Bumped!

Sufficed to say I have had better days.

Much preperation for a presentation on the importance of internet-campaigning to a number of constituency Labour party chair's this afternoon in Crawley.

If only I got there.

I set off at 12.45pm; stocked up with petrol on the Maidstone Road and proceeded up towards the roundabout.

It was busy; the Rochester Girls Grammar School had an event... traffic was heavy.

After getting past the first roundabout I was caught on the slip road above Junction 3 (M2) before it happened - my first ever car accident. You hear of these things, but never think, it could happen to you...

Luckily it was at low speeds, and involved a third party having tried to cut in front of three moving vehicles as the roads merge into one, causing us to all suddenly break. The culprit of course never stopped but left in his/her wake a trail of bumped cars - my Peugeot coming off by far the worst of it.

The police were on scene remarkably quickly and handled it very professionally, which is nothing less than can be expected from our thin blue line. Details exchanged, a curteosy handshake with the other gentleman involved in front, and company parted. It could have been so much worse... and I was grateful that actually, whilst my car has suffered damage, it is a financial cost rather than a human tragedy.

The moral of the story is be very careful; there are some lunatic drivers out there.

Ready, Steady, Councillor

Residents in Luton and Wayfield enjoyed a day packed full of family fun over the weekend with live music, a barbecue, a talent show, fete and a quite comical Ready, Steady, Cook competition between local councillors Tristan Osborne and Sam Craven.

Residents also enjoyed a host of other events across the area including a Talent Performance Show at the Bishope of Rochester Acedemy. the event was a useful way of finding and engaging with people about their area and what they would like to see in the future.

With the tagline Local People, Local Solutions, the project is a joint initiative from Medway Council alongside NHS Medway, Kent Police in Medway, schools and community groups based in the area.

By working with the community and encouraging them to talk about any issues and concerns they have, the aim is to gain residents' feedback on the services they receive and how they can be improved, as well as looking at better ways to tackle issues such as anti social behaviour within a community.

Commenting Councillor Craven stated:

"Hundreds of residents turned out across all threee of the venues despite the poor weather and immersed themselves in the activities on offer. Residents enjoyed watching the talent contest with urban dance from Rochester Group ATZ to belly and folk dancing. The fete at Wayfield Primary School was really well attended with the 'Guess the Teacher' stand attracting a lot of attention from former pupils

"It is very clear from the performances we saw that Medway has lots of very talented young people and this needs to be encouraged and harnessed."

Commenting Councillor Osborne

"Politicians are regularly told that if they dont like the heat they should get out the kitchen, so it was also a useful opportunity to rest a score from the local election with a 'Ready, Steady, Cook' competition. The competition pitted my cooking prowess with that of Cllr Craven, a mum and teacher"

"After a very brief tutorial from the chef's my skills were put to the test and though my chicken pasta dish was a success, though minus the spinach. It was not enough. Cllr Craven won that day with an excellent curry, where my efforts were rewarded the wooden spoon"

Fair's Fare with Maria Eagle MP in Chatham

Luton & Wayfield blog

Due to popular demand, well a few requests during the campaign, the ward Councillors for Luton & Wayfield have launched a new blog which will allow residents to see the work that is being undertaken and also a point of contact outside of the Council.

Over the course of time the blog will be developed and will hopefully link videos and a map. Once this hardpressed blogger gets the time...

This blog will continue with commentary on local and national politics whilst the campaign blog will concentrate on ward based work. The personal website will hopefully link the sites together - at least that is the idea!

Plenty of positive news with the odd snippet of satire!

Take a read at the http://luton-wayfield.blogspot.com/