Big Weekend or Big Disappointment?

Whether you’ve got tickets or not the big topic of the moment is Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Maidstone, Kent. I’m sure there are plenty of happy people packing their bags and readying themselves for Madonna and more but there are also a lot of angry residents.

Ticket allocation, policing prices and parking gridlock have left a lot of locals disappointed over the past week.

Mote Park, the venue for this year’s concert, is just around the corner from our Meridian East base at the Maidstone Studios. We got our reporter Theresa Longbottom down there this morning to see how the preparations were going and to meet residents near by to see how they were feeling about the event. Early signs suggests not well. Many are disgruntled about the possible traffic gridlock on the way – others about having their public park closed on what could be the hottest weekend of the year.

And what about the price of policing? Recently Maidstone had to cancel its popular River Festival as organisers couldn’t afford the policing costs. So is Maidstone Council fitting the bill this weekend? If so is it right for the council to pick and choose the event it funds?

Well, we will try and answer all these questions and more on tonight’s programme at 6pm. But don’t let that stop you giving us your comments – what do you think? Will the concert bring Maidstone some needed press and tourist attention? Or is it disorganised and unfair?

Have your say here.

Council spies on family to prevent 'cheating'

Is it a case of Big Brother overstepping the mark? Or is a council - which suspects parents of cheating to get children to the school of their choice - justified in carrying out covert surveillance operations?

Today Poole council in Dorset has admitted spying on three families suspected of trying to beat the school system. Using new laws passed to track criminals and terrorists they tracked separate families for a number of weeks recording details such as “female and three children enter target vehicle and drive off”.

The council says it acted responsibly and in the best interests of the community but human rights group Liberty called the spying “intrusive”.

So where should the government draw the line? We’ve all heard stories of perfectly healthy people being prosecuted for claiming monetary benefits – is this surveillance any different? Surely the bigger picture the problem of the school catchment system – would families consider bending the rules if good schools were easier to come by?

One thing for sure is that it caused much debate in the newsroom and on the web. So what do you think?

Watch the lunch time news report on the story.