What we learnt from the Battle for Gun Wharf
What we learnt from the Battle for Gun Wharf
The Conservative administration and Labour opposition go head-to-head in our election debate
A slightly unusual Local Authority today. Our Battle for Gun Wharf local election debate took place last night, and while the complete blow-by-blow of the night will be with you next week, we just wanted to send out a quick recap today for those that couldn’t make it along.
Getting people to engage with local politics isn’t easy, as anyone who has been out campaigning during an election will attest to. It’s even more difficult during local election periods when the national spotlight isn’t shining as brightly.
Part of what we’ve always wanted to do with Local Authority is engage more local residents in our democracy. As part of that, last night we organised an election debate between the two political parties that could take control of the council.
Getting people to come and listen to local politicians talk about local issues for a couple of hours on a Wednesday night isn’t the easiest of sales.
As such, we’re delighted that some 250 people came to our dramatically titled Battle for Gun Wharf local election debate last night.
Hosted by our very own Steven Keevil, over the next 90 minutes, Conservative Medway Council leader Alan Jarrett and Labour Leader of the Opposition Vince Maple answered 16 questions, all of which had been submitted by attendees of the event.
For the most part, it was reasonably good-natured, though the tone from each of the leaders was notably different. Cllr Maple’s pitch to take control of Medway Council was one of change, being proud of these towns, and wanting to regenerate them. On the other hand, Cllr Jarrett’s argument was largely in defence of how Medway Council has been run over the past two decades, praising our local services, and promising more of the same. Over the next two weeks, voters will decide which of those two visions is more appealing.
Democracy was the first theme of the debate, with Cllr Maple committing to make public meetings more accessible by scrapping cabinet meetings on weekday afternoons. He was pledged to spend “as little time as possible in Gun Wharf” if elected leader, instead focusing on spending more time working in the community. As quickly became the running theme of the night, Cllr Jarrett instead argued the current system worked well, particularly in terms of the way Medway Council engages the local community. One area where there seemed to be agreement between the leaders was with the impact that new voter ID requirements could have on election turnout, and both signalled they would push to be allowed to publish the number of people turned away at polling stations.
Moving on to the economy, the leaders were asked how Medway had benefitted from leaving the EU. Cllr Maple answered simply that “it hasn’t”, and while he respects the outcome of the referendum, it is having a negative impact on Medway. Cllr Jarrett responded that he’s proud to be “one of the 64% in Medway” that voted for Brexit, calling it one of the happiest days of his political life, a comment that led to some groans and heckles from the audience.
Tackling environmental issues, Cllr Jarrett highlighted work being done creating the new Hoo Wetland Park, making Deangate Ridge accessible, and the work to improve The Paddock in Chatham, which frustrated one audience member enough that they kept saying “no” repeatedly as a result. Cllr Maple argued for more pocket parks and says getting a Local Plan in place is the critical issue facing Medway. Following a tetchy exchange, Cllr Jarrett argued that people should look at his record and challenged “anyone in the room to do more” than he has on the environment.
On buses, a Local Authority favourite, Cllr Maple argued that Medway Council should be able to run its own bus services, and says they need to do more to influence routes, which are still primarily based around working patterns from Chatham Dockyard from the 1980s. Cllr Jarrett responded that bus issues are financial, but did accept that bus fares are overpriced. He says services can’t work like London though, and predicted that whatever Medway Labour proposes “won’t work”, unlike his own plans for new bus services around Hoo.
City status for Medway came up, with Cllr Jarrett arguing that critics of the bids “don’t get it”, and that they are needed for Medway to be recognised nationally, and any future administration should bid when the opportunity arises. Cllr Maple didn’t entirely disagree, saying there are benefits to city status, but that we perhaps need to still emphasise the five towns and the peninsula within a wider Medway.
As a fun finale, each of the leaders was asked what wouldn’t be a priority for them in an administration they headed. Cllr Maple went back to the classics, arguing that there would be no more Japanese roundabouts, Hollywood-style signs, and no fracking on his watch. Cllr Jarrett responded that he “struggles to think of one thing that isn’t a priority”, which roughly sums up the tone of the night.
It’s challenging to get into the nuance of a policy when covering so many subjects in a relatively short period of time. But by the end of the night, it was clear that there were clear differences in how each party would run Medway Council if given the chance next month.
Thanks to everybody who came along, and we can’t wait to do something similar again in the near future. Which leads us to…
If missed our announcement, we’d like to run more events like this in the future, and not just at election time. We’re currently crowdfunding to get a programme of live events off the ground, which we envision as something akin to a ‘Medway Question Time’. The aim is to bridge the gap between local representatives and relevant figures and allow the public to question them in a public setting. Our intent is to run five of these events over the coming year, in all parts of Medway, and if you’d like to help us get there, visit our Crowdfunder here. It would really mean a lot, and we’ve got some great rewards to offer you in exchange for your support.
Footnotes
All photography in this piece by Francesca Dorsa.
Next week, we’ll send out a full set of questions and answers from the debate, as well as publish responses from some of the other parties standing in these elections on the issues raised.
We’re very aware that Local Authority has been very politics-heavy lately, but there’s an election on you know. It’ll return to being a bit more of a general mix of news once the election itself is out of the way.
Obligatory reminder to register for a Voter Authority Certificate if you don’t currently have any acceptable forms of ID to vote.
Music that soundtracked the creation of this newsletter: Matchy Matchy by The Ballet, and The Linden Trees Are Still In Blossom by Jens Lekman.
Thanks for organising last night. Many of us had been to a similar event before but it was heartening that some who went for the first time, said they really appreciated the opportunity to listen to different views being exchanged in a conducive environment. The challenge of getting a good, overall turnout on May 4th (greater than 22% last time) was one which was addressed and Alan Jarrett was being realistic when he said the it was up to the voters to decide. However, it is quite obvious from events such as this, from the Friends Groups, from the Residents Groups, from various societies including Park runs, the Faith Groups, the structured volunteers and the informal volunteers etc; that there is considerable engagement with Medway life. Let us hope that after May, Council meetings are more accessible than the St George's Centre, that the increased number of Councillors are even more accessible (all need to become accessible) and that we get Ward based Community Wardens back!
Congratulations to the whole team on setting this up. I'm sure it was like the proverbial swan.
I thought it was a shame the audience was (predictably) a bit loaded with partisans and the usual suspects but this is exactly why your plan for wider events is so interesting.