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.

I SPENT a fair amount of time earlier this year reporting on the activities of Allhallows Parish Council.

It is one of those authorities to which the Prime Minister wants to hand over greater responsibility. The trouble is, most parish councils in Kent are self-perpetuating oligarchies.

They have insufficient candidates and select from friends and "interested" individuals. It rapidly opens the way to abuse of the system as I immediately discovered the minute I turned up for my first meeting.

"Who are you?" and "What do you want?" were rapidly followed by a refusal to make available papers to which any member of the public is legally entitled - agendas, minutes and any reports.

The problem in the village of Allhallows was the youth club had become a very popular attraction for the local kids who had nowhere else to go.

A couple of recently-appointed councillors had got to grips with the problem, taken over The Brimp (a tatty old builders' hut complex), roused local support from kids, parents and assorted adults, and transformed it.

That upset the Old School of Benevolents who handed out grants, ran a handful of activities and claimed the praise for so doing. They tried to shut it.

They were up against some angry residents.

The most disgraceful thing (for any observer or believer - however jaded - in democracy) was the way the local police support officer was ticked off in public by a councillor for having the temerity to praise the club for the work it was doing with the young people..

Several residents decided to force an election last May.

Hate and abuse messages started to fly through the ethernet, by phone, through whispering campaigns and even at this blog.

The election went ahead, and most of the old school was turfed out.

I raise this issue five months later because in the past few days the newlook parish council has won two of the top five awards in this year's Kent Village of the Year competition.

One was for best newcomer.

The other was for The Brimp - taking the best Social Action award.

It pays over £3,000 a year as a mayoral allowance, it still has a mayor's chain, and the recipient of the mayoral thousands wears the civic bling.

It simply lacks a mayor.

The man appointed to the position, Cllr Tony Searles, decided off his own bat to drop the title - and become the council's chairman.

No one seems to have approved the decision, consulted on it, or bothered to tell the person who runs their website which introduces Swanley Town Council with these words: "It is essentially a parish council but has adopted town status which means the chairman of the town cCouncil is designated mayor."

I have been attending counts at elections since 1964.

Normally candidates get to bed just as the sun's rays are bursting over the eastern horizon, lulled by the dawn chorus. Not this time.

At 9am, the last result was finally declared after two recounts, after 11 hours of most local government counters twiddling their thumbs. 

The count was held up until 6am by some civil servant wanting to validate the AV referendum figures for the region. Every polling station was supposed to sit still and wait - and wait - and ......

It was the most ridiculous delay of the democratic process I have ever experienced.

What was even more ridicidulous was that the ward counts had taken place (otherwise we would probably still have been in Medway Park tonight!). Eventually Neil Davies, the Returning Officer and Chief executive of Medway Council, announced he had been given permission to tell the candidates the results - but not the people who had counted... and not the media (representing the general public, the voters if you prefer, 3waiting there to pass on the news to the world at large).

Ofcourse immediately he had given out the "confidential informal announcement" those sworn to secrecy told the rest of us.

Ridiculous? You bet.

***

Politicians are gathering in their private hideholes this weekend, trying to fathom out what happened to their campaigns in Medway.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had expected a kicking from the electorate. Instead, there was the shock of increased personal votes and an increase in members among the Tories - and virtual annihilation for the LibDems.

Labour, by comparison, finally got Adam Price back in the chamber after years in isolation.

Rodney Chambers, leader of the Conservative Group and currently Leader of the Council, became increasingly cock-a-hoop during the night.

By comparison, Geoff Juby's bright yellow jacket and tie covered in playing card images began to look sicker and sicker as he walked from table to table.

One or two people were vitriolic. No more so than in Watling Ward where Tory and LibDem ladies will be side by side.for the next four years.

The comment that "I want to work with her…" never sounded less truthful.

***

It was a damned close run thing in Allhallows where the old brigade narrowly lost out to those seeking a more open parish council.

The results were declared with three of the Old Brigade (led by the current chairman, Yvonne Forrest) and five of the "Change Brigade".

One of those to lose hisplace was Peter Apostel, the quiet voice of reason on the council, who had tried to bring sense and sensibility to the often ludicrous behaviour in the village hall. Dibley? - eat your heart out.

It meant the likely end of Cross Park Association influence. Three of the association's committee left the council.

It also promises to be an interesting few months for the clerk, for the borough council's legal officers and for the new chairman.

For example, how will the chairman unite the council?

Is there a fly with a video camera who could oversee the discussions with the clerk?

And will the promised training to be given by the borough council actually result in all in the parish council to attend?

That has been the biggest problem at Allhallows: a failure to know what the rules are under which the parish council, its members and paid officers, operate.

***

Anyone staying up for the election count this week will need plenty of caffeine and high energy food. This looks like being a record breaker for the time it takes the counters to sort out who won what and when.

The doors shut at 10pm (by which time some of the polling station staff will be approaching 18 hours non-stop on the job).

Certainly by the time they hand over all the paperwork, the boxes and their secret contents, they will be ready for bed.

Meanwhile, the late shift will be getting settled for a very long night.

I am forecasting a 7am finish by the time the counting of the borough votes will have been completed. That may be optimistic.

This is because the Electoral Commission is insisting that officers have to verify how many people voted in the referendum by 2am. Only once they have accepted that has been done can the voting begin.

Voters will have at least two forms: the grey one will record our views on the referendum while a fetching lilac colour has been chosen for recording borough votes.

They will all be shoved into the same box.

Those places on the peninsula where there is a village ballot for parish councils will have a long wait - and white papers on which to record the council candidates they support. The delay is because counting the handful of votes will not begin before 4pm on Friday evening.

That's also the time when the way the 189,843 residents of Medway vote on whether to keep First Past the Post - or go for alternative votes.

Imagine if all 190,000 people voted (well, that minues 157).

Fortunately for those waiting up, swigging Red Cow, Coffee or whatever other fluid is available to keep their eyes open, more than 100,000 of them are liable to stay away from the 118 polling stations and 445 volunteers waiting to greet them in school rooms, pubs, caravans and assorted other electoral registration points.

From about 5.30am on Friday we plan to have early results up on the web, and to keep updating as they become available.

Then as the counters crawl away for bed (or we reporters head for the news room keyboards, video editing and soundtrack edit machinery) we at least can smirk - and the counters cannot. This is because they will have to start counting the referendum votes at 4pm - and also find time to declare the results in the parish council elections.

Me? I shall be in the Land of Nod, probably croaking a hoarse lament to the early swifts and swallows over Medway.

***

The Liberal Democrats are beginning to panic.

They appealed for help in Gillingham North from supporters as far away as London last weekend.

Last night's emergency meeting at Allhallows was postponed. Instead it will take place the night before the election!

I just hope the parish councillors who attend don't make any decisions which are binding on the new council: they could find themselves faced with hefty bills if the new council disagrees with any decisions they reach during Purdah.

One almost believes the outgoing councillors have given up the fight, and are determined to go down with the ship.

I cannot comment on the reasons why the councillors feel it is so important to have a meeting hours before the polling stations open since I have not been sent a copy of the agenda (not unusual at Allhallows where it seems only those who are "in" are told anything. One does begin to feel the parish is being run for the benefit of Smiley's People.)

There is a golden opportunity to hear what the front runners have to say about the election issues tonight.

There is also a pretty good chance that the minor parties, the CCTV banners and the Get Rid of Everyone brigade will get a look-in, throwing in questions to try to unsettle the big boys.

I am talking about the Medway Messenger's hustings which are being held at 7pm tonight in the Pilkington Building at the Universities At Medway campus.

On the top table - ready to field the quizzers - will be the group leaders of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat groups, Rodney Chambers, Paul Godwin and Geoff Juby, together with the Green candidate, Trish Marchant.

Holding the chairman's gavel will be fellow blogger, Paul Francis, Political Editor of the KM Group and the only reporter to be Kent Journalist of the Year on three occasions.

We have already had some excellent questions, but the real excitement will come from the questions on the night.

So come along - ask your questions - or just listen as the sparks fly.

***

One of my colleagues discovered that not every candidate is necessarily enthusiastic about winning.

I do not intend to give the self-appointed foul-mouthed individual publicity, but suffice it to say he didn't care whether or not he won a seat, and if the electorate is foolish enough to put him in a position of responsible power he was unlikely to attend council meetings.

So, Mr Prospective Candidate, why bother participating in the first case?

***

The saga of the parishes continues unabated.

Allhallows has called an emergency meeting tomorrow night in a bid to fix the lease on the Brimp before the election next week while High Halstow joined the list of parishes which have avoided an election.

***

New buses are coming to Medway.

Five completely unique singledeckers have been ordered for the 116 route between Hempstead, Rainham and Chatham.

This is becoming the Arriva service to serve the new higher and further educational establishments in Gillingham and Chatham Maritime.

A temporary principal has been appointed at the troubled Bishop of Rochester Academy.

A shudder ran round the news room - rather like a bit character in Harry Potter's life, I had mentioned That Which Shall Not Be Mentioned.

In the past year Allhallows Parish Council has managed to become part of Medway newspaper folklore (along with one or two killers, a few tragic accidents, the odd wedding, and the good looks of Ugly Sisters at Central Theatre pantos).

I'm not going to air the old arguments but it came down to a matter of personalities (and their strength), of knowledge (or lack of it) and of sheer cussedness.

This week the parish council met for the last time before they go to the polls.

One councillor has dropped out of the running.

The other seven councillors are entering entirely new ground: they will fight an election next month along with six other candidates.

The worst thing that could happen is if the two factions split the vote four - all. It is not inconceivable.

What would then happen is that the eight would have to agree on a chairman. Failing that it would fall to the parish clerk to control the council's programmes and decisions.

As the present incumbent has indicated that she can only work five hours a week on parish matters compared with the ten for which she is contracted, and has lodged complaints against one of the councillors, it might end up with resignations.

It might also end up with resignations if the new faction at the council gains control.

Whoever wins faces a major task.

There is a lurking black hole for which they should all be aware. And so should the electorate.

It is this: unless they cut their spending plans for 2012, this year's 38 per cent rise in the parish precept (effectively the village tax) will seem insignificant.

This is because the number of taxable properties in Allhallows is plummeting as the leisure park removes the traditional chalets overlooking the beach.

As the number of properties drop the individual cost increases unless the new council finds ways of cutting services.

At the moment Yvonne Forrrest's explanation for the current 38 per cent rise (that "we aren't required to follow the same rules as Medway Council") holds good.

Parish Councils can fix any rate they fancy, or get all of their precept without any guarantees that the money will be collected.... at the moment.

Medway Council has handed over several hundred thousand pounds to the parishes in the past few days.

It includes nearly 60 grand to Allhallows.

It is their spending for the coming year.

If villagers default on their bills, or their homes are pulled down before the end of the year, then the people of Medway must cover the cost.

For how much longer will the government allow that to happen?

***

If you thought the bitter rows were over, think again.

The meeting was interesting - it certainly didn't disappoint those who enjoy petty bickering.

There was a lot of political manouevering using the resignation of a councillor not seeking election, and sparring over the scouts use of the Brimp, to cause upset.

It would certainly never be allowed in Medway.... or Kent .... or neighbouring Stoke .... or virtually anywhere.

No. The real enjoyment for those who like bare-knuckle fighting was the way the clerk refused to allow a councillor to speak "until he apologises to me for being rude in public".

Well, I was listening quite closely at the time of the outburst by the paid employee of the council.

I noted that a councillor told the clerk that a matter being discussed was for parish councillors to consider (eg, not for a paid employee).

I didn't notice rudeness - just a factual statement.

From the resigned silence of the other councillors it would seem they agreed with their colleague.

This silence seemed to stun the lady into silence.

I now wonder what the role of the chairman is if it is not to ensure balanced, polite discussions.

***

Medway Council has also finally gone into recess (apart from the odd Cabinet meeting and a planning gathering).

If I had any money it would be on a reduced Conservative vote, the demise of the Liberal Democrats as a force in Medway, Labour gains, the possibility of some of the minor parties parties getting a look in - but the disappearance of a number of present-day councillors.

The real disgrace is the failure of parish councils to set aside cash for the 2011 elections. It has caused a number of councils to end up with the perfect list of nominees, and for several people to stand down. That is robbing the people of a democratic choice.

THE next stage of the run up to May 5's local elections has just come to an end with the closure of nominations.

Candidates had until midday today to get their nominations in - along with lists of supporters who can vouch for their standing in the community.

The Conservatives were boasting last week that all their candidates in the 22 wards had been cleared of any blemishes (at least their nomination papers were correctly completed).

Labour was less lucky, and still searching for official supporters to complete nomination papers at the weekend.

Papers were handed in this morning - just before the deadline.

Staff were already trying to sort out papers belonging to several of the smaller parties.

Electoral officers are currently checking the entries, but all three major parties are said to have candidates in virtually every ward, there are plenty of independents in the offing and it looks as though the parish councils are about to get a wake-up call with at least two polticial parties - Conservative and Liberal Democrats - putting in nominations on the west bank of the Medway.

***

If the parishes do have an election, it will be the first in Medway since there was a stand-off in High Halstow in 2003, and only the second since the beginning of the 1990s.

The row at Allhallows (which has spilled on to this blog site and the Medway Messenger's web pages) seems to have sparked renewed interest in the principle of democracy. The practice of the same should follow later.

***

One of the names in the borough council hat is that of Dan McDonald, the chief executive of the Medway CItizens Advice bureau.

Mr McDonald had a good airing yesterday on The Politics Programme on BBC-1 sparking a few angry comments from the Liberal Democrats.

Mr McDonald is an interesting character.

He has variously been a Labour Party member and a Lib Dem (he was press officer for their most successful candidate in the 2010 Gneeral Election.

These days Dan is with the Andy Stamp independent group.

Interesting to read recently that when he worked for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in North Devon as a housing manager he was known as Rory.

***

I understand one of the Lib Dem candidates is a fellow with the name Jasmin. The Bosnian barrister pronounces it Yasmin in case there was any doubt.

***

On a more mundane level, I hear Derrick Singleton, the former housing chief who was moved sideways, has now left the council. The sound of the door clanging shut was (I undestand) delberately silenced.

***

Among the many who will not be standing for election next month are the two MPs who have also been councillors, Reh (call me Rehman) Chishti and Mark Reckless. They are going to concentrate their efforts in Westminster.

***

A regular correspondent has taken me to task for having the temerity to suggest that most parish councillors are unelected.

If you don't face the election ballot, and get more votes than someone else, that is not an election. It is a sham, shames the community , and is certainly not a democratic process.

If, as then happens, the rest of the council is selected from "volunteers" that is even more disgraceful. Interviews were held at one peninsula parish council to decide who fitted in with the rest of the council - and who should be excluded. It saved an election. It did nothing for democratic rights.

Elections? - stand up and be counted!

It may be at the end of the Hoo Peninsula road, but Allhallows is certainly full of people with strong views.

If you doubt that have a look at the responses to today's article about the beach, the cut off rails, tin lids and general debris.

I don't normally respond to this sort of diatribe, but the recent spate of comments call for a reply.

The KM Group and its journalists (all of us) report news.

The way the governance of Allhallows had come under the attention of Medway's Standards Committee - a body with funding but without influence from Medway Council incidentally - was of interest.

So, too, was the way the council cavalierly increased its precept by 41 per cent this year (sorry, I need to correct that: within two days of the finance committee agreeing that rise, their clerk reported it had gone up two more per cent "because we haven't added it up correctly.").

If someone wants to argue that it was cavalier then first consider the spending cuts, jobs losses, reduced services, and thousands of other impacts in England in the wake of the country's financial situation. When one of the councillors (former finance committee chairman, Mark Skudder) questioned this astronomical rise the chairman told him: "The cuts apply to Medway. They don't apply to us."

I was there reporting the meeting when it was said.

Within the rules (something which has sometimes been overlooked by the local council) I have approached the clerk, the chairman, and various members of the committee for comment about the growing range of issues. Calls are ignored. Emails sent to the clerk went to a non-existent address (though it was published on the council's own web site). When the correct address is used, they are ignored.

The behaviour of elected members of a council is obviously of interest. The members of Allhallows are currently all unelected. It makes their behaviour even more newsworthy.

Allhallows Parish Council's behaviour is of major interest to anyone who pays council tax in Medway: its behaviour has cost the district council - Medway - thousands of pounds in investigations by officers working for the standards committee. Those costs are met by the whole community. The full charge will never be known: an outside consultant has cost around £3,000. That was confirmed at a meeting recently.

What is not going to be revealed is how much it has cost for an assistant director and her team to brief him, consider his findings, write reports, interview people, consider the legal aspects and run the committee. That runs into tens of thousands of pounds. And Medway's taxpayers have to accept the charge.

Then there's the beach.

The parish council supported - but not funded - the reopening last month of the beach at the leisure park. Who specifically agreed to link the council's name to the Bourne Leisure press release is not clear, but the company is quite definite the council backed it.

Two councillors - Messrs Skudder and Apostel - have repeatedly publicly claimed they are kept out of the loop on decisions. There is nothing in the parish council minutes that refers to support for the beach, but in principle it is a good thing. They knew nothing about the council's support until they saw it in the Medway Messenger and on television.

Councillors have had secret meetings - or at least have never reported them. That, presumably, is because they were thought unimportant. Or because they were very significant.

Difficulties arise when people are suspicious about the leisure company's objectives. It offered the council £40,000 to buy the youth club.

their application. The plan is at http://planning.medway.gov.uk/dconline/AcolNetCGI.gov?ACTION=UNWRAP&RIPNAME=Root.PgeDocs&TheSystemkey=113327. The Brimp is the small complex to the south east of Slough Fort, and clearly shown on the inside of the blue boundary line.

It wasn't Bourne's property, and it is not now. It simply could have been a slip of the pen by someone in their architects' team, but what it did was fuel suspicion in a community that had lost faith with its unelected representatives.

Next week nominations for council candidates close.

It will be for the local electorate to decide on May 5 what they wish to happen.

All the signs are that there will be plenty of candidates standing for election to fill Allhallows' eight parish seats. It will be the first time in two decades that parishioners have had an opportunity to decide how their community is run.

Whoever wins a place has a major task to re-establish the council in the eyes of the local community.