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Rochester divided as council leader makes last ditch bid for city status
KentOnline / KMTV
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29/01/2025
With the Leader of Medway Council writing to government last week to get the local authority recognised, Oliver Leader de Saxe has been out in the former city to find out if people really care about the bid.
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00:00
When does a city cease to be a city? Well in Rochester's case when those in charge
00:07
didn't do the paperwork. Back in
00:10
1998 when Medway Council was being created
00:15
Rochester upon Medway City Council didn't appoint the trustees needed
00:21
Making it the only place in UK history to lose its city status. The question remains
00:28
More than two decades on do people here
00:33
Actually care? Very much so I think that Rochester should return to Rochester upon Medway a city
00:39
And if Medway if the rest of the towns want to become Medway City, that's fine
00:44
But I do believe that Rochester should return to being a city by itself
00:48
Yeah, I'd like to see Rochester at least. Definitely bring more tourism in even local people would come back to
00:55
Come to see the local events
00:59
So I'm worried about the state not necessarily the
01:02
Status I mean is because we I do a lot of work on the local community
01:06
We obviously refer to it as the Medway towns
01:09
But yeah, because I know Rochester was a city
01:11
But I don't know it depends whether or not it's a benefit to the area being a city or not
01:16
So what makes a city a city? Well, it's not actually one of these
01:23
Cathedrals are a common misconception about what grants a place city status
01:28
It's less to do with God and more to do with the government who themselves are embarking on a major shake-up of Kent's
01:36
local authorities
01:38
Raising the question of whether this is the last chance
01:42
Medway has of getting its city status back on track
01:47
It is about that inward investment is about saying actually
01:51
Medway is proud of its history, but proud of its future as well. But from a practical perspective
01:56
It's highly unlikely that Medway as we know it the two hundred and eighty five thousand
02:02
Residents are going to be in a position to be able to move that forward because if the rules remain the same, of course
02:07
It will just be those larger unitary authorities
02:10
Which of course will be part of but won't be Medway by itself
02:14
The leader of Medway Council has already written to government in a last-ditch bid to regain city status
02:22
But not everyone is happy with the letter
02:26
anything sensitive like this to do with identity has to be
02:30
Has to be put out to consultation. You have to have the people with you have to win hearts and minds to do something like this
02:36
But unfortunately what's happened over the years with these multiple bid multiple?
02:40
Bids for city status. It's just been it's just been done to us
02:45
It's been done to the community the decision now rests with government
02:50
but for some
02:52
Rochester not Medway will always be a city is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to cities and
02:59
Rochester has been acknowledged as a city for well over a thousand years
03:04
It's the it's this thing
03:06
The city of Rochester society would describe it as a city by ancient prescriptive rights
03:11
In other words, if people recognize it as a city, it's a city
03:14
It doesn't matter what anyone else says, but whatever happens next in this tale of two cities
03:19
It certainly won't be a fairy tale ending for everyone here in Medway
03:26
Oliver leader the sacks for KMTV in Rochester
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