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* * * News for 27th May 2002 (Updated on 1st June 2002) * * *

Medway: 27th May 2002

Wardens Jubilee Flame Event Rescued

The "Medway Messenger Jubilee Flame" Event Was Able To Go Ahead After All.

Although the KM Newspaper Group neglected to make sufficiiently timely arrangements with the Council for their marathon torch-carrying relay this coming weekend, so that the Council did not have enough time to put in place the road closure orders and other work (and there were other safety-related issues that had been neglected) the threatened event will now go ahead after all.

Thanks to sterling work by members of the Cabinet, most of the difficulties have been overcome. It was necessary for participants to be transported by car or lorry where it was not safe to walk, and that includes a fair chunk of the one-mile stretch that Horsted ward Councillor John Ward walked.

Participants are allowed to be sponsored for registered charities, and Cllr Ward's collection is for the Salvation Army, Chatham whose Church Street, Chatham premises house a vibrant church and force for good both within the Medway Towns and beyond.

Anyway, it is a case of triumph over considerable adversity for Medway Council, and in particular for its Conservative Administration.

Perhaps, in recognition of all that has been done to rescue this almost-doomed occasion, the Jubilee Flame should have been carried around our Towns in a Conservative Torch...

Update: 2nd June 2002

The event itself was a tremendous success, and went very well throughout, with kind weather and great enthusiasm all round. The newspaper's editor, Bob Dimond, accompanied every participant, so it is not surprising that he was exhausted at the end of each day! A "Dimond Geezer" to be sure!

Several Medway Councillors joined in, as follows (in order of taking the Flame):