It is often mentioned as one of the stumbling blocks to any airport being built in the Thames Estuary, and this week the SS Richard Montgomery will make a reappearance on the political agenda.

A public meeting on the wreck is being held at the St George’s Centre in Chatham Maritime on Thursday (September 27) at 7pm.

It will be chaired by historian and film maker Colin Harvey, and there will be a panel of guests who will take part in a discussion about the vessel.

Among the issues they will consider are the potential disposal of the wreck, who would pay for it and whether the US government should be approached.

We know the consequences of the ship’s thousands of pounds of munitions exploding would be catastrophic, but the meeting might reveal some new information.

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Cuts in funding from government put the council in a very difficult position when it comes to balancing the books.

A report this week lays out one of the hard choices the administration might have to make in the near future.

A rise in council tax of 4% in 2013/14 needs to be given “serious consideration” according to a report for a business committee meeting tomorrow (Tuesday).

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Call off the search party.

Rehman Chishti has proven notoriously hard to get hold of in my time at the paper, but it appears his media operation is being ramped up.

Barry Watts, who used to be the political assistant to the council’s Conservative group, is now working for the Gillingham and Rainham MP.

And since that change my inbox has been bombarded with press releases keeping me fully abreast of what Reh’s getting up to.

I’m half expecting a release about what he’s had for breakfast to come through next.

A decision on changes to transport for children with special needs is close - and we’ve been given a flavour of the thoughts of parents in a report out this week.

The changes include sharing lifts and going to “pick up points” to get to their school.

A decision is due to be made in September.

More than 100 responses have been received from parents as part of the consultation, raising concerns about an extra burden being placed on them and their children being pushed towards independence before they’re ready.

Some of the concerns have arisen out of a misunderstanding of what’s being proposed. Reading the report, it’s easy to see why.

There’s talk of consulting with “stakeholders” and we’re told that Medway is a “pilot for the national SEN and Disabilities Pathfinder programme”.

A bit of plain English wouldn’t go amiss. Too many council reports are littered with jargon and “councilese”.

Councillors will discuss the changes at a meeting of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee tomorrow (Tuesday)

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When it comes to the airport debate, a favoured line of attack from local Labour politicians is to accuse the Tories of being "two-faced".

The latest deployment of this came in reaction to former defence and foreign secretary Sir Malcom Rifkind backing the idea in the Evening Standard.

But hang on, aren't Labour the party that nearly ripped itself to shreds with infighting in the 1980s before deciding that, actually, it wanted to win an election again?

This is the party that can't decide whether it loves or loathes former leader Tony Blair, who won three elections.

Indeed, one Medway Labour member called him a c*** this past week in reaction to news he was being given an advisory role by the party.

Politicians in the same party have different opinions, it's not breaking news.

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The biggest Conservative rebellion of the Parliament so far was over House of Lords reform, and one of our MPs was one of the rebels.

Chatham MP Tracey Crouch was one of 91 who voted against the idea on Tuesday. Rehman Chishti didn’t vote and Mark Reckless voted in favour.

It’s the third high profile rebellion from Miss Crouch – after tuition fees and the EU referendum.

Dear Dave,

For around about the past five years, we’ve been wondering if we’re going to have a massive airport plonked on our Towns.

We’ve had to deal with speculation, smoke signals, winks and nods. This month is supposed to be the month we begin to get somewhere with the start of a consultation into the idea.

But yet again there is speculation that the process could be beset with more delays.

There’s talk the consultation could be pushed back until September and the final decision until after the election in 2015.

We want answers and are tired of waiting.

You may want to build a time machine and fast forward to 2015 so you can get rid of those pesky Liberal Democrats, but the people of Medway aren’t very keen on going through three more years of uncertainty.

You’re going to upset people no matter what you decide to, so don’t dither again, bite the bullet and make a decision.

Yours in frustrated anticipation,

Medway

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QUOTE of the week from MP Mark Reckless: “My interest in airports first came about because, at a time when many boys want to be train drivers, my younger brother had an ambition to be an airport manager.

“Consequently, whenever we went on holiday, my indulgent parents would take us to the airport four or five hours before we needed to be there, and my brother would go around and catalogue the catering outlets and investigate the cleaning rosters.

“I was delighted, a few years later, when he decided that he actually wanted to be a doctor.”

Flybe’s decision to pull out of Manston is another blow to the airport, especially disappointing at the turn of the year.

However attractive we in Kent think Manston is, it seems that not enough people agree.

Flybe’s bold experiment to run flights to Edinburgh, Manchester and Belfast was welcomed, but once again it ends in disappointment. The Manchester service was pulled some time ago, and the Belfast operation was grounded at the end of the summer.

Edinburgh has been popular with leisure flyers, students, servicemen and women, and some business folk. But the lack of a day round trip made it inconvenient for business.

It was a similar disappointment a few years ago when the Irish-based airline EUjet went belly-up after stretching itself over too many services.

So despite the smiles on the ebullient airport CEO Charles Buchanan, Manston has a problem with scheduled passenger services. What message does Flybe's decision send to other would-be operators?

Manston has no difficulty with freight - including horses through its new equine centre - and charter flights to holiday places in the summer do pretty well. Car parking is a breeze. Two minutes after unloading the boot, you are in the terminal.

Yet there just doesn’t seem to be a big enough market for scheduled services. Why is this? OK, the downturn has not helped but there must surely be something more fundamental than that.

One factor is constrained night-time flying. Thanet council should back the airport's modest demands, despite opposition from some residents. It would, after all, be good for jobs and local people desperately need them.

Manston ought to be the solution to over-crowding at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. But the Kent terminal with one of the longest runways in the UK has been largely overlooked in official reports, even though senior Kent people are always talking up its credentials.

Manston’s disadvantage is that it’s more than 60 miles from London. At the eastern end of the UK, It is not surrounded by chimney pots.  But remote airports are not seen as a disadvantage by the likes of Ryanair and EasyJet who bus people miles from a cheap out-of-town terminal.

Roads like the Thanet Way are pretty good but potential customers from South East London probably think they are worse than they are.

So make it easy.  A Manston Parkway station and dedicated high-speed railway –a “Manston Express?” – would make a huge difference. The Regional Growth Fund allocated some welcome cash for a track upgrade. For a fraction of the cost of a Boris Island or Foster's Grain proposal, upgraded links would transform Manston's image. It would be great to see politicians "getting it" in 2012.

But the sad truth at the moment is that investors - and other scheduled operators - will be wary of committing to a terminal that keeps suffering setbacks.

If anyone thought the idea of a massive international airport just off the Kent coast was so much pie in the sky, they definitely need to rethink. The involvement of Lord Rogers is enough to chill the bones.

His detailed work shows that a lot of time and effort has gone into the concept.

One might say "It is £50billion - it could never be done."

I would say: "If you want something enough, you'll find the money." Not everyone is like the Greek government, prepared to risk the loss of sums far greater than the Rogers' scheme.

I hate to admit it, but his scheme makes a lot of sense. That it would destroy the Isle of Grain, the environment, the tranquility, lives, investments elsewhere, top grade agricultural land.... all of that means nothing if you can raise the cash.

What can Medway - for that is where he is plans for the airport show it would be built - do to avoid Rogers Runways? It cannot say it has attracted the money that was expected from the regeneration of the area's infrastructure (piecemeal though that was).

Where are the jobs?

Where are the houses (if you exclude Chatham Maritime)?

We have the universities (though they all seem to be competing with each other). We have precious little beside.

Ironically, the buildings that have sprung up have done so without the government's millions. The appearance of HS-1 has done little to improve the rail services through Medway. Rather like flights to the moon, you get there - but you have little evidence of the speed that you have achieved. Anyway, the Medway - London journey is no quicker: East Kent is the one to benefit.

We still have Rochester Riverside looking like a Gruinard pastiche (apart from a handful of sheltered units that are being built near the inaccessible station.

I came to Kent in 1990 because I thought there was an air of change that would prove exciting. It has often pumped the adrenalin, but it has not attracted the many things that politicians promised.

Should we therefore consider the opportunities that an airport might offer?

I hope not. Most sincerely I hope not.

But it is becoming increasingly difficult to diagree with the correspondent who said nothing has been achieved by the regeneration of Medway except empty promises, hot air and frustration. He could have added the Rochester Riverside gravel raft that sits high above the floodwater levels of the Medway, staring out at a derelict Russian submarine and a river that is so close - but now is completely separated from the community through which it flows.

As I am still a child at heart and live quite close to Manston Airport, in Kent, I often go and watch the Red Arrows take off and land.

This interest was first fuelled when I was schooled next to the two RAF bases of Lossiemouth and Kinloss in Northern Scotland. Plus, had I not gone to work in TV in Australia straight after my ‘A’ Levels, I would have joined the RAF. I was probably not good enough to be a fast jet pilot but as an air cadet at school I just wanted to join up.

I have seen the Red Arrows three or four times already this year and taken many weekend house guests to the edge of the runway to observe their skills. They always land and take off exactly and annoyingly on time on each occasion.

It was probably without a doubt, until last weekend, seen as one of the best jobs in the world and as each pilot only has a three-year secondment it must rank as one of the highlights of their service.

The Red Arrows safety record has been excellent - in 42 years there has been six fatalities, albeit four at once in the early Seventies.

Last week in Bournemouth, Red 4 Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging, who was just 33, lost his life doing what he loved best when his Hawk T1 aircraft came down and he was killed in the crash. The only positive note is that there were no civilian casualties, a testament to his flying skills and bravery. My thoughts are with his family and the Red Arrows team.

Let us hope we see the Red Arrows up in the sky again soon.

Mr Johnson is at it again stirring up business leaders over his futile plan to spend £70 billion we simply don't have as a nation to build a floating 'pie in the sea' airport in the middle of the Thames Estuary ... or maybe on the Kent or Essex coast.

The Ayatollah of City Hall, Southwark says Londoners won't accept more flights over the capital.

Tough, Mr Mayor!

Nor do the people of the estuary - Medway, Kent and Essex.

If Londoners think they can offload their transport problems onto the the estuarine marshes, and wipe out a few hunbdred homes in the process think again.

If they don't want millions of planes transforming their countryside into a concrete, aviation fuel and tarmacadam'd plane, train and car park so overseas travellers have an alternative route to swap aircraft, neither do we.

Yes, I know Heathrow is at capacity, and yes, I have groaned when my plane has joined a late night stack over Slough.

What is in it for Kent, Essex or Medway?

Jobs? - certainly. Most will be low grade, manual or catering tasks.

Transport improvements? - Definitely. Park and rides to massive car parks, high speed trains zooming through our countryside unable to stop as they descend on the airport or the capital. Oh, and planes.

At what cost? - pollution. Unquestionably. It's bad enough having power stations. Think of the incinerators needed to burn the rubbish from 1,000-plus flights a day. Or consider the joy of breathing air full of aviation fuel.

Land grab? - what do you think. If the airport is built on Boris Island, it will need new highways, service roads, railways, coach stations, bus services (operated by the new Boris Routemasters, perhaps?), aircraft maintenance facilities, restaurants, car parks, security terminals, immigrant reception areas, rapid dog holding pens... that's just for starters.

Easyjet has found the alternative - by looking around. There are plenty of existing airports with spare capacity. Southend will be flying their planes from next April on 10 different routes, linked to London in 44 minutes by a train service that already calls at the airport.

Kent has one. It's Manston, and we are told the community is crying out for it to be developed. All it needs is a couple of billion pounds (probably less) to provide the high speed rail links and terminal buildings. Boris seems to have the cash to spare to judge from his continual claims.

If we have to have hub airports, then Manston is ideal. It would leave Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted to meet the exclusive needs of in- and out-bound flights to London and the surrounding counties.

That would solve a lot of problems and objections, create jobs where they are needed, and provide the extra capacity that the airlines seem to need.

Think outside your box, Boris.

OMNIBOLOGISTS (yes, bus spotters do exist) will be eagerly awaiting the appearance of a doubledecker back on the local bus routes.

It has been "up North", being painted as an overall advert promoting the third bid for City status for Medway. It is expected to take to the roads on Monday, a cool blue and white statement by Arriva Southern Counties that it, too, supports city status.

The question for everyone backing the bid is how strong is the support from the community.

I make no secret that I support the bid. I also make no secret of the fact that I was strongly opposed to merging the two authorities.

The enthusiasm for Rochester's lost status as a city (it was thrown away, actually) should convince anyone that being a city is special to the community.

The opposition to what is being proposed should also convince some that the two boroughs should never have been merged.

I grew up in Gloucester (a city thanks to Good King Richard III, complete with its market, river and cathedral). Just down the road was Cheltenham.

The feuding was as legendary as the differences between Gillingham and Rochester. They were equally as unrealistic.

But in both instances they are indicative of local pride.

Medway has been around for 13 years and the opposition to its creation has largely died - maybe killed by the fait accompli. It has lived through some difficult times. Those are about to get tougher. The government has taken away powers, cut budgets yet insists councillors must continue to care for those in difficulty.

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The Primary Care Trusts are about to be scrapped which makes one wonder... why has the Medway Maritime NHS Foundation Trust invested in a new logo?

When I asked this morning I was told it was the decision of the chief executive, Mark Devlin. But staff in the press and PR office had not been let in on the rationale.

I was told: "It cost absolutely nothing. It will only appear as and when we run out of old stocks of paper."

In fact, in a discussion that lasted only a couple of minutes at most, I was told five times that it cost nothing to design and produce it.

What was the thinking behind the logo ("Medway Maritime - Making a difference / Great Heathcare for a growing community"), I asked.

"I can't tell you what the motivations were for Mark to ask the Trust to do it .... but it hasn't cost us anything." I was advised.

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The council spending cuts are beginning to cut deep.

The tourism and heritage manager, Simon Curtis, is not to be replaced when he leaves. His is one of a number of high profile posts that are to be erased in the latest round of cuts.

The real challenge for councillors is that the number of council and scrutiny meetings they hold are to be cut back. That's because the clerks are being cut. (They do the majority of the work, ranging from collating reports to writing them, researching specialists for scrutineers to examine to making sure there is enough tea and coffee to keep the councillors awake.)

No tourism manager - Whatever next?

The planning application is in the post: convert the Castle to a tower block.

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One person fighting to stay on the scene is the Mayor of London, Boris "Fly from Kent" Johnson.

It seems the only logical reason why he should be proposing a £40 billion floating island airport or, alternatively, the restoration of the scrapped plan for the Hoo peninsuila to become Heathrow Two. He is due to stand for re-election in the Spring.

Anyone who has seen the man in action on things like Have I Got News For You might think he is a buffoon.

Be that as it may, he is a serious danger to our way of life. It only needs one cabinet member to say there is some sense in what he says for the life of Medway to be changed for ever.