New School Streets feature some weird choices
Plus a Pentagon toilet trek, news in brief, and more
School Streets are rapidly proliferating across Medway. The Labour administration introduced seven of them earlier this year and are now consulting on nine more. Some call them a cynical cash grab, while others hail them as a way to make walking to school safe. As ever, the reality is likely somewhere in the middle. As the plans for the nine new schemes are revealed, we’ve been looking and finding some curious choices among them. Further down, we have news of the lengthy new trek to the Pentagon toilets, news in brief, and more.
Coming up later this week: We’ll be diving into the latest crime stats in Medway, which makes for some cheerful reading. On Friday, we’ll be pondering a new report which suggests Chatham might be failing in cultural investment where other places have succeeded. Then, on Sunday, our weekend interview is with Katalin Takács, owner of Mrs Sourdough Bakery in Chatham, on her journey to making bread and the challenges of running a business in our towns.
Our Tuesday and Friday editions are free, but our features and interviews are exclusive to our paid supporters, who ensure we can keep the core of our work free for everyone else.
New School Streets feature some weird choices
On Friday, we highlighted how a new set of School Streets were set to be introduced in Medway. The scheme restricts motor vehicles on streets around schools when children arrive and leave, intending to make the environment safer and more pleasant.
This concept is difficult to argue with. While we have no empirical data on how well Medway’s initial tranche of School Streets works so far, anecdotally, they seem to be broadly popular with schools, parents, and children. A 2022 report from Transport for London, whose patch includes hundreds of similar schemes, found vehicle movements on School Streets reduced by 80%, and nitrogen dioxide during the morning drop-off period dropped 23%.
Nine new locations are being consulted on for this second wave, and some feel rather more cautious than some of the initial set. Others feature some rather baffling choices. That isn’t to say that they can’t do any good, but some of them seem so minor that it’s hard to see how much good they can actually do.
Take the proposed restrictions on Harrison Drive in High Halstow. Medway Council proposes restricting vehicles from a tiny cul-de-sac off of it rather than the road itself. This bit of road has three parking spaces and barely any more vehicle space on the road itself. How many vehicles are entering this area daily to make the scheme viable? All of the same cars will presumably still arrive in the same area and park metres away on the main curve of the road instead.
On the Davis Estate, the plans are potentially even more baffling. One street, Barberry Avenue, immediately outside Horsted Junior School, will have restrictions, but the street outside of the Horsted Infant School, Binland Grove, will not. At first glance, there doesn’t appear to be a logical reason not to include this street.
One reason might be the small orange dot on the map above. Amongst the core School Street plans, Medway Council are also proposing, slightly more quietly, to install School Keep Clear cameras at some sites. These would be on streets that don’t have formal restrictions but would catch and fine those stopping the on yellow and keep clear lines outside of schools. Of course, no one should be doing this, so it’s hard to find a problem with the idea, but a cynic might suggest that restricting traffic in one location and then clamping down on those stopping on the next street might be rather fruitful for Medway Council.
Three of these cameras are proposed in this tranche of School Streets, with Horsted Primary School above being joined by Fairview Academy in Rainham and Delce Academy in Rochester.
New portfolio holder Cllr Alex Paterson insists that the scheme is not about making money. Speaking to ITV News, he argued that “people making journeys through Medway should be able to do so without being impeded by selfish drivers” and described the fines issued as “entirely optional charges.” Which is a rather blunt way of putting things, but not entirely wrong.
One thing that seems certain is that these are unlikely to be the last set of School Streets in Medway. Cllr Paterson seems enthusiastic about the scheme, and Medway Council have already confirmed a proposal is being worked up around Holcombe Grammar School, which would be the first secondary school site to be included.
The consultation on the nine new School Streets locations is now open. You have until 27 October to offer feedback on the proposals.
Toilet trek
Okay, we know that toilets aren’t the most glamorous issue. Still, we just wanted to take a minute to highlight how impressively awful the move of the public toilets in the Pentagon Centre in Chatham has been.
While no one could claim the original toilets in the centre were the nicest place to spend time, they were at least located at the heart of things, just along from Sainsbury’s and next to the taxi rank.
With the extensive redevelopment that is currently happening within the centre, it was inevitable that some changes would need to be made. But it is staggering just how far removed from any public activity the new toilets are.
They are now located upstairs on the centre's first floor, where nothing else currently exists, given that all existing businesses have been moved out as part of the redevelopment process.
This leads to a trip up in the lift or on the escalator before a rather long work to the furthest possible point to use the facilities. Not too troublesome for many people, but not idea for those with mobility issues. On the day we visited, the disabled toilet was out of order, and the only toilets were available up some steps, so it was not a great start.
Eventually, the Pentagon's upstairs will be home to a new Healthy Living Centre and the Ascend coworking space. Given that each of these will have its own facilities, the move is hardly to accommodate them. It presents a scenario where anyone wanting to use the toilet in Chatham must trek upstairs and go on a long walk past a health centre and a coworking space to find relief.
The provision of public toilets in our towns is an ongoing issue. Many of our towns and villages have no facilities beyond nipping into a pub or restaurant, which is increasingly difficult in towns like Chatham. The Pentagon toilets are a vital, central resource to many people, and while moving them may be necessary, it remains to be seen whether this was the most inclusive way of doing so.
In brief
🚨 Kent Police have requested a review of the licence of the Sans Pareil pub in Wainscott following a fight after a football match that left a man with life-changing injuries. The pub, adorned with Reform posters around that time, didn’t report the incident to the police until the next day and said that CCTV was ‘unrecoverable’.
🛒 B&M has formally applied for a premises licence for the old Wilko unit in Gillingham, confirming their move onto the site.
🏪 Talking of premises licences, the owners of The Candy Store in Rainham have applied for one at the old model railway shop in the Intra area of Rochester.
🔌 MEMS have acquired the former Kings Ferry coach depot in Twydall. The site will allow them to expand their adjacent site, making it the ‘larger generator rental depot in the UK’.
💷 Conservative councillor Andrew Lawrence has written for ConservativeHome on reforming local government finance. His suggestions include big increases in council tax and the introduction of a Local Income Tax, which are likely to be wildly popular ideas.
More Authority
Our weekend interview this week was with Cllr Alex Paterson, Medway’s new Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Highways and Enforcement. We talk to him about his past in journalism, entering politics, Scottish independence, his new role, and more.
“You would struggle to pick a fight with me on social media these days”
Following the General Election in July, Medway’s Labour administration had its first reshuffle as three existing cabinet members were elected to parliament. One of the new cabinet members was Rochester West and Borstal councillor Alex Paterson, who was appointed Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Highways and Enforcement. Steven met him to talk about his past in journalism, entering politics, Scottish Independence, and more.
Footnotes
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Music that soundtracked the creation of this edition: Pig City by Tigercats, Nervous Like Me by Cayetana, and Emphatically No by Cheekface.
With regard to the safe school plan as Councillor Paterson said there is no hard evidence or statistics to back up the plans how did the schools get chosen. And in the case of Horsted school did the Councill consult with the School, Ward Councillor or local residents? I think the schools were pulled out of a hat.
The Mems depot is already insanely large, it’ll be like it’s own village now! 🤣