Medway - City of Culture or City of Incompetence?

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway_messenger/news/2010/december/17/regeneration.aspx

Medway Council destroy gardens without warning - more vandalism in your name!

This week the Medway towns lost another green space. These gardens, in front of Chatham Town Hall have just been bulldozed - anybody care?

Email your local councillor if you do. 

Medway borough council say "Medway has come a long way since the devastation caused by the closure of the naval dockyard in Chatham in the 1980s" - I wonder if they have included the devestation they have caused?

1. Loss of city status for Rochester Upon Medway through administrative error further compounded by an unsuccessful bid for city status some years later – now there is a third bid using the name “Medway” (nobody likes or wants this name and few outsiders know where it is!) putting paid to the proud names of Strood, Gillingham, Chatham, Rainham and all the outlying villages. Vandalism on a vast scale! Without adequate consultation!
2. Closure of the centuries-old Rochester Market to provide income generating car parking
3. CCTV Car(s)
4. Destruction of Aveling and Porter building to provide income generating car parking
5. Destruction of riverside wharves to provide thusfar non-existant development
6. Vandalism (tree felling etc) of The Paddock for "Dynamic" Bus Station
7. Vandalism of Riverside Gardens (tree felling etc) for "Dynamic" Bus Station
8. Vandalism of Great Lines (tree felling, destruction of wildlife habitat)
9. Changes to Black Lion Sports Centre (including renaming as Medway Park!)
10. Closure of college to sell off land opposite Rochester Airport for development
11. Relocation of Age Concern/Help the Aged from central Chatham to Hopewell Drive Business Estate, Luton
12. Failure to ensure the refurbishment of Pentagon toilets despite allegedly wasting £200,000 earmarked.
13. Selling off parts of Watts Meadow for development
14. Selling off Copperfield Green Space for development
15. Failing to provide public parking at Gun Wharf Council offices
16. Publishing and distributing "Medway Matters" (a blatant piece of propaganda) using our money
17. Failing to consult effectively and/or failing to listen to consultation on almost every issue
18. The "Elephant in The Room" preventing any regeneration of Chatham is THE PENTAGON - demolish it!
19. Merger of Chatham South School & Medway Community College to form the vast Chatham Academy
20. Proposed closure of St John's C of E Infants causing uncertainty and distress)
21. Proposed closure of Ridge Meadow Primary school

22.Axing of jobs - loss of park wardens at Maidstone Road Sports Ground the only sports ground in Chatham Central!

23. Loss of loos at Maidstone Rd Sports Ground - Council voted to demolish [ & have demolished them ] & will not be re-instating.

24. Queen St/Slicketts Hill car parks which are allegedly to be sold off & potentially developed into blocks of flats.

25, Failure years ago to back the campaigners to save the Theatre Royal in Chatham.

26. Allegedly selling off car park in King Street, Rochester for redevelopment.

I could go on but I am beginning to feel ill!

Please add your own favourites at will.

This is what happens when you don't consult your residents!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liSNLeWPcNg

City status - need I say more! - Memorandum from City of Rochester Society on Medway Council's proposal to apply for city status.

Memorandum from the City of Rochester Society on Medway Council's proposal to apply for city status

Background

Rochester's historic city status was allowed to lapse when Medway Unitary Authority was formed.Since this decision was discovered, the City of  Rochester Society has been investigating whether, and if so how,  city status  can be regained. Medway Council has also endeavoured  to reverse the decision made by its predecessors, making  approaches to central government's Constitution Unit, so far without success. Now, in anticipation that new cities may be created as part  of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, Medway  Council has  announced its intention of making an application in  respect of the entire borough which, if successful, would become  the City of Medway. The Society's findings For centuries it was accepted that a town which was the seat of a bishopric, and so contained a cathedral, would have the status of  a city. This stemmed from the fact that the earliest bishoprics were settled upon the most important and well-established towns in the  kingdom, usually those of Roman or pre-Roman origin.There  are no records of city status having been formally bestowed upon  these towns at any time, though their status was accepted and  reaffirmed by Royal charters through the centuries. In the course  of a local government review in 1927 these towns, including  Rochester, were described as cities 'by ancient prescriptive right'. In addition to these historic cities, large new industrial towns  developed in the 19th century some of which sought, and were  granted, city status. Other towns became the seats of newly  created bishoprics and cathedrals were built (e.g. in Guildford  and Chelmsford) but as yet they do not have city status.  The automatic link between city and diocese was broken. Local government boundary changes in the 1970s created a  requirement to maintain the status for cities which were being  incorporated into the newly formed, larger districts. Initially  Rochester's status was upheld by 'Special Letters Patent'  granted by the Queen at the request of the outgoing city council.  When, in 1982, Medway Borough Council expressed an interest  in obtaining city status for itself, a compromise was reached  with a name change to Rochester upon Medway. A further  application was then made to the Queen and Rochester's  historic status was extended to the whole of the Borough.  However, when the unitary authority was formed in 1997   Rochester was not included in the title and no other action was taken - such as the appointment of charter trustees - to  uphold city status. City status is granted very sparingly and there are no hard and fast rules; applicants have to make the best case they can citing  the attributes of their particular town or, in some cases, group of towns (e.g. Stoke on Trent, a city of six towns). The one fact,  however, which does emerge is that city status has,to date,  only been granted in the name of established towns. Unless  there is a change of policy, it is unlikely that city status would be granted under a name otherwise borne only by a river and a recently created local government district, such as Medway.   It is also worth bearing in mind that the Yorkshire city generally  known as Hull has the formal title of the City of Kingston-upon-Hull.  This suggests that if a formal title of, say, Rochester upon  Medway, were adopted for the Authority itself - upon which an  application for city status could be based - there would be nothing to preclude the continued marketing/promotion of the area as  'Medway' in line with the Council's existing policy. The Society's recommendation The Society strongly recommends that in order to give an  application for city status the best  possible chance of success,  the Council considers altering the name of the  Unitary Authority to 'ROCHESTER UPON MEDWAY'.

City status for Medway Borough Council - Answers on a piece of bunting please!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/10499037.stm

Get rid of the system that uses a council leader and his cabinet of political chums and vote for a mayor directly elected by the people of the Medway Towns and answerable to the people. You only have 8 days left to voice your opinion - DO IT NOW!

"The choice has to be made as to whether we continue with our local authority headed by a council leader, elected internally by his political chums, or a mayor directly elected by the people of the Medway Towns and answerable to the people.
Too little publicity has been given to the vital opportunity to follow the success of directly elected mayors in other parts. The people of the Medway Towns should go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XWMTRZZ where they can follow the link which gives them the facts and a survey enabling them to express their preference."
From a letter in The Medway Messenger 18th June 2010.
Remember you only have until 30th June 2010 to give your preference. This has not been well advertised by the council - I wonder why?

City status - are we going far enough? - Let's go for full re-branding, damn the expense!

Is medway borough council (sic) being too humble in its current attempt to re-brand itself as a city? Having lost city status for Rochester through incompetence, negligence, stupidity, arrogance, lack of professionalism (choose any that fit) perhaps it needs to up its game a bit. Here are a few suggestions that might help:-

1. Rename Rochester Castle as Medway Castle -

 Medway Castle

2. Rename Rochester Cathedral as Medway Cathedral -

 Medway Cathedral

3. Go for the city name Medway upon Medway.

Some more stunning and original ideas:-

A. Rename Gillingham Footbal Club as Medway Football Club.

B. Rename the various towns as Chatham in Medway, Gillingham in Medway, Strood in Medway etc. Or better still Upper Medway, Middle Medway and Lower Medway we could also include Lesser Medway, Greater Medway, Medway under Medway, Medway Rural, Medway Urban, Inner Medway, Outer Medway, Medway Without, Medway Within - the re-branding list goes on!

C. Rename Chatham Dockyard as Medway Dockyard.

D. Change all references to Rochester, Chatham, Strood etc in the works of Charles Dickens to Medway!

Then they will take medway borough council (sic) seriously!

Medway Matters council magazine - value for money - here are the figures - what do you think?

Medway Matters has a circulation of nearly 112,000 and costs around £17,000 per issue. Medway council have a contract with Royal Mail who distribute the magazine.  This costs nearly £8,000 to deliver per issue.

How much does "Medway Matters" the "free" Medway Council magazine cost us?

Here is a statement from Medway Concil's Media Manager:
"There is no specific budget for the council's residents' magazine. It is funded through a mix of advertising and through local partners buying into its editorial content, with nearly 68 per cent of funding coming from external sources."

How much does your local councillor get? Medway Councillors allowances and expenses 2009-2010

http://www.medway.gov.uk/membersallowances2009-10.pdf

Medway Council's Medway Matters pamphlet - what's it all about Rodney

Having just received my obligitory copy of Medway Matters, I was struck by the number of times the word "Medway" appears in it (128 until I fell asleep - excluding email addresses adverts etc). Why am I sent this - all the info is readily available in local press or online? Who pays for this mag - is it me with my council tax ( it can't be funded by adverts because there are only a handful)? I have emailed Medway Council to ask how this mag is funded but have received no reply yet (will keep you posted). There are several articles that ask for the readers' feedback or comments - is this Medway Council's excuse for consultation? Can they then say that they have consulted thousands of people and have met their obligations? 
What are your views on Medway Matters please let me know - and by the way what has happened to the "Letters" page - perhaps they don't get any letters other than complaints?

Medway Council are just too arrogant to listen to sound and informed advice.

I quote from The City of Rochester Society Annual Report  2009/2010 :- "Discussions with the Council on the question of city status continued throughout the year. Considerable attention is now focused on major events planned for 2012, with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the hosting of the Olympics, and the 200th Anniversary of Charles Dicken's birth which all give cause for celebration. We understand that the Council is entering into competition with other towns to make a further bid for city status. The simplest way forward would be for the Council to agree to a change of name to 'Rochester upon Medway' when the application for city status is renewed. It is felt by the society that this would have a far greater chance of success. Medway Council can still continue to promote the area as 'Medway'. The city of Kingston upon Hull, which is usually referred to as Hull is a good example. This has been explained to the Council in a succinct document, prepared by the society. In the absence of our Press Officer, our Secretary was called upon to make an appearance recently on BBC Breakfast TV to give the Society's views on city status."

The council are obviously too ignorant and incompetent to take this sound advice - another wheelbarrow-full of our money will be wasted on their stupid and futile bid to have a river named a city! Idiots.

When will Medway Council close Globe Lane to all traffic except buses and taxis?

The unbelievable must soon happen and they will actually close this any day now! Another nail in the coffin of Chatham. I think this will finally kill it off! R.I.P Chatham as a retail destination - God help the businesses trying to exist there!

Extract from The Local Government Ombudsman's Annual review for Medway Council - March 2009

This year our Advice Team dealt with 94 enquiries and complaints about your Council. Of these,
19 related to complaints which were deemed to be premature and so were referred back to the
Council for investigation. The categories that generated the most significant number of enquiries
and complaints were Education (28), Planning & Building Control (17) and Transport & Highways
(11). These categories also accounted for the majority of the 60 complaints forwarded to the
investigative team.

MORE new Additions to the list! - Medway Council - Top 100 (or more!) unpopular/incompetent decisions by successive Tory dominated councils.

Please add to my list (in no particular order):
1. Loss of City Status
2. Closure of Rochester Market to provide income generating car parking
3. CCTV Car(s)
4. Destruction of Aveling and Porter building to provide income generating car parking
5. Destruction of riverside wharves to provide thusfar non-existant development
6. Vandalism (tree felling etc) of The Paddock for "Dynamic" Bus Station
7. Vandalism of Riverside Gardens (tree felling etc) for "Dynamic" Bus Station
8. Vandalism of Great Lines (tree felling, destruction of wildlife habitat)
9. Changes to Black Lion Sports Centre (including renaming as Medway Park!)
10. Closure of college to sell off land opposite Rochester Airport for development
11. Relocation of Age Concern/Help the Aged from central Chatham to Hopewell Drive Business Estate, Luton
12. Failure to ensure the refurbishment of Pentagon toilets
13. Selling off parts of Watts Meadow for development
14. Selling off Copperfield Green Space for development
15. Failing to provide public parking at Gun Wharf Council offices
16. Publishing and distributing "Medway Matters" (a blatant piece of propaganda) using our money
17. Failing to consult effectively and/or failing to listen to consultation on almost every issue
18. The "Elephant in The Room" preventing any regeneration of Chatham is THE PENTAGON - demolish it!
19. Merger of Chatham South School & Medway Community College to form the vast Chatham Academy (added by Tracy)
20. Proposed closure of St John's C of E Infants (thanks to Tracy for this addition)
21. Proposed closure of Ridge Meadow Primary school (thanks again Tracy)

22.Axing of jobs - loss of park wardens at Maidstone Rd Sports Ground

the only sports ground in Chatham Central! (from Tracy)

23. Loss of loos at Maidstone Rd Sports Ground - Council voted to demolish [ & have demolished them ] & will not be re-instating. The nearest & only public loo in Chatham is actually the coin operated [20p portaloo] which is located far away down in the Town Centre behind Debenhams.

Unfortunately it is not accessible for the disabled & has no baby changing facilities either,

but it is available 24hrs !! (from Tracy) 

24. Queen St/Slicketts Hill car parks which are to be sold off & potentially developed into blocks of flats [ I think the Council refers to these blocks of flats as Podiums ] Wont they have a nice outlook ? - Iceland's car park / Tesco's / burst sofas in gardens, the graffiti behind them.'Rennaisance' loves the idea.... it'll  all be so terribly modern ? And right alongside the 'new Brook Boulevard' .. HA!!

But with limited parking / access / all those lifts etc... just think how hard it is going to

be trying to even move your furniture in.. let alone living there ?

Can you imagine the cost of the service charges ?

And they're not likely to be cheap..... I wonder just who can afford / will be attracted to live there ? (from Tracy.
25, Failure years ago to back the campaigners to save the Theatre Royal in Chatham. (thank you Bash Street Kid)

The Paddock Protest against Medway Council bus station, Great Lines etc

Have a look at this film! http://www.davewise.biz/Regeneration%20films.html

Protest posters have gone up in The Paddock and Riverside Gardens Chatham

I wonder how long they will last? The police were there but had no problem with the posters going up, they took names and addresses "In case of complaints".

The Paddock Protest - Photos by Dave Wise at http://www.davewise.biz/projectsgallery/index.html#home Captions by Roger Fahy

A Shady Place No More

 

People Must Be Kept On A Lead At All Times!

 

Going

Going

 

Gone

 

Renaissance Man

Medway Renaissance In Action 

 

Smile Please

An Unstoppable Force?

 

Hands Off Our Green Spaces

The Old Town Hall And The Old Tree - Which Will Last Longer?

Be Careful For What You Vote For - You Might Get It!

Listen! A Scythe!

Man In Tree

Shy Man In Tree

 

Angry or Wot!

Call Me Old-Fashioned But I Really Like Trees

 

Rest In Peace

Sticks And Stones

 

Bandaged And Bleeding

The Face Of Reason

 

Too Late I Came To Love Thee (St. Augustine) 

Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

 

Next Time You Vote Watch Where You Put Your Cross!

Statement from Protest Meeting at The Paddock and Riverside Gardens, Chatham, Kent UK today.

"This is a protest by residents from all parts of the Medway Towns. It is not by a group with a name nor does it have any single political party connection.
Our concern is for the green spaces and Heriitage of our towns, especially The Paddock and Riverside Gardens which have just been appropriated by Medway Council to build a bus station.
There were many objections to the process known as Appropriation which began on the 5th February 2010 and ended on 19th February 2010. No acknowledgement of receipt of objections has been received. Last week on Friday 26th February 2010, felling of trees commenced despite the fact that the decision to appropriate the land on which the trees stand, had not been published.
The proposed bus station means that parts of The Paddock, including 4 mature Red Chestnut trees which are over 100 years old, and the Riverside Gardens will be replaced by road space and waiting areas for buses.
The proposed new bus station is very unpopular and only Arriva and Nu-Venture Bus Operators have offered their qualified support. It has attracted widespread opposition from many different groups including The Open Spaces Society and Urban Spaces Society. The proposed bus station is smaller than the existing bus station in the Pentagon Shopping Centre, whose traders have expressed concern for their businesses if the bus station is relocated.
The council is rushing this major infrastructure project through and must commence building it by the beginning of the next financial year to gain government funding.
Medway Council has quashed any debate. The Planning Application for this £6 million project was lodged on 7th December 2009 and the Planning Application was heard on 27th January 2010. The council's Planning Committee Chair refused a site visit for its own members and took the very unusual step of refusing a Ward Councillor's request for a public site meeting.
Medway Council's governing cabinet has refused permission for the councils' Regeneration and Culture Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review (scrutinise) this decision.
Protesters condemn this abdication of democratic processes and the building of this unnecessary and unwanted bus station. It has no popular public support and we call upon Medway Council to acknowledge the beauty of this historic and much-loved open space. The council should review the whole process carefully, including negotiating the upgrading of the current bus station.
This Thursday 4th March 2010 at 7pm, a number of questions will be asked by members of the public at the Full Council Meeting at the St George's Centre. Members of the public are invited to attend to hear the Leader respond to the concerns of local residents."

Labour group comments on the Chatham Dynamic Bus Station planning committee meeting

Date: 28th January 2010

Will Chatham Regret Tories’ Rushed Bus Station?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Last night the plans for the bus station were agreed, with all Conservative members now voting in favour, as the Labour Group had been predicting for months.
Chatham members especially had expressed their fears that despite the range of objections to the bus station the plans would be agreed in order to secure Government funding.
In their desperation to start work on the site, the request from Cllr Bill Esterson- ward member for the part of Chatham that includes the bus station- for a site visit was rejected by the Conservative members, thus restricting the input of residents.
Cllr Esterson said,
“In virtually every case, a site visit request from a ward member is honoured.  The fact that the Tories voted it down, for one of the biggest, most important and most contentious applications that’s been to this committee demonstrates how desperate they are, and their contempt for public opinion.”
“People have raised many compelling objections to this application, about the location, the trees, shelter and access.  The siting of this station will mean it’s difficult for less mobile residents to get their shopping to the station, and it will block off the river from the town, the very thing the Tories said they were trying to open up!”
“We will still be losing 19 mature trees as well.  I’m appalled by all of this, and think that people in Chatham have been badly let down by this bungling administration.  They’ve had four years to get it right, and we’ve ended up with this mess.”
Cllr Stephen Hubbard added,
“When the first bus station application was considered, Conservative members en bloc spoke against the application, raising a number of objections.  But last night they said that new application had addressed all the concerns raised.”
“Considering that only a few things that have changed from the first application –it’s a few metres to the east, a different set of trees are to be cut down- I think there may be other reasons behind their change of heart.”
“This bus station will go a long way to putting Chatham on the map, but not how the Tories intended.”

Ever had "Bad Thoughts"?

I had a few recently:

What if the proposed new bus station with its lack of shelter and facilities and less bus stops than now available in the Pentagon was actually a ruse to make people drive their cars into Chatham and pay exhorbitant parking charges to Medway Council. (Perish the thought!)

What if the council were just steamrollering through any old bus station without proper consultation or impact studies just to get the government hand-out of £6 Million? (Out Damn Spot!)

What if the council wanted to close the existing Pentagon bus station so that it could be turned into shops and increase the commercial rates paid to the council? (Hush-a-my mouth!)

What if there wasn't a huge majority of one party on the council - would it have made any difference - and if  so will anybody think about that on polling day? (Now you're being silly!)

What if somebody realises that the real "elephant in the room" is that monstrosity The Pentagon Shopping Centre and suggests pulling it down? (And pigs might fly!)

What if all occurances of the word "Regeneration" were replaced with the word "Resuscitation" on all the signs around the Medway Towns - would the public react more positively to this as being a description nearer to the truth? (Lies, lies and damn lies!)

I must stop eating so much cheese!

Mini model with huge drawbacks

Another letter about Chatham’s Dynamic Bus Station from Tracy Coutts of Chatham published in the Opinion column of the Medway Messenger on Friday 12th February 2010.

I went to see the council’s mock up of the new dynamic bus station on public display at Gun Wharf last week.
I don’t know quite what I was expecting, but perhaps the council has rather “bigged up” the dynamic bit?
After all the hype, there was I thinking there would be a grand exhibition with lights and a fanfare or maybe even a full-size bus shelter or two to try out.
Imagine my disappointment when all I could find was a titchy, tiny model on a side table, how sad.

This miniscule model with its little green lollipop trees reminded me of the decorations that you put on Christmas cakes.
But even though it is so small in size you won’t need a magnifying glass to see what the model lacks.
Isn’t it supposed to be a bus station, but where are all those queuing people and buses waiting to go out?

Now you may sneer, but perhaps this is one thing the council has got right, their future of Chatham in the future is of a ghost town.
Think about all the digging up and knocking down, tarmacing over and shops moving on.
Even if we do have 21st Century bus stops, who indeed will want to come here and what would they be coming here for?
Does the council really care, I have to wonder?

But I’d bet by the time we start looking for someone to blame, the architects of Chatham Town’s misfortune will all be long gone.

Chatham's Dynamic Bus Station - A Public Inquiry is called for!

This letter was written by Bryan Fowler, New Road, Chatham and was published in the Medway Messenger Opinion section (page 12) on Friday February 12^th 2010.

Public Inquiry is the only answer.

The controversy over the new dynamic bus station (reported in your paper) refuses to go away.

Questions now need to be answered by Medway Council why they are unwilling to allow residents and other interested parties to understand the issues behind this curious decision.

1. It was as recent as October 21, 2009 when an outline planning application was made to the Regeneration Overview Scrutiny Committee who received it in such a rush, it could not be included in their agenda papers seven days before the meeting.

Isn’t the scrutiny committee supposed to be the last point of review not the first and only point of debate for major regeneration projects?

2. A council officer wrote to overview and scrutiny members by email 60 minutes before the cabinet meeting on November 24 2009, to say that the vice-chairman of the overview and scrutiny committee had agreed to waive the right to call in any cabinet decision about the bus station. Is this transparent democracy?

3. At a recent planning committee meeting, why did its chairman and a majority of members refuse both a members’ site meeting and a public site meeting to examine the implications of this application.

4. It is unprecedented for a senior planning manager to comment before a planning committee meeting that the outcome of the planning application will result in the “best of its kind in Britain”.

5. The planning application is only complete once the council has appropriated the Open Space (The Waterfront and part of The Paddock). The cabinet has decided that objections will be considered by the director of regeneration in consultation with a designated portfolio holder.

That same director presented the last planning application in August 2009 and has already stated on the council’s website that the planning committee’s latest decision is “very good news for the bus travellers of Medway”.

How has this apparent conflict of interests been managed?

Most people would only be to willing to accept £6 Million worth of central government largesse.

Only a public enquiry can resolve this issue – why is the council so fearful?

Medway's application for City Status - An imaginary response from HRH Queen Elizabeth II :

Dear Councillor


Thank you for your letter. Unfortunately we do not confer City Status on rivers – only on towns. May I enquire what happened to the last City Status you had (since 1211), I have been informed by my Lord Chancellor that you have “lost” it – the only case I can recall of someone losing a city in the whole of British history!

I am told that you have also turned our ancient Rochester Market into a car park, you have destroyed the historic wharves and piers along the river to build flats and have demolished an icon of our industrial heritage – the Aveling and Porter building to provide more car parking! Not satisfied with this, you are devastating The Paddock and Riverside Gardens to build a smaller bus station than currently exists, where travellers will be exposed to the elements and will be required to cross busy traffic lanes to wait for their bus. At this rate there will be very little remaining that one might call a city!

In view of the above matters I must reject your application for your river to be given City Status, it would be akin to renaming the City of London "Thames" or the City of Canterbury "Stour". You really must look after things more carefully in future or you may be accused of being "A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing" (Oscar Wilde's definition of a cynic). It appears that while the Dutch and Hitler could not destroy the Medway Towns there may now be a new enemy at the gate - "Regeneration"!

Yours in disbelief,

Elizabeth R

PS. I do hope the Castle and Cathedral are still in one piece!

The Votes Are In The Bag

The big councillor said to the little councillor “How can we keep our council tax low so that voters are so grateful that they keep voting us into power?” The little councillor said “That’s easy we just increase our parking charges and the periods for which people must pay”. The big councillor replied “But to really make money we need more car parks”. The little councillor’s eyes lit up “Let’s knock down the old Aveling and Porter building and turn it into a car park like we did with the 800 year old Rochester Market – people have forgotten that already!”

“Great idea” enthused the big councillor “And there must be so many other old buildings around that we can turn into car parks – what about THE CASTLE?” They refilled their glasses, toasted the idea, signed off their expenses claims and relaxed on the plush council sofa. “And now that we have managed to get rid of our City Status through our incometance we don’t need THE CATHEDRAL either!” Their faces beamed as their creative juices flowed. “And if we provide a really inadequate bus service people will HAVE to use their cars!” This was too easy, it was obvious to the two dignitaries that special skills, vision, respect for community and heritage were no longer required in modern local government. As if with one voice they said “We could call it REGENERATION nobody can argue with that! They shook hands, drank another toast and agreed that the votes were in the bag.

Chatham Dynamic Bus Station

The ultra-violet lights in the rattling plastic bus shelter of Chatham’s new Dynamic Bus Station flickered fitfully through the rain and wind and darkness. Passengers huddled in the partial shelter of the doorway to the concrete hulk of The Pentagon Shopping Centre. They peered wistfully towards the deserted wind-swept bus shelters for the longed-for illuminated sign of a bus.

A cry went up from the look-out through the mournful howl of the wind “it’s a bus! It’s a 155” he yelled and started running towards the lumbering vehicle through the storm. Those passengers bound for Borstal, and the outlying villages of Wouldham and Burham and eventually the thriving county town of Maidstone ran, trotted, walked, limped and hobbled into the lashing gale desperate to reach the bus stop. They negotiated their way over the once-landscaped mud and once-decorative concrete slabs through the remaining newly-planted, fatally-damaged young trees to reach their goal and get away.

Regeneration had taken its toll on the poor, once-proud town and now even resuscitation was pointless. The plastic bags, food containers and empty beer cans swooped, tumbled and clattered down Waterfront Way like the tumbleweed on Desolation Row. The old lady knew that this time she couldn’t run the gauntlet across the Paddock, this time was just one time too many. She pleaded with her friend to save herself and watched as her stooped body frantically shuffled through the debris to catch the last bus out of town.