George Osborne backing Cliffe / Grain Airport

Boris Johnson has been convincing Conservatives. He also had a meal with Justine Greening MP on her appoitnment to her position as Transport Secretary. Coincidence?

George Osborne the Chancellor of Exchequer is said to have changed his mind on Estuary Airport

The spin from our Medway MPs that the government has 'no plans' for an airport now stands in absolute tatters this weekend as article after article come out in favour of a Number 10 move on the Estuary Airport proposal.

Three major broad-sheets have covered the news that George Osborne and Steve Hilton - key power-players in Westminster - are now baking the scheme. The airport may even feature in the November financial statement should George Osborne wish to discuss infrastructure investments.

Conservative Party, Boris Johnson who has been the major cheer-leader for the bulldozing of the Peninsula is due to speak tomorrow, citing that the Estuary airport is a serious plan and is not a 'pie-in-the-sky'

This is a direct snub to Medway residents and highlights once and for all the utter failure of the Medway Conservative 'pie-in-the-sky' campaign. Time and time and time again they have been told to stop treating this issue as a 'pie-in-the-sky' joke and run a proper, funded and visual campaign.

Such a campaign was run against Cliffe in 2002/2003 and resulted in a win for the community.

This is not a new issue; it has been ongoing for three / four years and at every time the goal-posts have slipped a notch. From a Boris Island, to Cliffe and now to Grain; we see a constant notch movement by Conservatives, and it is Conservatives make no mistake, to effectively engage the public in a debate on an issue.

The accusation is that the Conservatives are trying to soften up the public appetite by having a proxy-debate on the airport to ascertain local opposition. This is why a funded campaign locally is so important.

This is also the failure of Mark Reckless, Tracey Crouch and Rehman Chisthi. They have all been too easily duped by the 'no plans' argument as a quick win to shut down local debate. As this blog has consistently stated; a time-limited 'plans' response allows significant lee-way for future movement.

Those that have wanted to campaign have been rebuffed as crying 'wolf' as 'spinning' and trying to manufacture an issue; but when every Sunday newspaper publishes the same story and you are aware of active lobbying behind closed doors, what more can the opposition do then moan loudly which have done for years..

People are now asking how local MPs have called it so wrong, and rest assured the people of the Peninsula will have their day at the ballot box in 2015; but it is time now, finally, for Conservatives to put the community first.

They need to accept that the community on the Peninsula needs a properly funded and visual campaign to oppose this airport plan and they need it now.

Time for talk is over; get your boots on, get the lamp-post signs up and fight the government as hard as you can.

The Peninsula faces an existential threat; it will cease to be a place if Boris, Hilton and George Osborne get their way; only the ruling Conservative group has the ability and resources to run a proper campaign and work the leavers of influence in Gun Wharf.

They need to do so now.

Medway Buses suffering under Tories

Given the botched opening of the bus station in Chatham and the Conservative u-turn over the Freedom Pass, which will still a 14 year old from Strood worse off, than an equivalent in Gravesend, it is worth looking at bus usage in Medway since the coalition came to office.

Transport is an absolutely crucial issue in Medway which is why Medway Labour put it centre-stage at the local election this year.

Labour has a long history of campaigning against fare increases with campaign events at Medway station's we have opposed the Tory train fare rises which are being imposed by the Department for Transport on train operators. We oppose the London Conservative plan for an airport on the Peninsula (Boris Airport) which is slowly but surely working its way onto a government white paper (as predicted by this blog three years ago). We have stood up for our young people pledging a full equivalent to the Freedom Pass for our young people; a pledge firstly derided by the Conservatives before they copied and pasted it this April.

Labour is leading on transport and for that reason it is right that we look at buses in Medway.

When we talk about buses this is not just the failure of the Tories to manage the bus station; though that failure is symbolic of how they manage the whole of our towns believe me. The dithering over planning, the delay over building, the damned lies over spiralling costs. A botched completion job and an operation of spin from the corridors of power to conceal the true impact on residents.

Medway residents deserve a new bus deal. Only over the last six months some scary statistics have now become clear.

Under the Tories the statistics stand for themselves:

• We have seen a massive reduction in Medway bus journeys from 9.3 to 8.9m in just one year. This represents a full reversal of increasing bus usage from 7.9m to 8.9m under the last Labour government.
• According to Passenger Focus over a third (37%) of fare-paying passengers were dissatisfied with value for money and more than a fifth (23%) were unhappy with the frequency of buses. Nothing has been done to change this perception and bus services are being reduced not extended

• We have seen Bus Services slashed – According to Freedom of Information requests we have seen cuts to Bus 165 and further cuts currently being discussed on 26 contracts. Bus services which serve the entire of Medway. These contracts carry a total of 194,392 passengers per annum. Tories are cutting your buses right now.
• Investment cut - The governments budget allocation for Medway's Integrated Transport block (which includes bus capital schemes) significantly cut from £3.5m per year to £1.5m per year in 2011/12. As a result the LTP allocation to public transport capital schemes (bus and taxi) reduced from £299k in 2010/11 to £250k in 2011/12.
• Costs for the bus station continue to be open-ended after it came out £2.3m over the original budget estimate. A number of operators are expressing major concerns at rising costs...(See attached news item)
• Travel for youth: our young people continue to be disadvantaged. Whilst KCC operate a flat £50 or £100 fee for an annual Freedom Pass our young people continue to pay extortionate rates on our bus services. Pricing them off the buses

It is a pity because the bus station could have been so much better had the Tories bothered to talk to residents. After all the original funding for the improvements via HCA (Homes & Communities Agency) Grant from the Labour government investing in buses.

But like the 11+ fiasco and the cost overuns at Walderslade, Woodlands and now on the Stoke Crossing. Its another million pound fiasco a week...

Bus services are so important to Medway residents. It is a pity that we currently have an administration that could have done so much better with the money provided, and that is currently managing significant cuts to bus services, whilst residents continue to feel they are being fleeced by Conservative Councillors.

Update

Despite asking the Conservative-controlled Council for a full list of the 26 routes listed as under consultation I was refused, saying that Councillors will only get a full list after the tender process is to be undertaken.

I have written back to complain that this is a fudge as local representatives should have clarity and transparency over bus services. Clearly proposals are in detailed stages because they are able to confirm the number of journeys made.

Do we know who they are?

Above press statement from Conservative-controlled Medway Council

Given you have just paid £300,000 to one of them Cllr Jarrett we should hope you do!

£2.3m over-budget. With Medway Tories it is incompetence as standard!

Tory Tunnel noose around tax payer necks

The potential for a Tory Tunnel Toll this week took a turn for the worst as it was revealed to the public what we all suspected since the dodgy deal, negotiated behind closed doors, and whilst Cllr Chamber's was lead warden at the Rochester Bridge Trust, that it was a shabby deal and not in the interests of Medway residents.

The Tories negotiated a deal which took a poorly maintained 'liability' off the books of the asset-rich and wealthy Rochester Bridge Trust onto the Council books for a one off payment of £3.6m.

I have an interest in the Tunnel because its purchase and subsequent legacy go to the very heart of our Conservative regime in Gun Wharf and future operating revenue for subsequent administrations; both Labour & Conservative.

It is also symbolic of the machinations, hyper-partisan buck passing and failure to grasp basic financial and political realities which summarise our current political leadership in the corridors of Gun Wharf.

So what is new?

Revealed in this Medway Messenger exclusive; it is now clear that the money for the tunnel is running out and quicker then expected. The original grant of £3.6m on annualised expenditure of £450,000 (calculated by RBT) has since doubled due to the shabby maintenance of the infrastructure prior to the Council purchase. As it stands the 7-8 year grant will now likely run out by 2012/13. Only three/four years after the purchase.

This proves that not only was the asset purchase absolute lunacy in financial terms, but the increase in repair bills highlights the total lack of work previously undertaken by the RBT, or perhaps the mistaken understanding of the Council of the liability it had purchased on behalf of Medway taxpayers.

Cllr Jarrett cites the erroneous assertion that the Council had to purchase the Tunnel but this is not true; because it ignores the fact that if the RBT had just withdrawn from Tunnel maintenance they could have been subject to legal action and would probably have lost given their constitutional obligation.

In addition, Cllr Jarrett and Chambers claim they were not involved in discussions over the sale but yet remained in post despite the perception of a conflict of interest which at the time was perceived very poorly indeed.

And what of government ownership?

Part of the justification for the purchase in 2009 was that the election of Conservative MPs and government would result in the movement of the tunnel onto the government books. So absolving Medway Council of all responsibility

It is now clear that the argument at the time was totally spurious and that a government purchase of the Tunnel is now not expected. Indeed, according to Cllr Jarrett "we will keep banging away at that one... but it might not be fruitful"

It is clear that this option is now not feasible which was not revealed to residents in 2009. This position has changed.

So what of the toll?

Medway Labour opposed the original purchase of the Tunnel because we believed the Tories at the time would have had to raise income via a toll, or via cuts to local services. This fact has not changed.

The Tories nevertheless ignored local opinion and purchased the tunnel.

I specifically asked Conservative Cabinet members about ruling out a future toll and at no point have they ruled it out. That is a de-facto Conservative Party endorsement of a future toll for residents used to Conservative buck-passing on transport locally.

Only the most idiotic of Conservatives could claim that the movement towards a toll was a Labour idea. It is an idea they endorsed as soon as they agreed the asset purchased, and they were fully aware of our opposition on the purchase of the tunnel.

In addition, and most concerning, is that the Conservative government has endorsed the idea of road tolling and private road ownership with tolls. In an article for The Telegraph in 2009; David Cameron stated:

“We’ve said we’re happy to look at road tolls. I don’t think that the eye in the sky big government scheme they [Labour] were planning was going to work, but separate road tolls...

“You know if you look at the one road toll that has been built – the Birmingham Relief Road – great success, a Conservative idea."

The simple fact is that this Tunnel was purchased by the Medway Conservatives in a shabby deal which has not benefited the tax payer of Medway. Buck-passing and blame from leading Conservatives will not work and Labour will oppose any Medway Conservative toll

Transport Chaos highlights need for Change

The fiasco over travelling in Medway continues to cause distress to thousands of residents, drivers, bus users and council tax payers. It also serves to highlight why Medway residents have been let down by Conservatives and the need for a coherent transport agenda for Medway.

The Medway Conservatives have a lamentable management record on transport and on representing commuter interests.

Over the last four years we have had constant roadworks, seemingly un-coordinted which have paralysed the town centres, undermined business and led to some business to move out of the towns altogether. Strood has suffered a annus horribilis this year with works on two major arteries and Rainham, Gillingham and Walderslade have also suffered. Rochester is about to suffer during a key trading period with the works on Corporation Street.

The bodged Chatham two-way traffic re-organisation which was opposed by local business in Chatham has undermined local trade. At a cost of £2.5m the cost-benefit of the road changes are clearly not visible yet, and at that cost, will probably never be.

The Chatham Bus station remains incomplete after months of complaints from residents that the creation of 'the mushroom patch' is an eye-sore and though 'dynamic' will leave people out-in-the-cold. Consultation was lamentable on this project, and though it may win awards in the future, the community was not consulted. A major artery into Chatham, via Globe Lane, will now be closed in a matter of days, leading to total chaos during the busy Christmas period.

The Medway Tunnel - another key artery into Chatham via the Peninsula and Strood is another fiasco just waiting to happen. The Tories purchases the tunnel for £1 with a donation from the wealthy Rochester Bridge Trust. The Tunnel is not only a financial liability but was given poor safety rating by the AA before its purchase. The multi-million pound donation will not cover the cost of the tunnel over the medium-long term. Despite the protests of Conservative Councillors to the Transport Minister this week, it is a Tory administration which purchased the tunnel in the first place. The risk of a toll in less then a decade on the Tunnel is a very real risk.

The bus franchise in Medway is also a major concern. The lack of scrutiny over bus travel has led to very poor service provision across the towns with many poorer areas left without bus services on a Sunday. The new bus station may improve the situation, but commuter responses in Medway are significantly worse then in other areas of the Country. Our roads in Medway have hardly any bus-only routes and it is clear that over the last decade, as other areas have invested in bus travel, Medway remains way behind the curve.

The quality of Medway residential roads was severely lacking in 2009 and was worsened by the extreme winter conditions. Gritting was poorly managed by the Tory administration leading to some areas being inadequately covered. We have supported the Labour Government increase in road-surfacing grant which has improved roads in 2010, but will continue to lobby government for road improvement grants.

The Tory plan for an airport on Cliffe coupled with a major A-road which will bulldoze over the peninsula needs to be opposed vigorously. The Tories have run a flop of a campaign against the Estuary Airport which has allowed futher plans to develop on Cliffe itself. The lobbying being undertaken by Cllr Chambers has failed to deliver results. His inability to challenge the Conservative mayor is causing schemes and plans to become developed in City Hall, and the lobbying of senior transport ministers to take place.

The train fare increases in Medway also represent Conservative duplicity. Local MPs and Conservative activists campaigned against fare increases until May 2010 and have now undertaken a total platform change. We have not only fare increases for one year, but Parliamentary term setting of fares which will lead to increase in ticket prices of £1,200 until 2014/2015. Medway Conservatives have targeted middle class commuters and have cut the government subsidy for rail travel. Commuters will pay more and get less.

The Conservatives have a lamentable record on transport. We need to get Medway Moving.

Medway Labour has a clear plan to get Medway moving which is already in the public domain:

i) Oppose Conservative train fare increases that will price-out middle class train commuters into London. We will lobby and highlight government hypocrisy and fight for improvements to train stations and services from our towns by working with SouthEastern on key improvement programmes.

ii) Ensure that bus services are affordable, on time and decent by actively scrutinising the operator and ensuring that the poorest in our community are able to get to work without hindrance. Oppose any attempt by Conservatives to cut the free bus pass for pensioners and will review the Yellow Bus scheme and the Medway Freedom Pass scheme to ensure the poorest students are not unfairly treated

iii) To publicise road works, introduce stricter rules on utility operators and ensure there is a consistency to road works which will not interfere with key trading periods, such as Christmas. We will not u-turn on major road schemes, like the Conservatives on the Hawkins Flyover. Funding for road improvements will move from town-centre to street corner to ensure that residential roads are not left in a state of disrepair.

iv) Oppose the Conservative plan for Cliffe Airport which will bulldoze over the historic villages of the Peninsula and actively lobby to ensure an effective campaign is run to halt this scheme in its tracks.

v) We will lobby government to put the Medway Tunnel onto the government books and provide full transparency around the purchase of the tunnel, its key authors, and the finance and cost of the tunnel. Transparency is the key.

Transport is a major problem in Medway. The Conservatives have the wrong answers for our community.

Next May you can judge them for the wasted hours you and your family have spent stuck in traffic jams, paying for train tickets and threatened by a future tunnel toll.

Train Fares EDM flop

The issue of train fares once again rises up the agenda with a motion being considered for full council to seek Conservative Councillor support for the opposition to the proposal of Conservative MPs to put up Medway Train fares by +3% RPI over the next five years.

A proposal which will penalise hard working commuters by up to £1,200 a year.

We have considered a motion on the Kent Conservative 'Fares Fair' campaign launched last year. We will also be asking Medway Conservatives to support the Medway Fare's Fair campaign which opposed the RPI + 3% increase in fares according to its stated objectives.

Surely Conservatives will not only stand up for commuters but will support the campaign that was led only 12 months ago by colleagues in Kent and Medway?

On another note, The 'Reckless' EDM 838 which was supposed to re-assure Medway Commuters that Kent Conservative MPs were treating the issue of train fares seriously has worryingly flopped.

As of tonight only FOUR Conservative MPs have bothered to sign the Early Day Motion. It is noted that one who has not signed is fellow Medway MP, Rehman Chisthi. Perhaps it has received so little support because it is meaningless.

Appreciate Rehman may be busy tabling questions in the Chamber but surely he should support his comrades in their efforts or perhaps, indeed, Gillingham & Rainham constituents wont mind paying an extra £1,200 a year.

Tories will not be allowed to run away from Election pledges on train fares.

Train fares and Dartford Toll

Medway commuters face season ticket rises of up to £1,200 over the next four years according to the Department of Transport response to the Comprehensive Spending Review

£1,200 which is a tax on middle class commuters who will now have to pay an increase in fare's that will impact family budgets, holiday plans and shopping bills.

Instead of fares going up by one per cent more than the rate of inflation — the formula since British Rail's privatisation in 1995 — they will rise by three per cent over the cost of living from 2012 in every region across the UK.

It means that an annual season ticket from Milton Keynes will rise by £1,194 to £5,026 by 2014.

A Gillingham commuter will have to pay £4,995, a rise of £1,187.

In an attempt to mitigate the potential charges of hypocrisy Medway and Kent Conservatives led a pre-emptive strike by tabling an Early Day Motion 838 in Parliament which was dutifully picked up by the YourMedway paper.

The motion states

"Southeastern's franchise agreement with the Department of Transport has allowed increases on regulated fares of RPI + three per cent. as opposed to RPI + one per cent. for other rail franchises which has resulted in a recently proposed fare rise of seven per cent. from January 2011; understands that franchise agreements with train operating companies are to be considered as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review; and calls on the Government to apply a cap on fare rises for Southeastern that is henceforth no greater than for other franchise"

The EDM, which conveniently fits straight into the coalition narrative, is nothing but a diversionary tactic which gives no help to the average Medway commuter.

The Department of Transport response to the CSR makes clear that all train companies will now raise fares by RPI + 3% from 2012. In reality the EDM means nothing to the average Medway commuter, who will not get any mitigation for current fare increases which already stand at that level.

The justification for that fare premium during the Labour period in office was increased investment in the railways. However the government increase is to mitigate government subsidy. This is a major difference because money on fares will not be invested in stock or safer stations. It will go to the government.

YourMedway did not mention that Kent and Medway Conservatives have shown brazen hypocrisy in relation to train fares.

Over the last two years Tories have been actively campaigning for a reduction in the +3% RPI increase in train fares.

The Kent Conservatives ran a 'Fare's Fair' campaign, still fully visible on their website stating that

'The Government has imposed upon South Eastern Trains a condition to run a subsidy-free network by 2014, resulting in an average increase of 3% above the rate of inflation. The Government’s imposition of year-on-year extortionate increases in rail fares for Kent’s commuters threatens to damage the Kent economy, deterring visitors and businesses from coming here. This will do nothing to get people out of their cars and onto public transport.'

Kent Conservatives campaigned in 2009, during the recession, claiming that a 3% + RPI increase was a disgrace and would damage the economy. Yet now they remain silent.

Hundreds of commuters voted Conservative in May 2010 to keep train fares low. Organisations across Kent were backed by Conservatives to channel commuter anger and potentially harvest key anti-fare votes for the election this year.

Mark Reckless MP campaigned in March 2009, with the 'independent' Medway Fares Fair champion to reduce standard fares. The independent champion for Medway commuters, who is also an announced candidate for the Rochester & Strood Conservatives for election in 2011, refuted any bias at the time stating that the campaign had sought 'cross-party support.'

The organisation which was backed by Mark Reckless MP and Tracey Crouch MP stated in its objectives statement that:

'We are calling for Southeastern Trains to suspend their planned increases with immediate effect and bring them more into line with the current RPI, although even that will be on the high side for many. The +3% should be dropped immediately as we think it is discriminatory and unfair.'

The campaign championed the cause of a small increase in train fares on the 6th January 2009. Both Tracey and Mark backed the campaign wholeheartedly. The campaign even congratulated the two PPCs for having 'an excellent track record in campaigning on local issues for Medway residents'

Yet it now appears that the campaign remains dormant and the position of the Conservative MPs is silent. It is noted however that since the election of a Conservative Government the 'independent' group has made no public statement, including today, on the most important statement for a decade on the next 5 years of fare increases.

Another case which raises commuter eyebrows is the campaign by Tracey Crouch MP from the 27th March 2009 and 18th December 2008 on the scrapping of 'my campaign to scrap the stealth tax' Dartford Toll.

On the 15th December 2009 she announced on her blog that

'I am today announcing my support for the campaign to scrap the Dartford Crossing charges. Local residents who use the Crossing for work have been in touch and are fed up, not least because the charges were supposed to be scrapped once the Crossing had been paid for - which happened five years ago!!'

The Conservative Government has now not only kept the toll but it has been hit by a rise in the Dartford Crossing charge, which will go up from £1.50 to £2.50 by 2012

Kent Conservatives have also shown rank duplicty. Kent County Council Keith Ferrin said in 2006, that drivers are already being penalised with little benefit for Kent, and to ramp up the daily charge by 50 per cent to £1.50 would “just add insult to injury”.

Mr Ferrin said: “We will fight these increased charges. In effect, they are an additional tax on Kent motorists. It’s a bit like sticking the knife in where it already hurts."

Perhaps Kent Conservatives can clarify why they have quietly changed their minds. It is dishonest.

The double-standards of Tories will now be highlighted by Medway Labour. We all believe that elected Members of Parliament should stand by their promises before being elected and held to account.

This Kent Fare's Fair campaign, its independent sister group in Medway, and the Dartford Toll campaign are three campaigns which independent voters can link to online. Make your own judgement

We all accept that government has to make tough decisions in government as opposed to opposition. People would however give more credibility to honesty and when candidates have to undertake a u-turn for them to explain the reasons.

Commuters have been let down by Tories who are now back-tracking on campaign promises across Medway and Kent.