Sheppey

visitG our website w w w. t h iazet s i s k e n t . c o . u k making local matter more teAugust 31,2011 60p 150 pairs of show Pupils celebrate tickets to be won re c o rd re s u l t s Page 10 PAGE 10 and 11

Top stories Maths genius A 10-YEAR-OLD was among the Fresh bid youngest in the country to pass his maths GCSE. Daniel Dawson from Eastchurch sat the exam six years early after teachers at the village school noticed his amazing mathematical potential. Find out more on page 3 to tackle Vet vouchers STAFFORDSHIRE bull terriers are being put down because homes cannot be found for them. To halt the increase in the number being abandoned, the RSPCA is offering owners a cut- price neutering voucher. war time Full story page 5 shipwreck Lost at sea Petition to deal with Report by Jim Palmer

[email protected] A PETITION has been launched urging the Government to remove the wreck of the SS or make it ACTOR Timothy Spall was all at s a f e. sea when he had to be rescued The American after getting lost on The River was sunk off the coast of Sheer- First past the post: Riders compete in the Round Medway, not far from Iwade. ness on August 20, 1944 with 1,400 Ta b l e ’s donkey derby Picture by Tony Butler GITB20110828E-076_C The RNLI came to his aid after tonnes of explosives on board, his night-time navigation skills let and many still believe it poses a Unsafe? The SS Richard Montgomery sank with 1,400 tonnes of him down. threat to people living on the explosives on board in 1944 Full story page 7 island. And they’re off in Optimistic the debate about the ship for- “This has been going on 67 ward. Londoner Mr Angel said: years. It has been sitting there Turbine views Semi-retired electrical engin- “If we get 20,000 signatures then it and it could go off at any time.” WIND turbine manufacturer eer Ron Angel created an e-peti- will show something needs to be Mr Angel has been researching the donkey derby Vestas wants people’s opinions tion which he hopes people will done about it.” the ship for 20 years and runs a on its plans to build a factory in sign. He added: “I want to get website –w w w. s s r i ch a rd m o n t YOU would have hit the jackpot if Eight races were fiercely Sheer ness. While he is not optimistic his something done about the thing gomery.com –dedicated to it. you bet on a great day out on fought with crowds spurring the Up to 2,000 jobs could be campaign will attract the 100,000 before it is too late. No one is He said that in order to move S u n d ay, as more than 1,800 people young jockeys on, and £2,500 was created if the firm comes to the signatures necessary to force a doing anything about it and the wreck or to make it safe, an trotted along to the Donkey raised for charity. island and it is holding a series of debate on the issue in the House everybody is just hoping it will go D e r by. roadshow events. of Commons, he hopes to move away, but it is not. Turn to page 3 Full coverage on page 4 Full story page 7 EKG-EO2-S2 w w w. thisiskent.co.uk EKG-EO2-S2 News Gazette, We d n e s d a y,August 31,2011 3 Man crushed by boats A MAN was taken to hospital after he was crushed between two boats. The 57-year-old man was manoeuvring his boat at Queenborough all-tide landing when he slipped into Maths genius passes the water between two boats at 10.10am on Monday. The Coastguard and the ambulance were called and the man was taken to hospital to be checked over, but was thought to have suffered only bruising. Meanwhile, four sailors had to swim ashore after their boat started taking on water off Leysdown. The coastguard was called at 1.20pm on Monday but the crew managed to swim safely to shore on their GCSE six years early own. The coastguard helped to recover the boat when the tide receded. 10-year-old Daniel is delighted with his B grade

Report by Jim Palmer

[email protected] A MATHS whizz is one of the youngest in Kent to have gained a top grade in the GCSE exam, aged just 10. While most boys his age prefer their Pi with mash, Chelsea fan Daniel Dawson sat his maths exam six years early. On Thursday Daniel, of Anne Boleyn Close in Eastchurch, joined more than 300 teenagers at Sheppey Academy to pick up his results and got a B –better than a lot of 1 6 - ye a r- o l d s. The result was a welcome p re s e n t for his mum, Anne, whose birthday was on results day. She said: “I am really proud of him. He has always shown ability from a very early age. He has something explained to him and he can just do it. There is no grey area.” Neither Anne nor Daniel’s father, Steven, who manages Cains Amuse- ments in Leysdown, lay claim to the maths genes, Anne said. When he is not a school, his parents said Daniel is just like any boy his a g e. Nor mal Anne said: “He loves football and plays for Range Rovers under-11s. He does maths when he is at school and apart from that he is a normal 10-year- old boy, which is important for us as a f amily.” Last November, Eastchurch Primary School head teacher Pauline Shipley arranged for him to take maths lessons at the academy. Anne, herself a qualified teacher who manages the nursery at the Warden Road school, said the staff had been “f antastic”with her son, after identifying him as a gifted pupil while he was still in reception class, aged just 5. She said: “They had everything in place for him. It was really helpful. It meant I could relax. I didn’t have to fight to get what was right for my son, which was nice. “You hear about families that have had to do it all by themselves but we have been really lucky. Mrs Shipley and the staff have always looked to do the best for Daniel.” Next term Daniel, who aspires to be an accountant, will leave his old class- mates behind and become a fully- fledged Sheppey Academy pupil a year early, in Shurland school. Anne said: “He is above average in all subjects and hopefully he can thrive with the right support.” Clever boy: Eastchurch Primary pupil Daniel Dawson, 10, made parents Anne and Steven proud with his maths GCSE IFor more GCSE results coverage GIPM20110829L-005_C turn to pages 10 and 11 Petition over explosives on war wreck

From front page A spokesman for the Department exclusion zone and by marking the IYou can put your name on the for Transport, which is responsible for location of the wreck as a hazard to petition by going to http:// enclosure known as a cofferdam the wreck, said: “Our current man- shipping. e p e t i t i o n s . d i re c t . g o v. u k / p e t i t i o n s / would need to be built around the ship agement regime is one of monitoring “It also continues to be monitored 24 13021. A talk about the SS Richard and the water drained out. and non-intervention, together with hours a day by radar, and is regularly Montgomery, called The Wreck, will In addition to the expense of the frequent surveys of the wreck and the surveyed to establish the current state take place from 7.30pm on Friday, major operation, Mr Angel said the surrounding seabed. of the wreck and the surrounding September 9 at Blue Town Heritage Centre, as part of the risk of exposing the explosives to the Zone a re a . air would mean Sheppey would need “In addition, the need for future Promenade festival. For more to be evacuated throughout the three “Consequently protection of the limited intervention measures is kept information or to book tickets call months he thinks it would take. wreck is maintained by a no-entry under review.” 01795 662981. 6Gazette, We d n e s d a y,August 31,2011 EKG-EO1-S2 w w w. thisiskent.co.uk

GAZETTEGAZETTE I Post IE-mail Your Views, North Kent Media newsdesk.gazette@ GOSSIPGOSSIP Centre, 4 Ambley Green, KRNmedia.co.uk byby GazetteerGazetteer your Gillingham Business Park, I ..... 01634 236331 v i ew s Kent ME8 0NJ Fax SOUNDS filled the air over Swale as noisy activities took place during the some kind of public country park. This is exactly the sort of thing could be built within a year. employing their own staff, and bank holiday weekend. A disgraceful Yes, it was always questionable Sittingbourne needs –a beating Renewable energy contributes to good, reputable builders in all The roar of engines was heard in policy of fear that the quarry could somehow heart at its centre. It has been our short-term reduction targets to trades. These are just some of our and around Sittingbourne on offer compensation for the shown by the existing small prevent runaway climate change, is lost jobs –replaced by what? Monday as hundreds of classic cars I WAS appalled to read the latest extensive loss of surrounding museum in East Street and the safe, unlike nuclear power, and Nothing. and bikes made their way to the attack by the Conservative section countryside, but at least they were shop unit in The Forum that there is provides local jobs. We should grasp the opportunity Kent Chrome and Cruisers show. of our current government on our not going to destroy what is now, in an interest and, more importantly, Keith Taylor (Green MEP for of an airport, with work for all, for Roads around Central Park Stadium hardworking public servants. the minds of many, a very precious support for a heritage museum. south-east England) years to come. The whole area were chock-a-block with the The latest policy development is and sensitive nature reserve. Most towns in Britain have one – would be regenerated by the wealth vehicles as proud owners s t e e re d to instil fear of job losses into However, now the light is why not Sittingbourne? In praise of our and jobs brought to this area and their pride and joy into the venue. teachers, doctors, nurses, dimming on any prospect of the But, as usually happens in this Sheppey would be brought back Down the road, at Murston Old policemen and other public sectors Kent Science Park expanding, the crazy town, I expect the site will be A-level pupils into the 21st century. employees. Church, a completely different owners of the quarry –the flattened and flats built thereon. MAY I, through your columns, Give our young people the Tory ministers feel that someone soundtrack was created as a four- Doubleday family –have decided to When will the council realise, given congratulate all those who got their chances we had –a job, pride and in fear of losing their job is more part harmony drifted from the glass- put forward this site for landfill. the way our ailing high street is A-level results last week. independence. productive than someone who isn’t. less window of the derelict building. As any large landowner should going, that we do not need more Swale’s schools did a brilliant job George Bowes, Never mind that all studies show Sittingbourne folk band Los be aware, there is a difficult balance houses and flats? They only bring in preparing our young people for Scarborough Drive, Minster that employees who are happy, Salvadores had been given between running a day-to-day more people to live in our town, a these important examinations and secure and well rewarded are more permission to hold a photoshoot business and being guardians of town that cannot sustain or the students rose to the challenge, Danger on the productive than any other. inside the beautiful building and the countryside. Given that the area accommodate them. often exceeding expectations. This is another crude and callous took the opportunity to experiment concerned is relatively small and I wish Mr Morgan all the best in I wish everyone the best, shipping lane attempt by this government to with its fantastic acoustics. has always been entirely unsuitable trying to acquire the funding to buy whatever their future may hold. GW Bowes (Letters, August 10) is blame the public sector for the The impromptu concert, which for farming and that the very same this building. He has my full support Mike Whiting, right, the authorities should do recession caused by their friends in stopped passers-by in their tracks, landowners as part of the Kent and, I hope, also that of the KCC member, Swale Central something about the wreck of the the banking world. could have been a taste of things to Science Park consortium once corporate bodies he approaches. SS Richard Montgomery, but no The minister in charge of this come at the site, which artists hope extolled the environmental virtues Just for once I hope he will get all one wants to take any responsibility policy, Oliver Letwin, makes around Mr Henderson’s to transform into an arts centre. of this site, isn’t this just a tad the support he deserves. for it. £2 million per year as a banker. I The patter of footsteps livened up hypocritical? Finally, while many will remember railway silence It has more than 10,000 bombs the airwaves on Sheppey as would be interested to hear our Andy Hudson, that the magistrates’court was I READ with great interest the of different sizes on board, together budding young dancers took to the MP’sviews on this disgraceful Bapchild formerly the police station, how proposals put forward by Councillor with 1,249 cases of phosphorous, stage in preparation for an exciting p o l i c y. many know it was also once the fire Mike Whiting to use the potential of and 2,297 cases of cluster bombs. project. Dancers from Akademi Martin McCusker, station as well? When the town’s Mr Morgan’s the railway system in Sittingbourne This is about 3,500 tons of bombs taught Indian dance to 11-to-18- Lloyd Drive, Sittingbourne fire brigade was first formed, it better and I welcome the idea he which equates to 1,400 tons of TNT, year-olds in the seaside town on excellent idea shared the building with the police. has put forward. as approximated by the Defence Saturday and will perform there Landfill in our At the side of the building you PETER Morgan is to be However, at a time when families Evaluation and Research Agency. themselves on September 10 and can still see where the hoses were congratulated on his ambitious plan are struggling, high fuel prices are It may be unlikely that it will 11, inspired by the area’s beauty precious pit once hung to dry. So you see what to acquire the former magistrates’ pricing people off the road, and explode by itself, but there is a and a poem about heaven. THE chalk pit quarry off Woodstock a historic building it is. court in Park Road, Sittingbourne, commuters’wages are being frozen great danger that it could be hit by If all this noise is too much, read Road was once the environmental John Clancy, for transformation into a centrally or cut, the environment is a growing another ship which could then next week’sGazette when our jewel in the crown of the Woodside Gardens, Sittingbourne placed heritage museum (East Kent concern and unemployment is an detonate the wreck’s cargo of TNT, reporter spends an evening with consortium behind the plans to Gazette, August 17). increasing problem in Sittingbourne especially as it is right next door to Swale Council’s environmental expand the Kent Science Park. This is not the first time Mr We should all and Sheppey, this Government – the Medway shipping lane. enforcement officers, getting tough They were to offer this already Morgan has striven for this. Sadly, which Mr Whiting’s party is leading When the wreck starts to rust on noisy neighbours. valuable environmental asset as back this plan previous plans came to nothing. –has decided to pursue a rail fare apart, it could spill 10,000 bombs PETER Morgan’s suggestion of policy that will bring an eight per on to the sea bed and spill converting the disused magistrates’ cent increase in prices this year (up phosphorus –which floats and court into a museum is a wonderful to 13 per cent on peak London could be washed up on the idea and should be supported by fares) potentially reaching a total of beaches. everyone in Sittingbourne, including 28 per cent by 2015. Derek Wyatt has said he was local politicians. Commuters travelling to work shocked when he found out about With the large number of people every day have no realistic the amount of munitions still left in who are without work, I wonder alternative to rail travel and will the wreck and warned that sooner how many will offer their services to have to lower their standard of rather than later action should be help to construct and run the living to remain in employment. The taken to deal with the problem. museum. Which is a better answer unemployed will have restricted The Maritime Coastguard Agency in a job interview to the question, access to job opportunities. seems to be hiding information “What have you been doing since Given that the economy has about the ship’s present state. The your last job?”–unemployed, or flatlined for nine months because of last report on its condition was five working, albeit unpaid, at the this Government’s austerity years ago. I have written to them museum? measures (which our MP has voted twice, but got no response. At present, Faversham has one of for) and given the importance of the For more links, videos, text, the biggest museums outside railways to the economy, isn’t it photos and a link to the Kent’s London. Sheppey has about six clear that pushing train fares up by History forum, see my Facebook museums around the island. such ridiculous sums is totally the site SS Richard Montgomery (The Sittingbourne has only two very wrong approach? Wre c k ) . small ones, open only a couple of Other Kent and south-east MPs Tim Bell, hours a week. have been extremely vocal about Scrapsgate Road, Minster The council should help with their constituents’concerns over money, either through direct the impact of the rising costs of Still searching contributions, or with grants. train travel. Why hasn’t Mr Mr Morgan has spent most of his Henderson done the same? for a lost cat life trying to take the “H”out of the Ashley Wise, IT IS now a year since I lost my town’s name. I am not so sure Shortlands Road, Sittingbourne. beloved tabby cat and I have had about the supermarkets, with their no word or trace of her. expensive mad plans to redevelop Give our young She was let out early on August the centre of the town. 25, 2010, a very windy morning, Sheikh Mihand (aka Jackie people achance and although we searched and Davidson), searched, we have not found her. Sittingbourne Loonies. OVER the years we have watched helplessly as Sheerness and the This is not a letter to preach to island continually declines –due, in anyone, but to urge them to have Warm welcome my opinion, to the apathy and their animal chipped. In my case, for Vestas’plan negative attitude of some people. she was to be done on her next They seem always to oppose any booster in September. How I wish I I WAS pleased to read in the national developments and changes, had not put it off. press that Vestas proposes to create without specifying what it is they In my case –and many more –if a wind turbine factory in Sheerness. consider best for Sheppey and its a body is never found, it doesn’t As the Green MEP for the south- people. We must stop always help. But if one is found, even a east region, I welcome Vestas’ thinking of ourselves. year of two later, they can be plans. Not only would this be a step The people I feel most sorry for reunited with their owner, saving the forward for our environment in the are those leaving school. Where do heartache. south-east, it is also good news for they go? What do they do? There Was she killed by a dog, or hit by our economy and could provide up are no jobs for them. a car, or something else? If so, why to 2,000 much-needed jobs. Permit me to run through just was her body picked up? I know I was involved in campaigning to some of the employers on Sheppey she didn’t go far from home. save the Vestas factory in the Isle of from yesteryear. The Army It’s not too late to do the right Wight, which was forced to close barracks; RAF Eastchurch; the thing and come forward and tell the back in 2009 due to a lack of Royal Navy with its HM Dockyard Sheppey Gazette where her body government subsidies. and jobs for 3,000 men. We had the was put, or call me on 01795 Now, just two years on, this Olau line, Pilkington Glass, Johnson 669135. company’s progress is remarkable Potteries, local authorities all C Snody, and the proposed new factory Marine Parade, Sheerness.