I love Sheppey and its people.

This week, responding to criticism that our local newspaper had not given sufficient publicity to the Sheerness Carnival and the Sheppey Zulus, the Editor of the Sheerness Times Guardian pointed out the difficulty of pleasing all the different groups on the Island.

I have sympathy with the STG because I learned long ago that you cannot please all the people, all the time!

I would urge critics of the STG to consider how lucky we are to have a real community based newspaper. Just look through last week’s edition and see how many stories related to non-Island news. I did and I couldn’t find ONE!

If the STG was full of news items from the mainland then I could understand Islanders complaining about lack of coverage for this or that event. But ultimately, we must accept that a newspaper has only a finite amount of space and in my opinion the STG invariably uses that space to promote the best of Sheppey.

And that is something that perhaps we don’t do often enough. It is sometimes easier to knock the Island and its people than to praise!

On Sheppey we have much in which to be proud. This summer has brought out the best in the Island. We have had Sky Sheppey, the Harty Flower Festival, the Leysdown Carnival, Pirate’s Weekend and of course, the Sheerness Carnival, including the unique contribution from the Zulus. These are just a few of the many events that add so much colour to our lives.

The Island has so much to offer. We have everything; history, natural beauty and a wonderful shoreline that we sometimes take for granted. I am the first to hold his hand up and admit to occasionally going further afield for recreation. Not this week. This week I rediscovered one of our local treasures.

On Tuesday Louise and I decided to take two of our grandchildren to Minster beach. The girls skated along the promenade, swam in the sea, made sand castles and spent the afternoon looking for crabs amongst the rocks and pools exposed by the retreating tide.

We arrived at 10 am and didn’t leave until 5 pm. We had such a great time that we did exactly the same thing on Wednesday. The water was clear and the beach was clean. What more could you want on a summer’s day?

My political opponents often use the fact that I live on Sheppey to accuse me of only caring about the Island. Of course, this is complete nonsense, because I work equally hard to reflect the concerns and worries of communities on the mainland.

However, I am never ashamed to admit my love for Sheppey and its people. This week has reminded me how lucky I am to be an Islander and to be part of such a vibrant and interesting community.