sell the whole site for redevelopment.

According to Cllr Alan Jarrett, the political finance overlord whose portfolio stood to make the biggest gain, it had to come down because it would make the site less attractive for a developer.

What he meant was that it had the attraction of being yet more riverside apartments - this time with the prime view in Medway, of the castle and cathedral.

But the regeneration scrutiny committee came together and supported the view of long-time A&P campaign supporter, Cllr Stephen Hubbard.

He proposed - and they backed - a recommendation to the cabinet that a feasibility study is undertaken to investigate the building's retention as part of any redevelopment of the Civic Centre site - and that should be done before the Strood Town Centre Masterplan is finalised.

I wish them well, but I cannot see the Cabinet backing down in any way... despite the fact that the council's papers indicate the problems are with the adjoining modern buildings rather than the Edwardian part.

***

Comments about the performance of some councillors in debates, their support of Medway's democratic principles and the respect in which they hold the opposing parties regularly emerge from the public.

Thankfully they are as nothing compared to the Argentinean local government group that met early this week.

So there may be muttered comments about parentage and political philosophies in some of the council debates.

So the public may be called names by one or two of the more senior councillors.

But they haven't started throwing chairs and furniture at each other - yet.

Around a dozen were injured when they failed to accept the arguments of their opponents.

Just think what they could have done if they'd been serious.

___

Wednesday December 2

The truth behind the resignation of Labour councillor, Dennis McFarlane, finally came out at Medway Magistrates Court this week.

He was a benefit cheat.

He was suspended by the Labour Group when he came clean and admitted he was under investigation.

Eventually he resigned, his position no longer tenable.

Mr McFarlane fiddled housing benefit, council tax benefit and Job Seekers’ Allowance. He had 17 other offences taken into consideration.

And yet he was receiving a councillor's allowance just short of £9,000 a year.

You might have expected the Conservative administration to be jumping up and down that an opposition councillor with aspirations to higher office than the back benches should have been exposed as a cheat.

But it wasn't there.

Cllr Alan Jarrett, the council's Deputy Leader and its finance overlord, said: "This prosecution sends a clear message to everyone that Medway Council will not tolerate benefit fraud of any kind.

"It is completely unacceptable and we won’t hesitate to investigate, track down and prosecute those who cheat the system."

***

There must be some interesting discussions going on in the dimly lit corners of Gun Wharf's planning department at the moment.

Sainsbury want to take over the undeveloped Medway City Estate site between the Medway Tunnel and filling station.

It was the B&Q site. That was until they dropped when the council was overruled by an out-of-town planning inspector. He had decided the Civil Service sports fields alongside the A2 were an ideal brownfield centre-of-town development site for a super store, and gave them permission to build on the edge of the Gillingham Business Park.

Now Sainsbury are dangling 500 jobs, road improvements and the promise to build the largely aspirational park and ride service as the carrot to get permission for an out-of-town centre supermarket in complete contravention of the government (and the council) planning policies.

If you watch carefully for the clouds of smoke you might find the recommendation to build - or fight - the plan following soon after.

***

Several contracts were approved by the Cabinet last week.

The minutes have now been published and the names of the successful bidders released.

But all we had at the public meeting were comments like "award to contractor A on the exempt appendix".

Why?  Where is the openness?

There should be exclusion of the financial aspects. Publish those and the competitors will turn that to their advantage next time - and probably undermine the council negotiating position.

But excluding the public from knowing that Fred's sandwich bar is bidding for the banqueting contract, or that Tom's tyres is bidding to supply carpet underlays is (at best) petulant. Come clean immediately you award the contract.

For the record, 23 companies were selected to provide the council's print facilities because they were the "most economically advantageous", the bus station builder is still being considered, In Touch gets the Supporting People Mental Health Floating Support Service contract for up to four years, and J Breheny Contractors Ltd has got the next stage of the task of improving Union Street as part of the Chatham road improvements.

***

Is there an element of plain English slipping into the committee structure at Medway Council?

I ask because the development control committee has decided to shelve that title and become the plain, simple Planning Committee from now on.

Which is helpful to this hack: I always called it that in any case.

Diane Chambers, the chairman, couldn't resist pointing out: "What goes around comes around."

When she joined the council 33 years ago she served on the planning committee.

It raised a growl from her colleague, Ken Bamber, a former chairman of the Area Development West Committee. He hoped they would soon rename the employment matters committee to what it used to be - the personnel committee.

Can you imagine the mayhem such a move would cause!

***

More than 600 members of the public have so far helped shape the outline of the Lodge Hill development.

Not a brick will be laid until after 2012, and the Masterplan is not yet ready to go forward to the planners for approval, but from what I have seen so far it promises to be an exciting transformation.

Always providing that the Greater High Halstow project (which has to be included in the emerging Local Development Framework even though every politician and Average Man) seems opposed to it.

***

It's time to pipe aboard the admiral, tourist officer Simon Curtis.

He could save cash in Medway by dropping his team's ludicrous idea to buy a lightship and turn into an art gallery.

While the politicians mutter that no one has come to them with a reasoned business plan showing how much it will cost to buy and then maintain, what its operational life is expected to be, what the insurance costs are - and where it's going to be moored - I hear the Medway Tourism Association (MTA) were told all about it the other night.

It will be moored at that fount of artistic achievement, Gillingham, to its pier (only out-done in dynamic architecture by Wigan's classic), and tied alongside the Medway Queen.

Must be right: the latter day Medway Queen and forward planning supremo, Cllr Jane Chitty, was there and didn't disagree with Mr Curtis' information for MTA.

Meanwhile that paddlesteamer can only survive its refit (thinks - should one more accurately describe it as a new build?) if it trades in and out of London. Its chances of visiting Medway regularly after the reconstruction seem increasingly unlikely.

___

Thursday November 26 2009

It was strange the way the Strood Academy business case seems to have been rushed after all the fuss about the project, and its successful establishment.

Why was the 809 page report only made available to the politicians five days before the meeting?

Who was responsible for its last minute publication and distribution?

And isn't a business case three months after the Academy came into being somewhat akin to putting a cart before the horse?

It was noticeable that Rose Collinson, the director ultimately responsible had her head down and carried on checking papers as normal.

Les Wicks, the portfolio holder, clearly wasn't happy for, as he said, he wanted his colleagues to read it cover to cover and be satisfied they were happy with the document.

I am delighted there are still optimists on Medway Council!

The number of councillors who turn up at council meetings and, from their comments, clearly have not bothered to read the simplest summarised reports put in front of them is not embarrassing: it is a disgrace.

The councillor shouldn't worry: he knows the administration is in support of him.

However, he did slip into over-exaggeration and enter the realm of impossibilities.

"As a council we are 110 per cent in support of it," he claimed.

Come off it, portfolio holder for children's education!

I was the despair of every teacher who tried to educate me beyond the 12 times table. But even I know that if all 55 councillors serving Medway's population voted for the academy, that's 100 per cent.

You can't have 110 per cent.

You would need another five and a half councillors, which of course is impossible because (a) the government cut the number of councillors to 55, (b) you can't have half a councillor, and if you (c) rounded it up (or down) to get a whole number of something like 60 or 61, that would become a new number, equivalent to …. err, 100 per cent.

***

The spending crunch is coming. You could sense it at this week's Cabinet meeting.

There was a flippancy there that a sceptic described as giving it the air of a students' examination room before the test papers arrived.

There were plenty of reasons for the politicians feeling good - budget back on target, national indicators pointing in the right direction (mostly), no bad news.

And they spent far more time discussing the 20 items that I gave them credit for - in all, 100 minutes (or five minutes each).

Which may be why no-one had time to comment on the staggering number of cases of abuse to elderly and educationally-challenged adults being investigated in Medway at present.

Or why they decided to appoint a contractor to build the new Chatham bus station before the plans have been approved - and all without the advantage of scrutiny of the controversial project … or a word from the public which had so strongly criticised it last time around.

The £6 million bus station has to be approved ASAP!

It will take a year to build.

If it's not finished by the end of March 2011 - just 16 months hence - the government (whatever its colour) will grab back the cash.

That could leave someone with a big hole in their pocket.

They are trying to take short cuts everywhere.

Why it should take 12 months to build, however, confounds me.

Close Globe Lane, divert the traffic (again), chop down a few old trees, flatten the surface, put in three platforms, three mushrooms and a toilet block, a few swish departure signs, plant some replacement trees, slap down some tarmac and paint a few lines… not much more than that is needed, and you've spent six million quid.

***

That wasn't the only sign of potential mayhem on Tuesday.

There's the vexed question of the historic grants fund to transform some of the slums and empty properties in River Ward back into the undoubtedly magnificent buildings that they once were.

Cllr Jane Chitty argued for support in principle to providing £300,000 over three years to enable more of the buildings to be restored to their past magnificence.

She was like a waif seeking additional sustenance from the Beadle. And Cllr Alan Jarrett, pockets fluttering as the moths start to mature, had a disbelieving eyebrow raised.

"More - You want more?"

Well, he didn't say it quite like that, but it was definitely hidden behind the words he did use, talking about queues, and waiting to see what was left.

There may be good cause for concern - and not just because in 2011 the three year settlement comes to an end.

It was announced when times were good, but it was parsimonious (according to the critics). Certainly repeatedly fixing council tax rises on percentages only aggravates the problems.

The difficulty is then exacerbated by someone repeatedly looking for continued economies year on year on year.

We haven't got to the stage where the chief executive, Neil Davies, whips round with a duster at the end of his 14 hour day, but it is close to that.

(And in case you disbelieve me about senior managers working long, long days, you shouldn't - they do!)

___

Tuesday November 24

There was a time when staff worked a 40 hour week.

It included Saturday and a half-day closure in the week.

Now we have round the clock shopping, 24/7 - and round the clock staffing.

Which may explain why convenience food is so successful - and why so many people are overweight.

This week the council is running classes in at least two locations where mums are learning to cook healthy food.

Given that politicians and employers expect them to be working, not dawdling around the house looking after kids who should be "on the latch" or in nurseries until school can take them at two or three, it does seem a waste .... doesn't it?

***

Jane Andrews certainly knows how to raise the profile of open prisons.

She arrived at East Sutton Park, just outside Maidstone, on Thursday, went on weekend leave Friday - and hasn't returned.

There may be reasons for that, but when you are a convicted murderess, serving a life sentence, it once again brings sharply into focus the logic of the people running the trust system.

She clearly wasn't to be trusted to return.

But should a lifer have been considered for it in the first place?

A life sentence should mean just that - none of this namby-pamby argument that life actually means five years: a minimum of 10 years, and half off for good behaviour.

If someone is to go to prison for 30 years, then let them go for 30 years.

Only towards the end of their sentence should they start their rehabilitation into normal life.

***

Cabinet today promises to go into numerous major matters in great depth.

On average, my money is that they may give as much as five minutes to the sprint-around bus station, how the budget is currently doing, and how next year's budget is taking shape.

Add into that another five minutes on historic buildings grants to transform Rochester and Chatham high street areas from slums into restored period streets (no, not Dickensian twee!), the outline business case for the already-established Strood Academy, and a series of major contracts, it might be strung out for 60 minutes (if they debate it with their usual in-depth scrutiny of the proposals).

Wait! Duck! The Porcine Squadron is overhead again.

***

You might think that the idea of public transport was to get from point A to point B. You might even think it was to get you there cheaply, quickly, in comfort, above everyone else or simply because you prefer being in a mass than cruising in a car.

You would be wrong.

In Medway, the emerging local transport plan says there are five good reasons for transport... and it is beginning to leave people with vague looks on their faces.

The five objectives people are being asked to give their opinion on has nothing to do with whether you go in a bus or a train, a river ferry or a unicycle - or continue to pollute the atmosphere.

Objective number one is to ensure "a competitive transport industry with simplified and improving regulation to benefit transport users and providers and maximising the value for money from transport spending."

Which after considerable study and great pondering by the transport brains in Kent, the Plain English Society of Rainham and a handful of business experts seems to mean "screw down prices".

The second one is cutting pollution.

Then there is improving transport links in underprivileged areas, environmental improvements - and safe transport (including tackling terrorist threats to Medway's transport services).

You can guarantee that if one word would do you and I, local government needs dozens. The five objectives - intended to be simple, clear and concise - take 191 words to gibber explanations across the back of the voting forms. The answers will shape the future of Medway's transport into the second decade of the third Millennium (in other words after 2010).

The mind boggles at some of the gibberish contained in the forms.

One seeks to improve the health of individuals by "encouraging and enabling more physically active travel". It sounds as though Arriva's buses may be provided with council-funded cardio machines in the standing areas.

There is not a word about improving journeys, speeding up transport, priorities, park and ride (now that was a great idea while it lasted) or anything vaguely sensible.

A friend who was asked to complete the form said: "None of us knew what on earth the man from the council was one about!"

Which is probably what was wanted in the first case.

***

You can catch up with the week ahead with Gun Wharf Briefing every Monday in the Medway Messenger.

___

Thursday November 19 2009

There is a brave new spirit of unity between the medics and the politicians in Medway.

At one time - not so long ago - one sensed there was resentment that councillors could poke their nose into operations, priorities and bed spaces.

But that has very clearly disappeared.

I suspect it may have a lot to do with the health scrutiny committee chairman's style.

Mike O'Brien is no one's fool, but most of the time he comes across as a listener who understands difficulties, and knows how to find solutions.

That's not to say he isn't a rabblerouser, too.

Anyone at last week's council meeting would have seen the other side strongly to the fore as he snapped and snarled at opponents like a belligerent corgi.

There is also a respect from the health managers.

They certainly need to work together. The changes that have taken place in the past couple of years have meant that someone going into hospital is unlikely to spend many days there: as soon as the doctors are satisfied they have done everything they can, the patient becomes the responsibility of social services. As do the charges.

Hard decisions will have to be taken in the next few years.

Today's announcement that a £3,000 a month liver cancer treatment is too costly for the NHS to fund is almost certainly the tip of the iceberg. If ever there was an inappropriate acronym it has to be NICE (the body removing that health treatment - and condemning sufferers to a premature death).

Watch out for more such cases… starting tomorrow.

___

Tuesday 17 November 2009

One of the people at Medway Renaissance that was an inspiration was Laura Wren.

She was deeply immersed in transport having been with Network Rail before coming to Medway, understood the politics and road transport, and earned a lot of respect across the country.

She left Medway Renaissance shortly after she organised a packed two-day conference that was ignored by 52 of our 55 councillors, but attracted the top transport brains.

Last week two things reminded me of Ms Wren.

One was the news that a geography MA with regeneration knowledge has been appointed to head up the South East region's transport board. Her key priorities are to fund transport in the region.

Her experience? - managing a portfolio of housing and mixed-use development sites in Milton Keynes for SEEDA.

The other was the failure of any Medway Council representative to attend a national conference in Chatham Historic Dockyard that was looking at the use of rivers to transport bulk freight.

This is the river where one of the top shipping firms in Europe is based. GPS used to be based at what has become the undeveloped site at Rochester Riverside. Then it was forced to move because the GPS wharf was needed for a public waterfront path, and the offices were needed for .... well, so far dumping a load of gravel and the repeated promise of development.

It's good to know nothing changes.

***

One of the disturbing things about Medway Council at the present time is the way it overlooks things.

It was a classic case of "Oops - never mind!" that led to the the acute embarrassment of the Finance portfolio holder at last week's meeting.

He had to admit that a number of staff in different departments had overlooked contracts that were starting to run out. It led to a bit of constructive needle from the Oppopsition.

It also left one thinking some blood may be spilt in the back corridors of Gun Wharf as the battle to gain control of the council spending seems to be slipping.

It seems fairly clear to me that there needs to be a good old fashioned five year diary on everyone's desk that is responsible for contracts.

In it would be the date the contract expires - and (working back to today) would be the timetable for achieving a smooth transition to a new contract.

But we all rely on computers. And sometimes its diary entries can be changed (or deleted) accidentally. It needs a heavy pen and conscious thought to delete something inked in a big book.

And those pen strokes are still there five years hence.

___

Monday November 16 2009

Developers will find it easier to design road junctions under proposals being considered across Kent and Medway.

They are being advised that the present visibility standards are far too high.

Hedgerows and house walls may be allowed closer to the road than has been the case for many years - and wider pavement at turnings could become a thing of the past.

Kent Highways says the present design guide on visibility is "unreasonably" high.

They reckon it takes drivers one-and-a-half seconds to react to the junction and start making a move.

Apparently there is a formula to calculate the distance (SSD). It is SSD=Vt+(V x V)/2d where time is shown as 't'.

Now they are advising councils that unless there are specific reasons to return to the current standards, designers no longer need to worry so much about children and grannies.

At 30 mph they currently have to allow a minimum of 60 metres visibility. The new recommendation is cut to 43 metres.

***

Drivers in Medway are used to traffic congestion around the centre of Chatham. They blame it on the demolition of the flyover.

But increasingly, other roads are becoming more and more congested.

Pier Road is a classic example.

In the past three months it has gone from a reasonably flowing 40,000 vehicles a day to a stop-start mass.

The daily ritual of racing the lights (and the driver alongside) and seeing who can reach the legal minimum (that is what the red circle around a black number means - isn't it?) is played out by hundreds of drivers.

The problem has suddenly got worse.

Part of it is unquestionably the search for an alternative to the A2 through the Towns.

But much of it seems to be linked to The Flowering of Traffic Lights. They seem to have been breeding more successfully than the weeds in Medway's gutters.

Between The Strand and the new police station at Gillingham Gate there are seven (or is it eight?) sets of traffic lights.

Certainly they slow down traffic. That is to be welcomed.

The evidence seems to point to a  marginal drop in speeds - and a massive rise in pollution, blood pressure and motorists' foolhardiness.

___

Friday November 13 2009

THERE is always a dose of testosterone in the air when an election is in the offing.

Last night's council meeting, however, was so heady with it that it spread into the audience.

For nearly six hours - a record for Medway Council meetings - councillors heaped abuse on each other, questioners got angry at the answers, and it soon spread to the audience as they sensed a lack of determination by the administration to be straight with anyone.

For about a year a well organised group of parents and school supporters have been vainly fighting plans to close three small schools.

One - St Peter's - was saved a few weeks ago by the cabinet.

A second, apparently no different but in a Labour ward, had its closure confirmed last night. Yet if St Peter's can stay open, it was argued, surely so too can St John's which has served Chatham for over 140 years.

No. According to Cllr Les Wicks, responsible for schools, it had had an Ofsted that was not as good as the last one.

How he knows remains a mystery. The information was supplied confidentially to the head teacher, but has yet to be published.

There were attacks on the officers - Rose Collinson, the director, escaped the verbal assault last night, but not the legal eagle and regular appearer in this column, Deborah Upton.

The attack - by the Conservative candidate for the Rochester and Strood parliamentary seat, Cllr Mark Reckless - was rapidly defended by his Leader, Cllr Rodney Chambers.

But sitting behind the Tory councillors you could almost see the scars from the whipping imposed by the administration on the majority party.

Cllr Reckless' comments were the only ones from the Conservatives to defend St John's.

It almost sparked a back bench revolt.

There were waverers, but eventually they all accepted the lash… with the exception of Cllr Reckless who abstained.

The Opposition parties were almost united on everything - especially the continued lack of willingness from the Conservatives to accept that there might be a justifiable argument against the ones they have accepted.

To the Victors go the spoils. And the spoiling has been going on ever since the last election.

Regrettably, it will continue. Whether David Cameron wins or loses the General Election, the local elections in 2011 seem certain to reduce the voice of the dissenters for another four years at least - unless in victory there is the occasional magnanimity.

The more this seasoned observer watches, the less he is convinced the Cabinet system of local governance can work.

What would be interesting is what happens if the Conservatives regain the Government front bench, and bring in the many cuts they promise.

Services in Medway will be cut. How will a Conservative administration - used to blaming the Labour Government for everything - answer that?

___

Wednesday November 11 2009

There's nothing like washing your dirty linen in public. And Medway knows exactly how to avoid doing that.

Buried in the back pages of your local paper is an area known as the public notices.

It's where things like planning applications, bankruptcies and the like are published, where someone is going to apply to be a pawnbroker or plans to open an off-licence.

They are boring - but frequently they have a major impact on your life.

The last few weeks they have been graced by notices from the council.

Amid the plans and changes to previously agreed policies, there were two concerning the Local Government Ombudsman.

Medway Council had been accused of not once but twice of ignoring the rights of local people to be properly consulted.

They complained to the Ombudsman who - after a detailed investigation - agreed.

There are three Ombudsmen and one of them retired after finding our council guilty of ignoring the people.

They ordered the council to cough up a token sum by way of punishment.

By law they have to tell the community that they had misbehaved.

And they have to publicly consider the reports.

Tomorrow night you can guarantee that there will be a few official tut-tuts.

What got them into trouble?

They failed to consider several families living next door to a school when they approved new sporting facilities. In fact the residents were ignored. Officers gave the wrong advice.

The other was the introduction of the £75 companions bus ticket. This is an annual charge suddenly imposed on severely disabled, blind and handicapped people who have a friend accompany them when they use the buses.

Many places don't charge. Others do - but they make sure everyone is aware and able to influence the final decision.

Not so in Medway.

It was suddenly introduced at the beginning of the year.

Cabinet members had decided there would be massive charges to taxpayers with the introduction of the new national free bus pass for the over 60s so any companion would have a one-off charge of £75. It replaced a nominal charge each time the companion accompanied someone.

In fact Medway got off lightly. The money they put aside was transferred to other areas that were under stress.

There is no question that Medway is under-funded. It is going to get a lot worse.

Councillors are supposed to be the barrier between officers' excesses and what the public expects.

Every time they allow things to go through without considering the impact on the people they are supposed to be serving, their own standing in the community falls.

And hiding your flaws by burying the bad news is only going to earn bad publicity when the faults become public.

___

Tuesday November 10 2009

A national conference is to take place a short Pooh Stick ride downstream from Gun Wharf tomorrow.

It has been organised by Freight by Water and is hoping to raise the profile of the nation's waterways to save carbon emissions, shift freight, and easy the burdens on our roads.

Among the speakers will be several Medway shipping personalities and the Shipping Minister himself, none other than local MP Paul Clark.

It will be interesting to see whether anyone from the council is there.

After all it has said the River Medway is at the heart of the community.

Only problem is, this council has successfully failed to recognise that the river needs to be worked, and that there were plenty of skilled local rivermen - until they did away with all the wharves.

A handful survive in the traditional urban reaches.

But most have long since gone.

One of the classic shipping areas was opposite the Medway City Estate.

It wasn't the best cared-for area, but the ships moved in and out, the tugs bustled up and down and the river was regularly churned.

Then Prestcott, who was the great God of Housing Mammon, spoke with his servants, Rodney of Medway and Paul the Clerk, and said: "For many years you and your forebears have dreamed a dream for the marshes.

"It has become land, and that land has had wharves. But now it is waste and scrub, weeds and ruins populated by badgers, foxes, and probably great-crested newts.

"But it could be useful once again."

And the God of Housing Mammon waved his wand, and conjured up a few million shekels to compulsorily buy the land and raise that which once was marsh.

And gravel to a million tonnes - maybe more - came by ship to raise the land above most floods.

And a developer was found.

But when the God of Housing Mammon turned his back to such things, there were wailings and lamentations, much gnashing of teeth but no money was available to continue His good work.

Yea, the developer was forced and recessed, and though he signed many notes of intention, still the land lies bleak and windswept.

In the meantime there are few ships, and our roads become ever more congested, and the people cry out for action.

But the sailors are gone, no more to return.

And soon a Ship of Light - called a lightship - shall be found and turned into an art gallery, and they shall say it is good, and will attract the people to spend their money.

And if enough Ships of Light can be found then shall the riverside be built upon, providing homes for the masses, for there shall be money once again in the community.

And Rodney of Medway shall say: "Thus did I see it in my dreams. And so it came to pass."

But said Paul the Clerk: "Even then there will be nowhere for the ships to ease Medway's traffic congestion, and the roads will become increasingly clogged."

Thus endeth the lesson for today.

___

Monday November 9 2009

There was a very good reason why cash-strapped Medway Council spent thousands of pounds delivering 11-plus results: Mums were cross because there was a postal strike.

It seems someone was worried about votes and took a political decision to lavish our lolly in this way.

Several ideas were conceived, agreed and then over-ruled before the decision to reached to spend £4.31 on each and every letter delivered.

On the Wednesday it was decided to use the St George’s Centre as a distribution point. Mums (or Dads with Little Wayne or Dainty Jorja) would be able to go along and collect the results. Anxiety over. Truth known. Distribution done.

Then someone decided there would be too much congestion at the St George’s Centre. (It’s right next door to the emergency flu centre chosen because "there is plenty of available parking".)

They could have got a junior member of staff to deliver them to the schools. It could have been done with a couple of gallons of fuel, a few hours of staff time, and much more cheaply.

But of course they couldn’t ask someone to do that or for the school to send a teacher to collect their pupils’ results.

So the schools would have the couriered envelopes.

That was until the following afternoon when it would appear the politicians feared for their votes.

That was when it was decided to get the courier company to deliver each and every result on the Saturday.

Price tag - £9,000.

But several families were left waiting until the kids came home in the evening with the envelopes that had been redirected to the schools - just as someone had suggested the previous Wedmesday.

***

There were very rational arguments about the safety of mobile phone technology at last week’s Gun Wharf Summit.

That was until one of the representatives of the Big Five spoke.

He was Jim Stevenson from O2, one of the firms that in the past have been accused of steamrolling the masts across the coutnryside.

He told the joint gathering of health and children committee scrutineers: "We have masts on school buildings. We do some very good work with those schools by providing money for them to do great things with it."

He seemed incapable of recognising that that was precisely what people fear: Big Business charging ahead with profit-seeking at the expense (possibly) of people’s health.

There was no evidence that phone masts, base stations and mobile phones do cause health problems.

But equally there was no evidence that they don’t.

And there was plenty of apocryphal arguments that both could be true.

Mr Stevenson boasted: "You can’t prove there is any danger from base stations."

There was evidence from objectors that one phone mast is deliberately aimed at Gillingham Station passengers "to give the best signal".

If there was something catastrophically wrong with the technology the attitudes being demonstrated by the proponents would be viewed at best as cavalier and at worst as ..... definitely actionable.

But we don’t know.

The government has raked in £23 billion in licence fees - and spent £6 million of investigations.

There is a striking reluctance to ease people’s fears about brain tumours and concentrations of cancer groups. It is almost as if the government has something to hide.

Would they hide it?

Could it happen?

Yes.

Remember how service personnel were enticed to go atomic bomb spotting in the Pacific?

Or when Chatham was the guinea pig for nuclear weaponry modernisation?

Or how both the dockyard and Higham were major asbestos centres?

Evidence has now emerged that the dangers from asbestos were identified after the First World War yet successive governments deliberately did nothing until the sixties.

Asbestos was used for fire protection, as pipes and roofs, garden implements, indeed almost anything that could be shaped and baked from it.

The main manufacturer - Uralite - was at Higham. The factory site today is a business park .... built upon millions of tons of asbestos waste too difficult for anyone to remove.

The cause of a mounting death toll from asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma (a rare form where the victim is slowly suffocated by his own body) was more much politicians’ reluctance to come clean about the materials as our willingness to use them.

Of course, mobile phones are safe... aren’t they?

___

Friday November 6 2009

There was a lot of talk last night about collective nouns.

Just as there is a parade of elephants, a skein of ducks or an attitude of teenagers, there has to be a collective noun for Mikes.

It came up during idle chatter surrounding the special meeting that looked at phone mast safety.

A host of experts had been assembled after the committee chairman, Cllr Mike O'Brien, decided to examine the facts about mast safety.

The chairman invited a local campaigner, the Health Protection Agency, the Radiation Research Trust and the Mobile Operators Association (MOA) to Medway to speak about the dangers - real or imagined.

Which was fine... until Chairman Mike came to address them. The campaigner was Mike Evans.

The protection agency's spokesman was a doctor, Mike Clark.

The Trust sent along the erudite Michael Bell.

Thankfully, the MOA was a bit more imaginative. It sent Nicola Davies, and senior managers from Vodaphone, O2, 3 and T-Mobile who, with Orange, have paid the government over £25 billion for their licences to put up masts without councils interfering with their locations.

The trouble was that Chairman Mike had planned the discussion as informal but informative.

No formal titles - it was down to Mike .... no, the other Mike..... to amplify the points they wished to make.

Surprisingly there was a tiny audience (half a dozen members ofthe public would be stretching it) who bothered to attend.

It did demonstrate why titles sometimes have a use.

And why you sometimes need a mike to hear all that was being said.

So what is the definitive collective noun for Mikes? - the news room came up with a megalomania of Mikes, a boast of Mikes, a mast of Mikes, a muddle of mikes or even a multitude... 

Meanwhile, if you think today's blog is late - blame it on the kids!

The Year Six students at Bligh Junior School turned the tables on your scribe, and gave him a two hour cross-examination about newspapers, journalists and truth this morning.

Refreshing (and terrifying) to be on the receiving end of the questioning.

___

Thursday November 5 2009

Lord Laming's report into the social service failings he identified across the country have had a big impact in Medway.

His report was commissioned in the wake of the  killing of Peter Donnelly - known for a long time only as Baby P.

Let me ask: would you want to be held responsible if - God forbid! - there was a Steven Barker or a Jason Owen practising their evil in your street?

Think of the outcry there was after Haringey's social services team was exposed as overlooking little Peter, the child tortured to death while his mother did nothing to help.

This was a social team which was overstretched, under-resourced and not seen as politically high up the agenda. Most councils have problems prioritising what is right and what is wrong.

Medway has been criticised on several occasions for the way it failed to care adequately for the weakest in our society.

It responded quickly each time.

That included the way it supervises foster children and its housing service.

And although its social services have not been specifically criticised Lord Laming's words have come at an opportune moment to push through vital improvements.

Medway is stripping its social workers of their administrative duties, and recruiting more staff from a shrinking pool where few wish to swim.

It is also promoting everyone of them - so they get more pay.

Children will be marginally safer. But have no doubt about it. No matter how many social workers you have, no-one can guarantee there isn't a paedophile, a sadist or a sub-human living in any community perpetrating their evil behind "normal" homes.

The pay rise - expected to cost council taxpayers more than £700,000 a year - should help to entice good social workers to Medway (until the other councils do the same).

It is not the only change. There will also be greater support and help for vulnerable adults - those with learning difficulties, physical ailments and age.

But a major weakness exists in what is happening to those who rely on Medway's social services.

Much of the work traditionally done to a reasonably high degree by the council's own workers is now being farmed out. That reduces the council's ability to control and supervise what is done in our name.

It threatens the very people they are trying to help: the latest policy is to provide them with cash to buy the care and supervision they need.

And that was the reason why many of them are vulnerable: too often those receiving council support from overstretched social workers are unable to make key decisions to care for themselves.

It doesn't matter if you have a brain injury or are a 17-month-old like Baby P, sometimes others have to make the right decisions for you.

Social workers are vital in our society.

___

Wednesday November 4 2009

Most of the trees at The Paddock may have been saved in the latest plans for Chatham's new bus station.

But others are still being sacrificed by Medway Council.

Forests have been destroyed in order that councillors, officers and, yes, the public can know what policies are being propounded and followed.

Yesterday there was a formal apology to all the trees that, in the interests of democracy, will no longer wilt their leaves each autumn. The apology came from the very top: the Leader of the Council, Cllr Rodney Chambers, in a fit of remorse, interrupted his Man of History, Cllr Howard Doe, at the Cabinet meeting.

The councillor had been trying to tell colleagues how valuable was a 248-page report that sets out the future for one of Medway's oldest buildings - Rochester Castle.

It has been printed and reprinted in agendas for weeks.

It appeared again yesterday in a limited production run.

Cllr Chambers could not let the opportunity pass.

Mustering his most lugubrious-in-extremis look, he announced: "I just wish to apologise to all the trees for the size of this report."

It's the document that once again resurrects the argument for a roof - corrugated, see-through, plastic, aluminium or whatever - over the 1,000 year old tower.

What anyone who sees the forthcoming film, Ironclad, would think of the mighty keep encased in such fripperies after more than 400 years as a ruin is not clear.

They are currently filming the bloody 1215 Seige of Rochester by Bad King John. But not in Rochester. Oh, no!

The shoot is going on "somewhere in Wales".

But gird your loins! Once the film graces the silver screens, appears on DVDs and TV screens the council expects a fresh invasion by an army of tourists determined to follow in the steps of John, the Sheriff of Nottingham and all the other villains and their villeins.

What they would think if it is turned into a capped column of stone, refloored and available to hire - all ideas contained in the new report - I dread to think.

Meanwhile, on the opposite bank of the river, another historic building is unlikely to see 2011 if the council has anything to do with it.

The Aveling and Porter building's supporters have turned to Private Eye in a bid to dissuade our burghers from bulldozing through its demolition.

Under a heading "Demolish and Be Damned", the magazine's Nooks and Corners column currently extolls the virtues of the former civic headquarters in Strood.

It describes our august Corporation as "blinkered brutes .... not interested in any positive or imaginative uses for an interesting, sound and handsome piece of architecture".

A bit harsh to call them blinkered when their Leader is prepared to speak up for trees.

***

Talking of green authorities, an urgent press release from Tonbridge and Malling council last night announced its meeting had been cancelled.

It read: "Please note that the Council meeting scheduled for 7.30pm today, Tuesday 3 November 2009 in the Civic Suite at Tonbrige & Malling Borough Council offices at Kings Hill has been cancelled due to flooding. The meeting will be rescheduled for Thursday 19 November.

"Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council is committed to tackling the causes and effects of climate change. Please save energy and resources by not printing this e-mail unless absolutely necessary."

One piece of paper could cause a flood?

Medway - beware!

___

Tuesday November 3 2009

One of the things any reporter will tell you drives them wild is the unwanted press release.

That, generally speaking, is about 998 out of every 999 releases we receive.

Among the releases that have arrived on my desk in recent days have been "20-year-old Buckinghamshire rider tipped to make her mark in Rio in 2016", a piece about a sailing boat rescue off Sheerness, an exclusive that quagos cost £1 billion a year.....

They are produced largely to prove that the PR individual that wrote them was working yesterday.

It has nothing to do with whether they are written well, whether they are pertinent, relevant or even local.

I make the observation - one which every reporter will repeat time and time again - as the Audit Commission announces it is considering ways of judging the quality of council communications teams by the number of press releases they issue.

As a reporter who was a PR professional for about 17 years, I feel well able to comment.

Can you imagine what it would be like as they struggle to meet new targets?

"Gillingham councillor has hair cut"

"Rochester Member buys new shelves for council papers"

"Chatham has more rats than....." Well - maybe that would attract our interest!

The fact is, the communications department of any council frustrates many press people because they know when there is a story - and when there isn't.

When there isn't a story, they are all very quick to help.

When there is a good story, they are also very quick to help.

The challenge for both parties is when there is something wrong. That's when the PR person will do their best to dissuade a dogged reporter chasing a potential story that would harm the image of their authority.

But to judge communications teams on the quantity of anything they do - whether it is words, releases or awards - is a ludicrious waste of time. But of course auditors tend to have backgrounds controlled by figures.

The team that manages to revive a bad image, stop a misinformed story from appearing in print, or raises people's hopes and aspirations, is going to do that in a thousand subtle ways. That is their skill. It is the skill of the reporter to uncover the weaknesses, the failings and deliberat misleading.

Medway has a good team. But that doesn't mean to say we reporters don't see eye to eye with them: but at least they don't swamp us with detritus. Producing verbiage is the sign of a bad PR person.

You might as well call to account someone for the number of sheets of paper that are flushed away in public conveniences.

There used to be a programme on Commercial TV - "Never Mind the Quality -  Feel the Width".

The Audit Commission seems bent on following those very principles.

___

 Monday November 2 2009

After a week's annual leave, it's back to the fray - and a fairly hectic week ahead.

For a starter, the Cabinet meets tomorrow.

It has a hefty agenda of 20 items to discuss. They range from new school bus contracts to the resurrection of the politicians' idea to put a roof on Rochester Castle keep after a few centuries of exposure to the rain.

Filling in, so to speak, is talk of upping the budget for on-street disabled parking by 150 per cent and the implications for Medway of the Laming Report into child protection.

The proposal to put a lid on top of the tallest castle keep in England (the second-oldest in the country, incidentally) is nothing short of ludicrous.

One can only hope that English Heritage will man the buttresses, boil the oil and prepare to repel the assaults.

It's a ruin, for goodness sake!

The prospect of corrugated iron sheets dripping rust stains down the walls of the 900-year-old edifice leaves one thinking the proposers are simply trying to find a cheap (and not very cheerful) small-minded alternative to restoration.

Also up for discussion is talk of upping the budget for on-street disabled parking by 150 per cent.

There are 10,500 blue badge holders in Medway.

At the moment if they have off-street parking they aren't entitled to on-street parking bays (even if it is quarter of a mile from their home).

That could change tomorrow.

It is one of a series of proposals to improve facilities for disabled residents in Medway - even though the bay painted outside their home is not specifically for their exclusive use.

Currently there are 1,000 pavement-side disabled bays.

That could rise, but in a bid to control demand it looks like it will be first come, first served.

Once the budget is spent, officers are recommending everyone is told to limp, wheeze and otherwise suffer until the following financial year provides some cash.

Past experience should warn politicians that path leads to chaos.

Yet if the 9,500 drivers with a right to a disabled spot all demand it at the same time, it could be 10 years before the bay is installed outside their home.

You can imagine the rows, the petitions, the political capital to be made from exploiting such a situation.

One almost senses Till Eulenspiegl has joined the council's merry ranks.

___

Friday October 23 2009

CONFUSION continues to surround the less-than-dynamic bus station being proposed for Chatham, even though version number four has passed the scrutiny committee.

It has now been reduced to 13 bus stops spread over three lanes that will transform Globe Lane.

There will be three mushrooms - canopies to keep the rain off the passengers' heads.

They replace the enclosed, glassed concourse where passengers were expected to wait in warmth until called forward to the appropriate door which would swish open to welcome them aboard the waiting bus.

Instead the wind can now howl across Rat's Bay, over the pumping station and straight through the huddling passengers.

At least there will be some shelter for them: the officers have conceded that toilets should be provided, rather than the preserved trees of The Paddock.

The latest confusion is whether there will be motorway services and Medway's long-conceived, but never implemented, park and ride system.

It depends who you talk to.

There will be provision for them, according to the council's communications team.

There won't be in the foreseeable future, if you listen to the latest words from the Medway Renaissance team.

There is a lot of unrest among councillors at the moment.

They are annoyed at the way officers have seemed to treat them as a necessary evil.

And they are starting to flex their muscles.

Which is right …. providing the public doesn't end up suffering.

I cannot see National Express considering running into the centre of Chatham when it is a quick sidetrack from the M2 into Hempstead Valley where there are bus services, car parking, toilets and a shelter. They haven't served Chatham since the late Seventies.

There is absolutely no move forward on the park and ride plans.

The firmest of these was going to be from the Medway Tunnel to the town centre, funded by B&Q in return for the planning permission they got some years ago to build over Whitewall Creek.

The plans keep changing, and the Park and Ride seems to have been forgotten.

Compare what is now proposed for Medway with other places.

Bristol: it has a heated bus station, passengers safely enclosed until their driver is ready to board them.

Bluewater's bus station is similar, except you don't have to cross the road to get to your bus.

Even Victoria Coach Station - once the butt of numerous tales of woe - is bright, warm, dry and enclosed, with toilets, cafes and seats.

As for Park and Ride? You can P&R in Oxford, Reading, Maidstone, Canterbury, Exeter, Carmarthen, Norwich, Ely….. the list goes on and on. Maidstone even has a riverboat service at Christmas!

Medway does have a park and ride. It is unadvertised, but a minibus operates from Horsted to Chatham and Rochester on Saturdays between 9am and 5.40pm.

It's biggest publicity was when the operator's wife celebrated her birthday - and for a day her husband ran a fleet of traditional London buses for her instead of the minibus.

___

Thursday October 22 2009

The clutching of straws took place at Medway's regeneration scrutiny committee last night.

It was chaired by Cllr Matt Bright, who stepped in because of the ill-health of the usual chairman, Cllr Roy Hunter.

He sat over an often vitriolic meeting, if the reports I have heard today are anything to go by.

Ironically, the issue that enabled councillors to create their raft of chaff was that oft-cursed creation, Chatham's replacement bus station.

There has been an air of take-it-or-leave-it from some officers of the council. That has not sat well with the elected representatives of the community, who have been trying to pick their way through an increasingly quaggy mire of confusion, falling aspirations and rapidly reducing days.

Just as they rejected the last set of plans in a cross-party sign of rare unity, so last night they supported the latest proposals because only four trees would now need to be chopped down on The Paddock.

Why the concern for The Paddock? Well, it is the only piece of land in the whole of Chatham that has not - at some point - been dug up, knocked down, destroyed or built upon.

The planners of the bus station thought it was unimportant.

And they didn't expect tree-huggers in Medway.

May be they were right.

Where they were definitely wrong was in misjudging the mood of the public over the changes that they are blissfully pushing through, the disruption they are causing to life and traffic, and they way that they are ignoring people.

And that was why the last plan came unstuck.

The problem with the one that was nodded through last night is that it won't meet the needs of the community.

There are insufficient bus stops for the amount of buses which are being planned in Medway to cope with the growth in the Towns. After all, we are talking about a 25 per cent population increase in 10 years with no possibility of building more roads to cope with a further growth in cars - and they went up in Medway by 25 per cent between 1998 and 2008.

Just look at the way the buses whip in and out of the Pentagon. Then add the ones barred from its bays by Arriva which use Military Road.

Now add a fifth bus for every four you see at the moment.

***

Meanwhile what else has been happening?

Cllr Hunter is being treated in hospital in Yeovil where he was taken ill while on holiday: my thoughts are with him for a speedy recovery.

Plans for a pink picnic are being made for next Friday by members of the council's communications team.

It's to raise awareness of Breast Cancer - while I shall be wearing something pink the same day to support the reporters' own efforts.

What is it about the British that we respond to tragedy with lunacy?

Look at Children in Need as TV stars make fools of themselves to raise millions of pounds to help kids in the most awful conditions.

***

The council has declined to set up a creche for staff.

But if you have got a dog, and you are senior enough, you can order a council employee to go and walk your dog during the day when it is not relaxing in your office.

Certainly that is the case for at least one assistant director.

Hopefully the walkers will use pink pooper scoopers next week.

___

Wednesday October 21 2009

Have you ever seen a panic button pushed?

No?

Visit tonight's regeneration scrutiny committee.

You'll see the thumbs going crazy as the dream of a riverside park in front of the shopping centre of the City of Chatham (my paraphrasing of the councillors' concepts) virtually disappears.

The regeneration committee is being given a revised plan for the bus station replacement for the current Black Hole in the Pentagon.

The plans were rushed through after the previous up after the other was thrown out by planning committee members. They were concerned about the way it would destroy most of The Paddock, a large area of greenery between Globe Lane and Military Road.

The new plans - said to be on "the only possible site" - will see a three lane bus station of mushroomed rain- and leaf-shelters.

It will still result in the chopping down of 12 mature trees in the park that will survive the creation of the bus station. But while four of them will go from The Paddock, the remainder will be chopped down on the waterfront to save the recently enlarged waterfront car park.

It is not the only site, despite what the officers say.

It is not adequate.

And with four pedestrian crossings it certainly does not appear to be safe. Certainly when I was in the National Bus Company such a design would never have been allowed.

There is an air of desperation about the plan.

The time to commit the money is rapidly running out: at that point the £6 million government cash will be seized back.

The "dynamic" bus station (whatever that was supposed to be) will see the bus stops cut from 16 to 13. So - guess what: there will be roadside bus stops as well.

That was just what they were trying to avoid, even if people had to run between stops as the buses arrived and departed.

Once again it is likely to separate Big Brother Arriva from the small independent companies like Nu-Venture.

There is no explanation why the bus station cannot go next to the rail station to provide a modern transport interchange linked to the shops by a covered moving walkway.

There is no reference to the spoiled park plan.

There is no indication that the owners of the Pentagon will ever come up with a development proposal to replace the first floor Arriva bus station.

And it will mean passengers will remain segregated :those with a bus station stop, and those without.

And there is no loss of roads.

Military Road will be reserved for taxis, emergency vehicles and the like.

The short access road from what used to be the foot of the Sir John Hawkins flyover to the High Street will remain - as a service road for the shops.

What a mess!

__

Tuesday October 20 2009

If you want to live off the state, follow the fine example set in Maidstone Crown Court yesterday by two care workers, Michelle and Pamela Bainbridge.

They ripped £102,000 off you and me during the past seven years.

While neighbouring magistrates at Tunbridge Wells are regularly sending benefit cheats to prison, and Medway's JPs are ticking them off, the Ladies Bainbridge showed that if you have enough cojones and are prepared to cheat, twist, lie and fiddle you can live in relative luxury.

Yesterday, at Maidstone Crown Court, they got suspended prison sentences, and were told to pay the court costs of £200 over the next two years.

Court costs? - those are how we ask criminals like the Mistresses Bainbridge to repay some of the £5,000 cost of taking them to court. Think we'll get it back?

Got your hankies ready? - Pamela has so far repaid £320 of the £17,500 she claimed.

Sister-in-law Michelle - who successfully lied her way over seven years to £85,418 - has not paid a penny.

You are going to need those hankies as you hear why they haven't been locked up and the keys thrown away.

Their husbands, Tony and Darren, were reported to be Class A drug users (sniffle).

They go off on drawn-out heavy boozing sessions, don't support the family and generally give Medway a reputation regeneration is trying to end (snuffle).

They have 12 kids. That, too, (sob-sob) is a good reason to steal from you and me.

And they have elderly parents (boo-hoo!) so that, too, is full justification for taking you and me to the cleaners.

The two women said their husbands had abandoned them. (Tears should be flowing)

They hadn't.

Michelle and Darren married in 2002 - and immediately Mrs B started claiming benefits.

They now have five children - but claimed income support, housing benefit, and council tax benefit until she was caught last year.

What was her basic lie? - that she was a single parent.

But when he wasn't off on a spree Darren was snuggled up at home.

Pamela Bainbridge began her fun and games in April 2005 but was caught in December 2007 when her claims that Tony had left her were exposed as lies.

According to their barrister, the Mrs Bainbridges' had husbands who declined to contribute to the upbringing of their children.

Michelle's barrister said she knew the money had to be repaid, but phenomenal suffering would be caused to her children and parents.

Any one thought about the suffering they - and others like them - cause the rest of us?

Mr Recorder: there's a recession on. To get out of it, this country has gone into hock like never before.

You may be saving their families - but what message are you sending to the rest of the community?

Might I respectfully suggest: "Cheats always prosper?"

***

November 4 should be an important day in the lives of all of us. It is National Stress Awareness Day complete with website, press team and hangers-on.

Ye Gods!

What's next?

National Nail Biting Day?

Pick-a-Nose Day?

Or how about Rip Off Benefits Day?

___

Monday October 19

Performance assessments are raising standards in local authorities, according to new research published yesterday.

But bad news for Medway - it's not so good if you have a sizeable Conservative majority, the researchers are saying.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) also found that poor performers were likely to be punished by voters - and senior managers could suffer, too.

But chief executives are fairly safe.

George Boyne, Professor of Public Sector Management at Cardiff University, who led the research, said: "This is a good news story for local government. It shows that local democracy works, with poor performance leading to change in political leadership and management. That’s what is supposed to happen."

The researchers measured election results and managerial change in upper-tier councils over a six-year-period (2001-7) against their ratings under the Audit Commission’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA).

They found that if a council were rated at zero or one star, the ruling party would lose three per cent in electoral support. Declining by a star would cost two points.

Ironically, they also discovered there was no benefit from running an authority rated at three or four stars - and Medway is a three star authority.

Professor Boyne said this reflected that bad news was more widely broadcast. A poor CPA performance is likely to be followed by a more rapid turnover among senior management – posts such as Director of Housing or of Children’s Services.

But they said the exception were chief executives, who were only likely to depart if there were both a poor CPA performance and a change in the ruling party.

Professor Boyne said: "Chief executives tend to build strong relationships with the political leadership, which therefore becomes attached to him or her and reluctant to lose them. It also means that a new administration formed by the party that was previously in opposition is much less likely to feel this attachment."

Their findings about Conservative control were not matched by similar findings with the other parties.

Speaking yesterday, Prof Boyne said: "A further finding was that Conservative party control, or a change to it, tended to be associated with higher performance and satisfaction, provided that the Conservative majority was not large."

He admitted it was far from conclusive.

"We are looking at a fairly short period of time, with some political oddities," he explained.

"Because of the unpopularity of the government there were too few incoming Labour councils to provide a proper comparison."

***

Parents who allow their children to go to school with a friend or neighbour - or indeed let them go on holiday - will not have to satisfy themselves that the temporary carer has been vetted by the police.

A new vetting and barring scheme due to come into force next July has sparked fears that common sense is being overtaken by political regulation.

Ed Balls, the Children's Secretary, has now made it clear that was never intended.

He wrote to the chairman of the select committee, Barry Sheerman, at the weekend to clarify the position in the wake of the changes brought about by the Soham murders.

"…where people work with children or vulnerable adults on a frequent or intensive basis, or overnight, they should … be required to register. Where organisations lay on activities of this nature for children, then the workers - paid or unpaid - should be vetted.

"Parents who entrust their children to these organisations' care would, I know, expect nothing less.

"The … scheme will not come into play when parents agree to give their friends' children a lift to school or Cubs. Nor will it cover instances where parents work with children at school or a youth club on an occasional or a one-off basis, or when parents visit their child's school, for example to watch the Christmas play."

But he is asking the Children's Commissioner to look at when more frequent involvement requires vetting.

About time.

Maybe he will quickly clarify whether mums and dads can taken photos of their children appearing in the school nativity play - or are they still viewed as so many latent paedophiles?

Don't misunderstand me.

Such pervs should be locked up, and the key lost after they have been given a sandwich and a drink.

But recording our children as they grow and achieve milestones in their lives has been withdrawn by schools and clubs through fear - fear of a real danger, but one not as widespread as we might believe.

___

Friday October 16

Medway NHS Foundation Trust - which includes Medway Maritime Hospital - was among the top performers on looking after the cash according to figures just released.

But like NHS Medway (which looks after the GPs and healthy living centres), it remains rated "fair" as a provider of services for the third successive year.

And that is not good enough.

Some of the problems are down to the hospital's continuing rebuilding.

But some  patients are dissatisfied with the service they receive.

Now this blogger has, from personal experience over the past year, had

• in-care treatment which was exceptional,
• out-patient services that still do not meet my expectations,
• medical care that does,
• extremely swift A&E care (but open to criticism on patient care),
• attended the maternity ward as a grandparent

Some of the targets on which it fell down - an unfair term but pointing to what needs to be done - were stopping mums from smoking when pregnant or breast-feeding, four hour-plus waiting in A&E, gaining patients' consent for treatment, maternity record keeping, and moving patients on to other carers.

The public will be really concerned with the maternity care, child protection (an area which is improving) and the less than satisfactory decontamination of medical devices.

Looking at the ratings, as a patient, I would say overall "fair" is not a true reflection of a good service. It might not meet the auditors' views on management of records, but should that make patients worry?

I think not.

Medical care is going through a range of changes.

Traditional lines are blurring. Social care is no longer the sole responsibility of the councils. They work closer with the medical profession.

The trouble is there are some dyed-in-the-wool people in hospitals who see no reason why they should answer to politicians.

They may be right - but that is what is now expected by the paymasters.

I suspect there have been some interesting discussions behind closed doors at the various NHS trusts at the way doctors and nurses find themselves answering to finance chiefs and political busybodies.

NHS Medway’s performance in improving local people’s health and healthcare is rated as "fair", and the way it manages its finances is rated as "good".

NHS Medway said: "It is not possible to make a direct comparison with last year on the performance for commissioning health services for people in Medway because last year’s assessment on quality of services included some different measures."

But the commission says they can be compared - and there was no change.

But there were some howlers. It is not keeping confidential the information it holds about patients (or indeed any records), it's not doing well in anti-discrimination areas, it's not learning from past mistakes, it's getting worse on maternity care and is now rated as failing in several areas… the list goes on.

NHS Medway Chief Executive Marion Dinwoodie said yesterday: "While I am pleased that we have achieved ratings of fair and good in Medway, we are aiming to do more to improve the health of our population.

"We are, for instance, ensuring that people are getting fast diagnosis and treatment for cancer, and improving stroke care. These are improvements that will help us to increase life expectancy for people in Medway and reduce the unacceptable inequalities in health that residents in Medway still experience."

But the message is "Must do better - a lot better".

****

How often do you see oriental typefaces used on registration plates, numbers and letters moved to make up words, little marks inserted to help that process, or registrations so small you can't read them?

Around Medway it is a regular occurrence because they can get away with it.

Well now the government is proposing to double the fine to £60. Consultations are under way.

I would advocate they should pass it on to the CCTV cars and camera teams to action.

They are not pumping money into the council as much as they were - so they need new cash sources.

***

A survey this week found that teachers top the list of sleep-deprived workers.

They get, on average, just six hours and three minutes sleep a night, threequarters the minimum thought to be good for you.

The 2009 Travelodge Sleep and Professions study put them ahead of worrying civil servants and anxious doctors and nurses.

According to their findings, 41 per cent of teachers lie awake at night worrying about work-related issues such as job security, budget cuts within the education sector and anti-social behaviour in the classroom. In addition a quarter of the Government’s lowest paid workers also admitted to fretting about money worries during the night.

According to their findings (and it must be true because it was issued by a PR company) 38 per cent of civil servants lie awake at night worrying whether Gordon Brown can fix Britain’s fiscal mess and whether a Tory Government is imminent while the outbreak of swine flu has been stressing 47 per cent of the medical profession.

I'm among those whose bedtime tipple is a tot of whisky. It comes second to wine, however.

The top ten professions which get the most sleep include housewives, IT experts, company directors, accountants and financial advisors, police, firemen and bus drivers.

***

Last night's debate on the worldwide campaign to save the Aveling and Porter building went exactly the way I forecast: pull it down.

There could now be some fun!

The building's defenders make ideal adversaries for the council.

***

I have just been advised that Liz Dickens, a former KM reporter, Kent Journalist of the Year, one-time council colleague and head of PR at Kent Police has died.

Liz - a descendant of Charles Dickens - had been ill for some time.

My thoughts are with her husband and family.

___

Thursday October 15

THE fate of a historic building which has attracted support from enthusiasts across the world could be decided by councillors tonight.

The Aveling and Porter building is owned by the council which used it as its headquarters until it moved to Gun Wharf.

It's a splendid structure with lots of features that would be cherished in many a town.

But it was as the headquarters of the Aveling and Porter steamroller business that it was designed by a local architect, using red stones.

Today it is surrounded by multi-storey offices built by Gardners who absorbed the business.

But what a business it was.

It was the world's biggest maker of steam rollers, vehicles and agricultural wagons. They went everywhere from Strood, Khartoum, Alice Springs, India, Asia, America, the Pacific…. and they brought industrial expansion with them where ever they worked.

The council sees megabucks along the Strood waterfront.

It no longer has a use for the land - except to fill some holes in their pockets.

I won't knock it. I pay my council tax. And I want to see Medway blossom: it was for that hope I came here 18 years ago.

But in towns that lack much in the way of architectural splendour the Aveling and Porter building stands out.

The Medway Towns has a fascination with destroying its history.

We sit on the most important of Roman roads. But where are you pointed to the Roman remains of Medway?

Rochester oozes history. But after the High Street, the Castle and the Cathedral what do we boast?

Where are the blue plaques; where the trails to find our Roman and Saxon history, our naval memorials, or a Dickens trail? Where are the guide books to the homes of the famous who really did live here?

Chatham has an historic dockyard. Brompton's barracks is without match in the historical and architectural stakes.

When did you last hear anything of archaeological discoveries in this area? I'll tell you. It was when some ships' remains were uncovered under dockyard floorboards. Before that it was the remains of the Saxon cathedral, foundi n the early Nineties.

There has been no mention of the excavations carried out for the council on the Corporation Street site, or at Rochester Riverside for the government. History slows down development.

Look at Rochester Riverside: see how it is racing ahead! It emulates over-wintering snails: It moves ahead as fast as it did before the ground was raised to improve its suitability to developers!

The rhetoric is the only thing that shows signs of moving.

We claim to be a tourist centre. The new leisure strategy cries out "We can make money from the day-tripper!"

That strategy subtly changed. A while back the council was anticipating being an overnight location for visitors to the UK for the Olympics.

The aim was to keep them here, just a few minutes from the Olympic stadia. But we can't: we don't have the hotel beds.

And once you have seen the Castle, the Cathedral and the Guildhall Museum what's there to do?

Some good restaurants, Bluewater, Maidstone…

There is no point in destroying an historic building like the Aveling and porter building. The councillors meeting tonight would do well to look at the proposals from SAVE Britain's Heritage and in particular Huw Thomas Architects.

The architectural concept is different, is exciting, and would ensure the river, the Castle and the Cathedral have an interesting range of buildings more in keeping with the Medway Towns than ranks of waterfront apartment blocks standing six, eight or 10 storeys high, that block the light and reduce the views of the river supposed to be at the heart of our community.

Gillingham sold its museum collection - and its history - half a century ago.

The council tonight has a chance to say Regeneration and History can complement each other - and they could save the Aveling and Porter building.

I'm not a betting man - but guess what will happen!

___

Wednesday October 14

The man in charge of Medway's rubbish died at the weekend.

Russell Davies was a genuine, hard-working servant of the community.

He tried hard.

He wasn't popular with contractors. He tied them to doing the job as cheaply as possible. He was looking after the community's cash.

But I sense that now he has gone he could be the fall guy for the collapsed council contracts that were due to have come into effect a month ago.

A week before their introduction, facing legal threats from those who did not get one of the contracts, the whole lot was withdrawn.

As head of waste, Russell was one of those in charge of drawing up the contracts.

I know, from talks we had over the past two years, that he was concerned to control the costs, and keep the pressure on the collectors, sorters and sweepers (especially their managements) to get the best value for Medway.

Looming over everything was the prospect of massive fines being raised next year each time Medway consigned a ton of rubbish to the ground.

Equally worrying were government pressures (originating from Europe) to turn nearly half the Towns' waste into recycled goods.

Today his director issued a brief statement that said the council's thoughts were with his family.

No thanks for his service to the people of Medway and (before that) Rochester-Upon-Medway.

What should have happened from the very start was that Medway's waste contract was a classic case of needing specialist consultants to draw up the contracts. They didn't and now I cannot help but think of scapegoats.

On behalf of the people of Medway who expect their streets to be clean, their rubbish to be collected on time and their recycling to end up being reused, thanks, Russell.

Medway has lost a good and loyal servant.

***

I received an invitation yesterday to go on a Plain English course.

The enticement was that I would be sharing my time with local and national government officials.

"For government agencies, writing in plain language helps citizens understand your policies, which reduces confusion and civic friction and greatly increases the chances that procedures will be widely accepted. By adopting a clear, easily understandable writing style, governments can save time and resources," said the invite.

It was when I saw it was an "60-minute webinar" that offered "program benefits" that I became suspicious.

The $199 fee clinched it.

The Yanks are trying to teach the English how to write.

Had I accepted the invitation I would have learned the keys to writing clear, concise, easily understood communications.

I would have rid my correspondence of pretentious wording, "smothered verbs," and stale cliches, and learned to write coherent policies and procedures regardless of the audience.

It did remind me of my days in local government, though.

Medway Council (for whom - thank the Lord - I did not work) once did well on Plain English.

These days some of its reports have become draped in the sort of concealment that need translators and lists of acronyms to unfathom.

My belief has never changed: wrapping up what you say in loads of verbiage is done because you are unsure, or you want to trip decision-makers.

___

Tuesday October 12 2009

So maybe you can create a new area for jobs out on the windswept expanses of Grain. It's certainly better than a massive road junction (which is also feasible) linking Sheppey, Medway and Southend.

The proposals - expected to get council approval in December - have been discussed for some time with the council's planning team.

They had this seemingly far-fetched idea for many years. And certainly it is a better use for the former oil terminal than the derelict land it had become, locked behind fences.

The planners' problem has always been getting a decent road provided after government cash seemed to run out on a roundabout on the outskirts of High Halstow.

Now it would appear that with £5 million from National Grid (who want to develop the business park), the government will stump up maybe £10 million.

That will pay for a bridge to replace the railway crossing at Grain, and what's left over with pay to improve the roadway through to Fenn Corner.

I have mixed feelings about the development. It's in an area of wild beauty tat attracts the wildfowl. But we need jobs to be created in Medway.

And we don't just need them for the post-graduates (though they are certainly required).

We also must have the more traditional jobs, manual, packaging, commercial…

A logistics park has been proposed at Kingsnorth. Now more freight-related jobs are being suggested further out on the peninsula where the freight arrives in containers.

All that is needed now is for the rail line to be upgraded, and we could see an easing of our traffic problems.

***

I have a certain amount of sympathy with the MPs who are complaining about the rules being changed retrospectively over their expenses.

Change their existing rules: that is right.

Change them years after they were introduced and approved, and then demand back the cash that was paid out under those rules - that seems unfair.

After all, would you feel happy about repaying bonuses you might have been awarded a few years ago?

I suspect that if a sitting Member is foolhardy enough to take the case to the High Court they might actually win the argument - but lose the support of constituents and political leadership.

Talk about a Catch 22 situation. It's the first time the politicians have caught themselves in that way!

***

Good news from the High Court about another exposure that led to unfairness.

That was the case of the nurse who exposed the disgusting, degrading way patients were being left in their own filth in hospital.

She was stripped of her professional standing by the Nursing and midwifery Council for whistleblowing.

Now the judges have ruled them out of order. And rightly so.

***

We'll soon have a new set of 50p coins to rattle in pockets and purses.

They are being issued to mark the Olympics.

The first, designed by a nine-year-old viewer of Blue Peter, will be officially unveiled on tonight's programme.

It features a high jumper, and is the 17^th design to appear on the back of the coin since decimalisation in 1971.

___

Monday October 12 2009

THE growth of the Sure Start movement continues apace in Medway.

The newest - the 15^th of 22 planned for the Towns - opened in Rochester on Friday.

Medway wasn't the first, but it was among the early takers of the idea of providing support and help to groups of children and families with poorer health, development and attainment outcomes.

The first centres began in 1998. They unite health and maternity services, childcare, play and early education for all children up to five with information for mums and dads about getting back to work or training.

Midwives, health visitors, library services, and children's centre staff are all specialists in helping families and children.

The other important thing is that offer families the chance to meet with other parents, carers and children at numerous events that they stage.

Medway was in the third wave when it opened the Chatham Sure Start Centre(now known as All Saints) in 2001.

The Rochester centre - the first in the old city - was opened at St Margaret’s at Troy Town Primary School by the Dean of Rochester, the Very Rev Adrian Newman.

Adrian - definitely not one to let titles get in the way of being part of the community - announced the centre would be working in partnership with The Rainbow Foundation Unit which is already based at the school.

Cllr Les Wicks has championed the centres ever since he became the education - now Children’s Services - portfolio holder.

He sometimes gets the sharp edge of this blog, but he has certainly helped to change the image of some areas of Medway through concentrating on the youngsters from their first months.

More are due to open soon. They include Delce Infant School, Rochester and three in Gillingham - at Riverside, Deanwood and Miers Court primary schools.

Nearly sixty years ago, when I was a child in postwar Britain, we had similar services provided for pre-school children and families.

Somehow they disappeared in the passing years, but have reappeared.

I just hope that this time the modern-day equivalent won't suffer the same lack of funding and lost priorities that came with never having it so good.

___

Friday October 9 2009

I have a feeling nothing has changed with the announcement by E.On to put the Kingsnorth coal-fired power station on hold.

They are talking about delaying to 2016 because of the drop in electricity demand during the recession.

Kingsnorth and Grain are both due to close by the end of 2015.

A little give, a little take, the PR pressure would be off and they could press ahead.

On the other hand, if the scheme is shelved (and it is interesting to note that the coal ships are now well past their sell-by dates) there could be a number of power workers in Medway looking for new jobs after all.

***

The news that there are special swimming lessons taking place at a Medway pool specifically for muslim women is likely to excite some of the more extreme citizens.

Why?

I do not understand the processes which trigger their annoyance, anger or whatever.

Nor do I understand the logic of locking the ladies behind enclosed walls so that no man can gaze upon them. But if they are happy for that to happen, and the council is prepared to give them those conditions, so what?

Keep swimming, girls - and paying for the privilege.

***

I have been looking at a consultation document drawn up by a council consultant after he spent a year working on it.

The consultant has clearly not immersed himself in the area as fully as he thought.

His plan showing all his ideas for improving Twydall includes Langton Way.

I know Langton playing fields - but Langton Way?

Me thinks he means Ito Way.

Not very reassuring that one of the key roads in the area he has studied, planned and redesigned should have such a howler.

What others could the council taxpayers have funded?

___

Thursday October 8 2009

There was nothing surprising in the decision to push ahead with the closure of St John's school in Chatham earlier this week.

As one councillor said to me: "We looked at all the evidence and the only thing that was new was its Ofsted report had slipped from good to satisfactory."

And so the pupils will be moved on.

Parents will have a massive task to find new classes. They will have to reassure confused children that they will make new friends and find teachers who are just as nice as the ones they are losing.

And the children will go through the very trauma the educationalists had sought to end - upheaval changing schools before the age of 11.

Few people have come out of this with heads held high.

Wait. Did I say few? - perhaps I should have said none.

Questions are being asked about the role of the chief officers, and indeed, whether the Children and Adults directorate is too huge to control.

Cllr Les Wicks, the portfolio holder, has smiled and charmed his way through the consultations, with many a stutter and more than once an embarrassed silence. He was exposed and he was found wanting by the parents, teachers and governors.

Definite answers were lacking from Simon Trotter, the assistant director responsible for a series of embarrassing schools howlers over the years, ranging from the £300,000 wasted on plans for the new Borstal primary to this latest set of shenanigans.

And Rose Collinson, his director with overall responsibility for seeing the plans pushed through? Her star has needed plenty of burnishing for the first time as plans have come unstuck.

It was a far cry from the work programme objective under the "Every Child Matters" policy: They were supposed to be able to "enjoy and achieve".

Of course, no one will be sacked.

Only one Cabinet member has ever lost his job, and there is a General Election in the offing.

But as the regeneration of Medway becomes another dream, as cuts in government spending seem certain to hit the Thames Gateway, is the time rapidly coming when changes in the administration really are needed?

***

Meanwhile, councillors are wondering why the A level results have still not been announced.

Is it because our pupils - and therefore our schools - have failed to achieve the standards everyone had expected?

___

Wednesday October 7 2009

These interruptions to normal service must stop……

***

At long last someone is beginning to show a modicum of commonsense and tell the government to whistle over its policies to limit cars on new housing developments.

Currently the policy in Medway is that no property can have more than one and a half parking spaces in major urban developments.

Doesn't matter whether it is a one-bed flat or a five-bed mansion - that's been the norm since 2001.

And as the plans have come forward to increase the Medway Towns population from 250,000 to 300,000 those figures have continued to frustrate developers, and anger the councillors who were forced to adopt them.

On Tuesday the Cabinet will be urged by officers to adopt the new Essex local parking standards. Thses set a standard of two parking spaces for every two-, three- or 20-bed residence. And it is not the maximum limit - it is the minimum.

There have been numerous occasions where plans have been submitted to the development control committee to approve "15-flat development with seven parking spaces". Increasingly across the political divide the councillors have united in protest.

Fortunately, few such plans have been approved. But there have been plenty that provide just one parking place - and the prospect of cars cluttering residential kerbs for decades to come.

It was one result of the Whitehall dream machine that conceived reusing previously built-upon land (the brownfield policy). That was an excellent concept. It helped preserve what remains of our green and pleasant Medway. Limiting car parking in a community where the bus network is at best rudimentary - and the political will has been lacking to improve it.

Now the parking policy could change - and not before time.

We have too many airy-fairy ideas of public transport fulfilling the needs of the community without the reality that goes with it.

There is to be investment in Fastrack principles, bus priorities (though don't use those words around some Cabinet members!) and improved bus stops. But where are the new routes to penetrate areas of Medway that desperately need buses?

Where are the direct routes being opened up to allow buses to move people quickly, efficiently, cheaply, frequently and punctually?

And where is there a pricing policy to entice passengers? Medway is one of the costliest bus areas in the country.

***

It appears that the St George's Centre will not be available to the family of the man who saved it from the bulldozers to host his post-funeral wake.

Lt-Cmdr Harry Blease, ex Mayor of Gillingham, instead will have the reception at Pembroke Lodge, opposite the Municipal Offices currently being gutted to provide a massive old people's residence.

___

Friday October 2, 2009

THE Local Government Ombudsman has today found Medway Council guilty of maladministration - and points the finger of blame squarely at council officers.

He accuses them of not giving councillors all the facts.

It is the latest problem to hit the regen team under its director, Robin Cooper.

This is the same directorate that tries to manage the housing department, has just seen its waste disposal contracts rubbished, and runs the CCTV cars which merrily park on double yellow lines to buy sandwiches but book mums dropping off their kids at school.

The Ombudsman was asked to look at the concessionary fares scheme after the council adopted the national one amid considerable huffing and puffing about under-funding … only to admit later that it had unnecessarily panicked.

The specific problem one blind resident picked up on was that he - and others like him - were being discriminated against by the council.

Disadvantaged people were completely ignored as the council decided to sell an annual ticket for companions to travel with them.

They also lost the right to travel at any time of day or night together or alone despite the council saying it put the customer at the heart of everything it did, and that it had a disability "charter" which promised they would always be consulted before changes were made.

It probably broke a few laws on the way as well.

But once again a critic has highlighted the way the council bulldozes ahead without once thinking about consultations with the community it is supposed to serve.

While I will criticise councillors for unfairness, arrogance and incompetence, this time the officers are to blame.

It has been evident for a long time that despite glossy newsletters lying around the council for staff to pick up and read, there is little knowledge of the decisions they are all tied to.

It goes something like this.

Imagine a new law comes in. An officer (or maybe several) looks at it and decides there are implications for the way it works.

A report goes to Cabinet - and occasionally to the full council - which says we have to do this, that or the other differently. The new policy is adopted, and everyone feels they have control.

But if it is something predominantly to do with social care (which is in the Children and Adults directorate), the policy may also apply to the Regeneration, Community and Culture directorate… or vice versa.

The disability code at the centre of today's embarrassment was conceived in Children's and Adults. But as the Ombudsman says it applies across the whole council. And that never seems to have percolated through to the Regeneration et al Directorate.

Certainly it was not mentioned to councillors (who should have remembered but didn't) when the changes to ticket prices and pass hours came in.

As more than one wag has said: "Children and Adults' deals with people… Regeneration Etc deals with things."

It's not the only investigation the Ombudsman has going on into the running of services provided by the Regeneration directorate.

It would not surprise me if there are further revelations that the commands from Cabinet do not reach the middle and junior management of the council - especially in transport where the bus planners are now responsible for special needs transport.

As for consultations - no one can say I didn't tell you so.

Oh, one final thought. It comes to something when (once again) two key portfolio holders of areas for which they have direct responsibility have to be told by the Medway Messenger that they have sinned. None of the officers thought to tell them....

___

Wednesday September 30, 2009

Those ruts and mini-mountains underfoot (see yesterday's blog) have proved too much.

I have been ordered to take complete rest for a week.

Normal service will resume.

___

Tuesday September 29, 2009

It should be a requirement of all councillors immediately they are elected that they break a leg.

It would give them a new insight into living in the Medway Towns.

Lurching around the A2 armed only with a crutch has given me fresh thoughts about the condition of our pavements. It would do the councillors no harm at all to experience the same.

The pavements have an occasional hole - not as bad as many places. What they do have in abundance, however, is unevenness.

Suddenly the path is aslant. Then it dips - or climbs. Maybe it is only an inch. But it is uneven. And if your ability to move is impaired (what we used to called a disability before it became de rigeur) that puts you at a worse disadvantage.

A quarter of all residents - which includes children - will soon be of pensionable age (or in the case of councillors about threequarters).

Exclude the kids. That leaves about 62,500 of the population - or about one in three - having to avoid tripping the light fantastic.

And they are likely to be the ones with sticks, wheelchairs, crutches, general aches - and a powerful vote - most affected by the state of the paved areas.

The roads are a mess. We know that - but again not as bad as many places. The council is spending an additional £4 million by April 2011 to bring them up to something approaching a decent standard.

But little or nothing appears to be spent on footpaths.

There are trees, posts and a multitude of largely unnecessary signs blocking them..

Some of the trees are growing from the gutters (just have a look at the Tesco roundabout on the A2).

There are cycleways where pedestrians are relegated to a narrow strip not wide enough for a wheelchair.

Hedgerows lean over - some of them have obviously been growing over the public right of way for years.

Parked cars use the pavements with the full approval of the council leader. But it makes it impossible for people with disabilities to get through.

Bus stops are miles apart (well they are if you are having to physically push yourself to get to one).

Waste teams leave wheelie bins in the middle of the path, blue boxes, too.

And so it goes on.

The attraction of breaking every councillor's leg is that they would see for themselves the problems that they would not normally see, and that they encourage.

It would also cut down the amount of cars polluting the atmosphere.

And a broken leg is a temporary disability.

I think I shall ask my ward councillors to set a good example the minute I next see them - and break a leg. By the time the next cricket season comes round my three should be able to play reasonably well.

***

The debate on the future of primary schools continues with the publication last night of the officers' report over St Johns Infants.

You may recall that the Cabinet wanted to close it but that the scrutineers have sent it back for further consideration.

In what probably will be the final debate, the Cabinet will move again to the St George's Centre next Tuesday simply to discuss the fate of the infants school.

Education is an emotive subject.

Every time there is a change of school there are agonies for parents and children. There is frequently a struggle to get the child in.

I recall when my family moved to Medway we had major challenges, but both our children eventually found places and did well.

The thing that astonishes me, reading the reports, is that there were 6,280 objections to the proposed closure of St Johns - and just three in favour.

Reading the numerous reports, and officers comments, one underlying fact remains.

There is money to be saved if St John's closes.

Everything else appears to be secondary to that simple consideration.

At what point does consultation mean anything when the wishes of the majority are continually over-ruled?

___

Monday September 28

I have just heard that Harry Blease, a former Mayor of Gillingham and a notable sailor (I think I am right to say he retired as a Lt-Commander), died yesterday morning.

Harry was like the morning star: his eyes were always twinkling and that made him seem physically much bigger than in fact he was.

He served as a councillor on Gillingham Borough Council for years, and even after he retired he continued to do things in the background to improve the lot of the community.

Among his achievements was saving the St George's Centre which is now the council's debating chamber.

The navy planned to demolish it after they pulled out in the early 1980s.

The boxes to remove the stained glass windows were already built, and the memorials had gone when Harry stepped in, and fought for its retention.

It was eventually sold to the old council for a peppercorn, and staff - partly inspired by his efforts and partly by their own families' links with the naval church - set about tracking down all the memorials and restoring them to their rightful places.

Some have disappeared since those days, but the church is a tribute to their efforts, and Harry's determination.

He almost succeeded in attracting a Japanese car manufacturer to Gillingham thanks in part to the Will Adams links, but it was not to be. Sunderland and Swindon eventually won. But it was a measure of the man that he never gave up trying.

A fuller tribute will appear in Friday's Medway Messenger.

***

Mark Reckless, the Conservative councillor and local parliamentary hopeful, has written to me to explain why St John's Infants should be saved.

You may recall he was the man to whom I attributed the saving of St Peter's infants school.

He says the reason the Chathamshould be saved is because the education chief, Rose Collinson, misled the Cabinet.

He has written to me a letter which I will quote in full.

"I see you prefer to rebuild St John's brick by brick in Strood rather than credit me with putting children's education before political convenience. Nonetheless, please see below.

"Medway Council's policy framework requires the Council's Cabinet 'to shape the future of Medway schools in line with school organisation principles'. Rose Collinson, the Council's education director, assured the Cabinet on 17 September, that one of those school organisation principles was that:

"She then used that principle as a basis for advising Cabinet that St Peter's and St John's schools should close as they are small infant schools that cannot provide education from 3-11 (ignoring the rather more important points that they achieve significantly better than average results and only had a surplus places issue in respect of a single year's intake).

"On Thursday at an Overview and Scrutiny meeting my sustained questioning led Rose Collinson to admit that she had misled Cabinet with that statement. What she claimed was a school organisation principle was not. The relevant school organisation principle supports only amalgamation of infant and junior schools, not closure of infant schools, or closure of schools that cannot offer nursery education.

"Rather than using the school organisation principles to make recommendations to Cabinet on closures, as required by the policy framework, officers relied on something from a different document and told Cabinet that it was one of the school organisation principles when this was not true.

"I asked the Council's head legal officer to flag the problem to Cabinet before they decided on closures. She refused to do so. Overview and Scrutiny have therefore sent the closure of St John's back to Cabinet to reconsider as the decision was not taken, as required, on the basis of the school organisation principles."

The school's head legal officer - to whom he refers - is Deborah Upton, head of the council's housing department.

I am happy to put Cllr Reckless' side of the argument.

It is of course coincidental that the Conservatives are prepared to fall out with their senior members of the Cabinet over Strood's schools whilst Ridge Meadow is sacrificed.

___

Friday September 25 2009

The audit committee of Medway Council met last night - and once again the expected report on the Erinaceous Three failed to appear.

It had been called for three months ago by the deputy opposition leader, Cllr Glyn Griffiths. It was in his ward many of the problems occurred that the three whistleblowers tried to highlight.

For those with short memories, the Erinaceous Three were housing staff who realised hundreds of thousands of pounds of rent money was being thrown at the housing repairs contractor, a company called Erinaceous.

There were payments for two bathrooms, double kitchens and so on in a series of errors approved by housing bosses.

They had evidence that pressure was put on staff to sign the bills.

Instead of being listened to, and their concerns considered, the three were suspended. Two later lost their jobs, being declared redundant.

All three successfully took the council to the Employment Tribunal. Their damages added more than £70,000 to the unplanned, but sizeable, bill for bringing the council's housing up to "decent standards".

Among those in the firing line was the council's chief legal officer, Deborah Upton.

She had a specific role in protecting the men: as Monitoring Officer she was supposed to be the guardian of all whistleblowers at the council. But Miss Upton authorised their suspensions, wrongly as it became apparent.

The Audit Commission was called in by the Erinaceous Three.

It roundly criticised the council for its shoddy management of the contract and money-wasting, but said it has no power to influence the position of the Erinaceous Three.

The council's 3,000 homes are all supposed to meet standards of decency set by the government by next year.

The money cannot be recovered. Erinaceous, the contractor, went bust. The improvement work has been on hold for two years.

The firm that picked up the pieces of Erinaceous - and with it people who had worked for a succession of less than satisfactory council contractors in the Medway Towns stretching back to before the unitary authority was created - currently only does the routine maintenance.

Meanwhile, what of Ms Upton?

She carried out an investigation into what went wrong. She found the council acted correctly.

The Employment Tribunal disagreed with her.

So did the auditors.

But the issue has still not been considered by either the audit committee or the employment committee.

The massive backlog of capital work is about to be awarded to two companies.

As I have said before, I only bet on certainties, and they don't come up very often. But it's Concorde to a Short Sunderland who will get half the work…

And the report to the committee?

Ms Upton - now the housing chief - has told councillors it is taking longer to write than she thought.

***

Last night - in what was an unfortunate clash of dates - the Children's scrutiny committee also met.

It was an emergency session to consider the call-in by six Conservatives of the decisions to close two primary schools.

I must be getting jaundiced in my old age, but the whispers - yet to be confirmed as I write (but you'll see it on the news pages today) - are that the other school in Strood, St John's, could be saved.

The committee (strongly weighted by the Conservative majority) has called on the Cabinet to reconsider its fate after the senior committee had saved St Peters.

It is purely coincidental, as I have already pointed out, that Cllr Mark Reckless is the Conservatives candidate in the next General Election.

Cllr Reckless - a Strood councillor, incidentally, who was always doubtful about scrapping St Peters - will be seeking to overturn a 213 majority on the sound principle of third time lucky.

Two opposition councillors, Teresa Murray (Lab) and Geoff Juby (Lib), are hoping to undermine his campaign.

To be fair, Mrs Murray has always been at the heart of the fight for all the schools to stay open.

***

A red Jaguar belonging to one of the three portfolio holders who sparked the introduction of the barrier at the entrance to Gun Wharf was parked in the disabled parking spaces again this week.

But fear not.

Cllr Tom Mason was (at last) displaying a Blue Badge.

For applicants over 65, a medical report is generally sought from a GP or consultant before a badge is issued. If the applicant receives the low rate Mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance then a medical report will be applied for.

Cllr Mason - portfolio holder for disabled services, recording star, one-time only Conservative councillor on Rochester council, ex-City mayor, former orphanage boy, RAF, coiffurist and relaxationist - is in his mid-Seventies.

___

Thursday September 24 2009

THE house building boom may have died across Britain - but not in Medway.

Last year it exceeded its target by 99 homes (914 were completed upto the end of March), and this year even more are expected to be built.

Given that 2008/09 was a 10 year high, that's pretty good going.

But it has caused some problems for the council.

Builders have been selling about half to social landlords - causing the council to intervene.

It doesn't want too many affordable homes within the projects or they risk becoming ghettos. So they have limited the numbers to a maximum of 35 per cent.

Which for a council often criticised by its opponents for only having a 25 per cent target isn't bad.

The report is pretty upbeat despite the downturn in the economy.

The current year is expected to hit the magical 1,000 new homes in a year target for the first time.

The details are contained in a report to the renamed Medway Renaissance Board, now known as the Medway Regeneration Partnership Board.

There is a gloomy prospect for the following year with less than 600 homes projected as being built in 2011/12.

But then the building boom is expected to really swing into action with four figure housing being provided over the following few years.

Meanwhile there seems to be less enthusiasm from the board for becoming one of two eco development areas.

At its last meeting, the Hoo and Strood areas were proposed as places to demonstrate how to achieve the 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 agreed at the G8 summit.

It would certainly turn Medway into a world focus. But is it achievable?

The idea of the area becoming a test bed for cutting gasses, improving homes, and building new properties on a scale unprecedented in the area since the First World War, will thrill some - and horrify many.

It came from Peter Head, the Eco Region Innovation Champion (don't blame me - I didn't come up with his title).

He said the Medway Gateway (that's what they call Hoo, Chattenden and Strood) would be "a suitable and probable site".

Key factors included the river which "provides an integrated resource system" sustainable major development east of London with "better resource management providing economic opportunity and activity including local food production", energy and waste systems should provide energy and compost for the area and stationsshould be served by "higher speed and efficient services".

The likely sticking point is that Mr Head wants to get the community involved. And consultation (let alone involvement) is not something that Medway is noted for.

He talked about Medway retrofits in areas of 20,000 to 50,000 people.

That means stripping homes and rebuilding them, or the sort of mass bulldozing and rebuilding that was a feature of slum clearances in the Fifties and early Sixties.

That would "pull in the funding and investment of sovereign wealth funds and pension investment capital", he forecast.

"Where there is momentum already it is important to lock into this and use the opportunity to gain this investment."

I wonder what the people of Hoo think of that/

I'd bet it means lots more blocks of flats, drinking Tonbridge and Medway's waste water, and racing to work by boat.

And I doubt the farmers will be thrilled by the prospect of producing more food. Elsewhere in Medway the farmers are keen to sell their land for much more profitable housing.

As for cutting the carbon emissions, tell that the campaigners against the planned new Kingsnorth power station.

The government could about to approve a new coal-fired station. It will rely entirely on equally untried systems to capture the gasses it gives off, with the home - just as unproved - that sometime they will find a use for the gas they hope to pump into the old North Sea oil fields.

I sense yet another flypast by the Porcine Squadron.

***

Talking of consultations, Gravesham recently carried out one.

as a result it wants to introduce a controlled parking zone in a broad area around the town centre to avoid commuter car parking clogging up streets.

In a statement it said: "The council put the idea to nearly 3,000 residents and sought wide consultation on the scheme which has brought a positive response with only 128 residents raising any objections."

What it didn't say was that the "positive response" - the majority in favour - was .... 17 out of 2,943 homes that were cavassed.

The ayes have it.

___

Wednesday September 23, 2009

I intimated there would be further news on the car park at Gun Wharf, but I didn't realise it would be quite this quick.

The sweeping broom of bureaucracy controlling the car park at the front of the council headquarters has already found new crannies - rather akin to the way the self-perpetuating civil service.

After the directors' email addresses were published as the only means for the local electorate to gain access to the car park, they delegated to their assistant directors the right to authorise visitors (with sufficient notice and justification to be there) to park in front of Gun Wharf.

You may recall that the council offices are paid for by the general public, as are the staff's wages, and by whom the councillors are elected to have allowed this mayhem to happen.

Well, Joseph Ebearthur, buildings boss at the council, has clarified for staff how members of the general public can gain access.

"Visitor parking is strictly by prior reservation, approved by an assistant director or director," the man under the arm of the legal eagle, Deborah Upton, one of those assistant directors, told staff.

"Once the approval is given please contact the reception team by email and arrangements will be made to reserve a bay. Visiting blue badge holders can gain access using the buzzer and no reservations are required for them to use the car park."

Which is fine - if the bay has not been allocated to a visitor by one of the directors.

That happened two days after the barrier came into force.

The barrier was introduced against random visitors deciding they wanted to visit planning, chat to a councillor or simply exercise their once-given, now removed, democratic right to listen to council debates. Unless they walk a mile there - and another back after listening to the pearls flowing from our debating councillors.

All registered users (ranging from those staff who have to pop out for meetings, to those who don't and including councillors who can no longer meet with their constituents on a daily basis) have fob keys to open the gate.

And now they are under CCTV supervision with the council's CPP (car park police) moving against them for the slightest contraventions.

Park in the wrong bay and their fob will be de-activated until they remove their car.

If someone uses their allocated space they must leave their car in a safe place, report the incident to the reception, return to the car - and wait.

Mr Ebearthur said: "The caretakers will endeavour to resolve the issue within 15 minutes. If you attempt to block the person in or wrongly park your car, your fob will be deactivated."

Meanwhile the council taxpayers are paying for them to waste 15 or 20 (or maybe more) minutes running back and forth, employing CPPs, and then tracking down the individuals who've blocked them, who in turn must drop everything and move their cars. I reckon on average that's going to cost the council taxpayer about £75 each time someone parks wrongly.

Mr Ebearthur finished: "I hope these arrangements will enable all to benefit from the use of the car park."

Well, it should if there are not more important visitors, or you are a member of the public, disabled, pregnant, elderly - or simply needing to sort out a problem at the council headquarters.

There is hope for some.

"Investigations are still on-going regarding the provision of drop-off bays for staff and staff visiting from other offices," said Mr Ebearthur.

"The provision of short-term visitor parking for planning visitors is also being investigated."

But it seems democratic rights have been left out of that equation.

***

The Greens in Maidstone want to introduce a local currency to keep trade in the county town.

They are proposing shopkeepers should follow the example of those in Lewes. The Sussex stores have produced their own notes that can only be spent in their own premises.

Gimmick? - certainly.

Sensible? - possibly.

Could it be that the many and varied attractions of Chatham's shopping centre (the heart of the new City of the Thames Gateway) could finally be hurting neighbouring traders? - don't make me laugh.

***

There was a 63 minute queue at the blood clinic in Medway Maritime hospital yesterday.

Having needlessly starved myself for more than the requisite 14 hours, I went and had a coffee.

But not before I spotted Vernon Hull, the chairman of the hospital trust, surveying the public waiting area currently being rebuilt.

So I had a quick word with him and his colleague, who turned out to be the man in charge,

Apparently a second phlebotomy area is being planned - for outpatients.

But as the queue yet again patiently waited in the main entranceway, that is some way off.

Mr Hull was concerned the people in the hospital waiting to be tapped for a sample could go to one of the increasing number of health living centres and avoid the queues.

That needs promoting by the other health trust - NHS Medway: Old habits die hard.

So why didn't I go to my local clinic?

I already had an appointment at the hospital and it seemed (if the doctors won't mind me saying) a chance to kill an old bird with two stones.

___

Tuesday September 22, 2009

THE admissions that have been made so far about the council's massive waste contracts show there has been one more complete foul-up by Medway Council.

At the least EU procurement laws have been deliberately broken, a string of companies angered to the extent that legal action seems likely, and millions of pounds of council taxpayers money could be needlessly wasted.

Bill number one is already known: £1 million (a drop in the ocean of the overall cost of this half-billion pound horror) will be needed to pay Veolia to get rid of the waste they collect from next week because they have to take it to a new dump.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds in fines can be expected from the government for failing to recycle rubbish - every year.

There's the contractor who has won - fairly and squarely - the contract to recycle kitchen and garden waste. They were preparing to start taking the rubbish. They now face a costly two year wait.

More is likely to be discovered over the coming weeks and months.

These contracts were being drawn up over a two year period. A week before they are to come into effect, the Cabinet today will be asked to start the processes again.

One has to ask: where was the legal advice that would have immediately shown laws were being broken? Was it sought - or was it wrongly given?

Where was the supervision from directors and councillors? The portfolio holder, Phil Filmer is a man who has direct experience of big contracts in his private life, had overall charge of the waste contracts.

How was it that simple sums to work out which company had the most points (and therefore the right to be awarded the contract) could go wrong? Has the council management forgotten calculators, spread sheets or even fingers?

We live in the world of Medway Council Open Government. The fact is the answers will not be given.

Yesterday, chief officers were frantically briefing press and councillors about the mess - though they made it clear the reporters only had 15 minutes of their time, a classic piece of Medway open governance.

The situation is so fraught with problems that an innocent request to know who was on the waste procurement team - the group putting together the recommendations - has been rejected by the council.

A spokesman said: "As an internal investigation is being carried out we will not be naming key members of staff involved in this matter at the moment."

Ironically, the query had nothing to do with the investigation. But now it does.

***

The prospect of cruise ships steaming up and down the River Medway has been raised by the council.

It follows the one and only, visit of the Fred Olsen Line's Black Prince to Chatham (actually, folks it was Gillingham, but does anyone at the council care about facts?)

She is being sold in the next few weeks to new owners - or more likely an oily beach and Indian blowtorches.

Cllr. Jane Chitty, Medway Council’s tourism queen, told reporters: "We will make every effort to build on this opportunity so that we'll be welcoming many more cruise ships to Medway in the coming years."

As the ship made her way up river, the Porcine Squadron was observed overhead.

The trouble with that piece of airy-fairyness from the Cabinet Rooms is that the river is rapidly silting up.

Small cruise ships like Black Prince are becoming increasingly rare … almost as rare as dredgers on the Medway.

The sand bars and mud flats are increasingly filling the river.

Far from considering liners spending a few hours risking grounding in the Medway, the council should be worrying whether the marinas will have enough water to float cabin cruisers.

___

Monday September 21, 2009

Do you not find it strange that even as the Cabinet was debating its decisions on the fate of the three primary schools, Conservative backbench colleagues should be calling-in the decisions for review?

I did assert last week I was not a cynic.

But with all the talk in the council about members' pre-determination of decisions being barred, and the regular check that whipping is not taking place (that being what Gilbert and Sullivan described as "never thinking for yourself at all") it does test one's credulity.

By pure chance the committee was supposed to have sat next Thursday so sit it will - having had the original meeting cancelled.

That was because they were supposed to review the proposals for the schools before the cabinet met.

Suddenly, the cabinet didn't need any help, advice, guidance or rank interference from its backbenchers. Instead, it suddenly chose to make a decision without their help.

Now the backbenchers, which happen to include two Conservatives whose wards are affected by the closures, have aired their democratic right to call it in, stalling a planned move by Labour councillors,

The whole thing will be aired this Thursday - just a week after the Cabinet's equally surprise meeting last week.

This couldn't have anything to do with keeping in with the voters, could it?

And it couldn't have anything to do with the now ultra-tight deadline to get the process moving by the end of September - or risk a 12 month delay in closing the two losers next July?

No. Of course not.

Nor was this carefully orchestrated.

As Lurkio used to say: "Nay! Nay! Thrice times nay!"

But I decided to consult his Soothsayer. She got out her crystal ball, and this is what she forecast for that meeting.

"There will impassioned pleas from the two members of the committee who just happen to be ward councillors.

"There will be much tutting and playing to the gallery.

"Labour and Liberal Democrats will join the chorus of damnation, and then the committee will vote to uphold the decision," she said.

And the councillors in whose wards the closures are coming?

"They will be able to tell their ward residents they did everything they could to save the schools, but the majority won in a democratic vote," she told me.

You will forgive me if I recall Frankie Howard's farewell comment at the end of each programme - saluta.

***

The Archbishop of Canterbury is talking at Southwark Cathedral next month ahead of the Climate Change summit in Copenhagen.

His subject is "The Climate Crisis – A Christian Response".

His invite has come from Operation Noah, a faith-based community that campaigns on climate change.

Noah is recognised in Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths as the first biblical figure to be confronted with the problem of a changing climate.

___

Friday September 18, 2009

The barrier has come down at Gun Wharf as forewarned in these pages.

You now have to phone ahead - or face a walk from the nearest pay car park of a mile.

Did someone talk about open local governance?

Medway seems to have become more and more entrenched.

The announcement a few days before that smooth-bore cannons are once again protecting Fort Amherst is no coincidence.

The barrier is another political conspiracy!

I heard it in the pub from a man, whose wife knows someone who visited Gun Wharf and overheard it - so it must be true.

There were already some cannon on the council promenade overlooking the river and public footpath to keep away boarders and riff-raff.

Fort Amherst is holding the stock that eventually once more will surround the

old dockyard and, in particular, the cannon stocks at Gun Wharf.

But for heaven's sake putting up a barrier to stop unwanted visitors to the council offices?

Open governance at Medway Council is now closed - until further notice.

(If you wonder whatever next, keep an eye on this column - you might find out soon.)

***

I'm not a betting man - I only bet on sure certs and they are so rare my cash is safe.

But I had a bet some months ago with several people that the one school that would survive the primary schools axe this time around would be St Peter's.

I am slightly cynical about the process.

It was evident there had to be a sacrificial lamb so that the councillors could have answers to offer the objectors.

Their decision had nothing whatever to do with the objection of the Conservative Candidate for Rochester and Strood at the next General Election, one Cllr Mark Reckless.

Heaven forbid that I would be that cynical….

Meanwhile, critics of the schools campaigners might have been wondering why St John's was under-represented at yesterday's discussions.

The school had a surprise visit - from the Ofsted inspectors.

It couldn't have happened on a worse day.

Or been a bigger waste of Ofsted's time and our money.

They were there yesterday morning. By going-home time the Cabinet of Medway Council had decided to get rid of the school.

They also got shot of Ridge Meadow, which has been an equal thorn in the flesh of the administration over the years.

Once again people must wonder what they have to do to demonstrate successfully against council officers pre-determined decisions.

***

Another councillor seeking higher elected office is Cllr Rehman Chishti, who hopes to win the Gillingham and Rainham seat from Transport minister, Paul Clark.

He doesn't let the dust rest on his boots.

Medway's Mr Enforcer (he's the council's enforcement supremo) is getting out his running shoes again for charitable good deeds.

A local 14-year-old has a rare brain disorder called septo-optic Dysasia: he is blind.

"I have decided to run the Maidstone Half Marathon on October 18 to help raise funds that will enable Keiran to undergo special treatment which may help him to see again," said Cllr Chishti.

"The treatment is not available in the UK and Keiran will have to travel to China for it." Details are on the website http://www.help-keiran-to-see.com/ and the councillor is appealing for sponsors.

He has already raised thousands for various local causes from previous runs.

___

 Thursday September 17, 2009

Today is the last day you can make representations on the next stage of resurrecting the Local Plan.

This is the monster which has led the politicians to resurrect the vision of Medway Magna.

Along with it there are developments proposed around most of Rainham, and another concept for turning the massive Chattenden redevelopment into an estate on the edge of Greater High Halstow. That has sent shivers down the spines of many people on the peninsula.

The real question for me is whether the council has thought sufficiently about the whole thing.

There's the ongoing issue of where the 50,000 promised new jobs will be provided (sandwiched between a big lorry park on the Kingsnorth flood plain and a new coal-fired power station being one suggestion).

Then there is transport, with the administration finally conceding that Fastrack is worth considering - even if there is reluctance to accept something conceived by KCC.

Indeed, there is a host of things missing from the overall proposals for Medway's long term future... which was the reason why the original Plan was scrapped after an acrimnious row with the first Planning Inspector on the scene, Ces Cunningham.

Not that that has anything to do with the promises from the Conservatives' Shadow Cabinet the minute it gets into power to scrap the whole sorry, costly business and return to the mayhem of the past where we at least knew what was possible in 10 years time.

***

Talking of KCC, doing the rounds at County Headquarters yesterday was a resignation note from Peter Gilroy, chief executive of Kent County Council.

He's off to pastures new next May.

If the rumours are true, his period at the helm of the highest paid job in local government (quarter of a million a year, plus perks and a useful pension) has not been easy since the arrival of Paul Carter as Leader of the Council.

***

And reference officers off to new pastures, the former head of Medway housing, Stephen ("Call me Steve") Sitch has some interesting views on social housing.

Since he suddenly left Medway Council he has become a board member for the Westcountry Housing Association.

Earlier this year he wrote to Inside Housing about registered social landlords being quasi-bureaucracies, with "managers who slavishly adhere to bureaucratic constraints imposed by the government through regulatory bodies".

He said: "They have no latitude to manage independently, decisively or effectively for the greater good of tenants or the business. Bureaucrats are defined by their aversion to risk any innovation and are inevitably drawn from the not-for-profit sector or the municipal pool of mediocrity and ineptitude."

I wonder how the present managerial team see themselves as they try to sort out the many problems in the department.

Mr Sitch said: "It’s always a mistake to employ a bureaucrat in an entrepreneurial position. When pressed, a bureaucrat will inevitably invoke a review or appraisal to deflect the need to make a decision."

Well, there have certainly been some reviews going on at Medway since things went drastically wrong.

"Landlords mimic the municipal sector, with managers moving from authority to authority for enhanced remuneration packages. How many social housing employees have truly worked outside the sector?

"If the government requires landlords to provide elements of social care, then it must pay for them."

There are certainly some undesirables living in social housing .

But there are equally unpleasant individuals in private properties too, even in those that are mortgaged.

___

Wednesday, September 16

"Although the report has some positive outcomes it shows there are some areas that require improvement and as a result of this, the judgement of the inspectors is that the school requires special measures to improve."

These soothing words came in a letter to parents last week. They were written by the chairman of governors at Gordon Junior School in Strood .

It's a great way to start the new school year, perhaps a new school for your child, to discover it is in special measures and - despite the blandness of the words - totally failing your offspring.

It's the third one in Medway school to go into special measures - a worrying reversal of recent trends.

The inspection report said: "…by 2010 the school’s results may put it among some of the lowest schools nationally."

Yet only some areas require improvement?

The chairman of governors, Andrew Moon, said there is "some areas that require improvement". He has to be joking - or living on a different planet.

The inspectors damned the school as ineffective, inadequate and providing inadequate value for money.

The kids' personal development is good.

But it stops there.

The children have now been told by the inspectors to tell the teachers when the work is too simple. How damning is that?

Gordon Junior is the place to which the pupils of two infants schools facing a closure decision tomorrow afternoon would graduate.

Small wonder the council administration has been under such vilification for its educational arrangements recently.

***

The former Conservative councillor, banned from his party for suggesting the unemployed should be sterilised, has entered into the religious fray.

He is suggesting that Islam is a corrupt and Satanic cult.

John Ward, ex-civil servant, computer buff, and outspoken Blogger of this Borough, has very strong religious views.

He is a devout Christian, and he has no time for the faith of Islam as it is being taught in some quarters.

He has gone a bit too far on his latest blog after giving space to a supporter of the younger faith.

Always one to enjoy an argument, Mr Ward can be intemperate in his choice of words.

His correspondent says: "We are told that the earthly life is a life of faith and work, and the next life is one of reward and no work."
Mr Ward says: "Existence without work, in its widest sense, is incomplete and a form of stagnation, a pointless existence especially in eternity.
"Islam is exclusive, forcing others to either convert or be killed. Therefore is it corrupt garbage …unless it completely and irreversibly eliminates all of that from its entire worldwide existence. That ball is in your court: deal with it now! Otherwise we shall know, beyond any possibility of doubt, that it is a corrupt and Satanic cult, doing the work of Satan through corruptible and sadistic men, rather than God's work."
Mr Ward is a member of the Rochester and Strood Conservatives, and is rated No 52 in the top 100 Tory blog sites.

***

The ongoing problems with insufficient wheelchairs at Medway Maritime Hospital has now attracted the attention of Medway LINk, the local involvement network which gives people an opportunity to influence things in the community.

They are also looking into the adequacy of physiotherapy and occupational therapy services for people with learning difficulties.

But from personal observations I reckon the overspilling groups of patients waiting in the corridors to use the new phlebotomy service is also to be examined.

These modern-day vampires with their hypodermic syringes, straps and disinterested grins as they suck blood out of your veins for testing seem to be swamped with customers.

Given that the last two occasions I had blood tests (at my local centre) the NHS Medway Draculas lost the samples, or couldn't be bothered to tell my doctor whether I was sick or healthy, I'm not looking forward to a further visit in the near future.

___

Tuesday September 15

Ed Balls has finally woken up to the problems of carrying out criminal checks on every mum who takes the neighbours' kids to school, and every dad who ferries them to the weekend sports events.

It is not a vote winner. More likely it is a vote loser as thousands of honest, caring, helpful friends find they must be rigorously scrutinised - at their considerable expense - to prove that they are innocent and can help their neighbour.

The intentions are good. The reality is it is madness.

The police don't have the time or the resources to check everyone. And meanwhile this country slips further into being a government-controlled state.

Crazy.

***

The ongoing problems of insufficient wheelchairs at Medway Maritime Hospital has now attracted the attention of Medway LINk, the local involvement network which gives people an opportunity to influence things in the community.

Its main role is with influencing the health professionals.

LINk's members are also looking into the adequacy of physiotherapy and occupational therapy services for people with learning difficulties.

But from personal observations I reckon the overspilling groups of patients waiting in the corridors to use the new phlebotomy service also needs to be examined.

These modern-day vampires with their hypodermic syringes, straps and disinterested grins as they suck blood out of your veins for testing seem to be swamped with customers.

Given that the last two occasions I had blood tests (at my local centre) the NHS Medway Draculas lost the samples, or couldn't be bothered to tell my doctor whether I was sick or healthy, I'm not looking forward to a further visit in the near future.

***

It seems a former head of Medway housing, Stephen ("Call me Steve") Sitch has some interesting views on social housing.

Since he left Medway Council he has become a board member for the Westcountry Housing Association.

He wrote to Inside Housing about registered social landlords being quasi-bureaucracies, with "managers who slavishly adhere to bureaucratic constraints imposed by the government through regulatory bodies".

He said: "They have no latitude to manage independently, decisively or effectively for the greater good of tenants or the business. Bureaucrats are defined by their aversion to risk any innovation and are inevitably drawn from the not-for-profit sector or the municipal pool of mediocrity and ineptitude."

I wonder how the present managerial team see themselves as they try to sort out the many problems in the department.

Mr Sitch said: "It’s always a mistake to employ a bureaucrat in an entrepreneurial position. When pressed, a bureaucrat will inevitably invoke a review or appraisal to deflect the need to make a decision."

Well, there have certainly been some reviews going on at Medway since things went drastically wrong.

___

Monday September 14

We lost several head teachers just before the end of last term.

One was summoned to Gun Wharf after an incident apparently occurred in school.

Another was due to have a meeting with government inspectors. Instead, the head went sick.

Given the pressures they are under, it amazes me there are not more going off with stress.

Trained to teach children skills, they have suddenly become responsible for high finances. They were not trained to manage budgets running into millions. But they have to.

Just as they have to answer for the quality of teaching that their school is judged to provide.

One of the major problems in Medway - which the council is trying to tackle with considerable determination - is the lack of skills in local society.

It is the legacy of years of low targets and low achievement.

It includes parenting skills.

If toddlers are left on their own, not encouraged to talk or to play, is it any wonder they arrive very backward at school?

They have to be brought out of their shells. But so, too, do their parents.

It is fine for the schools to encourage reading, writing, maths and languages, but children spend about 30 hours a week - or 1200 hours a year - in school. They spend over 60,000 hours a year with their parents - or on the streets.

If parents don't, won't or can't talk to their children, read to them, listen to what they have to say, encourage them to write and be inquisitive, what chance does any head teacher to radically improve the life of the students - and give them the skills to be able to turn the corner that has dragged down generations?

That is the lesson to which the council has still not found the answer.

One thing children need - just like their parents - is belief. Belief that things will change, and change for the better.

So why has the Cabinet of Medway Council suddenly decided to scrap the right of a Scrutiny committee (and with it the words of those who have a view on the subject) to influence its thinking on the future of three primary schools?

According to Les Wicks, the portfolio holder who has faced a pretty tough grilling on the proposals every time he has appeared at meetings, it is right and proper to end the uncertainty surrounding the schools.

So why was further scrutiny promised?

Why ignore the evidence they may produce?

And why - above all else - rob the parents, staff, governors and residents of their last opportunity to influence the decisions?

Education overlord Les said: “No decision has yet been made and the Cabinet will consider all the evidence before reaching a decision. A representative from each of the three schools will have an opportunity to address the Cabinet at the beginning of the meeting."

Whatever they decide, however they reach their conclusions, it is yet one more reason for doubting the democratic processes in Medway, and for undermining the standing of Medway Council in the eyes of the population it was supposed to serve.

___

Friday September 11

The cost of the housing repairs debacle continues to mount at Medway Council, but at least there are signs that that the multi-million contract should be better managed in future.

Deborah Upton, the legal eagle who investigated the mess and then found herself put in charge of the housing team, spent the last few days locked in her office known as the Old Bailey.

She was writing out a comprehensive list of actions being taken to ensure that it never goes wrong again.

Last night the councillors agreed everything she had written.

So they should. Just as they should have been asking the sort of questions that the Medway Messenger has been asking almost since the day the contract was awarded in December 2006.

It should satisfy the Audit Commissioner, Chris Westwood, who had severely criticised the council's appalling mismanagement of the contract, its complicated contract that was wide open to everyone's interpretation and misinterpretation, and could have kept a Gun Wharf-ful of barristers in permanent employment trying to sort it out.

No one has yet answered basic questions.

Why were kitchens paid for twice? Bathrooms, too. The payments were authorised at assistant director level. Why was Ms Upton writing the action plan this week, and presenting it to councillors last night?

Mr Westwood demanded last night's debate and the action plan, when he wrote on July 13.

So why was it only being written this week?

Could it perhaps have something to do with my observation earlier this week in this column that there was no action plan?

***

The leading organisation in the battle to save the former Aveling and Porter building in Strood from council-encouraged vandalism has just won an important court case.

They took Gravesham council to court and have forced them to preserve a Gravesend religious building.

The Victorian gurdwara, or Sikh temple, was built as a congregational church by Sir John Sulman.

He became one of Australia's top architects.

The Sikh community is in the process of building a multi-million pound gurdwara alongside the railway in Gravesend, and proposed to demolish their old home.

Their plan was to carry out a new residential development.

But SAVE Britain’s Heritage successfully challenged Gravesham council’s decision to approve the destruction on grounds that it was unlawful.

The planning committee will now reconsider the application.
Although unlisted, the temple is in a conservation area and in good condition.

Early in August, the council approved the application for its demolition to make way for a new residential development.

Like the former Civic Centre at Strood, it was flying in the face of strong opposition from SAVE, the Victorian Society, the local Civic Society, and local residents.

Their challenge was based on a number of grounds, including a failure by Gravesham council to follow proper procedure in ignoring both national planning guidance and the advice of its own conservation officer.
Medway Council will do well to consider their own actions in wanting to knock down an attractive building they own with a considerable history, and built by a leading Victorian architect.

It is, after all, the one really notable building that survives in Strood in 2009.

***

Anyone who wondered how much support the newly-independent Val and Tony Goulden have got should have seen the way they were escorted into the council meeting by the Ridge Meadow school campaigners last night.

By comparison, Sam Whittington - the Labour candidate whose selection triggered their resignations from the party - had a couple of political officers backing her.

Meanwhile, the Tories have suggested they seek legal advice over the Labour Party statement blaming them for near enough every misfortune in local society.

One observer said to me: "You did well to miss Full Council last night.

"It was absolutely terrible and the behaviour was triumphalist and rude."

"The notion of a council sitting with its back to the public and now separated by a blue rope says it all!

"The worst thing of all (apart from an apparent desire to persist with the Paddock development) is that the Schools' debate is now to be decided Dragon's Den style, ie one representative from each school is being invited to attend next week's special Cabinet Meeting on Thursday. Apparently, the members haven't made up their minds yet.

***

Anyone who remembers Spike Jones and his City Slickers will recall Chloe.

The mad musician, who delighted his fans by corrupting songs in the Forties and Fifties (and is being rediscovered by a new generation on the internet) made Chloe a minor hit.

He's being emulated by the HR team at Gun Wharf.

They love abbreviations. HR (instead of recruitment, staff matters or whatever) makes them sound important.

Their reports are almost as packed as Tonbridge and Malling's planning committees with acronyms. Whereas the borough council lists four pages of abbreviations so that the councillors can understand what they are reading, the Human Resources team at Medway Council prides itself on inventing new ones each time there is a report.

The latest is KLOE.

Neither a girl (mis-spelled in the finest Chatham traditions) nor Spike Jones' boy, it stands for a Key Line Of Enquiry.

Bemused councillors nodded and accepted the pearls of wisdom served up at this week's Employment Matters Committee (note - it's not a simple employment committee… it "matters").

I lost interest after reading KLOE demands to know whether "the organization plan, organize and develop its workforce effectively to support the achievement of its strategic priorities". (The grammar and the Americanisation of the English language is another feature of Medway's HR team.)

Maybe their idea is to bore and confuse the politicians so much they say: "Get on with it."

The spectre that out of KAOS* comes control looms large at Medway's personnel department.

Suddenly, Spike Jones seems quite sane….

(*Knowledge Acquisition in Automated Specification)

___

Thursday September 10

The Thames Gateway's political leaders yesterday signed the agreement to work together on housing, transport and skills.

They were rewarded with government promises of greater power and a degree of autonomy.

It was a major result for the authorities.

It will have a massive impact on the Gateway north of the A2.

The extremely successful Fastrack bus services will be extended to Swale and Medway - and probably someone will try to reinvent the wheel.

They also promised a 16 per cent cut in carbon emissions.

They missed one trick. They should have agreed to mine for methane.

Or at least to work together to tap the gas leaking from the many landfill sites along the development front.

It could have been one tangible way to improve Fastrack.

While everyone was signing the multi-area agreement at The Bridge £500 million development in Dartford, the University of East Anglia was busy unveiling its biomethane-fuelled bus at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedford yesterday.

It's an Optare Solo, similar to ones around Medway, except up to 80 per cent of its fuel is pumped from roof tanks rather than using standard diesel. And it has been running successfully in Norfolk and Suffolk for some time.

The methane has been farmed, mined, piped …. however you want to say it, from rubbish tips where household waste has been producing the gas.

Imagine: buses queuing up at Queen Elizabeth Fields to drain the overnight production of methane.

They could do the same at all those places between Gravesend and Dartford where the gas is burned off at night - a total waste. Of a plentiful fuel source.

***

Talking of gas, they could tap a lot at council meetings.

Tonight's Medway meeting could be explosive.

Labour is a shadow of itself. It has lost a quarter of its members since the last meeting. And if you believe their statement yesterday, the Gouldens are to blame.

Meanwhile, Cllr Tony Goulden is now the first leader of the new Independent group on the council - and they expect to get committee seats tonight. It will be at Labour's expense.

***

It will come as no surprise to anyone that the officers and councillors - notably Rose Collinson, the education director, and her political overlord, Les Wicks - will have nothing to say until after the special Cabinet meeting that will decide the fate of three primary schools facing closure.

Les will be unable to escape completely.Tonight he has to answer more public questions from residents, staff, governors, parents and (possibly) pupils about the reasons successful schools are facing closure.

The officers haven't changed their minds.

Their recommendations for all three schools remain steadfast. It's a question of whether the administration will risk it.

Given the by-election result last week - most notably the swing from Labour to Tory - I suspect they might push ahead.

Why? The answer is simple. They can get new schools paid for by the government.

It was one of the key reasons they pushed ahead with the three academies, and a promise of £75 million spent on new buildings.

___

Wednesday September 9

Following on from yesterday's comments about the housing repairs contract, tenants have received a letter from Derrick Singleton, Medway's head of landlord services (a grand way of saying housing manager).

In it he admits for the first time that their records are in a chaotic state.

The new contractors will be going to tenants' homes to check what needs to be done.

He says: "We could find that the work doesn't need to be carried out or, in the case of some boilers, has been carried out already by the repairs team."

This from the department that threw £155,000 at a contractor because of poor management.

There is a gem of PR-speak within the letter.

The delay has nothing to do with the ineptitude and profligacy highlighted by the council's own report and reaffirmed by the Audit Commission this week. It is "due to a desire to ensure you receive good quality, value for money works to your property."

The farmer's field is full of it.

***

There are occasions when I believe there was bloody-mindedness over the plans for the bus station.

Near enough everyone said they wanted The Paddock preserved. Yet someone, somewhere, decided that if the grand idea of an open park was to be spoiled they'd chop down the trees.

Why else would they suggest building in The Paddock? After all, the grand park on the waterfront has become an illusion.

There are too many pressures to build along the waterfront because they command the highest prices.

Some people keep suggesting the ideal bus station would be outside the rail station - a grand transport interchange.

Most bus users want to go shopping - or are laden with bags at the end of a day in town. They would not relish a walk to and from the station.

OK: some are there only because they have to change buses to get to their ultimate destination.

For a transport interchange to work Medway has to change its travel patterns. That will take years.

We are more car-orientated than communities in the West Midlands: we chose the car over the bus about 30 years ago.

Everyone had to have a car. If they didn't they had to have a taxi.

So the bus services were cut by Maidstone and District and the county council. There weren't the people to use them.

Now Arriva has increased the services, and passengers have returned.

But all you have to do is look at the rush hour queues to know that not enough people are on the buses.

I'm not going to nag on about the administration's philosophy that cars have more rights to the road than buses.

But it has been recognised since Margaret Thatcher's day that the Thames Gateway in Kent must change travel choices.

But this is Medway.

Public transport is being considered in isolation.

It should be part of the overall plan, just as the site for a new hotel or hospital would be.

The bus companies (there are more than just Arriva) need to be part of the thinking process.

And they aren't.

Tomorrow night Chatham's Labour councillors will mount an attack on the Conservative Leader of the Council (and chairman of Medway Renaissance) Rodney Chambers over the mounting delays to the bus station plan.

The government has made it quite clear in public meetings I have attended that it will meet the £6 million cost. But the money has to be spent by 2011. Any then left over will be returned to the Chancellor to redistribute.

The one tangible gain for the residents of the Medway Towns would be a new bus station.

It's nothing spectacular. But what else (apart from a windswept walk around a still-undeveloped Rochester Riverside site) have they had to date?

___

Tuesday September 8

If there is one thing that has dominated life at the council in recent years it is the housing maintenance debacle.

The cost of the whole thing is likely to end up close to £1 million.

And all because of mismanagement of the entire contract.

I have been covering the sorry saga for three years.

During that time I have highlighted the way money was thrown away, staff's concerns were ignored, and even councillors - with the notable exception of Labour's housing veteran, Paul Harriott - have declined to speak what was going on.

Now the Audit Commission's director of professional practice, Chris Westwood, has demanded that the council on Thursday night should actually get around to discussing what went wrong.

They should do. The inept management of the contract, the way it was open to individuals' interpretation, and the way it let the contractor supply it with competitors' quotes it should have been collecting, has probably cost the community somewhere close to £1 million.

Mr Westwood says the council found poor record-keeping, inadequate budgeting, poor implementation of new contract arrangements, and inadequate training and management direction.

Someone somewhere will question my guess-timate of cost. So let me answer now.

It cost £155,000 in overpayments wrongly approved by housing.

There was over £70,000 in payments to three whistleblowers for the unfair way they were treated by the council's senior managers. Plus there was probably £150,000 in legal costs for that alone.

Then you add the cost of the director and numerous managers' whose time was repeatedly diverted to make statements, meet solicitors, plus travel costs, phone bills, advising, discussing how to defend the council's position… as an indication Medway's directors get paid in excess of £400 each day they work.

Then there was the internal investigation into the cock-ups. Consultants were called in to advise and investigate, to assess the cost of electrical work (or the lack of it), and in one case one of the people responsible for the failings gave evidence at employment tribunal hearings.

I'll bet none of that was budgeted in the contract.

Meanwhile, there are thousands of local council tenants who continue to live in inadequate properties that don't meet the government decent homes standards.

And now the council is having to award new contracts to find a contractor (or contractors) able to do a good job of updating homes that should have been done in the past two years - and this year.

Wouldn't it be ironic if the contractor excluded from the present officers' thinking actually got the contracts?

All that by the end of next March, and all that at 2009 prices, not 2006 ones.

And if the council doesn't get it right?

Well, they won't meet the government target date (though they had the time and the money) and could have achieved it if they had done the job properly in the first case.

The councillors are being urged by the former finance director (now the council's chief executive), Neil Davies, simply to note the contents of the letter from Mr Westwood.

I hope they do more than simply note them.

Mr Westwood repeatedly says practices did not reflect well on the council or its management.

"There have been instances of poor value for money and the management of the service has not been of the standard expected," he tells councillors.

And he specifically demands the councillors should set out clearly what it intends to do now. He wants it to respond comprehensively to the identified failings, specify the detailed steps it intends to take, and explain the monitoring it plans to ensure there is no repetition.

***

Council chief executive Neil Davies will be in Dartford tomorrow leading the officers of the four Kent Thames Gateway authorities at the signing by their politicians of a Multi Area Agreement that could unite north Kent.

Most people haven't heard of local area agreements. Fewer still have any knowledge of Multiple Area Agreements.

Basically, an LAA is where the council acts as co-ordinator with all the other public organisations and an increasing number of private ones to improve the local community's way of life, They agree what they want to achieve and when, and they all commit to it through the Local Area Agreement.

The MAA is where two or more local authorities will agree common targets.

For these four authorities to agree has been a task of exceeding skill, and Mr Davies has done that with consummate ease.

Tomorrow, at The Bridge in Dartford (one of the more successful Gateway regeneration projects) Mr Davies will stand behind his council leader, Rodney Chambers, as he commits Medway (along with the leaders of Swale, Gravesham and Dartford) to three common objectives.

(They wouldn't be doing badly if they could finally get the Javelin high speed trains running in Medway and Swale before December - Dover and Ramsgate have). But they do aim to improve transport, housing and skills.

The skills aspect is being tackled by the Universities (don't forget, Medway has four of them now!), further education, and academies.

And housing - well as I pointed out in this blog on June 10, they plan the redevelopment of existing estates to deliver increased density and therefore additional new homes.

___

Monday September 7

I can just imagine the machinations that were going on at Chapter School during the last days of that organisation's existence.

"How do we go with a bang, not a whimper?" may well have been the question at one of the last school management meetings.

"They want to get rid of a successful school, merge us with an unsuccessful one, expect the good things to rub off on the failing one, and consign us to the educational dustbin."

Well, Chapter School may no longer exist in Medway.

But its spirit and image lives on - in Serbia.

In a classic piece of twin-digital PR, all the girls at the school donated their uniforms (complete with Chapter School badges) to an international charity.

Now the blazers, skirts and other accoutrements of school life for thousands of girls from Strood are on their way to Serbia where a girls' school is in desperate need of the sort of pride and image that Chapter gave Medway.

Wouldn't it be a laugh if the school that is accepting the donation (plus thousands of pounds raised by the Strood girls in another display of their social conscience) was to adopt the name "Chapter School"?

Imagine - Chapter School may no longer exist in Medway, but in Serbia new pride and hope is being given to hundreds of children thanks to the efforts of those in Strood.

Meanwhile, today is the first day for the new Strood Academy.

And of course it was no coincidence that this year's GCSE results were unveiled by the council at the other part of the new academy - the erstwhile failing Temple School.

***

Medway Maritime Hospital has been criticised in the past few days for raking in £930,000 last year from car parking charges.

Maybe it is because I have been a patient there recently but I don't think it is too much to pay.

As a guide (and it is difficult to follow the logic of who pays what for how long, or indeed how it is supervised) the hospital charges £1.50 for the first hour, £2 for two and so on.

There is a useful range of bus services into the hospital (providing you can walk to your nearest stop). There is also a good range of taxi services.

But if you think the car park or the bus is expensive, think again. A round trip in the taxi costs me £20 each time I have an out-patient appointment. And I live in Medway.

The sooner I can drive, and pay for the parking privilege….. or walk to the bus stop and be dropped almost at the front door… the better for my pocket and my bank manager.

And if someone somewhere suggests there are not such good facilities at other hospitals - have a look and ask! You might be surprised.

***

Talking of parking charges, I see the CCTV cars in Medway have demonstrated that their drivers may not be as smart.

What on earth was that idiot thinking when he booked a driver who had broken down on a busy road junction. He left him there. All he said was: "Take it up with the council!" - while dozens of angry drivers tried to get pass the mayhem.

I am delighted to say that the booked driver did take it up with the council - and their managers booked the CCTV cameraman!

Now that's one of those occasions when I would have been delighted to be a fly on the wall!

Manager: "Why did you book him?"

CCTV driver: "He weren't moving and he wuz causin' a hobstruction."

Manager: "Did he tell you why he was obstructing the road?"

CCTV driver: "Yer, but I'd issued the ticket by then."

Manager: "Did you think?…like, think to suggest to the office there were extenuating circumstances? Or, better still, try and solve the problem?"

CCTV driver: "Ehhh? I wuz just doin' me duty, rakin' in the cash for the council. I couldn't leave me car and the cameras - they might 'ave bin nicked. Anyway, I ain't 'andy."

Suffice to say, if you break down on a busy road junction and the CCTV car comes along - don't panic. Smart CCTV car drivers will now rush to your assistance.

Meanwhile, a flight of porcine-winged creatures has been reported over Medway.

___

Friday September 4

IT WAS a close-run thing, but the Conservatives have ousted Labour from their safest council seat in Medway.

It now leaves the official opposition in a parlous state with just nine councillors. That's just one more than the Liberal Democrats and only six more than the new Independent Group containing two of Labour's most popular members.

It follows the count after the voters had had their say about things in Luton and Wayfield.

On the route to the ballot box, Labour made a number of key mistakes.

The biggest was ignoring Tony and Val Goulden, two ex-Medway Mayors and (more importantly) two highly popular, hardworking local councillors.

It cost them votes - how many will never be known.

Two people who voted Labour last time decided to vote Conservative this time. That swing was all it needed for Tashi Bhutia to win a famous victory in Luton and Wayfield.

Famous?

It's been more than 40 years since the ward was represented by a Conservative.

It was, until then, one of the safest Labour wards in the county.

It also has two other councillors - the Gouldens - so disillusioned with the way Labour is being run that they resigned the Whip at the beginning of the campaigning.

Watch out: they will work with Cllr Bhutia for the good of the ward while retaining their independent Socialist views. Even though they are now beyond the pale as far as the Labour Group is concerned,

The trio could make a formidable combination.

And what about the rest of the candidates?

The Greens made no inroads whatsoever.

The Libs came third, just ahead of UKIP and the BNP.

One other interesting consideration in the local politics and its handling by Labour. There was an independent candidate who picked up 87 votes.

Know which party he had been associated with? - that's right, Labour.

This was a vote that was as much a reflection of the way Labour is running things in the area as about Medway or national politics.

___

Wednesday September 2

Aristotle has often been proved right: "One swallow does not make a summer, neither does one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy."


I admit it: I had a totally self-centred concern when I moaned about the lack of wheelchairs for out-patients like the 94-year-old I encountered, those with broken limbs and others with serious walking difficulties.


Mike O'Brien, the chairman of the new health scrutiny committee at Medway Council was rapidly off the mark.


And the Medway Maritime Hospital did make things a lot better for injured out-patients in the wake of my moans about the lack of wheelchairs.


Within hours of my complaint about the long walks people were forced to make because there were no wheelchairs at the entrance, he organised a meeting with Lois Howell, the Company Secretary at the Medway Maritime Hospital.


That led to a re-examination of the number of wheelchairs available in the car park and in the hospital entrance.


And on my next visit there were up to four in the entrance (but when I arrived only one that I sequestered).


At the weekend I had a letter from Ms Howell.


She told me they welcome "extremely helpful" comments about outpatient experiences.


They now have a new Head of Facilities, Gareth Hughes.


Ms Howell said Mr Hughes had made it a personal priority to address the "assessment and fulfilment of need" for wheelchairs.


She wrote: "Among other things, I know he has commissioned a review of how/where wheelchairs are used and left around the hospital, arranged for the repair of a number of chairs which were out of action and put together a bid for the purchase of a considerable number of new wheelchairs."


Hallelujah. The new Jerusalem has arrived.


But that lone chair was like Aristotle's swallow.


Yesterday I had another appointment - and knew when I saw a patient with crutches and a plaster, sat in the ambulance area, that I was not going to be totally happy.


There were no wheelchairs.


He waited. I lurched.


I got to my appointment 10 minutes late. He followed me into the waiting room five minutes later, sat in a chair - and was promptly sent off for further tours of the hospital.


My wife eventually located a wheelchair when one of the previous users returned it to the wheelchair store.


Just as well. I had to follow the same circuitous trail as the other patient to have plaster removed, X-rays done and then a visit to the surgeon to discuss the outcomes.


I certainly felt that the criticisms mounted over the weekend about food and care in Britain's hospitals was inaccurate as far as my experience of the in-patient care at Medway Maritime is concerned.


But Ms Howell and Mr Hughes have to do better for every non-ambulant patient who staggers, lurches or lifts themselves across the entrance if they want it to become a hospital of excellence.


According to their website: "Medway Maritime Hospital is the largest and busiest hospital in Kent – treating around 400,000 patients each year mainly in Medway and Swale, but increasingly other parts of North and West Kent.


"Everyday we see around 1,400 outpatients, about 200 patients use our emergency department and approximately 150 patients need to be admitted for hospital care and treatment. Because of the large number of patients we see, occasionally we face rare and unforeseen situations but we are committed to resolving and learning from the challenges we may meet to drive up standards of care and treatment."


The absence of a wheelchair for 1,400 outpatients at Medway Maritime is neither new, unexpected, nor rare to judge from my experiences - and those of the people we met.


***


The two remaining councillors in Luton and Wayfield ward, Tony and Val Goulden, have sworn not to work with the Labour candidate, Sam Whittington, if she gets elected in tomorrow's by-election.


It was called after Cllr Dennis McFarlane resigned over alleged "moral issues".


Ms Whittington was selected three weeks after becoming a Labour candidate in preference to a number of long-established Labour candidates. She attracted interest for her campaigning to save local primary schools. Among the candidates who lost out to her was the experienced former Labour education spokesman, Mark Jones.


Then her Facebook entries covering sex, toys, fantasies and political criticisms of Labour were circulated among political groups.


Both the Gouldens eventually resigned the party whip. It was the final straw after a series of disagreements over Labour policies.

They now stand as Independent councillors, forming an officially recognised group with Ian Burt, the Walderslade councillors.


Mrs Goulden insisted they would not work with Ms Whittington.


"You can't pick someone to replace a person who resigned over moral issues who herself doesn't seem to have many morals," said Mrs Goulden.


***


Idle thoughts around the hospital.


Why does Medway Maritime Hospital have a sign saying "Baby Change Unit" outside the delivery suites?


Is there any sense promoting healthy eating on the internal advertising screens interspersed with instructions not to eat in the consulting rooms?


And what do they mean by signs which read: "You are being watched by CCTV. The computers are alarmed"?

___

Tuesday September 1

There are problems with the new half-billion pound refuse clearance contract.

It was due to start today, but last week it emerged that it would be delayed.

An all-party committee had spent two years looking at ways to improve the service, to spread the risk, and get best value, to increase the recycling and reduce the land fill.

But in the week that they are expected to allow one company to briefly extend the life of its tip at St Mary Hoo, the unloved main contractor for the past few years - French-owned Veolia - is being asked to continue operating for two more years.

There are unsubstantiated rumours of court action flying around the letting of the new contracts.

There are concerns that after two years of intense examination of the various contractors, their skills, savings and improvements, someone, somewhere, was unfair with the points system used to determine who was best-suited for the needs of Medway for the next 30 years.

Something very reminiscent of the way the much-troubled, highly-expensive and equally embarrassing, housing repairs contract was let.

Now there are rumours that another of Medway's high-cost, long term contracts is in difficulties. The corporate cleaning contract for all the council-owned buildings has hit problems just before it was about to be recommended to councillors.

It's an embarrassment (something the officers will have to get used to as they get out their own dusters to polish their desks?)

But it is not like the refuse contract.

That could have a substantial impact on the council taxes and thereby council services.

It was one of the attractions with the selected recycling contractor that the range of rubbish that goes for reuse would be increased.

That firm continues to wait in the wings.

The Conservative Leader of the Council, Cllr Rodney Chambers, more than once said there would never be incineration of Medway's rubbish. Now he says what he meant was Swale was OK - but there would be no incineration in Medway.

Even that is not happening on September 1.

The rubbish is continuing to be taken to a tip at Rainham in Essex which has to close next year. What then with Medway's waste?

Meanwhile, lurking in the background, is the landfill tax.

Medway has a major target, set by the British and European governments. The Towns have to recycle more than 45 per cent of our household waste by next year - or face monster fines for every tonne of rubbish that has to be buried in the ground.

Taxpayers won't be asked to pay it. It will have to come out of the existing taxation.

With the prospect of a Conservative government and its Leader's promise to freeze all council tax increases for two years, what then for Medway's other services?

The new contracts have to be resolved, and rapidly.

Meanwhile Veolia has the last laugh.

For years it was penalised for failing to clean streets on time, remove rubbish when they said they would, and a host of other misdemeanours in the original contract.

The sums were substantial and contributed to Medway's finances.

Not any more.

Veolia's management could almost sit back and do nothing - and get away with it now. Medway can't afford for them to walk away from the extended contract. Not while the losing bidders are threatening them with the courts.

***

A fleet of new singledeck buses have gone into service with Arriva in Medway.

They are wheelchair friendly, and easily accessible thanks to the raised stops and entrances that the drivers can lower.

I just wonder whether they are more comfortable than some of the new buses I have sampled elsewhere in the country this year.

They look stunning. But looks are not everything - any more than that first swallow in April.

They were ultra-low on comfort. Planks offer a more giving surface than some of the seats.

And the front seats on many doubledeckers are not designed for passengers who have knees and feet.

That is an operator fault, not the manufacturer.

Arriva's doubledeckers five years ago were a good buy, not just on cost but also on quality. Now some of them are moving on.

I look forward to sampling their new Enviros.

***

Today is the first anniversary of this blog's initial appearance.

No cards (by request).

___

Friday August 28

It has been a normal week for our councillors at Gun Wharf.

They've dug out terrorism laws to try to snare someone sticking up posters around Medway, tapping into phones and emails in a bid to catch him…or her.

A by election is imminent.

And the final stages of protecting Fortress Gun Wharf against the Great Unwashed will come into play either side of the votes count.

They have put in an £8,000 electronic gate as their drawbridge. It will seal the councillors and their thousands of staff from encountering The People.

And what have we done to deserve this door-slamming of democracy? We elected the people who sanctioned the final barrier. That's all. Because it was those very same people who caused the problems.

The reasons given last week were ludicrously unrealistic.

They were designed to stop people parking in disabled spaces, to reduce the damage to staff cars, and to ensure legitimate visitors could park.

Visitors will now have to pre-book, and obtain the full authority of one of the three council directors.

Damage? - that was being done to staff cars by their colleagues' casual carelessness in a car park that admittedly has too-narrow bays.

And the disabled parking abuses? That was carried out by three of the most senior, decision-making councillors who were caught out by the public - Medway Messenger readers.

I can already hear the cries from the administration.

"We aren't stopping people visiting us - they can still drive in."

That's true.

But they have to make a prior appointment. Each has to be authorised by one of the three directors, Chief Executive Neil Davies, Children and Adults chief, Rose Collinson, or Bits and Pieces boss, Robin Cooper. So if you want to park from September 7 - phone them, or email neil.davies@medway.gov.uk, rose.collinson@medway.gov.uk and robin.cooper@medway.gov.uk

Apparently they have the time to waste on deciding whether Mr Smith, who wants to discuss an application with a planning officer, can come in.

Or whether Mrs Jones should be able to lobby her councillor?

Or - heaven forbid - if parents should be able to listen to the discussions about another school closure?

This gate is perfectly situated on the access drive. Casual visitors will be trapped at the barrier, unable to drive through, unable to reverse out, and with following cars backing up towards Dock Road, already congested by roadworks, road narrowing, and rush hour traffic.

I suspect that the Finance Portfolio Holder had his hand on the helm.

Like the First Lieutenant on one of the galleons that used to sail from off Gun Wharf, Cllr Alan Jarrett cried: "Prepare to repel boarders!"

That he should also have installed money-earning parking meters on adjacent roads - and have some car parks a mile away - will help his empty coffers.

His enforcer, as always, will be Cllr Reh Chishti. His merry wardens, CCTV cameras and bye-laws will ensure that anyone who ignores the signs will be nicked - and another £80 will go into the coffers.

Talk about turning things on their head - these were two of the three councillors who parked, illicitly, illegally and unfairly, on the disabled parking bays, and sparked the problems we all now face.

Of course, they will have staff passes, and their own allocated parking spaces…

And if you haven't caught up with today's paper, you may be wondering about my reference to the heavy-handed use of terrorism laws to catch a flyposter.

It is one of the ways Cllr Chishti's team is now snaring minor law breakers.

I have no sympathy with the five benefit fraudsters they have also been listening in on.

But the use of draconian powers designed to catch bombers being used to spy on a market stallholder who may be breaking some trading laws? And to catch an anti-social individual dumping litter?

One wonders if they draw the line anywhere.

We have more than 400 CCTV cameras from which low-paid monitors use to track our every move, 24 hours a day.

They tap our phone calls, and check our emails, to find out with whom we are talking, exchanging ideas or hatching plots to campaign against school closures.

They also discover what we buy, who we flirt with, when our homes are empty ...

So why shouldn't they use these powers to deny us our basic rights?

George Orwell, if you are able to read this, you didn't know the half of it when you wrote 1984.

___

Thursday August 27

The regeneration scrutiny committee is going to have a look tonight at whose roads are getting the best repairs in an £8.4 million scheme.

Heading the list are the rural roads out on the Hoo peninsula, with the Peninsula Ward itself (where the roads supremo, Phil Filmer, is a local councillor) topping the list for repairs with no less than 19 schemes planned over the next three years.

But it is not the place where the most money is being spent.

At £36,810 a scheme it lags behind some of the others.

The most cash is being spent in Strood Rural where £1.12 million is being lashed out on six ward roads - half of it on the A289 and A228 through the town centre.

It's also where two of the 10 Cabinet members represent the local electors.

The reason it is coming up for scrutiny?

The Leader of the Labour group, Cllr Paul Godwin, is questioning how the money is being spent - and why.

He should be pleased.

The troubled Luton and Wayfield ward where his group has lost its three councillors in recent weeks (for widely differing reasons of resignation) is having half a million spent on it. Roosevelt Avenue and Capstone Road are to be resurfaced within 18 months.

The Conservatives say they also want to re-lay Luton Road, Russell Court and Street End Road - by 2012 if they can find some way to foot the bill.

***

The same committee is also taking on the role of scrutinising the work of the local crime partnership.

It gives the community the opportunity to tackling local issues that annoy them.

Like the families who pile up litter to the delight of the rats. Or people who light bonfires without heed to their neighbours washing, ventilation or enjoyment of the garden. Or the noisy drunks who turn a quiet neighbourhood into the Homes in Hell. Or yellow line flounters.

Minor stuff - the sort of thing that the police used to say was below them because they had more important things to do.

But important to most of us wishing to live a peaceful life.

I do hope they get round to considering bonfires - and set some simple rules, like no fires in the summer months, and only between midnight and 4am in the winter.....

***

With the decision to scrap Big Brother, maybe Channel Four will spend money on good programming.

Can you imagine what it will be like for the customary collection of idiots, loud mouths and gormless ones selected to take part in next year's final round?

"One of you will win temporary fame, your life will be ruined and the world will know all your failings - but it won't bother to watch."

What on earth will the Red Tops fill their front pages with after that show dies?

How about Life at Your Council - a behind the scenes view of the politicians and the officers working together for your good…

___

Wednesday August 26

A Dover councillor sits on the new regional board that is targeting key transport schemes in the south east.

Cllr Paul Watkins (coincidence - no relation) just happened to be on hand when the Cliffsend dual carriageway project - better known as Pegwell Bay - got the backing of the regional transport board.

Medway is not a member of the regional authority, and therefore unable to represent itself to the transport board.

One wonders whether the people who now recommend where the decreasingly small pot is spent will back station improvements, new roads, improving the Strood junction (even putting in a link from the Medway Valley line towards Chatham) and so forth.

Or will those dreams slip back into limbo land?

***

The BNP - which has one of the seven candidates in next week's Luton and Wayfield by election - has established a Facebook page, thanks to yet another appeal for contributions from the party.

The national party chairman and MEP, Nick Griffin, is encouraging every member to use it.

In an email at the weekend that I finally got around to reading, Nick says: "I am excited to announce that the computer programmers have now completed their task and the BNP Facebook application is now ready to be added to your Facebook page!

This has the potential to be huge!

"If our estimated pool of 50,000 Facebook sympathisers all install this application and then invite their entire friends-list to do the same, we could end up with hundreds of thousands of our applications installed all over Facebook!"

And he adds: "Remember, once this application is installed and viewable in your profile page, it is your duty to input as many of your friends email addresses into it as possible. I am depending on you to help expand our online reach!

Duty?

I know what I would happen to any "friend" who signed me up to any political group discussion or chat area. They wouldn't stay friends very long.

Meanwhile, I would have thought the problems of idle chatter on Facebook highlighted in this column in the past month would warn off all politicians - real or potential - from taking part.

***

I had a letter the other day from the council.

It is adorned with the Beacon Council logo which it received in 2005.

It is clinging on to that old accolade like the old crone who recalls winning Miss Twinkle Toes as an under-five.

___

Tuesday August 25

I had heard a little whisper that Paul Clark's getting the Labour Party message out to his constituents. But not quite the way I expected.

The Gillingham and Rainham MP's dad, Gordon, is trundling the highways and byways of the parliamentary constituency with a cute £14.99 shopping trolley (in party red colours, of course).

Dad has been seen in Rainham, Watling Street, Gillingham, and various other parts of the borough dropping off copies of his "Regular Update" paper.

I am sorry to have to disappoint readers but there are only 11 pictures of PC.

His rival, Tory councillor Reh Chishti, managed to squeeze into his four-page colour broadsheet earlier this year more than double that. And he seems able to send hordes of supporters to deliver his colourful pamphlets.

I'm not sure which paper is the more mesmerising - both sent me to sleep.

Meanwhile, Paul is writing to trade unionists admitting that the past year hasn't been great for the Labour Party.

But like every politician he manages to find some crumbs - in this case the NHS.

He was delighted at the response from Brits to right-wing Yanks' vitriolic opposition to a national health service for the States.

And he pointed out that the constituency has three new healthy living centres and the Will Adams Treatment Centre as well. The Rainham one does a mean cup of coffee for the local café society.

Meanwhile, I haven't heard a word from the Tory hopeful for Rochester and Strood, Cllr Mark Reckless.

He was best man to, and a close friend of, Daniel Hannan, the local MEP who has been gallivanting around the TV studios in the States criticising the NHS.

As a current NHS patient, I would be delighted to hear whether Mark supports - or opposes - the NHS.

***

There are many local quangos about which there is an air of mystery. The only one to open its doors is the Medway Renaissance Partnership.

The far more influential Local Strategic Partnership keeps itself very much to itself. And so do the others affecting the lives of everyone in the Medway Towns.

One which is changing our lives is the Community Safety Partnership. But it was closed to scrutiny - until now!

This body involves a number of authorities including services such as the police, fire and probation, and apparently tackles matters of public concern.

All we hear currently are platitudes about crime figures ("the number of burglaries in Medway has dropped to two or three a day" is one that is being hyped around the Towns at the moment by Neighbourhood Watch controllers).

Well, the crime busters are now to be opened up to public scrutiny by local councillors.

At least once a year (but more frequently is necessary in this resident's eyes) matters like the way it is tackling crime and disorder - in particular anti-social behaviour or other behaviour adversely affecting the local environment, plus drugs, alcohol and substance abuse - will be considered by the regeneration committee.

The key to their powers is one phrase - the Councillor Call for Action (or CcfA as it is already being abbreviated).

The new powers require local authorities to allow any member of the Council to refer any local crime and disorder matter to the Committee and for the Committee to have power to make a report or recommendations to the Council or Cabinet.

They can look at any matter "which affects all or part of the ward for which the member is elected or any person who lives or works in that area."

As well as the expected people who would be answerable to the committee, it require responsible authorities or co-operating bodies such as the probation authorities, parish councils, NHS Trusts, NHS Foundation Trusts, proprietors of independent schools and governing bodies of institutions within the further education sector to provide information requested by the committee, usually within a month.

It promises to be interesting times.

___

Monday August 24

Now, where was I?

Ah, yes… the Luton and Wayfield by election.

Bottoms bitten, fingers injured ….

It's all in a day for politicians on the votes trail in Luton and Wayfield.

You may recall that there has been a minor upheaval in the local political scene with the resignation (sacking?) of one councillor. That caused the by-election on September 3.

It was followed by the resignation from the Labour Party of the remaining two councillors who have gone into an Independent Group.

The former Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Cllr Geoff Juby, promptly got bitten on a rather tender part of his anatomy. He encountered an alsatian-type when he tried to deliver some publicity material to a house in Alamein Avenue.

He was fortunate. On hand (literally and metaphorically) was Steve Kearney.

With great aplomb, and not without a sense of great joy, his colleague (a frmer ambulanceman) quickly stuck the biggest plaster he could find on one of the more hairy parts of the injured councillor's anatomy… then packed him off to hospital.

I understand the nurses ripped off the plaster to examine the wound - and removed a large patch of hair from his glutimus maximus. (Reminds me of the A&E sister four weeks ago who slapped my leg and said: "I think it's broken.")

Meanwhile, I understand that the newly-appointed Labour Whip, Cllr Julie Shaw, has also been in the wars in Luton.

I don't think it was in Alamein Avenue, but certainly she injured a finger on the campaign trail.

Electioneering is a dangerous thing, folks.

***

A redundancy clinic is now being run by Medway Council to get people back to work as soon as possible.

Having been through that mill myself on two occasions, it is not something that has ever enthused me.

The problem will the old system was that it was OK in principle, but when it came down to specialists, its staff had had no idea how to help. You were on your own.

But you had to be regimented.

I hope I am wrong - most sincerely - but the new Employ Medway Advice Centre sounds remarkably similar to what I encountered (and some of my friends, too).

"The centre will provide information, advice and signposting to assist residents in their search to find employment and other training opportunities," said a press release from the council.
"For Medway employers, the centre will provide free advice and support with recruitment needs including the identification of suitable candidates for interview."
And when you read further on that "The Employ Medway programme is a symbol of Medway Council’s continued commitment to working in partnership with key national, regional and local partners for the benefit of residents and employers in Medway" I cringe.
There is hope on the skyline. The centre will eventually provide "money management; advice and guidance sessions, ICT and CV training workshops and supporting new businesses"…

Given that the bulk of the redundancies have been with local residents who have lost jobs in the money capital, I don't think that is going to be much help.

I hope I am wrong. I really do.

But the signs are worrying.

___

Friday August 14

There is more than a passing interest among Labour councillors in the outcome of the Luton and Wayfield by election. Their pockets could be severely hurt.

It follows the resignation from the group of their bestknown members, husband and wife Tony and Val Goulden.

There has been unrest in the Labour ranks (come to that in the Conservative ranks, too) for some time.

But as well as both being past mayors, Tony was also the man responsible for identifying the problems in the group and keeping everyone on side. He was the group whip. And he was ignored.

You do that at your peril. Just look at Francis Urquhart for how that power can be taken to extremes.

Despite being the sitting member since the mid Nineties, the constituency members kept the Gouldens out of the selection of their running mates in 2007, and (when things went wrong) for the present by election.

The sitting MP, Jonathan Shaw, has had a considerable influence. But the people who would have to work with a victorious candidate were ignored.

It went wrong with the first candidate.

Now questions about the morals of the candidate chosen to run alongside the Gouldens have been raised.

To be ignored once was bad enough. To be ignored twice was too much.

There might have been a chance of saving their position. But the Labour Group leader, Paul Godwin, was not prepared to accept there were any problems, and was quite forthright about that in their own home.

The revelations (since confirmed as being written by his candidate by the Labour agent) ended any chance of keeping the row quiet until after the by election was settled on September 3.

The Gouldens walked.

They have now formed an Independent Group with Ian Burt. And they carry the knowledge of the Labour Group's strengths and weaknesses - not just in the ward, but across the council.

So where does that leave the entire Group?

Victory for their candidate will allow them all to rest a little more secure for the next 18 months.

Defeat could leave them severely strapped for cash.

At stake is over £36,000 which we currently pay Labour councillors with "special responsibilities".

That's because groups need at least a fifth of the council - 11 members - to qualify for special responsibility allowances.

Of course, no local politicians enter the council chamber with the idea that they are there for the money (Medway's backbenchers would probably get more on the dole).

But when you become used to a chunk of money every month, it is agonising when it is suddenly removed.

The council voted four years ago for special allowances only to be paid to parties with at least a fifth of the council membership. That left the Conservatives (currently with two-thirds of the membership) chuckling.

Labour politicians, too, could smile (indeed, Cllr Godwin was involved in the plan). But not any more.

They are currently down to 10 members. Get their candidate elected, and they will hold on to their allowances. Fail - and they join the pauperage currently occupied by the Lib Dems and those three Independents.

So exactly what is at stake?

Well, Paul Godwin, the Leader of the Labour Group (because it is the official opposition), gets £9373.20 for that task.

Glyn Griffiths, gets £3749.29 for deputising as Leader.

Nick Bowler gets a similar payment as Labour's development control spokesman.

Four members get allowances as the official spokesmen on scrutiny committees. Bill Esterson, Teresa Murray (plus Cllrs Godwin and Griffiths) each qualify for £5623.92 a year.

There's also £937.32 at stake for whoever becomes the Group Whip.

The Lib Dems don't get any allowances. That's because they only have eight members - three short of the special allowances lower level, set and agreed at the full council meeting in July 2005.

Their Leader is the only one paid special responsibilities - and she gets £4686.60 - all it's worth for chairing a minority group.

All of which could be staring Labour councillors in the face after the ballot boxes have been emptied and counted on September 3.

Could they cope with just the basic allowance of £8935.80?

Well, I suppose so. After all, the other members of the group already do. And Cllr Godwin did agree the 2005 recommendations when he was sitting on the special working party that made the final recommendations to the council.

So what of election night?

That is when all the tensions in a campaign explode to the surface.

Those who are victorious come out with public platitudes while their campaign managers and supporters rub salt into the fresh wounds  of the defeated.

This time the savagery meted out to the losers when the declaration is made could make some of the scenes in the Sixties Belgian Congo seem like a pre-season friendly.

And one of the key elements in this election could yet prove to be the number of Eastern Europeans that have moved into the ward. Some suggest the number may be as high as 1,000.

Could there be disappointment for the Tories?

***

While all this is going on, former Medway councillor, Chris Buckwell, has been espousing the selection methods for choosing Conservative council candidates in Rochester and Strood.

Writing on the Conservative.com website he said this week: "We have open selection - no protection for sitting members. Any qualifying Party member can apply for any ward(s). Only those paid-up members living in the ward concerned vote in selections for the ward concerned.

"We run the selections from the safest ward down (based on last local election results).

"We use eliminating ballots (ie, seven candidates for three seats - first round you give your favoured candidate seven points, second favourite six points, etc). Each round a candidate is eliminated.

"You are left with your three. We look at it as 'selection'. If a sitting councillor happens not to be selected again, then so be it. The ward branch members should be able and entitled to judge. We used this for our 2003 and 2007 elections. We will select next year for the May 2011 elections."

Chris is the association's Organising Secretary.

In the Chatham and Aylesford Labour Party just 11 people selected the candidate that led to the resignation of the Gouldens….

***

I am advised that the chairman of the Health scrutiny committee has already started asking questions about the chaos this week at the medway maritime Hospital.

***

This is my last blog for a few days. My surgeon has ordered I should stop work. So I shall. But I plan to be back before the start of September.

Must hop.

___

Thursday August 13

Oh, to be a fly on the wall at Eastgate House today!

That's where the £1 million-a-year team known as Medway Renaissance have been planning the destruction of The Paddock against the wishes of the public, and the creation of a bus station with 16 bus stops but no comfort stop.

Wounds are currently being licked: The planning committee would not make a decision on the bus station plan last night. It's as close as they could get to rejecting the £6 million plan endorsed by the council.

It throws the entire redevelopment of Chatham - and its transformation into the City Centre of the Thames Gateway - into question. For that to happen they needed the demolition of Chatham's flyover (nearly finished) - and the removal of the buses from the first floor of the Pentagon Shopping Centre. With no bus station, Arriva won't move.

Where do they go from here? And who is to blame?

Given that the Local Development Framework - the heart of the regeneration - collapsed and is now being slowly rebuilt, are we about to return to a postwar scenario in the Medway Towns of weeds growing from "bomb sites"?

It's a mess.

Must buzz....

***

The Health scrutiny committee is going out to the masses next week (I sense the hand of the recently-appointed chairman. Mike O'Brien).

They are inviting the public to listen to a variety of debates and discussions at the Rainham Mark club.

Unusually, I shall not be there: as some know I recently broke my leg and spent some time as a patient in the Medway Maritime.

Excellent was the service to all the patients in Arethusa Ward and from the numerous orthopaedic surgeons and anaesthetists, nurses and … well everyone attached to the ward.

The past two days I returned to the hospital as an outpatient.

Be warned. It is a different equation completely to being an in-patient.

The hospital is being rebuilt.

They have closed the main entrance, and barriers have been erected to stop anyone entering… except emergencies.

The parking is now pay and display. And it is a hell of a walk when you are on crutches.

Did someone suggest using a wheelchair?
Try to find one.

My wife eventually located one after searching for two hours yesterday - and that left the carer of a 96 year old lady looking for one.

It is chaotic.

Ambulance crews were looking, so were other patients and their carers.

When I mentioned it to the consultant he suggested I buy or hire one! I won't tell you what I thought of that proposal, but at £1.50 an hour to park, I would have thought we had bought several chairs.

Signs are lacking.

The walk from the pavement to the fracture clinic was about 200 yards. It took me 20 minutes.

Helpful attendants suggested going and looking, or asking at the main reception, or …. But they, personally, could not help.

Considering the cost of the rebuilding, and the time they have had to plan it, I would have thought essential items like trolleys would have had a £2 slot (like shopping trolleys) to ensure they were returned to the right place.

Incidentally, if you want a floor polisher three have gone astray, we were told by some of the cleaners looking bemused and embarrassed by the patients' frustration.

So if the health scrutiny committee wants something fresh to look at, they wouldn't do worse than to look into the way the public is currently being treated during the rebuilding of the old naval hospital in the back streets of Gillingham.

They could look at signing, rest areas, preparation for the work, varnishing the new restaurant slats with patients and public trying to eat, access for the handicapped ….. I could keep going. But I won't.

***

I am grateful to the Mayor, Cllr David Royle, for sending me best wishes from all members of the council.

It came at a most difficult time in his life, and I can only say thank you to him - and the everyone else who has sent me cards, rung my home, emailed etc. I was surprised and made to feel humble, but it was appreciated.

*** 

Tomorrow? - make sure you read this blog to learn about the extraordinary goings on in Luton and Wayfield that have led to the resignations from the Labour Group of ex-Mayors, Tony and Val Goulden. It's Shakespearian in its magnificence - sex, revenge, politics, honour, and ... (I'm not going to spoil it by telling you any more today! For now, just go and look at the news story on the main page.)

___

Wednesday August 12

One gets the impression that the provision of a £200,000 shuttle bus service between Temple Marsh and the town centre is a hurried decision.

Of course, that is totally false.

It is merely a coincidence there were criticisms recently made to Medway Renaissance's board that Strood's prestige development on the old riverside rubbish tip would be isolated from the town centre.

Tonight the plans go to committee.

Hopefully one of the councillors will gain support for a riverside walk to link the development with the town and the countryside.

Maybe one will even be bold enough to suggest that it needs a river ferry service running from Temple Marsh to Strood, Rochester and Chatham.

It is symptomatic of something I have been hammering on about for years. There has been a screaming need for a comprehensive Strood Plan, that looks at every area of the town.

Something is finally coming forward, but the Temple Marsh development will be approved by a government minister long before it is integrated into the rest of the town.

A Strood Plan should suggest how each of its districts could be made to work better and more attractively within a new-look town.

At the moment, much of Strood is tired, worn out, and unfit for 21^st Century life. It is Victorian, and remains part of a blue collar working class concept which is no longer appropriate to the community it serves.

The Strood Plan needs to look far into the future, not simply at what is known to be available for development now.

It should have roadways drawn onto the plans so that when, eventually, an area comes up for redevelopment, they can be built.

It needs the routes for the underground services to be planned.

It has to look at what should be preserved. Like the Aveling and Porter building, for example.

And it should consider how the bits that survive, remain or are never developed, can be integrated into the new.

It needs to be very clear on quality, with officers committed to the concept, and insisting that developers meet those concepts.

Above all, it has to decide what is the future role of Strood.

Is it to be a dormitory? Or the transport hub of Medway?

Should it be the London Gateway to the new City of Chatham - and if so how.

Should it be served by road, rail, bus and boat (if anywhere should, Strood is the obvious one).

Will it have a large civic square? Or a riverside park?

It needs to protect residents' views from the North Downs escarpment on which so much of the town is built.

It might be fine to build 10 storey blocks of flats and apartments looking across from the Civic Centre development site to Rochester's twin glories, its castle and cathedral. But what about the rest of the community?

The Strood Plan needs to consider the whole community, and not just short-term gains for a few fortunate landowners (including the council).

Or am I being utterly naïve?

***

I said yesterday there would be fun and games over the Luton and Wayfield by election. Believe it!

Is it pure coincidence that the Conservative candidate's name has subtly changed since he stood in 2007 in the closely-fought River ward election?

At that time he was the hyphenated Tashi Tamang-Bhutia, which meant that as his surname began with a T it was at the bottom of the ballot sheet.

Nevertheless he polled 660 votes and came fourth of eight candidates.

Now he is unhyphenated Tashi Tamang Bhutia, which means his surname begins with a B - which places him second on the ballot sheet of seven candidates.

There is a silence from the officers at the moment.

Meanwhile, why is it that the full list of proposers and seconders names, together with their addresses, do not appear on the nominations sheet for the by election?

It has been normal for many years for that information to be published.

Not this by-election.

___

Tuesday August 11

If ever there was a council by-election to watch it has to be the one in Luton and Wayfield ward.

It's got just about everything a TV scriptwriter would want.

The trouble is, it hasn't got what Gordon Brown would want - a clean run-in by a new Labour candidate to a ward traditionally left wing.

The candidate, Sam Whittington, was only a Labour Party member for three weeks when she became their surprise selection to stand.

She has the backing of Jonathan Shaw, the local MP and Government Minister for the South East.

But so, too, did her predecessor. And he left under a dark cloud that is still not publicly explained.

She will have to fight six other candidates.

They include all the usual contenders - Tory, Lib Dems, UKIP, BNP, Green…. and a single independent.

Ms Whittington, 34, knew she was being pitched in at the deep end when she stood.

She overcame some well-known names at the first count.

They included Mark Jones, who has been in and out of the council since it was formed in 1998.

She has impressed with her campaigning to save the primary schools.

The trainee teacher is about to find out what it is like when the odds stack up against you.

Mark my words: someone in the council was being prophetic when they chose the anniversary of the start of the Second World War as polling day.

***

Never mind the new right to half fares, the under-18s in Medway can have free rides on (or at least close to) the Medway SOS bus, thanks to the C-card condom distribution scheme.

As I already have my senior citizens bus pass, and apparently now need government sex advice, I've checked with NHS Medway and they may soon be launching one for we older residents called the Z-z-z-z-...

___

Monday August 10

Hush, hush, whisper who dares….

They are coming up with some stunning titles for the new academies in Medway.

The one at Chatham - which will be hosted by the Church of England - is to be known as the Bishop of Rochester Academy.

And the controversial one which starts in a few weeks?

Well, that's to be called the ….. (wait for it!) …….the Strood Academy. Now isn't that really stunning from an organisation called the University of the Creative Arts!

Meanwhile, I understand its governors meetings will be close to the heart of the Medway Towns.

I am reliably informed they will take place in Fareham. That's the town in Hampshire just outside Portsmouth, in case you were unsure. I googled the journey: It's about 110 miles from the school.

Meanwhile, if anyone hears who the staff governors and the parent governors are, let me know. There haven't been any elections yet.

***

I hope you enjoyed the spring blossom on the horse chestnuts in The Paddock earlier this year. It will probably be the last time you get to see that miraculous display of pink and white floral cones.

Go and grab some conkers from The Paddock while you can. Almost certainly, this year's will be the last chance to conserve the trees that have made the river front so attractive for decades.

I say this after reading the extraordinary letter from Medway Renaissance in the Medway Messenger at the weekend.

It confirms just nine of the 26 chestnuts will be felled for the bus station.

It confirms that in total 31 trees will be chopped down for the redevelopment.

That's without counting any that may be killed or stunted by the excavations, foundations, sewers and other assorted work needed to prepare the riverfront for its transformation into a busy bus station - and a toilet.

The unidentified writer (I sense the hand of the PR Manager at Medway Renaissance) says two new trees will be planted for every one that is felled.

Will they replace big, mature, graceful trees like the ones we currently enjoy with big, mature, graceful new ones?

Or will the replacements be saplings awaiting the merry pranks of the vandals that seem hell-bent on spoiling everything?

The whole matter now rests with the planning committee which meets on Wednesday night.

What no one will admit is that all councillors were firmly briefed by the Medway Renaissance officers some weeks ago. That's one reason why there are waterfront thunderboxes being provided.

But who runs the council?

If it was the elected councillors, there would be toilets included in the plans. Because they have been protesting loud, long and (apparently) fruitlessly for the less-than-dynamic bus station to have a comfort stop as well as 16 bus stops.

***

My heartfelt sympathies go to the Mayor, Cllr David Royle.

His wife, Jean, has suffered from Alzheimer's Disease for many years, but David has cared for her, visited her, done what ever he could - and above all - continued to love her as the illness has slowly taken her from him and their daughter, Karen.

Last Thursday she died.

I don't recall meeting Mrs Royle. But it was very evident whenever David talked about her how deep was his love for her.

May all the family find the peace her illness never gave them.

___

Friday August 7

The bus station in Chatham is increasingly symptomatic of the problems facing Medway Council and its Medway Renaissance team.

Next week councillors will debate - and no doubt approve - the plans for the bus station to be built on the waterfront at Chatham.

It will finally free up the first floor where (we have been told by the council) the owners want to build a new store.

The new one will cost £6 million, and will destroy the long-proposed ambience of the waterfront.

Instead of making the most of the trees, a quarter of them will be chopped down.

The idea of being able to walk across to riverside seats from the indoor splendours of the modernised Pentagon Shopping Centre in complete safety, sans traffic, will be gone - just like the Sir John Hawkins flyover.

We shall have a bus station where toilets may (or may not) be provided, and where reliance will be placed on the shopping management providing comfort stops for the passengers.

The messages that come from the council about the trees are mixed.

There was almost a hint of delight some time ago when it was whispered the chestnuts had red canker.

Some do. But it is not as bad as one is led to believe - just look at the reports on the council's planning website: the now-easier-to-access support papers commissioned by the council show there is no real problem.

Despite that, instead of a pleasant walk through gardens, we will continue to negotiate lines of traffic.

The promised mature trees will be chopped and hacked to provide the dynamic bus station.

You'll need to watch under your step, as well: people will be hurrying off the buses and coaches to find somewhere for a comfort break like some eastern European city.

And the police are now flagging up the risk that the copper roofing for the bus shelters will be an ideal target for the metal thieves of Medway.

As for consultations! Forget it.

The most important people to consult - after the general public which seems at best bored with the whole issue - are the bus companies.

As one bus manager said to me recently: "The discussions have been very vague."

The vagueness includes the management of the buses entering and leaving the bus station... and with it the management of the passengers. That's because no one has been appointed to manage the buses as they flow into the bus statio, with drivers uncertain whether they will be able to pull onto a loading bay - and with passengers equally uncertain which bay to go to for the bus home.

How I wish I was wrong, but it is looking increasingly like the government is spending £6 million on a costly mistake about to be approved on the waterfront.

***

It's great to see the number of mouldy oldies films being shown once again at the Central Theatre.

Casablanca, In Which we Service, Carve her Name with Pride…

They look so much better on the big screen (even if it is small by today's standards) than on the box at home.

***

Amid the many mistakes made by government in recent years has been the loss of confidential documents.

Which must be causing Jonathan Shaw, the Chatham and Aylesford MP and Minister for the South East, some embarrassment at the moment.

His website has been accused of giving away the name and address and account details of one of his constituents.

According to the blogsite, 10 Downing Street by Lord Elvis, Mr Shaw is "completely thoughtless" because the photo shows the lady's address, her NPower account number, and how much she owes.

What Lord Elvis doesn't say is that the bill is for April 2007… or why Mr Shaw  and a lady resident are so glum when the new charges for the quarter were only £16.56.

Lord Elvis says: "You would have thought that having lost the details of 25 million people claiming child benefit, numerous other data protection lapses, lost or stolen laptops, patient details etc, that government ministers might have learned their lesson with regards to doing their utmost to protect at least their constituents private information?"

I think a "Must do better" is needed for the website designer.

Personally, I'd love to have such a small bill. I'd crow to the world.

I've just told my supplier how much gas and electricity I used over the past few months.

Fifteen quid? More likely 20 times that.

___

Thursday August 6

There is a lot of political misinformation out there at the moment over the Medway Magna / Capstone Valley redevelopment plans.

I think the idea of developing on the green fields either side of the motorway between Lordswood, Bredhurst, Hempstead and Rainham is one of the worst proposals to come forward.

I'm a resident. I'm biased. I make no bones about it.

But let's talk about facts.

The facts are that a group of farmers and local businessmen have seen a development opportunity. So would I if I owned land that was worth a mere £2000 an acre to farm but £1,000,000 an acre to cover in concrete and tarmac. And I owned a few thousand acres.

They put forward their ideas when the Local Development Framework for Medway was exposed as being weak.

This is the scheme which replaces the Local Plan, and sets out how, when and where developments can take place over the next quarter of a century or so.

Every council has to have one.

That's why Medway Council withdrew its plans at the last minute - before the aggressive, rude and domineering planning inspector threw it out.

The council's weakness is that it failed to plan enough employment land for the 50,000 additional people expected to move into the Medway Towns. And that was cruelly exposed by a team of determined objectors.

The plans are still on the drawing board.

They could include 9,000 homes, industrial premises alongside the M2, new warehousing complexes for the motorway truckers coming in from the coast… and anything else that you care to add to the equation.

There is nothing definite in the plans. They are ideas, and would probably make a few multi-billionaires if they get approval.

There has been all-party agreement against the dreams … but that is being pushed by the Conservatives who have turned it into an election issue.

Why?

Because the government insists that all proposals - those supported by the local community and those that are not - should be considered when determining local development frameworks.

Labour should have seen the fallout coming when they insisted opposed, rejected and unloved plans should be included in Local Development Frameworks.

It doesn't matter if a future inspector - and the Medway one won't sit for another year yet - throws out proposals that would have turned an area into a concrete jungle.

The damage will have been done.

Oh - and despite the fact that there is a Save Capstone Park website and Facebook area - there are no proposals by anyone to build on the country park (unless some of the councillors have it up their sleeves!)

___

Wednesday August 5

The local Primary Care Trust wants to encourage a change of public attitudes towards end of life through local media campaigns.

They say so in their draft Medway End of Life Care Strategy 2009 - 2014.

It's full of good ideas, and promises, and assurances.

But I am not sure whether many people will know was an End of Life Care Strategy is.

It is not helped by the introduction which talks of "an integrated approach is envisioned which encompasses the physical, psychosocial, emotional, cultural and spiritual needs of the individual, their family and carers. The delivery of integrated care is recognised as critical for raising standards of care and responding to the needs and wishes of patients and carers."

In simple terms understood by everyone, the End of Life Care Strategy is what doctors and nurses will do when you are dying.

Why they have to wrap it all up in cliched obfustication leaves me nonplussed.

They are promising to take on some excellent ideas, like the way the Wisdom Hospice cares for those who are dying.

It promises that your GP will be at the head of the team that ensures your death is painless, where you want it, and surrounded by whom you want.

Great, providing the GP is actually sympathetic to those ideals.

I get on well with my doctor (just as well at the moment!)

But sometimes doctors lack that touch known as "caring". There is no evidence in the strategy how that will be tackled.

There is also a hint within the report that a lot of this is being driven by financial acumen.

An audit showed that 66 people died in September 2006 at Medway Maritime Hospital.

The new caring strategy says: "Of those, 12 with individuals with cancer may not have needed to be there. Six of the seven that were admitted from residential /nursing home, had little benefit from the admission to the hospital. Seven died awaiting placement in other settings and 38 per cent could have died elsewhere."

Call me suspicious, but what other interpretation should one put on this?

***

It's great to see the council has an appropriately named pooper scooper scooting around the parks and pathways of Medway.

Fido, such a lovely name.

In the wartime it was a system for dispersing fog from airfields.

Fido was an acronym for Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operations.

Today it is still an acronym - but one would sniff at Faeces Intake Disposal Operation.

Hopefully it will be the anti-social slobs who allow their dogs to leave calling cards that will pay for the device - through the local fines system.

It will give the CCTV patrol cars something to do after the school mums have gone home wondering if they will receive a ticket in three weeks time!

Anyway, I hear the operators of Fido will be known as Do-Doos (Devour Odourous Defecatory Owners Oopsies).

___

Tuesday August 4

It is difficult to believe that a pile of bricks and stone could cause so much anguish.

But there is a growing body of national supporters trying to save the Civic Centre for the future.

The building was abandoned by the council last year.

It now wants to smash it down as quickly as possible.

It wants to avoid business rates (Gordon and Alistair getting back some of the money they invested in Medway). It also wants to avoid paying to protect it.

Cllr Alan Jarrett, Medway's Mr Tough, said consultation was one thing they had no intention of doing about the civic centre building. It's in the way, it's got no use, and it's coming down.

Yet I now believe English Heritage may have acted prematurely in deciding not to List the building.

It was the headquarters of the Aveling and Porter business which was the world's largest manufacturer of steam engines, and (among other things that happened in that building) invented the Perkins diesel. It has a fine history - not least that it became the home of Medway Council from its formation until 2008.

It is a fine building. Most communities would be proud to have it.

But not, it seems, our bright burghers.

They see pounds signs flashing over the 10 acre site, and (though they will only whisper it in dark alleys) a new breed of resident to raise the image of the Medway Towns.

I have looked a number of times at the figures produced by the council to justify the demolition. They simply do not convince me.

Increasingly I am reminded of my early career.

Gloucester City Council began bulldozing 13^th century houses in the name of redevelopment (what we older reporters called regeneration in those days).

It was when a brilliantly-painted massive oak beam from an unknown guild house was discovered burning on a demolition site directly opposite the council's offices that the public outrage took off.

I doubt Medway will be outraged.

Too many people are more concerned about what the personal impact on them wil be of the latest crash on the M2 and A2 commuter route to worry about the heritage of Medway.

That's why the national bodies are starting to pay particular attention.

It appals me that in a city rich with historical significance there is no museum worth its salt (at least it saved the Guildhall and Medway Conservators building from demolition).

There is little recognition of the great people who have lived and worked here (Nelson, Kitchener, St John Fisher, the heroic McCudden family, to name but a few).

There is no archaeological pride (what happened during the excavations at Rochester Riverside? Why was a unique Tudor wall allowed to be knocked down?)

We have our recent history rightly preserved around the Great Lines.

But what of the history that went unrecorded?

Where are our great Roman buildings? The port? The Saxon remains that certainly should be found? The Norman town?

Where did the men who prepared the Armada campaign fleet live?

Every time a pile is ploughed into the ground to support a new tower block, another chance among the diminishing opportunities is lost to discover why Medway is great.

Councillors should be warned: some of the modern campaigners fight dirty these days.

Their failure to recognise what is good in our community could come back to haunt them.

___

Monday August 3

One of the problems facing the managers at Medway Council has become apparent over the past few days. It is how do you reassure staff once a policy has gone seriously wrong.

Notices have been appearing all over Gun Wharf urging council staff to use the whistleblowing system.

This is intended to be a confidential way of contacting key people if you believe something - or someone - is wrong.

The bold black, white and orange A3 posters are on noticeboards, and in the staff restaurant.

They exhort staff: "Whistle blowing - don't turn your back".

They list nine staff in various roles in the council structure with responsibility for different areas of whistleblowing.

One of those is specifically aimed at tackling suspicions that a member of staff might be abusing children.

The sub-message is: "Medway Council has a whistleblowing policy to encourage employees to voice any concerns they have and to ensure that they are protected, treated seriously and, where necessary, action is taken."

It is the same policy they had when three surveyors in the council's housing department raised concerns about overpayments to a contractor.

It was treated so seriously the men had to take the council to an industrial tribunal after two of them lost their jobs - and won tens of thousands of pounds for the way they were treated.

If the council with the motto: "Medway Council - serving you" hopes to regain the confidence of its staff that it treats whistleblowing seriously, it has to do more than put up a few signs.

It needs a radical overhaul of its system.

And that has been singularly lacking.

___

Friday July 31

Now I have some spare time on my hands, I am thinking of starting a civic society for Medway.

The principle would be that I (and the other members) would tell the council what we liked, and possibly what we didn't like, about regeneration, old buildings, new buildings, council policies, the river, new regeneration sites, bus services, and so on and so on.

Now I hear that Medway Renaissance (which consists of an unelected £1-point something - million staff and offices team) is forming a similar body.

A letter to likely members says: "As part of a programme of community engagement for regeneration, Medway Council [which in this case means Medway Renaissance] is developing a discussion forum for Chatham. The idea is to bring together a group of people to discuss the development in the Chatham area."

It won't have any formal decision-making rights, but you can go back to your groups and disseminate the information they feed to you. And you will be able to participate….or as they so succinctly put it, they will be "engaging you in masterplan and design activities/meetings where we need to discuss with the wider community."

In other words, you will be consulted and "engaged" on the odd occasion that they want to be able to say they have consulted with the public.

But if your views go against anything Medway Renaissance or its bosses (the government) determines, you will be ignored. Have no doubt about that.

Nothing changes at Medway Renaissance, despite the genuinely serious beliefs of the councillors.

You know - I might really start up a society that represents the people.

It will accept anyone who wants to join (you won't be selected by me or a team of people, unlike Medway's new consultative committee).

It will have the opportunity to say things that Big Brother doesn't like, and to express views on those things which concern the membership.

My concept is not definitive. It is merely a guide. If you want to join and promote a concrete-free zone to encourage lesser spotted ozzlum birds, fine. Propose it and if the majority of the membership agrees, we'll try to encourage oodles of ozzlums.

But don't let the body that is changing my patch decide who is (and who is not) a member, and who can have a direct influence on altering for ever that sacred, is scarred, little bit of Medway.

Communication is a two-way thing.

This body doesn't stand a hope in hell of achieving that.

***

Last night was the night to miss council meetings if you want everything nodded through.

I missed it, but you wouldn't expect the Medway Messenger to avoid a good council trash.

My colleague, Paul Francis, stepped into the gap.

That doesn't mean to say that they would let me loose on a county meeting!

But my thanks for Paul picking up the strands.

___

Thursday July 30

For those who can make tonight's council meeting at the St George's Centre, it promises to be an interesting meeting for the discussions that could develop around the old Civic Centre.

Why the administration doesn't come clean and say they want the red-brick and sandstone building to come down because it is going to hinder the sale of the plummest riverside waterfront development site of them all, I do not know.

It's Victorian old, it's not wanted, the site is worth a small fortune in anything like normal financial times, and the council needs the cash.

But no.

Councillors are being told it will cost £732,000 to knock down the rest, but keep the former headquarters of the world's largest steamroller makers. Then there would be a £135,000 bill for underpinning the building and restoring services.

The civic centre was originally home to Aveling and Porter. Their rollers and steam-powered machinery went around the world, taking the name of Rochester to the furthest flung corners of the Empire and building Medway's tourism potential in the colonies.

Now we are told that the new buyers - if any is prepared in the next few years to spend the cash the council desperately needs - will not want the building because it is on "the prime residential corner" of the development site.

(That's because it stares straight at the Cathedral and the Castle, the Esplanade and the Roman crossing of the Medway, and the ancient chapel of the Bridge Wardens.)

It is a great view, but it is even better with the Aveling and Porter Civic Centre.

Against that some figures - which deserve detailed scrutiny - have been pulled out by the council's officers to show that it would cost £850,000 to the taxpayers to keep it, plus annual costs of almost £140,000 for …. Well, for security, apparently.

If there was a degree of honesty about the need to remove the old building there would be greater respect.

I just wonder what would happen if the council is placed in the position of Newport in Gwent.

It had a major reconstruction planned of its river front, when the remains of a wooden boat were discovered. It turned out to be a 13th century armed trader, unique in Europe.

There is documentary evidence to suggest that one of the development sites in Medway may hold the remains of a Spanish Armada galleon which was hulked in the Stuart period after gracing the river since its seizure in 1588.

Now that really would be embarrassing!

***

Apologies for regular readers of this column.

I stupidly took on some carrots in my garden without carrying out a full Health and Safety risk assessment. The carrots won.

The result is a broken leg which will take some weeks to heal.

The vitriol may therefore be interrupted with winces from time to time.

___

Friday July 24

The report into policing the environmental camp at Kingsnorth power station  must have made uncomfortable reading at Kent Police HQ, despite attempts to put a positive spin on it. 

After accepting the objectives the force set were met to keep the power station open and meeting national needs, it criticised just about every single thing the senior management did.

The  review team was called in to see if there were any lessons to be learned. There were - dozens of them.

It shows the basics were (at best) forgotten. At worst? - ignored.

Police chiefs were untrained, ignored potential support and were controlled by the men lower down the tree.

It was, they said, bottom-up leadership rather than top-down. 

The report stated that control of the Climate Camp at Kingsnorth went against every advice that police forces have received from previous protests.

 Just to remind readers, it cost you and me just short of £6 million.

Hundreds of police were drafted in from 24 other forces.

Bosses had no identified reason for calling them in, and when they arrived, those in charge had no specific use for them.

Lower ranked officers (where all the key decisions were made) did. They carried out 8,218 "stop and searches", something which they seemed to think was approved by their chiefs as the Right of Entry into the camp.

Not surprisingly, the chief's chiefs were slated for

·        lack of tactical planning, co-ordination and clarity of thought,

·        planning in isolation,

·        ignoring the management at the power station who could have helped them, … the failings go on and on and on.

The reviewers - both top policemen from outside the county - said they could not give an informed view of the justification and appropriateness about the resourcing for Operation Oasis - because there was no tactical plan. Had there been one, they said, Kent Police might have used less resources.

The top officers lacked training to run the police operation. They delegated to lower ranks: that undermined the whole operation.

"This is not good practice," said the reviewers .

There were few records of meetings and agreements, no daily threats reviews took place, the force's intelligence cell was "frustrated and clearly challenged", while the ower tier, Bronze, commanders acted without clear approval or endorsement and in isolation.

Junior officers repeatedly raised concerns that they were doing stop and search almost as a condition of entry to the protest camp. The searches were "inappropriate" and poorly recorded, and it led to hostility.

That meant non-activists at the camp moved closer to violence and resistance, said the reviewers.

They described it as "disproportionate, counter productive but widespread".

They advised the police authority: "It is a command matter, not one of staff knowing search codes of practice."

 The review team found some good points. All the overall targets - of keeping the station open and supplying power - were met.

What did the police seize in these searches?   There wre steering wheel locks, ice axes, razors, and an imitation rifle.

There was also a walking stick, a book called "Wholey Irrisponsable [sic] Experiments", a bag of balloons, party poppers, fog horns, an empty bottle and can, and two pairs of nail clippers.

All this for £5.9 million. No doubt the Kent and Medway Police Authority will give serious consideration to  its findings .

___

Thursday July 23

Nice to see a familiar red Jag at Gun Wharf last night. It was parked in the officers' parking spaces, not the disabled parking where it has been photographed in the past.

***

The sound system at Gun Wharf committee meetings is not perfect.

Part of the problem is the building was designed to keep sound within the "pods" (small meeting areas).

But committee meetings are spread over two of the pods so a rather ropey sound system is in use.

Latest sound effects from the system were unveiled by the tannoy during last night's planning meeting.

Crackles got worse and worse.

A number of officers and councillors then fiddled with the plugs, jacks and wires.

That only led to a steady, but very loud, bass "Thump, thump, thump".

As one member pretended to massage his heart, Cllr David Brake (Con) sprang to the rescue.

A few more twiddles, tweaks and twirls followed - and suddenly the sound system was working better than it has ever done.

I can see the councillor could earn a buck or two from colleagues - to silence some and to ensure the rest are heard clearly.

***

Talking of Cllr Brake reminds me of one task that he seems particularly loathe to tackle: trimming his hedgerow.

It stands about 15 ft high and leans right out over the footpath outside his gate.

Ironic that I should see it just as the Conservative candidate for his constituency should be labouring long and loud about her campaign to clean up the streets of the Chatham and Aylesford constituency.

Maybe a quiet word in our handman's ear might not go amiss.

***

I used to work at the Municipal Buildings - and like some of the councillors I might yet end up residing there in my impending dotage.

However, I could never find out from colleagues in those halcyon days of local government service how the planning department's building was dubbed the Pagoda Building.

The chairman of the planning committee revealed all to the committee the other night.

"A little bit of history," said Cllr Diane Chambers (Con).

"It was first referred to as a pagoda by a Labour councillor, Henry Clothier - and it simply stuck."

So it shows we can all learn something new every day.

***

Meanwhile, did you know there are three former Gillingham mayors whose ashes are buried in Gillingham Park?

One was its last mayor, Cllr George Smith (Lib). But who were the others?

In any event, ex-Medway mayor, Cllr Tony Goulden, has no intention of having his ashes dumped there, as he muttered during the planning meeting approving the conversion of the Municipal buildings into an old people's care home.

___

 Wednesday July 22

It may not be popular with the Royal Mail, but just as the Potteries conurbation is made up of several towns, so is Medway.

The Medway Towns are five. We have Strood, the former City (of Rochester), the future City (of Chatham), Gillingham and Rainham.

I make this point because the Secretary of a body in which I have been a member for nearly 50 years has just refused to recognise my address is Rainham.

He says: "I note from your renewal slip you have added 'Rainham' to your address. As you will note from the attached Royal Mail printout, this is not part of the address required by Royal Mail and is the reason it has been excluded and will remain so. If you feel this part is excluded in error, you will need to contact them, not us to rectify this matter."

At one time the Royal Mail was part of the General Post Office, controlled by the Government which we elected.

Then the GPO was broken up, the telephones became BT, and the mail became Royal Mail, no longer answerable to anyone, including the government.

Remember, these are the people who can't be touched by the government when they close sub post offices, and do away with town post offices, and force us into shops that are inadequate for the purpose.

These are the people who take a month of Sundays to deliver first class post, at nearly eight shillings a letter (hang on! - the postman has just delivered today's post… advertising thinly disguised as a magazine, a booklet and a card offering me the chance to become a PC Engineer… but none with postage.)

Since it became unanswerable to anyone (because they have no shareholders buying and selling ownership of the organisation) Royal Mail has suddenly dictated where we live.

You may live in Timbuktoo. I live in Rainham.

Yet some bureaucrat at Royal Mail insists I live in Gillingham.

I don't. I live in Rainham which was within the former administrative borough of Gillingham.

I now live (if one wishes to talk in such terms) in the 11-year-old borough of Medway (which Google recognises, but RM does not). I prefer that I live in the historic county of Kent , complete with its traditions and its Lord Lieutenant maintaining my link to the Queen.

And so my letters will continue to be written from Rainham, Kent - no matter what bureaucrats, membership secretaries or anyone else considers is correct.

And the Five Towns of Medway still sit on the A2 just as they have done since Saxon times - or possibly when the Romans built it (whatever, we are still filling in their potholes).

___

Tuesday July 21

An increasingly worrying trend is people being unable to buy their own homes.

A new report by the National Housing Federation indicates it is worst among rural buyers in the South East.

They say so few affordable houses are being built in rural England that people in some areas are being warned they face a 280 year wait to be allocated a new home.

People applying for an affordable home in the 10 rural districts with the longest waiting lists would face a wait of up to 90 years on average before enough new homes were built to clear the backlog.

Among them is Sevenoaks, the third least affordable in the south east.

The average house price is £389,103 compared to an average salary of £25,204.

Not quite that bad in Hempstead. But getting close.
***

The Freedom of Information Act has been a revelation to all sorts of people, and not just the media.

The government has now announced plans to extend the powers of disclosure to more organisations.

But not yet to council contractors who are increasingly taking over full responsibility for everything local authorities traditionally provide.

The Ministry of Justice says in its response to public consultations on the effectiveness of the act (http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/docs/consultation-response-_section5.pdf): "Public authorities and contractors could and should do more to increase openness and transparency."

They advise councils should strictly limit the confidentiality which applies to contracts, while contractors should adopt high standards of proactive publication, and voluntarily adhere to the principles of the Act.

No such wording was in place with Medway's housing repairs contract that went so disastrously wrong, none appears to be in place for the numerous organisations who are caring for our elderly and mentally handicapped, and indeed for the new 30-year refuse disposal which is moving through the final stages before it is signed.

___

Monday July 20

Hordes of protestors - or a damp squib? We shall know shortly when the Rochester Bridge Wardens batten down the hatches as the battle to keep them responsible for the Medway tunnel reaches a climax.

The wardens have been responsible for every crossing of the tidal Medway since the 1390s.

(Except for the M2 bridge, that is......)

They put some of the cash into the Medway Tunnel 600 years later - and the bills are starting to mount.

The government recognises that it will cost millions to modernise and update the underwater crossing - so you can imagine the Minister for the South East not being too enthusiastic about it.

Meanwhile, that same minister is none other than Jonathan Shaw, the Chatham and Aylesford MP, who has spearheaded the campaign to get the bridgewardens to hold on to the tunnel.

The Medway crossings and the trust are strange beasts - unique in Britain.

Everywhere else bridges are built and paid for by the taxpayer. Not here, not since one of the early King Henrys nearly fell in the river because no one was maintaining the route between his port at Dover and his palaces in London.

He made the local people, through what became a charitable trust, responsible for building and maintaining them.

(Except for the M2 bridge and the CTRL crossing, that is ....)

The Bridgewardens have a problem.

They don't accept that they are financially responsible for the tunnel. Most of its cash came via KCC from the government - with a bit more from Rochester's city council.

Secondly they do have responsibility for the two road bridges in Rochester that take tens of thousands of vehicles a day on the traditional A2 route that King Henry followed.

(Meanwhile there's a second motorway bridge that the government also funded.)

The bridgewardens have about £70 million of assets - mainly farmland from which they receive rents that are going into bank accounts to pay for the replacement of the A2 bridges which was what the trust was established to provide.

I think the tunnel will be sold - despite what the protestors say and do today.

And Mr Shaw may not have to worry about finding the millions needed to repair the tunnel if his government's position continues to founder.

Mind, Medway Council hasn't got the cash!

***

I went for a walk with my wife at Riverside Country Park last night.

Marvellous!

Oystercatchers were piping, black-headed gulls were caring for persistent chicks, a fox took a rabbit a few feet in front of us...

Also there was the collected rubbish of the Medway Towns, it seemed.

Everything, including the kitchen sink and an armchair was dumped in hedgerows, over the river bank, and along the paths.

As for the dog muck... it was not helped by the dog litter bin that had been burned - but the bins were underused, and the dog owners seemed to think it didn't matter.

***

And talking of the river, it was interesting to wander down to The Strand and see Liberal beach (see Friday's blog).

It didn't last more than half a dozen tides!

Most of it is covered in grit and gravel (which it was supposed to cover).

The rest is slowly trickling to meet the tide - and its slow journey to Motney Hill, just as I forecast.

___

Friday July 17

There are plenty of people trying to play down the Tamiflu distribution centre being established at the Compass Centre.

But it has been a very hurried operation, with officers of the council and NHS Medway operating over this weekend to make sure it can start operating on Monday … if needed.

This on the day that it emerged that the NHS believes one in two children aged between three and 11 could become victims.

Everyone keeps trying to play down the situation. The media is blamed for scaremongering.

But the fact is no one knows how serious swine flu is going to be. Deaths are increasingly occurring and the information reporters use is coming from the health experts.

They are planning for the worst expectations, but hoping it won't be that bad.

In Medway they have a place almost ready to hand out as much Tamiflu anti-viral medicine as the population of the Medway Towns might demand.

One of the key points, I was told, was that it had 200 parking spaces where Flu Friends could pull up, run in, collect the prescripted medication, and head home. And a two storey, £1 million a year building, complete with the necessary staff (or at least those at NHS Medway who are not off sick with the bug at the moment).

If they aren't worried, why do they need so many parking spaces?

***

MANY moons ago, George Smith - Gillingham's last Mayor - had a load of sand dumped on the banks of the River Medway.

It was intended to turn The Strand into a summer beach.

It lasted a short time only. The river has a nasty habit of rising, and it washed away the sand as it went out.

George was a Liberal councillor.

And his successors - the Liberal Democrat ward councillors of Gillingham North - have not learned the lessons.

They have forked out a few thousand pounds to provide a beach once again at Gillingham-Super-Mud.

Photos arrived at the Medway Messenger of Cllr Cathy Sutton with the obligatory two bathing-costumed children, and assorted sand castle accoutrements.

If you want a swimming pool, or somewhere that costs nothing to take the kids, with a paddling pool and lots of play equipment, go to The Strand.

If you want sand, you'll find it being washed up on the Motney Hill shore in a few months time.

A good idea, councillors.

But don't go building your hopes the council will have much of it to clean after the silt-laden tide has flowed across it twice a day.

***

Once upon a time lightships protected mariners by warning captains to keep away from shallows, wrecks and the Goodwin Sands.

Now one of the handful of lightships that survive - there are several on the River Medway, along with discarded First World War German U-boats - is to be permanently anchored in the river.

And thanks to Interreg IVa (and we all know what THAT is, don't we!) council staff will be able to draw on an £800,000 pot of European gold to use it as an arts and cultural events centre.

I've been trying to find out from the press office some more about the scheme - but so far I have drawn a big blank.

The last manned lightship was the Inner Dowsing. It was withdrawn by Trinity House in 1971 when it was replaced by an automated light on a tower.

I know of four that on the Medway (there may be more).

One (called the Inner Dowsing) is a restaurant. Another is a floating home, and two are moored in the estuary.

But an arty farty gallery on the waves? How will the aficionados reach this creation - and will the council underwrite the cost?

Heaven forbid - it can't be ... it's not going to be the first thing to appear at Rochester Riverside (after the viewing platform on top of piled lorry containers, and the £500,000 restored crane), is it?

***

The same press release tells me that the £6 billion investment in regenerating Medway is attracting hoteliers.

Part of the release says: "…..hotel operators aim to invest up to £50million in up to five sites.

"First came the 90-bedroom Ramada Encore at Chatham Maritime Now plans have been approved for major new hotels at Victory Pier, Gillingham; Corporation Street, Rochester and a site in Rainham.

"Additionally, there is the potential to create a number of luxury 'boutique' hotels in and around buildings of historic interest. And longer term, a major hotel is expected to feature in the regeneration of Chatham Waterfront."

Twaddle.

Victory Pier's (on the site of the Akzo Nobel chemical works) hotel is a budget one, and it has not yet been considered by councillors. Sounds like officers' pre-determination.

The Corporation Street one offers 120 beds (if and when it is built), but has been damned as an ugly monstrosity by some of the planning committee. It reminded one - Dorte Gilry - of Heathrow Control Tower.

And the major Rainham hotel? It's a 27-bed hutch in the middle of a steak house car park.

There was a big hotel plan for Medway Leisure Park - next to the about-to-be-built-as-a-cut-off 600-home community at Temple Marsh, Strood, but that was thrown out by the planners because it was too far out from the tourist attractions.

And Rochester Riverside's four star hotel and conference centre has still some way to go before any building begins there.

Medway's latest tourism malarky is as sound as building hotels on a Gillingham sandbank…

___

Thursday July 16

It will be interesting to see how residents respond to a planned bus-only route linking up two parts of Medway.

If built, the short road will mean that buses can be much quicker between the suburbs and the centre in that part of Medway.

Only this week a similar scheme - admittedly temporary - was introduced in Chatham to enable buses and taxis to get past the skeleton of the Sir John Hawkins flyover.

The proposed scheme has been on the drawing boards for a long time, and could be the forerunner of several more.

It would be an ideal solution to the transport issues that are going to occur when Chattenden is developed.

There are plenty of roads built by the Royal Engineers (not least Upchat Road) that could be easily adapted for a Fastrack type of bus services to get to the Medway Tunnel.

While car drivers use the A228 and battle around the Four Elms roundabout (how long before that is controlled by traffic lights?) buses could race from the old Chattenden Barracks gate, over the traffic queues, through the woods and military land at Upnor and emerge by the tunnel within minutes.

Of course it would leave other parts of Medway - notably the old Gillingham borough - still without any chance of improved transport … or development plans … or…..

***

Someone asked me how long it took to debate the 14 reports in the 348 page (plus supplement!) report to the Cabinet on Tuesday.

The answer - 90 minutes.

It wasn't that the Cabinet just skated over everything.

It's that it had already decided behind closed doors what it planned to do.

I doubt the reports were even scribbled in rough without the Cabinet members having given it their approval.

***

Children and Adults overview committee meets at 6.30pm at Gun Wharf.

Only four items on the agenda - and all of them about children.

Funny.

Looking back through the agendas I cannot find a single report on adult issues in the past nine months.

Wednesday July 15

If you support Chatham's bid for World Heritage Status, you could get up to £750 from the council to help you promote the idea.

But you have to bid by August 7.

Nat that there's much money in the pot - £2,250.

Nevertheless, I think I can do a good job of promoting the defences, castle, barracks, fort, dockyard, killing fields, and wild flowers.

I am bidding for a tent to be located on the Great Lines next summer, camping equipment, a hot water urn (solar-powered) so that I can sell cups of tea and coffee to visitors and cover my costs, and will organise a photo show to describe the rare red-star thistle (which has been overlooked by everyone), the insects, butterflies, birds and grasses that I will photograph when not making cups of tea and coffee for the hordes of visitors I expect.

It's probably as good an idea as many that will come forward.

***

There is a running gag at the council that one Cabinet member has seven speeches (having heard them all several times it is not difficult to see why there isn't an eighth).

There's another councillor who takes every single opportunity to kick the other parties.

One expects the occasional political flak, but every time this leading councillor opens his mouth it is always to have a go at the opposition.

Not very constructive, boringly destructive and decidedly bad copy for journalists looking for a bit of real news.

***

Cabinet met yesterday, and reviewed the spending to date against the capital and revenue budgets.

Given that we are only just into the first weeks of the new financial year, the spending is pretty much on target.

For an organisation that is planning to spend around two-thirds of a billion pounds on its revenue projects, the forecast at the moment is it could overspend by as much as ….(wait for it!)….. £1 million.

Micawber would be turning in his grave.

But considering the scare stories of the past few years (like the forecast 12 months ago of £14 million overspend) I'm really impressed.

I know there are those who flutter on the National Lottery in hopes of winning a million.

But to Medway Council it really is chicken feed.

And should be no problem to control over the next nine months.

Tuesday July 14

Cabinet is sitting this afternoon with plans to discuss 348 pages of papers (all carefully read from beginning to end, of course) in a little over an hour's debate.

I use the word "debate" loosely.

All the debating has already taken place, and what we shall see this afternoon will be the re-run of the play whose dress rehearsal took place yesterday behind closed doors.

The 10 actors (always providing they all turn up) will be particularly concerned about the collapsed wall in Church Terrace, Luton (see yesterday's blog).

Meanwhile, it will be interesting to discover whether they will skate over the delayed Watermill Wharf scheme in Strood. This is the planned conversion of a railway arch into a community centre for the planned Strood Waterfront development.

The wharf scheme has been delayed and delayed despite government money being available.

***

Rumours abound that there may be crocodiles in Medway.

One was alleged to have turned up at the school closures consultations.

There are concerns in some quarters that it might reappear at the special council meeting next Tuesday.

With the Conservative candidate for the parliamentary seat of Rochester and Strood, Mark Reckless, now siding with St Peter's, anyone still betting that school will close?

Remember - you read it here first!

***

Howard Doe, the portfolio holder for housing, expressed the hope some months ago by that we ought to have heard the last of the housing chaos and the whistleblowers.

The odds are getting shorter that it will finally come onto a council agenda.

***

Two assistant directors are to be appointed to the monumental Children and Adults Directorate.

One will be responsible for adult services, and the other for children's care. Both will succeed ADs who have moved on.

They already have ones for inclusion, learning and achievement, and social care...

Each earns about four times the average Medway male.

___

Monday July 13

A few householders should be looking very carefully at their insurance policies if they have a big retaining wall close to their homes.

A group of pensioners living in Luton next to the local cemetery may have to be decanted (or moved on) at least temporarily.

Their homes are not only next to the "dead centre" of Luton, but are also beneath a fairly aged concrete retaining wall that is supposed to support the traffic up the hill in the next road.

Except in February the snow and ice brought a Large section of its crashing down.

About three bus lengths of wall ended up crushing a few graves and memorials, and taking out most of that road it was supposed to support.

The council immediately closed it off, and then started looking at where they could find the one million they needed to repair it.

They are still looking.

And the half road still survives.

And the pensioners look from their bungalows at the great mass of concrete that might, just might, decide it wants to fall on them, courtesy of the rain which is getting into the concrete in seemingly never ending streams.

So why should householders be worrying?

Well, there are several of these walls around Medway, all built the same way, all in unforgiving, ungiving concrete, and all about the same time about a century ago.

This wall belongs to the council.

Most do not.

They are the responsibility of the householder.

Not many would live along the 35 yards of concrete that fell in Luton.

Thirty-five yards? - it's about three singledeck buses in length.

A million pounds to repair?

I think a visit to the insurance policy is in order - now.

***

About time!

After so much prevarication, it is good to see the Sir John Hawkins flyover is being chopped and ground into history.

Its grave will be the bus and taxi road that will open in a few months time … unless someone protests loudly, embarrasses the administration, raises a petition, lies down in front of the bulldozers…. (delete and substitute your own suggestion if your prefer).

But the bridge over Chatham High Street has finally gone.

Good riddance.

___

Friday July 10

They are in hot water again in the poor old, troubled housing department.

The latest problem to beset them is the discovery that more of the area's elderly are living in less than ideal circumstances.

And no one seems to have done anything to sort out their problems.

These people live in Brennan House, a sheltered housing unit of small living units loosely described as "studios".

And a month ago their hot water suddenly stopped flowing.

If they were lucky, every few days the water would once again flow, hot and inviting - until the shared boiler turned itself off.

At one point they were without hot water for a full five days.

When the Medway Messenger asked to speak to some of the residents we were firmly told "No!"

So if one of them reads this blog, and still feels aggrieved, give the news room a call. It's (01634) 227803.

We would be delighted to talk to all of you, and perhaps see the problem for ourselves.

Meanwhile where was MeRGe, the Medway council residents' voice?

And more importantly, what on earth was management playing at? Someone knew the water had been off for a month - they kept sending the contractor in to repair it.

I doubt that the Medway Messenger is very popular with the people running the council's housing department.

After all, we have been hammering on for more than two years about shoddy management.

So - why does the Medway Messenger have to find out yet again before anything is actually done?

The council knew it had 32 elderly people - many