Making a difference to the people of Medway
David Brake: Show commitment to our young children
Letter posted on Friday, 4 June 2010
Dear Sir, how refreshing to see your “COMMENT” in the Medway Messenger on Friday 21 May 2010 (The Good News about youngsters).
Through the columns of your newspaper you are quite right to identify the negative contribution of some young people to our society. All too often these are the very issues that people will talk about. Fortunately for us, these stories reflect the attitude and behaviour of a very small minority. These are of course issues that need to be addressed and in the main can be dealt with by encouraging greater involvement within the community in the many activities, clubs and facilities that exist for young people. Read more...
Thank you to carers for attending council meeting
Letter posted on Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Sir, may I take the opportunity of using your letters page to thank, on behalf of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Medway Council, all those who attended our special meeting devoted to the issues and challenges faced by carers on Tuesday 23rd March.
My thanks go to our health partners, carers organisations and, of course, the carers and members of the public who attended. Read more...
Letter to the Times on the Personal Care at Home Bill
Letter posted on Thursday, 11 February 2010
Sir, I would echo the concerns raised by my fellow councillors who are responsible for adult social care in England (The Times, letter, Feb 10). While it is important to improve services for the elderly where we can, this Bill ignores the financial realities that local authorities are currently facing. Forcing already hard-stretched councils to find further “efficiency savings” to fund care at home will only lead to an erosion of other key services.
Here in Medway, we believe that these proposals will cost up to £5.2 million every year, which amounts to an additional increase of 6 per cent on local council tax bills. The only alternative left is to make cuts. Read more...
Cllr David Wildey: Support the Place2Be in the Christmas appeal
Letter posted on Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Sir, I commend the decision by the Times newspaper to include The Place2Be in their Christmas Charity Appeal this year.
Schools in Medway have benefited significantly through this scheme – indeed the Times has reported on the important contribution the programme has made in both the Glencoe Junior and St Mary’s Catholic Schools. Read more...
Cllr Howard Doe: City status for Medway would put us on the map
Letter posted on Thursday, 17 December 2009
Sir, Medway is worthy of city status and 2012 would be the ideal time for our community to receive the recognition it so rightly deserves. In fact we have great expectations for 2012 in Medway.
2012 will be a year of celebration. It is Charles Dickens’s bicentenary and with our historic ties to that great Victorian writer, we will certainly mark the occasion. Read more...
Cllr Jane Chitty: Measures to beat the recession
Letter posted on Friday, 20 November 2009
Sir, as our country continues to suffer from the longest recession since records began, we are doing what we can in a targeted fashion to help residents and businesses affected by the economic downturn here in Medway.
This month we officially opened our new flagship Employ Medway Advice Centre, located in Chatham High Street, which provides free information and advice to those who have found themselves recently unemployed or are facing redundancy. Read more...
Cllr Mike O'Brien: join us in Chatham to engage on health issues
Letter posted on Friday, 23 October 2009
Sir, in August we conducted an innovative experiment with Medway Council’s health committee and held the meeting in the community rather than in the normal council chamber – a first for Medway.
Thanks to this, thirty or more people that came along to put their questions to health officials and listen to the debate on issues such as the potential health implications of phone masts and the preparedness of Medway’s health services for the winter, especially in light of Swine Flu. Read more...
Cllr Mike O'Brien: Join us to engage on health issues
Letter posted on Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Since being appointed as chairman of the health and adult social care overview and scrutiny committee, it has been our endeavour to raise the profile of health in Medway.
To this end, it has been agreed to hold the next meeting at the Rainham Mark Social Club on Thursday, August 20, at 6pm. Read more...
Cllr David Brake: Congratulations for a successful Try Angle Awards
Letter posted on Friday, 17 July 2009
Sir, having been present and seen first hand the result of hard work and enthusiasm by young people in organising the Medway Try Angle Awards event, I write to congratulate the Medway Youth Parliament for a good job, well done.
The event, designed to celebrate the efforts and achievements of young people in Medway was a mix of award presentations to young achievers in Medway and entertainment put together by young people. Singing, dancing, rapping and comedy were on offer to an appreciative audience. Our hosts, Heather Calveley and Gamal Toseafa deserve a special mention as they held the evening together like true professionals and were never short of the occasional adlib to keep the show on the road. Read more...
Cllr Les Wicks: Labour are more concerned with scoring points than the children's future
Letter posted on Friday, 10 July 2009
Sir, recently the Labour group have suggested that Medway Council is proposing to close schools so that money can be used “in Tory heartland areas on pet Tory projects” – but yet they provide no evidence to support such a spurious accusation.
On the contrary, there is ample evidence that the government’s Primary Capital Programme for Medway, which the Labour group has so far opposed and attempted to undermine at every turn, proposes to impartially invest in schools which are in need of refurbishment. Many of these schools are in areas that are not represented by Conservative councillors. Read more...
Cllr Les Wicks: Labour minister opposes his own government's education policies
Letter posted on Thursday, 28 May 2009
Sir, I am mystified by the hypocritical stance the local MP for Chatham and Aylesford has taken by opposing the proposed changes to Medway’s primary schools. It is his government, in which he is a Junior Minister, which is pressing Medway Council to make such changes under the Primary Capital Programme; a policy that the government is using to make “efficiency savings” through the removal of surplus places in schools. His fellow Ministers have set themselves targets to make cuts to save £144 million from the DCSF’s budget by taking action in schools where there are more than 25 percent of empty places. These are the guidelines that we’ve followed here in Medway. Surely the Minister is not opposing his own government’s policies?
The MP has also told us, at a meeting with the Leader of Medway Council, that he and his government expect the primary changes to be bold. Yet here he is opposing bold changes when they are proposed. He accuses Medway Council of ignoring public opinion, but it is his fellow Labour councillors who have hindered plans to discuss the proposals with concerned parents, pupils and teachers by calling in the decision to go out to consultation – another part of the guidance given to us by the Labour government. Read more...
Cllr Howard Doe: Medway's allotments are safe under Conservatives
Letter posted on Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Sir, there is no better way to save money than to grow your own fruit and vegetables and it will come as no surprise that the current recession has spurred an interest in allotments; here in Medway they are extremely popular. Allotments are a great way for residents to enjoy the outdoors, to combine leisure and health pursuits and are vital urban greenspaces which need protecting.
Some have speculated that the council intends to re-develop allotment sites, especially the site between Mill Road and Prince Arthur Road. I can reassure residents that we have no plans to do so and that Medway Council’s commitment to the retention of allotments has never been greater. Read more...
Cllr Les Wicks: Shame on Labour for school leak
Letter posted on Thursday, 30 April 2009
Sir, I am appalled by the behaviour of opposition politicians in Medway, who this week leaked confidential information about proposed primary school changes before Medway Council had an opportunity to tell parents, pupils and teachers. Clearly Labour councillors don’t understand that making changes to our primary system is a painful process for everyone and has to be dealt with sensitively. Where is their concern for children?
We are proposing to make changes to 19 of Medway’s primary schools because the government requires us take action in schools where there are more than 25 percent of empty places. We have followed exactly the guidelines given to us by the Labour government, which says that we must reorganise primary provision and amalgamate or close schools were there are surplus places. There is no secrecy, only confidentiality, (which is quite different) and is maintained to protect pupils and staff. Now that we have the Department for Children, Schools and Families agreement, everyone interested in the proposals, including current and future parents, have the opportunity to express their views in the forthcoming consultation. Read more...
Cllr Alan Jarrett: Free days to give a boost to our shops
Letter posted on Wednesday, 1 April 2009
I refer to the letter in last week's Your Medway ('Free parking will boost economy', 25th March 2009).
Your correspondent is exactly right about the boost this scheme will give to both Medway's economy and our residents who are being battered by this government's cruel recession. Read more...
Cllr Mike O'Brien: Free parking at Christmas thanks to Medway's Conservatives
Letter posted on Friday, 6 March 2009
Sir, amongst the many excellent initiatives announced at Medway’s budget meeting by the Conservative group (26 February 09) I was particularly pleased that Deputy Leader Cllr Alan Jarrett introduced a freeze on car parking charges for three years and is pioneering free parking on the run up to Christmas. I have been campaigning on these issues for some time because I believe that in this tough economic climate we need to do what we can to encourage people to visit our five town centres.
Medway’s car parking charges are already one of the lowest in Kent and these measures will ensure that they remain so for the foreseeable future and will have huge benefits for Medway’s motorists, shoppers and retailers. Read more...
Peninsula Conservative Councillors: Floating airport must be stopped
Letter posted on Thursday, 5 February 2009
Sir, it is time that we made a stand against these ridiculous proposals for a floating airport just off the Hoo Peninsula in the Thames Estuary. Just as we led the fight and defeated the government over their plans for an airport at Cliffe six years ago, so too will we defeat this ill-starred scheme.
An airport in the Estuary is not feasible, not required and certainly not wanted. Such an idea should be abandoned for all the economic, environmental, political and practical reasons which stand against it. The significant threat of bird strikes and the possibility of an incident similar to the recent Hudson river accident demonstrate why this is a non-starter and everyone except Boris Johnson knows that it should never have been floated. Read more...
Joint letter to the Guardian from Cllr Paul Carter and Cllr Rodney Chambers on the Thames Estuary Airport
Letter posted on Friday, 16 January 2009
Kent county council and Medway council are absolutely against a Thames estuary airport (Heathrow expansion, 12 January). We do not need to resort to this costly and environmentally damaging option. We believe that the priority should be to make more efficient use of existing airport infrastructure. For example, in the south-east, Kent International airport at Manston near Margate has an appetite for significant expansion and could handle an extra 6 million passenger movements a year, which would boost the local economy in an area of high deprivation. The commencement of high-speed domestic rail services between Ramsgate, Medway and London at the end of 2009 will dramatically reduce travel times to and from the capital, making KIA a much more attractive option.
Cllr Paul Carter Read more...
Cllr David Brake: Road safety outside schools is one of our concerns
Letter posted on Friday, 17 October 2008
Sir, your article (Council flouts its own road rules, Medway News, 17th October) highlighted the important issue of road safety outside Medway Schools. Our children are at risk of injury, or even death, as a result of inconsiderate behaviour by motorists near our schools.
Following concerns by worried parents in Walderslade, I have investigated this issue. I found cars parked on zigzags, double yellow lines and across resident driveways. Motorists were seen speeding and ignoring Crossing Patrol Officers. One mother even told me that ensuring her daughter arrived at school on time was more important than risking a penalty ticket or more importantly, the safety of other children. Read more...
Cllr David Wildey: Use your loaf and get us off breadline
Letter posted on Friday, 17 October 2008
Sir, your article (A poor state of affairs, Medway Messenger, 10th October) on child poverty in Medway was very revealing. Labour came to power promising to reduce child poverty, but with around 25,000 of Medway’s children living on the ‘breadline’ and with 5.5 million nationally living in poverty, the government are clearly failing the most vulnerable in our communities.
It was shocking to read that the figures, released by the Campaign to End Child Poverty, were of “no surprise” to Medway’s Labour Members of Parliament. Not only are they much higher than the government’s ‘official’ figures, but they also demonstrate that the Labour government’s approach has left millions of children in poverty. Read more...
An open letter to the Mayor of London
Letter posted on Monday, 22 September 2008
Dear Boris,
Your friends in Medway and Kent are very concerned at your idea of creating a floating airport as an alternative to expanding Heathrow. Read more...
Cllr Sylvia Griffin: Support residents' campaign against Friston Way sports field
Letter posted on Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Dear Sir, in response to your article on a new school sports field in Friston Way (Neighbours call for action over pitch, Medway News 22/08/08), I would like to point out that the sports field is not in Cllr Nick Bowler’s ward (Rochester East) as reported, but in Rochester South and Horsted, where all three Conservative ward councillors have opposed the development from the start. In comparison, Cllr Bowler has voted for and supported the building of the pitch from the beginning, and only now voiced his opposition. At every opportunity I have spoken out against this development and will continue to support residents’ campaign.
Cllr Sylvia Griffin is Vice Chair of Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny and member for Rochester South and Horsted Read more...
Cllr Howard Doe: First anniversary of Medway's childrens' mobile library
Letter posted on Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Sir, this month marks the first anniversary of Medway’s children’s mobile library, which is one of the many innovations Medway Council have introduced to make libraries more accessible and amenable for the 21st Century. The way people read books, enjoy literature and access information has changed, so must our libraries to keep up.
They must meet the changing needs of their users. This is why instead of simply being a place to borrow books; our libraries have become community hubs, with Internet access, film, music and game rental. To attract new users, we have clubs, such as the Baby Bounce and Rhyme, which encourages young mothers to join their local library and introduces children to the library facilities. Read more...
Cllr Les Wicks: An Academy in Chatham will create opportunities
Letter posted on Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Sir, bringing together Chatham South and Medway Community College into a new academy offers a brighter future for the children of Chatham. It is not without its challenges, but presents an opportunity we should not ignore.
A new academy would provide state-of-the art facilities, new courses and sporting options and combine them with the best qualities of the two existing schools. It is important to remember that this proposal is concerned with the long-term future of education in Chatham, and existing pupils’ education at both schools will continue unaffected. Many current pupils will have moved on to other things by the time a new academy could be built in 2012 or 2013. Read more...
Cllr Rodney Chambers: Protect Medway from misguided transport plans
Letter posted on Sunday, 20 April 2008
It appears to be quite fashionable at the moment to want to build grandiose transport projects on Medway’s Hoo Peninsula and on the adjoining Thames Estuary, whatever the financial, social or environmental implications.
In recent months the idea of an airport has reappeared. It was an ill conceived and badly thought out idea five years ago when we fought and defeated the government over their plans, and it still remains a misguided idea. Instead I, along with my Conservative colleagues at Kent County Council, believe that that the Kent International Airport on the Isle of Thanet could provide the infrastructure needed to meet the government’s predictions for future growth in air travel. Read more...