The Christmas lights so rubbish even Medway Council wouldn’t charge for them
Plus council business, planning applications, a £700,000 house behind the walls of Kitchener Barracks, what’s on this week and the weekend’s sport.
Hello and welcome to your Friday roundup.
It has been a properly wintry week in Medway, with freezing temperatures, stormy weather, and the kind of conditions that make every journey feel longer than it should. If you have spent the last few days scraping ice off your car, avoiding flooded pavements or wondering whether your recycling bags are ever coming back, you are not alone.
This is also the first time we are trying out a new Friday format. The idea is to bring together a big story with the key council business, planning applications, events and sport in one place. It is part of a gentle shift in our schedule this year to add more regular news to our output, freeing up more room for bigger investigations and long reads at other parts of the week, alongside the interviews and columns you already know.
It has been a slightly unusual week behind the scenes, too. Steven is having an unexpected spell in hospital, which means our publishing schedule will be a little different over the next few days. Paid supporters will not receive the usual Sunday interview this week, but we will be slotting in a different column instead. Normal service will resume as soon as he is back on his feet.
For now, here is everything you need to know this week in Medway. We have Christmas lights so bad even the council would not charge for them, what is coming up on council agendas, the latest planning applications, a £700,000 house behind the walls of Kitchener Barracks and the sport worth braving the cold for this weekend.
Let’s get into it.
The Christmas lights so rubbish even Medway Council wouldn’t charge for them
Hoo’s Christmas lights were so underwhelming that Medway Council has quietly decided they were not worth paying for.
After residents complained about faulty and incomplete festive decorations in the village, the council has confirmed it is cancelling the invoice sent to Hoo Parish Council, effectively admitting that the display fell so far short of expectations that it should be free.
The decision follows complaints from residents and representations from Independent Group councillor for Hoo and High Halstow, Cllr Michael Pearce, who says he was contacted by “many residents who were disappointed with the lamppost Christmas lights.”
In correspondence seen by Local Authority, a senior council officer apologised for the “incomplete and disappointing display” and confirmed that the parish would not be charged.
“I acknowledge that the Parish Council should not bear any cost for a display that did not meet expectations,” the council wrote. “I can advise that we will be cancelling the invoice that has been issued to you for this year’s display.”
A Christmas display that never quite arrived
Residents in Hoo raised concerns in the run-up to Christmas after noticing that parts of the village’s lighting were not working.
While the council’s contractor was able to replace some rope lights, the main decorations could not be repaired because replacement stock was unavailable. Festoon lighting remained faulty throughout the season.
According to the council, outages were caused by RCD safety units tripping, and when faults occurred, there were simply no spare bulbs available to fix them.
“As ward councillor, I received many complaints from residents who were disappointed with the lamppost Christmas lights,” Cllr Pearce said.
“I look forward to a higher quality display of lights next year, and I’ll certainly be pushing for this.”
For Medway Council, the episode has ended with one of the rarer sights in local government: a council declining to charge for something.
A cupboard full of broken lights
Behind the scenes, the council paints a picture of a festive lighting operation running on borrowed time.
It says its stock of Christmas lights is now “extremely limited” following years of under-investment, with more than 25 units deemed beyond economic repair after the most recent season.
When faults occurred in Hoo, no spare units were available to swap in.
“A lack of investment in new festive lighting over the past few years has left our stock extremely limited, with only certain types of units available,” the council says.
“This meant that when faults occurred, we were not always able to replace or repair them.”
The council also confirmed that failures in RCD units caused further outages across the display.
In other words, the lights were broken, the cupboard was bare, and there was nothing left to plug in.
Christmas on sponsorship and crossed fingers
Notably, Medway Council has confirmed there is currently no dedicated budget for Christmas lights.
Instead, the entire festive lighting programme is funded through sponsorship each year. In recent years, the council says, there has not been enough funding to replace ageing stock.
That sponsorship model was introduced after Medway’s now-infamous Christmas lights saga in 2023, when the council announced and then rapidly reversed plans to cancel town centre lights altogether as part of efforts to close a £17m budget gap.
The move triggered a public meltdown, emergency negotiations with corporate sponsors, a crowdfunding campaign in Rochester, and national media coverage.
While sponsorship ultimately saved Christmas, it also left Medway running the festive season on whatever could be found down the back of the corporate sofa.
For the 2026/27 financial year, the council says it will “look to secure additional sponsorship” in order to purchase new lighting and maintain sufficient spare stock to respond to future failures.
Until then, villages like Hoo are left hoping that whatever remains in the council’s storage depot still switches on.
The bureaucratic equivalent of “don’t worry about it”
In council terms, the cost of a parish Christmas lighting invoice is a small sum. But the episode offers a quietly revealing snapshot of how stretched services now operate.
A Christmas display so poor that the council cancels the invoice, lighting stock so depleted it cannot replace broken units, and a festive programme that exists entirely at the mercy of sponsors.
In most cases, when a council gets something wrong, residents still get the bill.
In Hoo’s case, the lights were so disappointing that Medway Council effectively shrugged and said, 'This one’s on us.'
For a village that spent December waiting for Christmas to turn up, it may be the most festive gift of all.
Council matters
Meetings next week:
- Tuesday: Cabinet meets to discuss the provisional local government finance settlement, the creation of a new nature reserve in the Horsted Valley, Pride in Place funding, and lots more.
- Wednesday: Planning Committee decides on a 75 home development east of Hoo, 9 homes near High Halstow, a floodlit football foundation playzone in Chatham, and more.
- Thursday: Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee discusses the recent CQC report on Medway Hospital, an Adult Social Care Strategy, and more.
New planning applications:
- Allhallows: Outline planning application for 350 homes south of the village.
- Rochester: Plans have been submitted to build 7 new homes on a disused car park on Delce Road.
- Strood: Iceland have submitted proposals to convert the outgoing Hobbycraft unit at Strood Retail Park into a new store.
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In brief
💷 Leader of the Opposition at Medway Council, George Perfect, has described the council's draft budget as "economically illiterate."
🏗️ Work has begun to convert the former Hen and Chicks pub on Luton High Street into ten flats.
💰 Campaigners trying to save the Flying Saucer pub in Hempstead have had their £650,000 offer for the building turned down, with the owner demanding £1.2m.
🍻 The Dewdrop, the final pub left in Twydall, closed on New Year's Eve, with no word on what will come of the venue.
🧰 Archie Johnstone, Rochester High Street's longest-serving trader, has passed away after 74 years of trading there.
Property of the week
This four-bedroom end-of-terrace house on Khartoum Parade in the former Kitchener Barracks is on the market for between £650,000 and £700,000, putting it firmly at the top end of Medway’s housing market. The freehold home spans around 2,500sqft across several floors, with four bathrooms, a large open-plan kitchen and living area, and private parking within the gated development. Set behind the old military walls overlooking Chatham and Rochester, it’s one of the smarter conversions in the area, but you’ll be paying London-adjacent money for the privilege.
Events this week
🎸 Sat 10 Jan - Pete Astor + The High Span + Darryl Hartley // Songwriter extraordinare brings new album to Medway. Rochester Social Club. Pay what you can.
📷 15 - 17 Jan - Stepping Into the Light // Photography exhibition by Fort Pitt Grammar School students exploring their local area. Sun Pier House, Chatham. Free.
Sport this weekend
⚽ Gillingham FC’s scheduled League Two home match against Milton Keynes Dons on Saturday has been postponed after the latter advanced in the FA Cup.
⚽ Chatham Town welcome Carlisle United on Saturday in the FA Trophy. The Chats are due to host League Two opposition in what should be one of the biggest home games of the season, weather permitting.
🏉 Medway Rugby Football Club 1XV are playing Old Northamptonians at Priestfields on Saturday.
🏒 Invicta Mustangs play two games this weekend, welcoming both Milton Keynes Thunder to Planet Ice on Saturday and Chelmsford Warriors on Sunday.
Footnotes
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