REFERENDUM polls will open on Thursday across the UK, to decide whether the political voting system should be changed.
MPs around the county are campaigning for their preferred system in their constituencies, as well as promoting candidates for the local elections.
The UK currently uses the first-past-the-post system, which requires one vote at the ballot and sees the candidate with the most votes win. Under the alternative vote, voters will be given the option to rank candidates in order of preference - any candidate with more than 50% of the vote automatically wins, but if it is below the candidate with the fewest vote is eliminated and voting starts again until a candidate gets above 50% of the votes.
The Libdems are encouraging the system which they see as a fairer way of voting and would give them a better proportion of seats during an election. Labour and the Tories are in favour of keeping the current system as it allows them to continue their widely-perceived 'two horse race', making it difficult for other parties.
In Folkestone, Conservative MP Damian Collins joined forces with Labour rival Donald Worsley.
"FPTP ensures the candidate who receives the most votes wins. It is simple, creates strong governments and is the most widely-used system in the world," Mr Collins said.
RESIDENTS close to Chaucer Fields have gathered at the offices of Canterbury Council today to 'say no' to the proposed developments by the University of Kent.
The site situated in University Road would mark the arrival of a hotel with 150 rooms, a conference centre and student flats to accommodate more than 700. Residents living close by are concerned that the development could deteriorate their neighbourhood.
Nearly 400 residents from roads close to the fields have wrote to the council against the proposals and many homes are displaying banners and posters to 'say no' to the university's plans.
Many have expressed that they already suffer from noise and antisocial behaviour caused by students passing in the early hours. There are also fears that the number of cars parked on the streets could increase dramatically due to students living so close, making congestion problems worse.
Mr and Mrs Booth, residents living a stones throw from the proposed site told Kent Press that it 'would be a great loss' to the community if the plans were to go ahead.
"It's an emotional subject for myself and many people," Mr Booth, of Durnford Close said.
"We've taken visitors from many countries across the Chaucer Fields and they have loved it as we do. On a more practical side, it's day to day living. With the talk of some 800 more students living in the area it would affect our way of life - not something we would be happy about and of course we would lose the beauty of the fields for everyday use."
Mrs Booth added concern for Canterbury's green areas as the city continues to expand: "Canterbury is expanding just about north, south, east and west. We are having no clear spaces for children to run around and enjoy themselves. We haven't got many parks as such either. At this end we have already got a housing estate plus a huge residential area around here so we think it's just unfair to take that space."
Two solutions are being backed by campaigners to stop the University of Kent from going ahead with the plans. Documents dating back to the 1950s were recently uncovered, claiming that Chaucer Fields should be left as a green buffer between the university and the city. The second solution could be to get village status for the area which would prevent the development.
The University of Kent argues that the development will create new job opportunities for the area.
The yellow area below shows how close residents will be to the proposed site, shaded red.
We'll have more reaction to this story later today direct from outside Canterbury Council.
MEDWAY'S under 11s and over 60s are now able to enter swimming pools around the district for free.
The scheme was announced by Medway Council in February to help the young and old keep fit.
The price for young children and the elderly was originally £4. Residents wishing to take advantage of the scheme must hold a Medway City Card which offers a range of discounts for local shops.
Splashes lifeguard Gemma Littlewood, 20, said: "I think it's a good idea because it encourages families to be more active, especially in the current climate."
However Miss Littlewood added that swimming pools could become packed as a result of the change.
"I do think that the scheme doesn't really think about the effect it has on the swimming pool though - for example the pressure of the increased amounts of customers. And what will happen when they eventually take it away?"
Richard Hicks, Assistant Director for leisure, said: “Swimming is one of the best types of exercise people can do whether young or old and it is also good fun.
“I am very pleased that we are able to bring in free swimming for children aged under-11 and those over-60.
“This will make it cheaper for families and hopefully encourage people to keep fit, active and healthy.”
A similar UK-wide scheme offering free swimming to under 16s and over 60s was axed by the government last July to save £40m.
MARKETING manager Stephanie Klinge-Davis told
Kent Press there was 'a sigh of relief' when the Arts
Council made the announcement.
THE ARTS Council has announced that the Canterbury Festival will receive an increase in its budget, despite an actual decrease in funding and fierce competition from other bidders.
The festival which attracts over 70,000 people each year will receive a 36% increase in funding for the next three years.
Marketing manager Stephanie Klinge-Davis said that if the festival had not secured funding from the Arts Council it would have been "very disappointing and really bad for the festivals programming."
"The extra money will enable us with our vision of making the festival bigger, better, explore different routes and always improve and continue to offer something for everyone."
The festival director Rosie Turner added: “We are very pleased and relieved that the Arts Council has awarded us a generous amount of funding.”
“It means that the Festival will be able to continue to provide high quality international arts events during October – so thankfully it’s business as usual.
“Some of our artistic colleagues elsewhere in the County have not been so fortunate as there is simply less money in the pot to distribute, but I feel that the Arts Council has demonstrated great care and transparency throughout this difficult process.”
The largest festival in the region will return to Canterbury in October.
CHATHAM'S Central Theatre has announced that former rapper Vanilla Ice will play Captain Hook in this years panto.
The American superstar rose to fame in 1991 with the iconic hit 'Ice Ice Baby' and recently competed on ITV1's Dancing on Ice.
Theatre head Tony Hill said: “Over the past few years we have had some great names at our pantomimes.
“It is fantastic news that we have booked the internationally famous star Vanilla Ice for this year’s pantomime Peter Pan.
“Ice is a huge name who I am sure will be a really draw for parents and children alike because of his musical and film career as well as his appearance on Dancing on Ice.
“Vanilla Ice has never performed in a pantomime before, but I am sure that he will go down as a hit when he plays Captain Hook in Peter Pan this year.”
'Peter Pan' will run at the Central Theatre, Chatham from December 9 - Jan 2, 2012.
18 SCHOOLS in Kent have taken part in the BBC News School Report 2011 today.
The annual project enables pupils to take part in a nationwide radio and TV news day - getting firsthand practice as reporters and presenters.
Two lucky pupils from Rainham School for Girls were selected from the south east to interview prime minister David Cameron. Lucy Elkins and Sara Silve, 12, (pictured, left) went to Downing Street on March 17 to take part in a pupil press conference with the PM.
Writing about the experience on their news blog, Sara said: "I nearly had a heart attack as just as we were about to interview David Cameron in Downing Street he just came jumping through the door and Lucy nearly screamed. She was so surprised, that after she jumped she burst out laughing and it took a while to stop her."
Today pupils across the county took part by recording video news bulletins, radio news updates and writing news stories for the web - as well as the weather.
BBC News presenter Huw Edwards who took part in the project said: "Over the years I've run many journalism workshops in schools.
"So I've seen how much fun it can be and how much can be learnt when there are real deadlines, real audiences and real standards to meet."I'm involved because I want to give young people the chance to make the news themselves, and I want to share the principles of good journalism."
Here is a full list of all participating schools in the region:
INTERNET users across Kent are paying through the roof for connection speeds as low as 1.0Mpbs it has emerged today.
The lagging problem across the country makes the UK one of the worst places for broadband in Europe according to recent research. The findings by Akamai also revealed that not one UK city made it into the top 100 places in the world to receive broadband.
Ashford resident Andy Pruvost, 23, has told Kent Press that it is sometimes impossible to do simple surfing on the internet as speeds vary from 1.0Mpbs to 3.0Mpbs - speeds which are the average in parts of Africa.
"Sometimes you want to load a video and it takes ages so you can't really watch the video, or even when you're playing silly games on Facebook and the internet, it's really slow so you can't play these games."
Mr Pruvost, who is in the UK training to teach French, told us connections at home across the channel are much faster: "In France the quality is much better than here in England. The speed is much higher and we've got fibre optic which is really fast in France. I know that it is coming here, but we still have a much better connection in France," he explains. You can hear his full reaction by clicking on the video above.
Earlier this year it was revealed that some areas of Kent are the slowest in the country. Research by top10.com found that Farningham village was struggling to reach speeds of 1.3Mpbs and Railway Hill Street in Canterbury could only manage a minuscule 0.13Mpbs - making it the slowest road in the UK.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel for Kent web surfers. Earlier this month Kent County Council (KCC) announced that rural communities with slow broadband can apply for a grant of up to £100,000 to boost their internet connection. The £1.5m allocated to applications can be bid by community groups, parish councils and local authorities.
"Many rural areas have 'not spots' which means they have either slow broadband or no service at all," said Councillor Kevin Lynes, member for regeneration and economic development.
"Successful bids will be able to make a real difference to local people and change their quality of life - Having access to fast broadband is as important as any other utility service," he added.
"However, there are only so many communities we can help, and ultimately by helping to prove the demand for broadband we hope the telecoms providers will take responsibility for bringing this technology to 'harder to reach' areas," said Mr Lynes.
And there is more hope - BT is rolling out its upgraded superfast Infinity broadband later this month. Upgrades in Ashford, Bexleyheath, Tunbridge Wells, Sittingbourne, Gravesend and Dartford are already underway according to the BT website. Canterbury, Deal, Strood, Orpington, Chatham, Herne Bay and other struggling areas will receive the upgrades later this year. But only Deal, Greenhithe and Herne Bay will actually be able to use these speeds in 2012.
The UK currently uses the first-past-the-post system, which requires one vote at the ballot and sees the candidate with the most votes win. Under the alternative vote, voters will be given the option to rank candidates in order of preference - any candidate with more than 50% of the vote automatically wins, but if it is below the candidate with the fewest vote is eliminated and voting starts again until a candidate gets above 50% of the votes.
