00:00When does a city cease to be a city? Well in Rochester's case when those in charge
00:07didn't do the paperwork. Back in
00:101998 when Medway Council was being created
00:15Rochester upon Medway City Council didn't appoint the trustees needed
00:21Making it the only place in UK history to lose its city status. The question remains
00:28More than two decades on do people here
00:33Actually care? Very much so I think that Rochester should return to Rochester upon Medway a city
00:39And if Medway if the rest of the towns want to become Medway City, that's fine
00:44But I do believe that Rochester should return to being a city by itself
00:48Yeah, I'd like to see Rochester at least. Definitely bring more tourism in even local people would come back to
00:55Come to see the local events
00:59So I'm worried about the state not necessarily the
01:02Status I mean is because we I do a lot of work on the local community
01:06We obviously refer to it as the Medway towns
01:09But yeah, because I know Rochester was a city
01:11But I don't know it depends whether or not it's a benefit to the area being a city or not
01:16So what makes a city a city? Well, it's not actually one of these
01:23Cathedrals are a common misconception about what grants a place city status
01:28It'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
01:36local authorities
01:38Raising the question of whether this is the last chance
01:42Medway has of getting its city status back on track
01:47It is about that inward investment is about saying actually
01:51Medway is proud of its history, but proud of its future as well. But from a practical perspective
01:56It's highly unlikely that Medway as we know it the two hundred and eighty five thousand
02:02Residents are going to be in a position to be able to move that forward because if the rules remain the same, of course
02:07It will just be those larger unitary authorities
02:10Which of course will be part of but won't be Medway by itself
02:14The leader of Medway Council has already written to government in a last-ditch bid to regain city status
02:22But not everyone is happy with the letter
02:26anything sensitive like this to do with identity has to be
02:30Has 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
02:36But unfortunately what's happened over the years with these multiple bid multiple?
02:40Bids for city status. It's just been it's just been done to us
02:45It's been done to the community the decision now rests with government
02:50but for some
02:52Rochester not Medway will always be a city is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to cities and
02:59Rochester has been acknowledged as a city for well over a thousand years
03:04It's the it's this thing
03:06The city of Rochester society would describe it as a city by ancient prescriptive rights
03:11In other words, if people recognize it as a city, it's a city
03:14It doesn't matter what anyone else says, but whatever happens next in this tale of two cities
03:19It certainly won't be a fairy tale ending for everyone here in Medway
03:26Oliver leader the sacks for KMTV in Rochester
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