Frozen pensioners, hate crimes, and devolution

It can only be a full Medway Council meeting! Plus Francis Iles to become 'a dining hub', Conservative councillor hits the US doorstep, news in brief, and more

Medway Council meetings are unpredictable affairs. Sometimes, they can be full of over-the-top political gamesmanship, while others can be surprisingly agreeable. Last week, we saw both in back-to-back motions as the chamber squabbled in an unbecoming manner about the Winter Fuel Allowance and came together on hate crime. We’ve got all the details on those and the rest of the action below. Further down, we have news of the future of Francis Iles in Rochester, a Conservative councillor hits the US doorstep, news in brief, and more.

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Frozen pensioners, hate crimes, and devolution

Last week saw the final full Medway Council meeting of the year. It was an odd one, featuring a slightly unusual mix of over-the-top faux outrage and genuinely positive moments of cross-party working.

Winter Blues

The big motion of the night came from Cllr Wildey and his Conservative Group, who put forward one complaining about the withdrawal of the Winter Fuel Allowance from many pensioners. In an unusual intervention, the council monitoring office had to set out that councillors did not have to declare an interest and leave the room if they were impacted by the cut, which many would be given the average demographic of a Medway councillor¹. Still, councillors were asked to declare an interest as good practice when speaking, leading to some interesting declarations:

• Cllr Murray (Lab) declared that her husband received Winter Fuel Allowance

• Cllr Lawrence (Con) declared that his mum was losing her allowance, but she’d be okay because he’d send her some money

• Cllr Browne (Lab) said she would be losing it

• Cllr Paterson (Lab) declared his parents on final salary pensions would have received it in their mortgage-free home

• Cllr Gulvin (Con) said he’d received it but never needed it and gave it away

As tends to be the way of things with opposition motions, Labour quickly moved an amendment, turning the motion into something much more political, blaming the Tories for ruining the economy and leaving us in this position. While proposing her amendment, Cllr Murray suggested that Cllr Wildey was only raising it as it was a ‘pet peeve’ for him and his colleagues who would be losing the money.

The debate went on like this, with Cllr Lawrence and Cllr Paterson getting into such a debate over the issue and points of order that the latter accused the former of using ‘a violent gesture’ and said he ‘didn’t know if he was offering me outside’, but in the end, no one came to actual blows.

Independent Group councillor Elizabeth Turpin perhaps hit the nail most of the head, saying she was ‘appalled by the level of debate’ and accusing both sides of the chamber of political point scoring. She said if the council had looked at the issue a year ago, we’d have the same motion and amendments, with the opposite parties written at the top. Depressingly, she’s probably right.

Cllr David Wildey and the Conservative Group

Hate is bad

It doesn’t happen often, but every now and again, Medway Council manages to come together in a way that ever so slightly borders on heartwarming. In this case, it was a motion from independent councillor Sat Shokar, who put forward a motion on hate crime following the attacks in Southport and the subsequent far-right unrest across the country.

Less helpfully, things got a bit muddled when Cllr Shokar immediately proposed an alteration to his own motion to make it more all-encompassing before the Conservatives proposed some changes and then Labour asked for a couple more until everyone agreed. Medway Council Leader Cllr Vince Maple (Lab) called this process ‘creation by committee’, and it was unusual to see multiple sides of the chamber work together in real-time to create something they were all happy with. More of this sort of thing, please.

Cllr Vince Maple and his Labour Group

Devolution seems inevitable

There has long been talk that Medway in its current form as a unitary authority isn’t sustainable, and with new devolved powers being offered by the government to larger combined authorities with elected mayors, it was only a matter of time before the conversation came to Medway.

It was revealed that the government has been talking to both Medway and Kent County Council about setting up a Combined Authority, and from Cllr Maple’s announcements, things are seemingly progressing at pace. While both Labour and the Conservatives in Medway have been cold on the idea in the past, Cllr Maple sounded more open to the idea than usual. He described an ‘ongoing process’ where he wanted more power for the community, listed several discussions that had taken place, and stated his belief that all districts of Kent should be involved.

Elsewhere in the chamber, Cllr Hackwell (Con) argued that he doesn’t want Medway to be ‘sucked back in’ to become ‘just another district of Kent.’ Independent Group Leader Cllr George Crozer was more in the middle, raising concerns about a potential disadvantage for Medway within a combined authority with Kent while also lamenting that the Hoo Peninsula would likely be an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty by now if we’d stayed with them previously.

This is likely to be the big political conversation in Medway over the coming years and could well be existential for our relatively young authority.

Cllr Adrian Gulvin and his Conservative Group

Elsewhere

• Cllr Maple claimed he had ‘absolute confidence’ in Planning Vice Chair Cllr Mark Jones (Lab) after he used his position to try and override the democratic will of the committee at a recent meeting.

• Cllr Curry (Lab) is looking at options for a safe walking route between Cuxton and Strood, though the options present challenges. He hinted that future redevelopment around Cuxton Marina might be the key to unlocking things.

• Cllr Curry also responded to a ‘very exciting’ Lib Dem question about creating a walking and cycling bridge between Chatham and Medway City Estate. Various strategies are being developed around MCE and the river, and he claimed that ‘if it can be done, we will find ways to make it happen.’

• Cllr Maple said that Medway Council are not currently supporting the campaign for reparations for the UK’s role in slavery, following a question from the Green Party.

• Cllr Perfect (Con) raised the issue of Lauren Edwards’ tweets, which he described as ‘racist and ableist’, calling it ‘one of the most internationally reported stories in the council’s history.’ He once again criticised the Labour administration for being silent on the issue.

• Cllr Maple further claimed he would read everyone’s feedback on the Local Plan but was unclear where he’d find the time to read that many angry emails.

Finally, while Medway Council live streams are of surprisingly good quality, this meeting saw the occasional glitch on the stream leaving to some uniquely arty results, like in this moment where Cllr Mahil (Lab) was speaking:

Cllr Mahil on the Medway Council live stream

If you’d like to watch the full five hours of the meeting, you can do so below. Quite why you’d want to do that to yourself is another matter entirely.

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Francis Iles to become some kind of ‘dining hub’

Francis Iles was a prominent shop on Rochester High Street from its opening in the 1970s until its closure last year. The art gallery and supplies shop was located in an impressive unit at the entrance to The French Hospital, and much has been made about what the three-storey unit could become in the future.

Former Francis Iles shop on Rochester High Street

Now, a new planning application offers a potential answer. The new owner of the building has commissioned fancy architects to devise a plan to convert the building into ‘a hub for dining and entertainment.’

Hollaway Studio are the architects employed on the project, with their portfolio including Dreamland in Margate, Rocksalt in Folkestone, and, er, the failed hotel on Corporation Street in Rochester.

This plan seems more feasible than that, though, as it proposes to convert the ground floor and basement into a cafe, with the upper two floors used for private dining and functions. The proposals drawn up are fairly elaborate and involve an extensive renovation of the full building but with an intent to return the building to its ‘original glory.’

You can view the full details on Medway Council’s website. A decision on the plans is scheduled to be made by mid-December.

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Cllr Lammas hits some far-flung doorsteps

Princes Park councillor Robbie Lammas has been hitting the doorstep this week to convince voters to back his candidate in a coming election. This might not sound unusual, but what is somewhat less so is that he’s in Pennsylvania attempting to win votes for Donald Trump.

Cllr Robbie Lammas in Pennsylvania

Given the Trump campaign has been outraged at the idea that Labour activists have been flying in to support Kamala Harris, presumably they will be unhappy that Cllr Lammas has turned up to offer their man support.

At full council last Thursday, Cllr Lammas voted in favour of a motion that stated that ‘no form or racism or discrimination is ever acceptable, no matter a person’s race, country of origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or any other protected characteristic, and this applies to all communities and individuals.’

Five days later, he’s in the US, campaigning for a candidate who has described others as ‘retarded’, described political opponents as ‘vermin’, has said immigrants are ‘poisoning’ the country, condoned sexual assault, and has a long history of making racist comments.

In Cllr Lammas’ case, actions speak rather louder than words.

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In brief

🏍️ No fines have been issued against nuisance bikers at Barnfield Recreation Ground four months after a Public Space Protection Order was put in place. Despite this, police were called to the Chatham site 65 times during the period.

🏗️ Work is underway on 44 flats for older people on Corporation Street in Rochester. The building, directly opposite the Casino Rooms, will be 100% affordable, with homes available via MHS Homes.

🏗️ Medway Council is set to receive £640,000 to open up brownfield development at two sites. The money is due to be spent on developing the Upper Mount car park in Chatham and redeveloping Hook Meadow library in Walderslade.

☕ Medway Council are seeking an operator for the cafe at the new Cozenton Park Sports Centre. Operators must have experience running cafes to take on the £15,000pa lease.

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More Authority

For our weekend interview, we sat down with Simon Curry, Medway Council’s portfolio holder for climate change and strategic regeneration. Simon has been at the forefront of the Medway Labour administration’s policies, including red routes. He talks about the struggles with the Local Plan, making tough decisions, and the hidden gems of Medway.

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Footnotes

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Music that soundtracked the creation of this edition: Try To Be Hopeful by The Spook School, The Weekend Was Almost Always Over by adults, and Slurpt by Ace Bushy Striptease.

1. Curiously, the same leniency wasn’t given in previous years when councillors who were also rental tenants were forced to exit the room when discussing landlords.