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.

Council chiefs and other politicians in Kent and Medway have been swift to condemn the latest proposal for an airport in the Thames Estuary.

Hardly a surprise. Lord Foster's grand scheme is nothing if not ambitious - it brings together not just an airport but a new river barrier and crossing, and a shipping and orbital rail complex. It makes Boris Island look rather modest.

Given the scale and huge impact it would have, the reaction on both sides has been passionate.

Lord Foster's Thames Hub vision>>

It is a classic situation in which local and national interests collide - a bit like the arguments that raged in Kent over the Channel Tunnel, when there were similar clashes over the blight afflicting the green fields of the Garden of England against those arguing the case for the economic dividend for UK Plc, particularly on the jobs front.

(Remember the scorn heaped on the country when it dragged its feet over the construction of the second stage of the High Speed Link? We were derided by our European counterparts for taking so long and for building a link which, at the time, only went some of the way to London.)

So why won't this idea - dubbed pie-in-the-sky, plane-crazy - go away?

If those advocating different proposals took on board the views of many in Kent, they would run away and hide in a dark room, not spend £100,000 on a report, that for all the criticism that might be heaped on it, at least strives to come up with a credible case that integrates different energy and transport strands and doesn't completely overlook the environmental issues.

One reason is that there is something of a policy vacuum in government - which, according to new transport secretary Justine Greening hasn't completely closed the door on the notion of a Thames Estuary airport - and has only recently finished a consultation on its scoping document setting out its plans for a sustainable framework for UK aviation.

Meanwhile, it has cancelled a third runway at Heathrow and ruled out expansion at Gatwick and Stansted. Triggering the inevitable questions about how it intends to increase capacity and compete in the global economy with those countries who appear to be stealing a march on the UK.

As ever, the government is struggling with the competing interests of those who wish to safeguard the environment and those that argue aviation is a vital to our national economic interests. 

And as always, thrown into the mix is the pressure ministers will come under from MPs with marginal seats who will want to side with their constituents. (A taste of this has come the way of ministers trying to sell the idea of High Speed Two, which would also carve through some of the country's rural hinterland. There is open revolt in some Cnservative constituencies).

So, will the government opt for what Foster calls "the short term patching up our ageing infrastructure" or be more bold when it does eventually flesh out its policies?

Somehow, I suspect that even when it does, the arguments will continue to rage.

I'm back again for another fantastic interview.  Where do these people hide in Kent?

This week's special guest on my blog is the wonderfully truthful and exceptionally brave Sian Murphy, 48 from Hoo near Rochester, Medway.

Although the picture is quite clear, Sian would like to reiterate that she is a woman as her name is sometimes confused with Sean.  Don't worry Sian, they will never make that mistake.

Currently, Sian runs her own business, Stormchasers, with her husband Mark.  In conjunction with her work at Stormchasers, Sian works with 2 other professional to make up The Ruby Marketers.

If you are wondering exactly what the company is, I will tell you!  The company specialises in helping local business owners who are computer illiterate or did not have the priviledge of using a laptop when they were younger to market their business online.  The range of services they offer is so vast which can start from setting up a Business Blog for a business to setting up social media profiles and as Sian puts it 'Give them the confidence and know-how to start using it.'

If that wasn't already enough, Stormchaser is branching out in another field of their business.

'Another part of my business is run by my husband Mark and he builds starter websites for businesses as part of Stormchasers at AskStormchasers.'

I was intrigued to find out more and did a bit of 'Googling' and came across an interesting article on the following website:

http://leavingthearmedforces.com/stormchasers/

I found a great quote on this website which described Stormchasers as a business that  'Is about leaping forwards into the storm, and coming back out the other side into a brighter and calmer world.'

I think this is a great acknowledgement of Sian and Mark's hard work.

And for any potential new and bright minds that want to begin their own business, take this advice from Sian.  'My tip for setting up in business is to give it time.  Work out how long it will take you to get it all up and running and get work finished - and then double it!'

'Set goals and then plan how you are going to achieve them and don't give up too soon, but be prepared to bend and sway as things change.  Smile, laugh, share and have 1 full day off each week.'

Wise words and I think, sensible advice for new business minds in the making.  Thanks Sian!

Moving on to Kentish matters, Sian likes the diversity of the landscape in Kent.  'We have rolling countryside, inland waterways, estuary shorelines and seaside all within a 70 mile radius.  To top it all off we also have some fascinating industrial areas with some really unexpected hidden treasures.'

Sian particularly like Hoo Church Cemetery.  Before you feel a shiver go down your spine, listen to the reason.  'A bit odd I know but unlike so many graveyards, Hoo is full of life.  Despite the age of many of the gravestones, there are flowers and shiny windmills, some truly wonderful trees to sit under when it's raining and some well placed benches for when the sun is out.  There are often children playing or just hanging out in their hoodies chatting to each other, whilst other villagers walk their dogs.  It's the happiest graveyard I've ever been to!'

Maybe I could have saved this for Halloween but I think it is great to hear something out the ordinary in an ordinary day in our lives.  Plus, I have never heard someone describe a graveyard in detail without using the words 'depressing' and 'upsetting' before.

As you know, my avid readers, as of 2011 I introduced a new question to my blog in which my interviewees tell me a specific fact or snippet of information about our beloved county.  Sian had a really interesting and historical one this week!

'One day I'm going to walk the Saxon Shore Way.' Sian begins. ' The Shore Way follows the line of historic fortifications that defended the Kent coast at the end of the Roman era.  The Shore Way is 160 miles long and starts from Gravesend and goes right the way around to Hasting, East Sussex.'

'There's lots to see along the way from ports, coastline and stunning countryside and of course that sense of history that walking along an ancient footpath - following along in the footstep of goodness know who always amuses me.'

Further to Sian's comments about the Saxon Shore Way, there are also four Roman fort remains, dating from the 4th Century that line the trail.  The only one I am familiar with is the one in Dover.  Kent is very rich in history but it is always great to learn about new things that different Kent residents know from their own experiences.

One of my favourite parts of the blog is eating spots! 

Sian enjoys eating at two pubs in Kent, namely The Ringlestone Inn and The Pier at Upnor, Rochester.  'I like them because the food is good and so is the atmosphere.  We also like to take a little picnic along the shoreline at Hoo every now and then.' 

You can't beat a Ham and Colman's Mustard sandwich, a bag of kettle crisps and a healthy slice of Chocolate Fudge cake! Delicious.

When not working, Sian enjoys cooking and eating meal with the family with a good bottle of wine, which she finds is her 'favourite pastime.'

This is followed by watching a movie whilst nodding off on the sofa.  A pastime of many in Kent I assume.

But there is more!  'When Mark and I are on our own, we enjoy walking and can often be spotted meandering mindlessly around the haunts of Hoo with nowhere in particular to go.'

'I also make rag rugs from old clothes and cloth, mainly for decorative purposes.'

My blog now enters a more serious tone that I believe needs delicate and careful attention as I am writing it.  Normally, I take great delight in listening to my interviewees explaining a humourous story to me about themselves, whether it be of them waking up semi nude on a beach after an initiation ceremony at University or walking into walls for no apparent reason.

Sian tells me a story that she is currently closing in her life at the moment.  One that has me wanting to stand up and applaud her bravery and courage to be able to tell a volunteer bloggist she has never met a very close and personal chapter of her life which I greatly appreciate and hope you find I have describe in a way that is befitting to you.

'2 years ago Mark and I used to have jobs.  I worked in local Government and Mark was a Project Manager.  We were both unhappy with our jobs and spent years talking about leaving and starting our own business.  I'd already trained as an NLP (forgive me if I'm wrong - Neurolinguistic Programming) practitioner and copywriter but unfortunately we didn't plan properly and then in

2009 found ourselves so stressed and miserable that we just decided to hand in our notice and quit.'

So, on 1st August 2009 there we were with no salaries, but some rather grand business plans.  On 17th August, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  That stopped us in our tracks for a while.'

'It's now 2 years later and whilst I'm still on medication, our business is finally taking off after lots of false starts.  I could write a whole book on false starts but we have learned so much.'

'It sounds odd but whilst it might seem like the worst possible time to get cancer, in fact it was the best and it might even have been a lifesaver.  Had I been diagnosed whilst I was still at work I think I never would have left because of the security around the sick pay.  If I wasn't diagnosed just 2 weeks after we both left our jobs we would have just transferred our hectic lifestyles from jobs to businesses.  It would have been the same except now we wouldn't have been receiving monthly pay cheques!'

'Today we've both learned the lesson that money isn't that important, although of course that is also now our challenge because when you are in business you have to value money to some extent or you don't earn any of the damn stuff!'

'We also say thank you got what we do have instead of moaning about what we don't and we really do have so much.  Today we are working with some fabulous people the universe has sent us the perfect business partners and associates.  Our offices are up at the Innovation Centre and we have the most amazing fun.  It's all the good stuff about being at work in an office such as being around friends and having someone to share your triumphs and challenges, but without all of the grim stuff of having to dance to someone else's tune.'

As upbeat as ever, Sian claims ' We're having a ball!'

Now one of my favourite parts of the blog where my interviewees put the world to rights with their opinions on how to make Kent a better place.

"I would get planners in Medway to either change or introduce a required ratio of concrete to plants and greenery in the large housing development that are springing up around Hoo.  Many of the houses open directly onto the street, there are no gardens to speak of and the roads are so narrow they are like little brick tunnels.'

Sian likes to see 'a bit of green' when she looks out the window and whilst she doesn't live a development house, it still forms part of the landscape.

'Given that these estates have replaced fields, it would seem ecologically important at least to give a cursory nod to keeping some greenery around!'

I totally agree with that point and think that planners and developers should look closely at where they are building and how it will affect the local surrounding for both the locals and the wildlife.

So we come to my random question of the week and this one is a really good one!

If you could become any person in the world for one day, who would you become and why?

'I tried so hard to think of someone who wasn't too obvious but I couldn't, so I plumped for Oprah Winfrey, a bit of a cliche I know.'

'I chose Oprah because I want to know how it feels to be her.  She had a difficult childhood, dealt with racism and has overcome so much to get where she is.  She has such a clear vision about her life, that I want to know how that feels so I can recreate it for myself.

Well, this has been one of my most intense blogs yet, with highs and lows, cheerful quips and serious tones but overall I have enjoyed writing this one very much.  I hope Sian receives the recognition she deserves, not just through this blog but through the business world too.

Sian - my very best wishes for your future and a speedy recovery and I hope your business will continue to bloom!

So that's it for another week folks! (No Looney Tunes pun intended) but check in again soon for my newest interviewee.  Who knows, it could even be you!

If you live in Kent, let's talk!

If you would like to appear on my blog, all I ask is that you live in Kent and that you are willing to talk to me for 10 - 15 minutes about yourself.

If you think you'd like to give it a try, drop me an email on millendauthor@gmail.com and we will see what we can do!

Turn your back for one moment and something always happens at Medway Council.

The latest is an extraordinary announcement that it is publishing a webpage giving its answers to media questions.

It follows a disagreement with both the Medway Messenger and BBC South East over their reporting of the concerns raised by Jack Hope, a resident of the Isle of Grain. He has been mounting a vitriolic campaign against virtually everyone in authority (councillors, National Grid, MPs et al) over the failure of the any of them to advise what is the escape plan if there is a catastrophe at the LNG terminal. There has to be a plan if (heaven forbid) if there is a massive fireball at the terminal, along the pipe which crosses under the only roadway out of the Isle or aboard one of the 130,000 tonnes-liquid gas carrying tankers which now regularly dock next door to the village. (It's a good site they chose, between the laden wrecks of the munition-carrier Robert Montgomery and the minelayer Princess Irene.)

You would think the residents would know what to do They don't.

It is because there is an issue of national security (so those in authority maintain).

What seems to have upset Medway Council's press baron, John Staples, is that no one has reported that Mr Hope is demanding that National Grid buys his property. It is now blighted by its overbearing neighbours presence - along with everyone else on the tip of the Hoo peninsula.

The real issue is whether residents are safe living at the end of the A228 when they have millions of tonnes of gas stored in a near-frozen compressed state at the end of their gardens.

Mr Staples is a former reporter. He lives an uncomfortable life trying to balance the politicial pressures, officers; defensiveness and the ferrety inquisitiveness of the local media. I should know: I've done the same job.

What his decision means (and I suspect there are at least two politicians pushing this move) is that the confidentiality of press enquiries is going to be blown apart.

Let me explain the system employed by Mr Staples and his team.

A reporter phones in with a simple query. Let's say I ask: "How many staff does Medway Council employ?"

Mr Staples emails a query to HR with a deadline for a response, and asks the same question.

Someone in the HR department then responds. Let's say the answer is: "There are 8,000 full time and 2,200 part-time staff employed by the council."

An email is then sent to the reporter saying "Alan Watkins has asked how many staff does Medway Council employ. The answer is 8,000 full time and 2,200 part-time staff are employed by the council."

That simple enquiry will now find itself on the web. It won't mean very much to the general public. It might, however, mean something to a rival newspaper, broadcaster or whatever.

Mr Staples' bosses have really stirred an explosive mixture.

Their annoyance (did someone suggest petulance?) has led to the unprecedented step of revealing to other journalists what lines of investigation other reporters are following.

That's fine with innocuous enquiries (not that the general public will be interested). But what if it is asking about the asbestos crisis that is building in Medway's schools?

Would they have published the inquiries that I made a year ago when I first reported the spending and chaos that is the Woodlands School extension? I don't think so. They did everything they could to hide the answers I was seeking.

Would they have published the enquiry I made about asbestos examinations of more than 100 local schools? They strongly denied that there was any foundation in the story. In fact, the audit papers that were published earlier this month reveal that it was conducted in a three month spell, and that was a difficult target for the council to meet. But the council press office denied there was any foundation in the story.

Would they care to say how many council houses and flats have asbestos today, and what advice they have given their tenants?

Dogs eat dogs. When one of those hounds takes thousands of pounds of the money we lawful taxpayers reluctantly give them for their high salaries, shoddy schooling, tatty buildings and one-time pop stars he deserves to get bitten.

Medway Council should pull back - or expect a bit more than a bite.

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.

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.

OK. We all know there is change afoot in Medway, but what's with the changing of names?

My long-time favourite has been the absorption of Rainham Mark by Rainham. (Anyone unfamiliar with the tale should look at the boundary between the Men of Kent and the Kentish Men. It is as historic as the Great one of China and Hadrian's Wall, or Offa's Dyke…. except to Medway Council which ripped down the sign when it merged Rochester and Gillingham boroughs.)

There are others.

For example, the Lords Wood (shades of cricketing amid the beeches?), Weeds Wood (gardeners' on hands and knees, perhaps?) and Park Wood (now minus Rainham Park, of course, but don't let that stop the Renaming of Parts.).

The latest travesty is the Tesco roundabout on the A2.

It was originally called Bowaters after the paper and packaging company that was enticed to set up in business on land acquired by the supermarket.

Depending whether you believe the press office (which spells it Bowwaters) or the highways engineers (who have put out signs reading Bow Waters roundabout) more changes are afoot.

It is all part of a subtle exercise in changing the image of the Medway Towns to a great, good, welcome place where everyone wants to live and work. It just might sucker some people into believing the balmy life is to be enjoyed on the North Kent mudflats.

Where will it end?

Someone suggested to me this week Rochester-upon-Wales (clearly influenced by the new movie about King John's 1215 siege of the castle which hits the cinema trail next week having been filmed in South Wales).

Then there's Cheatham, Stroud, Hoe St Wear Borough, Whig Moor, Cookstown, Hauling….where will it all end?

The answer, of course, is Hempstead…. near Maidstone.

***

Talking of Bowaters, it has been suggested by at least one wit that the mountain of crushed debris next to the enlarged store is being prepared as a new ski slope. The way winters are going, you wouldn't need to create the snow for a couple of months each year.

***

There was chaos around the old Gillingham borough today after a serious road accident in Rainham.

As is increasingly the norm, the police sealed off the site of the accident and began forensic examination of the area for future court or coroner's use.

In the meantime we were left with non-existent signposting of alternative routes, Wigmore seized up, the Lower Rainham Road at a standstill, traffic being turned about on the A2 and Bloors Lane.

Thankfully there wasn't any accident on the M2 or some people wouldn't get home until the start of next week.

I do wonder whether anything extra will be learned by the police that will benefit anyone in the future. Compare what now happens with the former processes of photographs, examinations, measurements, sweeping up and road reopening...

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.

***

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.

***

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.

***

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.

SEASONED viewers of Medway councillors are used to the Tory bruiser, Alan Jarrett, battering opponents with verbal cudgels.

It's what the party faithful expect - and the twinkle-eyed Tory is quick to dish it out, and prepared to laugh when it comes back at him.

This week those under attack from his razor wit and battering ram verbosity were not the usual cannon fodder. They were Conservative ministers.

He accused them of doing exactly the same that he had attacked Labour's ministers for doing. The had hidden bad news as they slashed council budgets.

However, that was the least of their sins in the eye of the Deputy Leader of the Conservative administration. He is endeavouring to serve 260,000 residents and more than 8,000 staff without any of the powers conferred at Bethsaida.

For a Government which had talked about openness, he accused his party's top people of "not having the courage to be up front and say times are hard."

Cllr Jarrett - a one-time constituency chairman - said: "They are hiding it in a totally disingenuous way.

"Next year we have to publish every expenditure over £500. It is part of the oppenness they expect from us."

He said the government was forcing councillors to get rid of their most valuable asset - staff who delivered high quality services and went the extra mile for the community.

David Cameron's local government programme is in disarray. Today it takes away, tomorrow it throws something back in, the next day it says it is reconsidering its previous decision and will let people know sometime in January what they will get - or may be not get....

How anyone can plan a accurate £650 million budget when the chief source of funds can't make up its mind is one thing. To have to plan the whole lot in a matter of days - and yet remain democratic - is beyond me.

The treasury and the chief executive's team will be burning the midnight oil from now until February 24 as they try to pull together a working budget that will continue to provide services.

The trouble is the threat that some of those services will disappear is becoming more and more a possibility in the next few years.

***

Meanwhile if you want to see a council in disarray pop out to Allhallows.

Councillors there have decided they need to spend around £74,000 in the coming year - compared with £35,000 two years ago.

They had planned to give up a few hours after Christmas to try to find a more acceptable spending level. Now the finance committee chairman has decided to put it back to Monday January 10 - which just happens to be the date the previous committee chairman is unable to make. Of course, that is a coincidence... it has nothing to do with representing the minority faction, experience or anything like that.

The trouble is they then have a full council meeting on January 12 at which the members are expected to rule on the budget. It doesn't leave any time for the public (or absent members) to consider and comment constructively on the detail.

Parish councils have a duty to ensure that their agendas and all relevant documents are available to members and the public a minimum of three days before the meeting.

Allhallows parish council does not welcome members of the public questioning its decisions. That was very evident at their last meeting.

I am still trying to get the papers for that meeting, but the clerk "only works five hours a week", I was told. Fine. That doesn't excuse the council from making available (as a matter of course) all relevant documents three days before the meeting that are to be discussed in the public section. It gives them no excuse for ignoring lawful requests.

I have written twice to the council requesting the documentation for that meeting and for the next meetings. To date they have not responded.

Small wonder Medway's monitoring officer has received four separate complaints about the operations of Allhallows council.

Someone muttered "Is this the Vicar of Dibley coming true?"

No. This is for real.

There may be more salacious items on the agenda of tomorrow night's council meeting, but city status is certain to attract a lot of attention.

The council has been criticised for the presumptive way it claimed to represent the City of Medway.

That is likely to haunt the administration when its Leader once again calls for unanimous support for the bid on Thursday night.

The full council backed the 2000 and 2002 bids.

It is expected to get similar support this week. Labour councillors have already said they will back the bid. But they have reservations.

They will raise those before they vote to back the bid. Their concerns are that the council decided to call Medway a city before anyone had authorised it.

The Conservative administration’s communications and finance guru, Alan Jarrett, was quoted locally as saying: "We can call ourselves what we like." He's said the same to me.

That statement might yet impact on the final decision in the depths of Whitehall and at Buckingham Palace.

Again, it might not.

Cllr Jarrett may be right that we are a city: we are certainly bigger than Portsmouth, Southampton, Newcastle…. In fact bigger than all but 20 conurbations in the UK - but it doesn't win over objectors.

I have talked with quite a few of them, and respect their right to oppose the bid. I make no secret of my support for it. What I do disagree with is the argument that it is costing a fortune to bid for city status.

The council is a business spending two-thirds of a billion pounds a year. The budget for the city bid is £25,000 - a drop in the ocean. Or more precisely it is less than is spent every 20 minutes on collecting rubbish, looking after the elderly, caring for children, catching dangerous drivers, raising the education of children in our schools, keeping our streets clear of snow and all the other things the council does for the Five Towns, morning, noon and night.

I know - 25 grand is more than the average Medway resident earns in a year, but if it puts a few thousand pounds in our pockets by attracting successful employers, improving the value of our homes and providing us with brighter areas to shop and relax than Chatham High Street it'll be cash well worth spending.

***

Further to yesterday's observations about parish councils, none of the eight members of that particular parish council faced election last year. Three stood but faced no opposition, the other five were co-opted on to the council from the local community.

Four of the eight also live next to the park where the youth facility is proposed .... providing there is enough cash to build it if the other one is sold.

The council has also met monthly since June - but the minutes of its meetings do not appear on the council website.

None of this is unusual. The point is whether it leads to democracy - or away from it.