Rochester Christmas Market Appeal

My letter below on the announcement that Rochester Christmas market is to close.

Dear Sir

I am particularly concerned to read that the Rochester Christmas market is to close. It was a very popular event with local residents and brought in significant numbers of people into our town centre at a core trading period.

Rochester highstreet will need to fight to attract shoppers that would otherwise be attracted to Bluewater or Maidstone and it is clear that without an incentive or ‘special attraction’ many local business may suffer this year should this fayre not go ahead.

Last year it was estimated that each visitor spend £30 on the high street netting a return on investment of £7.5m. Even assuming a sixth of that figure nets the area £1.3m which is crucial for local business; the return on investment for the Council is improved business performance in town centres

Successful events such as these could be managed by other bodies, including the Council, which has worked successfully on other similar sized events in the past. Given the amount of revenue for local business this is something I will be exploring with Council officers

Cllr Tristan Osborne

NHS under threat

Campaigners in Rochester campaigning against Conservative NHS proposals

Gillingham Labour Councillors campaigning against Tory NHS privatisation

Medway Labour Campaigners have been meeting residents in Gillingham, Chatham, Strood and Rochester to safeguard our NHS from David Cameron and his Medway Conservative MPs Tracey Crouch, Rehman Chisthi and Mark Reckless who are supporting a privatisation agenda and the undermining of NHS through increased use of private-sector provision.

We need to take action to stop Tory-led plans which will fundamentally change the NHS we know and love. If the Tory and Lib Dem Coalition force through the Health and Social Care Bill, the NHS will be very different in five years’ time – with more privatisation, worse patient care and increased red tape to stop health professionals doing their job

Lots of campaign groups, professional health associations and patients’ organisations are working to stop the Bill.

To get involved in the campaign please visit the Save our NHS website and lobby your MP today.

Fire No. 3

Arrived on Corporation Street - immediate shot (poor quality) of Fire hydrant dowsing flames...

Different angle showing damage to building extensive. Fire hydrant just finished dowsing at this point

Fire officers surveying building. Twitter reports from Kent Fire & Rescue that building could collapse

Winding down panoramic. A number of appliances on scene.

It seems that my post yesterday on the fire on Rochester highstreet, stating that we needed to remain aware was not without reason. At exactly the same tonight Rochester saw its third fire at the vacant Market Cafe on Corporation Street, in what on the face of it looks very similar to the incident which happened last night.

I rushed to the scene after becoming aware via twitter. There were a large number of onlookers from the Casino Rooms and the Police had cordoned off the traffic light junction at Blue Boar lane.

This cafe has been burnt down once before and at that time structural issues coupled with rubbish were also raised.

John Ward has done a graphic of the fires with ward boundaries which show that the three fires stretch across River, Rochester East and Rochester West wards.

I suspect Police will be trawling through CCTV footage shortly to identify any suspicious individual or vehicle movement in the vicinity. Individual (s) carrying baggage and equipment or wearing dark coloured clothing will be noticeable. Given we have seen three fires within a small geographic distance it could be that we have a very local arsonist who is walking to the premises. Police may also be looking through any individuals with 'form' or perhaps identifying those who may have been released from prison, or young offender's institute, with a profile for Arson who may have located to urban Rochester very recently.

Alternatively, given these fires have been vacant premises it could also be the case that this could be drug users or squatters who have set fire to keep themselves warm or for other purposes.

They say two is a coincidence and three is a trend. People living in the highstreet area need to remain aware of any suspicious activity.

Fire No. 2

Fire brigade arrive

Mid-way though incident. Smoke from second floor window. Ladder extending

Towards end of Fire. Several appliances in situ. Police cordon in place

An eventful bank holiday weekend yesterday with the farewell party for fellow blogger Alan W Collins leading to this blog witnessing a major fire on Rochester highstreet.

The incident itself was noticeable after a series of suspicious fires had been noted in Gravel Walk in Rochester, and apparently nearby properties according to KM. A second major fire in a small area is perhap a coincidence, but given this fire is seen as suspicious it is something we all need to keep a watching brief.

My involvement was very limited. After drinking in the Ship pub opposite, after attending the farewell party for Alan W Collins, was with a few friends when a man ran into the bar claiming the opposite Curry house was on fire. After leaving the pub it became apparent that the second floor of the empty restaurant was indeed alight; there was a signficant amount of smoke billowing from both floors and a small crowd was standing in the vicinity; many of whom speaking with the fire brigade and Police.

The fire brigade responded quickly, within 10 minutes, sending a number of appliances from Strood (later discovered) and proceeded to assess and then enter the building with oxygen equipment. A further number of appliances arrived and the Police proceeded to attend advising spectators to step back whilst the fire brigade engaged in their job. I was rapped on the knuckles by a young Police offier after being spotted trying to get a photo; for which apologised.

After tweeting the photos I was quickly followed by the Twitter feed of local politico's and the Kent Fire & Rescue twitter feed which kept residents updated with developments.

I spoke to several fire officers who indicated that this was seen as a suspicious incident because of the fact the building was not in use and the fact that a number of locations may have been identified as for being the start location.

Obviously Kent Police and Kent Fire & Rescue will advise but this is most certainly a public interest story.

The media responded very quickly indeed and were speaking to a number of witnesses and the Fire Brigade themselves. I suspect a number of less blurry shots will appear in the Messenger next week.

Will be keeping a watching brief on this development.

Our Highstreets deserve better

The visit by John Denham MP a few weeks ago, coupled with the front page of the Medway News and todays GDP figures show that the Tories have let down small business.

It is now up to Labour to save Medway’s high streets, calling for urgent action to help retailers, protect jobs and give people a real say over their local high street.

According to the Local Data Company, 14.6% of retail premises in the UK are now vacant, indicating that approximately 50,000 high street units are empty, with vacancy rates rising. The Javelin Group has predicted that if current trends continue, a quarter of all non-food retail outlets in the UK could be vacant by 2020. This also follows a recent spate of household-name high street retailers going under or having to close premises.

Portfolio holder, Cllr Chitty and Cllr Jarrett last week offered no comment on the situation that they have allowed to hit local traders in Chatham. They have simply failed local business.

Meanwhile evidence from Gravesend and Dartford shows that those centres have not suffered the same decline on footfall that the Medway Conservatives have overseen in our towns

Thousands of jobs on our Medway high streets are at risk. The British Retail Consortium’s Retail Employment monitor in April 2011 found that 29% of retailers planned to decrease staffing levels, up from 8% in April 2010.

Consumer spending remains sluggish as household incomes are squeezed and the government’s VAT hike hits consumers. Nationwide Building Society’s Consumer Confidence Index, released this week, fell by six points in June, returning to a similar level to January.

The government’s VAT hike is hitting the High Street – last year, the British Retail Consortium predicted that the increase would cost 163,000 jobs over four years and reduce consumer spending by £3.6 billion over the same period.

Additionally, many small businesses are struggling to access the finance they need, with lending to businesses contracting in the three months to May 2011 and the cost of borrowing increasing according to the Bank of England this week.

Labour has unveiled a four-point plan to save Britain’s high streets:

• Enact a temporary cut in VAT from 20% to 17.5%, giving struggling retailers a boost and putting £450 back into each family’s pocket.
• Introduce a retail diversity planning clause, putting communities in charge of the future of their local high streets. Local people and local retailers would have a say on any retail plans for their area, giving them the power to put the heart back into the high street.
• Create a ‘competition test’ in the planning system, leading to greater choice and lower prices for shoppers. The test would ensure a level playing field between small and large shops.
• Repeat Labour’s empty shops initiative, enabling councils to pursue innovative uses for empty shops and reinvigorate high-streets, such as using vacant units for cultural, community or learning services, rather than leaving them empty

The Tories have lost the trust of local business people. Labour stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the small trader and entrepreneur.

Supporting jobs and business

John Denham MP speaks to Rochester & Strood Labour about supporting small business which have been let down by Conservatives.

Our small businesses are struggling in Medway from Strood highstreet which is having huge numbers of superstores placed within a small geographical area; from Chatham highstreet which is suffering from poor road access, delayed bus stations and expensive parking; to Gillingham whose store holders are worried about parking charges and CCTV cars.

John Denham MP called for an immediate cut in VAT which would be a direct benefit to small shops across the towns.

Small business deserves better.

Labour 'back in' business?

Rochester & Strood Labour had a visit from John Denham MP last week to highlight how small business is being let down by the Tories.

Across Rochester small businesses are crying out for an administration in Gun Wharf that will help in times of economic difficulty. In Strood, traders are worried about the number of major superstores and the impact on local footfall. In Chatham, ongoing concerns about the persistant road works (coming to completetion) but which, together with the recession, have led to a decline in footfall. In Gillingham traders are worred about the ring of steel and CCTV car cameras prying on the shopping motorist.

Small business is the life blood of the towns - and without an administration which day-in day-out focused relentlessly on encouraging and nurturing small business we are beholden to more people having to leave the area and commute elsewhere.

John Denham MP re-iterated that position when he met the storeholders of Rochester Coffee on Saturday. One mechanism highlighted was the temporary VAT cut proposed by Ed Balls which would be of significant help to local tradespeople.

Stuck in another jam?

The chaos of roadworks, delays and constant traffic jams have become so regular an occurrence in Medway that many readerd may actually forget a time when the roads actually flowed.

That would probably be 2006, the year before the Medway Conservatives embarked upon the Chatham two-way change. A £2.5m pet project which no one voted for, no one wanted and which has decimated small business in the Chatham centre.

It is a colossal public waste.

The road work chaos has extended into Rochester and Strood over the last 18 months and now many commuters are regularly to be stuck in jams on Corporation Street and into Strood.

People would not be so angry at the Conservatives if they simply managed and communicated these projects effectively.

The road works on Corporation Street, Rochester is a case in point.

The works are at a key junction, if not the key junction between Rochester & Strood. It occupies a key crossing point for thousands of residents and business. It is quite simply the aorta of the Medway towns. A blockage can cause a failure of movement from across the River and can paralyse secondary roads which require primary roads for vehicle movement.

Yet to the Conservatives, it would seem to be a small priority, because of the total lack of foresight and management of the works that have ensued.

The fact is that drivers are very much aware as they are stuck in traffic that there are no workmen working on the site over the weekend and that the hours for the works are seemingly the basic 9am-5pm.

In addition, the works in Rochester were timed for the peak period of Christmas trading and has attracted the wrath of tourists who have spent hours stuck in Strood whilst trying to gain access to Rochester. The same tourists who we have spent hundreds of thousands trying to attract into Medway to spend money and keep people in jobs.

We all accept that in austere times money has to be spent frugally, but this is simply a joke.

A few simple questions needs to be answered clearly and quickly:

1) Which Councillor signed off on the Corporation Street roadworks?

2) What analysis was undertaken prior to signing off on the works given the Christmas period and impact on Christmas Fair trade. Were small businesses given sufficient notification?

3) Why is the current works not conducted over a seven day period, rather then a five day period given the importance of the junction and impact on local business?

4) Why have 24/7 shifts not been considered, taking into account noise-reduction strategies that can and could easily be employed to mitigate impacts to local residents?

5) Can the people and business of Rochester be given a firm date of completion for this project?

The Rochester & Strood Labour party is challenging the Conservative administration on its legacy of traffic Chaos and specifically on the Chatham and Rochester works.

In May, this administration needs to be sent a message.

Squandering public money on road programmes and mismanaging major road works are not acceptable. Coupled with the monumental failure in collecting Council tax and the lies over VAT, this represents a tired collection of apologists for a government, which in the Deputy Leader Cllr Jarrett's own words is using 'smoke and mirrors' to harm residents.

If their own Deputy Leader thinks the government is failing people in Medway then it does not require the opposition to admit that on this one, he is absolutely correct. His Conservative government are harming residents.

The Rochester & Strood Labour Party want to hear your stories on the incompetence and how it has inconvenienced you and your family.