KCC say only 150 homes will be affected by
closure of Richborough Recycling Centre, although a petition with 3000
signatures was presented to them by Ramsgate and Sandwich residents..
It also says'”Do you believe it is reasonable to close the out-of-dated
and expensive to operate facility at Richborough, provided services exist
within a 20-minute drive-time of your home?”
Is that a leading and biased question, or what?
When I moved to Ramsgate, some six years ago and first used
the Richbrough Recycling Centre, I was most impressed by its modern, well
organized facilities and the ease access from a straight dual carriageway. I thought,
at last a County Council with the right approach to recycling. I had previously
used recycling centres in various parts of the UK
BUT NO!
Kent County Council have not
got it right because they are proposing the closure of Richborough Recycling
Centre, leaving both Ramsgate and Sandwich with inferior alternatives. Sandwich residents would have to
travel to Deal and Ramsgate residents have to negotiate the congested back
roads around Westwood Cross to get to the Margate Tip, which is already over
subscribed and congested at regular intervals.
So, if nothing happens to change their minds our “out of
touch” Kent County Councillors will close the best tip in East Kent by August
this year, I think we should take this “load of rubbish” to the steps of County
Hall, Maidstone, it is almost as easy to get there as to Margate tip.
Perhaps in these hard times, Ken, you should find out from the KCC how much it would add to the council tax of the good people of Thanet, Sandwich and the Stour villages to keep the tip going. Then you could hold a referendum to see if there is a majority support for paying that extra money.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, I much prefer to use the tip at Richborough to the one out the back of Margate, but I also appreciate that the council have to make massive budget savings.
Tom, I would prefer to know haw many recycling centres are being closed around Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, or how much the KCC leader and councillors have cut their allowances and expenses.
ReplyDeleteNot the answer, is it, Ken? Just smartarse comment which really does not make for good debate.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was back in Thanet in March I was invited to a meeting in Sandwich about the closure of the Richborough Household waste site. The following details need checking as I was standing at the back of the room with a glass in one hand while trying to take notes.
ReplyDeleteFrom memory and my notes, the first this came to public attention was when the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) was asked about their views on the closure of a site in North Kent by a radio station (think BBC, but not sure). The researcher the then asked about Richborough, which was also on the list to be closed. This closure seemed to have been hidden away in a KCC consultation document which was not widely publicised, or if seen not enough information was given with a limited choice of reply tick boxes.
Whenever I have been to the Richborough site there has always been a constant flow of vehicles, so closing the site will either direct this flow to Margate or Deal. The idea of being caught up in traffic around Westwood Cross trying to get to the Margate recycling site makes the black wheelie bin an attractive option. Presumably TDC will have to pick up the tab with waste collections, and KCC lose on easily reclaimable waste.
In the area of the Richborough household waste site is the shore based connection to the Thanet wind farm, a solar farm, a wastewater treatment plant, and a proposed Energy Park. I would have thought that keeping the household waste site would be complementary to this theme and provide a model for a sustainable environment.
Well said Anon 09.07, you obviously appreciate how useful this site is and how it is well placed for the future.
ReplyDeleteTom, It is not a smartarse comment just because you disagree. Pfizer Park opposite to Richborough Recycling Centre is an Enterprise Zone into which millions are being ploughed by Central Government This will make for a changing population as people leave old jobs and new people take up residence. If you have ever moved house you will know that more household rubbish is generated at that time than at any other.
You seen to find it necessary to defend local authority policy however they want to spend it or save it. It was not Ramsgate or Sandwich who caused this recession so why should we be made to pay. Close all the tips in the Stockbroker belt, they can afford to have rubbish removed privately with their obscene annual bonuses.
Ken, I made a reasonable suggestion about costing the Richborough site and seeing if it is something we can afford to take on. You come back, not debating that point, but with remarks about West Kent and councillors allowances. You did the same to me over Manston with some crack about the war being over. That is not debate and I reiterate, it is simply smartarse.
ReplyDeleteNo, I do not agree with everything KCC or TDC do and only today I have been walking the streets getting signatures on a petition calling on TDC to rethink their parking proposals. Nonetheless, I am also not of the negative attitude which seems to prevail in Thanet which simply opposes everything.
If you really feel strongly about the Richborough site, write to your MP for she, after all, is one of the champions of the Pfizer free enterprise zone.
I understand that Laura Sandys MP did write to KCC to voice her concerns and those of her constituents about the closure of the site.
DeleteI do wonder how KCC arrived at the 150 homes would be affected figure. This seems blatantly wrong judging by the number of vehicles accessing the site.
When the KCC document "Kent Minerals and Waste Development Framework" is singing the praises of sites in the Richborough Corridor why do they want to close this site?
Anon 09.07
Tom, perhaps you would like to elucidate on your phrase "seeing if it is something we can afford to take on."
ReplyDeleteI already explained that proposal in my original comment on the subject.
DeleteTom, I take your point, but if you read this blog regularly you will know that I am already involved in a number of projects to regenerate Ramsgate.
ReplyDeleteMy expertise is building, not recycling, but I do agree that a proactive approach to the problem may be one answer.
Ken, glad you and I agree on something and, believe me, as a Broadstairs resident, I would much rather drive out to Richborough through Ramsgate and Cliffsend than run the gauntlet of the Westwood Cross roundabout and beyond.
ReplyDeleteWill lobby a couple of KCC councillors I know and see if I can get them to raise local objections to this closure.
I am not intentionally obstructive Tom, but sometimes it seems an uphill struggle trying to keep local services up to scratch from TDC and KCC.
DeleteLiz Green is already lobbying on this matter and if you click the link on the post it goes to an interview with Liz by the local paper.
Agreed, we even struggle to get our fireworks over in Broadstairs and our proposed new and needed community centre has been clobbered after ten years of hard work, planning and fund raising. Oh, and all in the cause of political point scoring.
ReplyDeleteOne good thing about your blog site, at least for the moment, it is an escape from same sex marriage!
Not bothering about that argument Tom, I have had enough trouble with the real thing in my time.
ReplyDeleteI find in incomprehensible that a househiold waste site with good road access and situated next to a proposed power-from-waste site is scheduled to be closed.
ReplyDeleteThe whole area around Westwood Cross is heavily congested and this will only make things worse. I have visited the Margate site on occasions when the queue has gone all the way back to Coffin House Corner. That and the lunatic car lanes whereby you always end up stuck behind someone who appears to be emptying the entire contents of his house make this a site that I try and avoid.
The end result of this stupidity will be more fly tipping - and who is going to pick up the tab for that? TDC of course. A case of KCC passing the cost on to the local authority, TDC, who can little afford it. Good Heavens, no matter what colour the administration, you can hardly claim the Thanet is kept clean.
I'm afraid it looks too much like yet another example of KCC ignoring anything that East Kent wants.