Magpie Hall Road will be closed from the intersection at New Road to the junction with Lester Road, in Chatham, between November 21 - 22. Network Rail have set the closure of the road to enable a team to carry out a detailed examination of the rail over road bridge. The road closure will be in place between 11pm until 6am. Picture Credit: Google Street View It is expected that there will be minor disruption to motorists considering the working times, although a local diversion route should be in place.
We recently discovered some impressive artwork based on local points of interest or locations that people see on a day-to-day basis across Medway on Twitter, following a search of the '#LutonArches' hashtag. The artwork is created by David Frankum, an award-winning freelance illustrator/ artist living in Gillingham whom has produced illustrations comic book and novel clients. His most recent work was his participation in the Inktober drawing challenge, an inititative where every October artists all over the world create one ink drawing a day for the entire month. David's take on Inktober was his 'ME' project, drawing a scene from the Medway Towns each day. We approached him and asked him a few questions for this interview, providing an in-depth perspective from David about the project. What motivated you to get involved in Inktober? Sometimes as an illustrator I find myself in a position where by I'm a vehicle for someone else's ideas. Which is great, I haven't any complaints on this issue and I very much enjoy the collaboration when working with a writer, but sometimes it's nice just to be yourself. As a creative person I have ideas and creative thoughts of my own, but I don't necessarily have the time to exercise them. Inktober provides me, and other artists, with a perfect platform to do just that, to have the freedom to produce artwork that I may not usually get the chance to create. I stumbled across Inktober by chance a few years ago on-line and thought it was fantastically fun. It was lovely to see what other artists were producing and posting on-line. The beauty of it for me is that anyone can be be part of the event. Grab some ink, doodle 'something', post it. I believe that everyone is an artist. If you can communicate pictorially, creating with intent, you're an artist. So, three years ago, I participated in Inktober for the first time. I followed the rules, a picture a day drawn in ink. It's as simple as that. My first Inktober project went on to become a book called The Wormgler. I drew a picture a day which my the end of thirty one days, became a story. On their own the images I drew appeared to be very random and surreal but once you collected them all together (or if you followed me on a daily basis) they became a story. For me, I loved the total freedom. No restrictions at all and I could be 'me'. The book has since sold very well on-line and in independent book stores throughout England, Australia and in America (For more information click here) I did take part in Inktober last year, but unfortunately my efforts were constantly on the back burner as I was illustrating two books at the same time, both of which had deadlines for the end of October. For this particular project I was producing portraits on Post-It notes. The plan being, once you put them all together the individual pieces of art contributed to one big picture. It was highly enjoyable, but time restraints put an end to it. However, I wish to continue on with that idea at some point. This years project, ME, has been churning away inside of me for a number of years. It was wonderful to actually peruse a topic I was deeply passionate about. As with the other projects, ME has been very fulfilling on so many different levels. Out of all the areas in art and design I've worked in, documenting in my sketchbook is where I am at my most happiest. Throw the Medway Towns into the mix and, for me, something magical happened. By the end of the project I felt even more connected to my roots and it's been lovely to hear that others share the same experience when they've seen my sketches. It has been by far the best project I have worked on. I was born in Gillingham and I still live in the Medway Towns, my surroundings are a constant inspiration, they always have been, so it was nice to finally create a chance to celebrate my 'home' area. What do you see in local areas of interest that makes you want to create an artpiece of it? With the ME project, all of the places I drew were very significant to me in one way or another. They all had a sentimental value to them. Every one of the drawings were purely from the heart. All of the locations provoke an emotional response within me. Affection translated onto paper. I wasn't too worried about making mistakes or if the perspective is accurate. As long as the subject was recognisable and captures the spirit of the location, then I was happy. The day before I started the project I wrote out a list of locations, I came up with about fifty within minutes. Again, as with the drawings, it was all very much a gut reaction. I really didn't have to think about. The tricky bit was condensing the list down to thirty one. I constantly see places of interest. Some of them are very small and not entirely obvious to everyone, but sometimes it's a small collection of almost unnoticed places that really help define a town's character and identity. There are also some wonderful hidden gems in the Medway Towns. The Towns are remarkable, enriched in history, full of character and individualism, diverse and full of great potential. Medway has so much to offer. How on earth could I not be inspired? :-) Do you have any aspirations for your work to potentially be used for tourism etc. in the future? I will be completely honest with you, that hadn't crossed my mind. To be honest, my main concentration when producing the series of drawings was making sure that I went out and drew one piece of artwork a day. I had to be very focused and dedicated. Once all of the postcards had been drawn, I laid them out in order in my studio and my first reaction was that they would look neat if they were exhibited altogether, for the people of the Medway Towns to look at, and hopefully enjoy all of the pictures. As I have mentioned, the response has been incredible, far beyond anything I expected and I think that they would be right at home being exhibited somewhere in the Medway Towns. So, that's what's next. I'm currently looking around at different exhibition locations. The exhibition has to be where people can come 'straight off of the streets', somewhere that is highly accessible to everyone. As well as an exhibition, I'm currently planning on producing prints or a collected book of all of the images as this idea has been requested by a great number of people. The idea that the ME images could potentially be used for tourism is marvellous. I would be be deeply honoured if any of my work from the ME project was used for tourism. I would even be more than happy to produce new images, if need be. Hopefully that will be something that happens in the future. Fingers crossed. We'd like to thank David for his great responses to our answers. A true artist that deserves recognition for his brilliant artwork! Check out a sample of some of his ink drawings for the ME project in the slideshow below: We have been in talks with Arches Local to suggest the idea to the All Saints Community Trust to potentially host an open-day exhibition showcasing the ME project with David. At the moment we cannot confirm anything, but hope that the proposal will develop soon.
You'll also find that some of his artwork will be added to our website over the coming months, so do keep an eye out! If you'd like to find out more about David and his work, you can check out his official website and view the entire ME project by viewing his news blog. Medway Council have launched a public consultation earlier this week regarding the future of the Luton Shoppers Car Park in Chatham. As discussed at a Cabinet meeting on June 7, Medway Council conducted a review of Council owned land, including car parks, across Medway for sites that may be suitable for development. The Luton Shoppers Car Park was identified as one of the 7 sites that are earmarked to be disposed and developed. The Luton Shoppers Car Park is a public car park located off Magpie Hall Road with 56 spaces allowing visitors to park for free up to 20 hours. The survey outlines proposals that the existing car park could be developed primarily for housing, as well as the potential of including community space, therefore a loss of a heavily used public car park. A further option is to retain public car parking facilities and develop housing. Medway Council are understandably determined to meet national targets to ease the housing crisis, however factors such as existing parking problems in the area also have to be considered. On-street parking is very limited in the area, and the car park provides a designated zone for commercial businesses and shoppers to park their cars away from residents. The possible loss of the existing site and the development of additional housing will have a knock-on effect on the immediate area, as the existing users and new residents will be forced to park on-street, which as already explained, is very limited in terms of space availability therefore causing further issues and clogging up residential streets. The development of housing at this location would also place further pressure on nearby schools and the GP, which is already at breaking point. Taking these factors into mind, housing development will place pressure on local facilities, such as medical and education services, as well as affecting parking across the area. Picture Credit: Google Maps We agree with Arches Local, as they stated in a recent tweet, that the car park 'should be retained and the potential use of a market explored', to improve local trading and minimise the risk of further parking chaos.
Speaking about the proposals, Tristan Osborne, Councillor for Luton & Wayfield, said: "I will oppose any private sector development for that land that does not include a public car park option." Cllr Osborne has also submitted a Freedom of Information request to Medway Council to review whether any correspondance with a third-party that is interested in the development of the site has taken place yet. If you would like to share your views on the proposals set out for the Luton Shoppers Car Park, then please complete the Medway Council survey to let them know what you think prior to further development of this matter. This consultation is open for feedback until February 7, 2017. |
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