Flags down
Plus Medway still struggling to balance the books, Strood Library finally getting a new lift, news in brief, and more
Medway Council has finally finished cutting down the hundreds of flags that appeared on lampposts over the summer. We look at what it cost, why it mattered, and what happens next. We also have news on the first draft of next year’s council budget, showing Medway is still deep in financial trouble, Strood Library’s lift saga might finally be coming to an end, news in brief, and more.
Flags down
After months of buildup, Medway Council has finished taking down the hundreds of Union Jacks and St George’s Crosses that had been zip-tied to lampposts across the towns. Crews working overnight with bolt cutters have finished their work, and the flags are gone. What’s left is the familiar noise that follows when the council quietly cleans up after other people’s mess.
Cllr Alex Paterson, Labour’s portfolio holder for community safety, highways and enforcement, confirmed the scale of the operation this week. 727 flags removed, £11,592.50 spent. “Money well spent,” he said on BBC Radio Kent, “to make the community feel safe again.” The campaign to put them up, Operation Raise the Colours, was, he said, the work of “far-right agitators” determined to sow intimidation and division. “The world,” he added, “is divided into people who know exactly why these flags were put up, and those who are still pretending they don’t.”
That bluntness has been a theme of Paterson’s handling of the saga. His social media video thanking council crews was closer to defiance than diplomacy, making clear that this wasn’t a health-and-safety exercise but a deliberate stand against a campaign that tried to turn public space into a political billboard. He also confirmed plans to give the confiscated flags to community groups to turn into an artwork celebrating Medway’s diversity, a quiet inversion of the symbolism the flaggers tried to impose.
Council leader Vince Maple echoed the message, saying it was “sad that the national flag, which should be a matter of pride, has become a sign of division and intolerance.” He stressed that residents remain free to fly flags on their own property, but not on public infrastructure. The legal basis is simple. The displays breached Section 132 of the Highways Act 1980, the same provision that bans fly-posting and unauthorised advertising.
Even so, the familiar chorus has returned online. Facebook groups are now filled with claims of ‘Labour’s war on patriotism’ and ‘traitors in Gun Wharf.’ Some local outlets have added quotation marks around the word “illegally” when describing the removals, as if to suggest there’s any serious doubt that attaching flags to street furniture without permission breaks the law. There isn’t.
For most residents, the clean-up has been little more than a few days of cherry-pickers and bolt-cutters, restoring the streets to something like normality. For a small and noisy minority, it’s another chapter in a culture war that exists mostly on Facebook.
That hasn’t stopped some from trying to bring it back into the real world, though. The core flagging group of Medway claim they will put them back up over the weekend, and the same group that led a single-digit UKIP march through Rochester are intending to hold a ‘peaceful meeting’ to protest the removals in Chatham on 29 November.
The council has done exactly what it said it would: enforce the law, protect public workers, and refuse to let Medway be used as a backdrop for intimidation dressed up as patriotism. Some flags may well reappear on 14 November, as promised by their self-appointed guardians. When they do, it’ll be interesting to see how quickly Medway Council can remove them a second time.
Medway still struggles to balance the books
Medway Council has published the first draft of its 2026/27 budget in next week’s cabinet papers, and while there’s still time before any final decisions are made, the early picture is of another year of severe financial strain.
The council is currently facing a £25.9m gap between what it expects to spend and what it can afford. The total proposed budget stands at £541.6m, but forecast income only reaches £515.7m. It follows an expected £9.9 million overspend this year, with reserves hovering just above the minimum level of £10m.
Adult social care remains the most significant pressure point, with costs projected to rise by more than £15m next year due to inflation, increased demand, and higher wages for care workers. Temporary accommodation is another large drain, adding £3m, while the council’s borrowing costs are expected to rise sharply as interest rates remain high. Inflation across waste, highways, and housing contracts continues to push spending upwards, while pay awards for council staff will add around 3% to salary costs.
On the income side, the council is assuming a 5% council tax rise, the maximum allowed without a referendum, split between a 3% general increase and a 2% adult social care precept. Business rates and government grants are forecast to rise modestly, but the document admits that much of this remains uncertain until after the government’s Autumn Budget and Local Government Finance Settlement later this year.
The council’s financial position has been fragile for several years, and Medway is already reliant on Exceptional Financial Support from the government, a special form of borrowing that allows councils in distress to treat some day-to-day spending as capital. The 2025/26 budget included £18.2m of such support, and officers have warned that a similar request may be unavoidable for next year. Without it, the council would be unable to balance its books, increasing the risk of a Section 114 notice, effectively declaring bankruptcy.
The draft budget also lays out early capital spending plans worth nearly £490m, including major regeneration, housing, and infrastructure projects, much of which is funded through borrowing. That level of debt will continue to add pressure to future budgets through rising interest payments.
Cabinet members will now work with officers and scrutiny committees over the coming months to refine the proposals and look for savings or new income. The final version of the budget, including council tax levels, will be presented to Cabinet in February, before being debated and agreed by full council at the end of the month.
For now, the warning lights remain on. Without more funding, more savings, or another government bailout, Medway is still a long way from a balanced budget.
Strood Library finally gets a new lift
Several readers have been in touch to ask what is going on with the lift at Strood Library, which has been out of action for most of this year. Medway Council were eager to tell us that library staff have moved stock around while it’s been out of action, and have retrieved items from upstairs for users when required. Which is very lovely, but the upstairs also includes other facilities, including spaces used by community groups, who have had members unable to attend for months now.
Happily, the end is finally in sight, with Medway Council telling us that a new lift will finally be installed later this month. It’s taken so long thanks to the inefficiencies of local government, which had to put the new lift installation out to tender because it would cost so much.
The new lift will be installed from 26 November, and the library will be closed until 6 December, which is unhelpful. Still, after nine months of inaccessibility, people might finally be able to access the full library once again.
In brief
➡️ Reform are threatening to take legal action against Medway Council over their proposed changes to the process of motions at full council. The changes, which could see Reform and other small groups on the council excluded from submitting motions at full council meetings. Council will vote on the changes at this Thursday’s meeting.
🏭 Approval has been given for a £50m biofuel plant on the Hoo Peninsula. The plant will create around 200 jobs and help provide fuel for contractors working on the Lower Thames Crossing.
🗄️ Two big planning applications are poised to be approved by Medway’s planning committee next week. Officers recommend approving 497 homes across the next stages of the East Hill development, as well as a new Aldi on Maidstone Road in Chatham.
🌲 Medway Council is consulting on the design of a new nature reserve in Strood. The current proposals include new routes through the Temple Marsh site, benches, viewing platforms, and more.
🚓 Two men have been charged with murder following the death of a man in Chatham last week.
📣 Your Party members will hold their first public Medway event on Saturday (15 Nov), where things are going so well that they’ve had to clarify that it isn’t an official Your Party event.
💊 Rainham might gain a pharmacy once again after Allied Pharmacies took on the closed Jhoots outlet in the precinct.
🍔 Sad news for street burger fans, as Burgerman Serj has announced he is to depart Chatham for London. Burgerman, if that is indeed his real name, has gained a huge following on TikTok from his stand on the High Street and is going to take his quarter-pounders to the big city.
More Authority
We sat down with Medway musician Kevin Younger for our weekend interview, who has performed in some of Medway’s most recognised bands. He also regularly puts on live music events in Medway, often in places you might not expect.
“Almost anywhere can be a place to have live music”
Kevin Younger has been organising music events in Medway for a number of years at the Rochester Social Club, as well as performing in some of Medway’s most acclaimed bands. Ahead of the release of The High Span’s second album, Steven met Kevin at Rams 12 Degrees to discuss Mr Unswitchable, music fanzines and
Footnotes
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