"Independents” my foot.

The defection of another local politician to the Thanet Opportunists Party is a sad reflection on the state of our local government. We now have one former Labour councillor, one former Conservative councillor and one former Independent/Conservative councillor making up the new Thanet Opportunists Party., in a blatant attempt to hold the Reds and the Blues to ransom for increased allowances (sorry I meant responsibilities)

We will now be able to see the real politicians in Thanet and those just there for the money and glory. It is incumbent upon our more experienced local councillors to sideline these money grabbing morons. How difficult can it be for the big two to work together and oust these self serving undesirable elements from the decision making process.

Surely a motion to prevent any councillor who has changed allegiance, without seeking re-election, to be granted greater responsibilities in the current session, would put paid to their empire building and be more use to Thanet than a vote on gay marriage. Or is that just too simple, any ideas?

Elf n Safely

I have read some interesting posts and commented on other blogs particularly Thanet Life and Thanetonline where the discussion has turned to aviation matters in preference to gay marriage. Interestingly I made reference to an air crash at Stansted airport in  1999  Had this plane taken off from Manston it would certainly have threatened the safety of Ramsgate. The attitude of other commentators seemed mainly to be “so what, it didn’t happen here" OK I accept it didn’t happen here but it could.

At Thanetonline the main concern seemed to be pollution of our water supply and some commentators used the “negativity” card to “dis” the post. Sometime ago, Michael, whilst on his favourite subject of Royal Sands, reported a large chunk of rendering which fell off the cliff face and crashed 20 or so feet to the ground, injuring nobody. The comments then I believe went along the lines “no-one was hurt, so what”.

My point in this is that we live in a world of hard hats, steel toe capped boots, cycle helmets, risk assessment, proof of insurance when holding an event on council land, cancelled firework displays because the correct H&S form has not been completed on time, but really dramatic events are dismissed as irrelevant because they are too disastrous to contemplate.

If you were building a town, would you site it at the end of a 747 runway? Or if you were developing a major regional airport would you have a town at the end of the runway? I sincerely hope the answer is NO to both those questions. So it seems to me that Ramsgate’s gripe about Manston expansion is not negativity , just reasonable self-preservation.on Health and Safety grounds.

Just watching a report on TV about the unsinkable “Titanic”, isn’t it surprising that human blind faith can delude itself into thinking all is “in the pink” whilst peering through rose tinted glasses.

Any way I am off to bed now but I will be sure to be wearing my hard hat in case a 747 drops in over night, and my steel toe caps in case some plaster falls off the wall. Second thoughts better do a risk assessment before I leave this sofa .and check my insurance clauses before using the stairs. You never know!

Leading Light.

On the 19 July 2012, the Olympic Flame will be travelling into Thanet on its way to the Turner Contemporary. The route for the day will start in Deal at 8.27 am and will enter Thanet via Cliffsend and onto Ramsgate. From London Road at 10.13am it will travel via Grange Road, St Augustine’s Road, The Paragon, Royal Parade, Harbour Street, King Street and exit the town via Hereson Road on its way to Margate.

For the full route throughout the UK,  see here.

I am sure it will receive a great welcome from the residents of Ramsgate and let’s hope that it is a bright sunny day to cheer on the bearers for this momentous occasion.  See you there

Richborough Down

Demolition of the Richborough Power Station cooling towers and chimney took place on Sunday morning 11 March 2012 at 9am. There was an extensive crowd assembled on the Westcliff Promenade at Ramsgate to witness the event. A slight haze in the air did not spoil the view and the Royal Esplanade became a linear car park for nearly an hour.

It was great to see such a large turnout early on a Sunday morning, to see this event, which shows that the town’s residents are interested in their surroundings. There was no sign of the expected warning rocket so the first cooling tower falling took everyone by surprise and extensive clapping after all three towers and chimney bit the dust would seem to indicate that the majority were happy to see the end of this industrial landmark or "blot on the landscape", depending on your point of view.

What a difference 100 years makes.

Thanks to a lucky find on the internet and the generosity of Janet and Richard Mason, the owners of an internet site containing historic postcards of Ramsgate. Fine details of the original style of promenade shelters in Ramsgate could be gleaned from the picture taken circa 1912. This has enabled a faithful recreation of ornate ironwork on the restored shelters. The first of which is nearing completion following extensive research into the interpretation of modern materials to provide a building capable of withstanding the pressures of 21^st century life.

These buildings are amongst some of the oldest seafront shelters around the UK and it is important they are preserved for use by future generations. A rolling programme from East to West of the promenade has now commenced to complete all the renovations before the deadline on the grant application of November 2012. Grateful thanks goes to the Heritage Lottery Fund together with Thanet District Council for facilitating the main Townscape Heritage Initiative grant for restoration. Also thanks to all the individuals and organisations in the town that sponsored and donated to the shelters project. Further donations and sponsorship will still be needed for completion.

You may be asking why we do this and the answer is “because Ramsgate is worth it”. Let us hope it is just the start of many good projects for the future of the town

have your say TODAY

The Thanet District Council night flights consultation started last Friday and continues until 2 March 2012, details of which can be found here.

If you are concerned about de-restriction of planes landing at Kent International Airport between the hours of 11pm in the evening and 7am in the morning, please send your concerns into the consultation, by post or email, quoting your name, full address and postcode.

If you would like to know more details about some of the planning issues surrounding the airport please refer to my previous posts

A Section 106 agreement is NOT an ongoing planning permission

Night Flight Consultation Response.

Planning Loopholes.

LDC,s

A Section 106 agreement is NOT an ongoing planning permission

The Section 106 agreement under planning legislation is used to define developer/owner/operator contribution to the local surroundings affected by a proposed development, if or when a planning permission is granted. It is not in itself an ongoing planning permission and is restricted to implementation in association with the granted permission

This raises the question as to whether it is appropriate to sign a Section 106 agreement in conjunction with a Certificate for Lawful Development (LDC) and that also poses a further question whether a previous Section 52 agreement attached to a real planning approval can be varied by a Section 106 agreement attached to an  LDC.

I do not profess to be an expert in planning law but from my continued association with planning legislation over 45 years, I have never experienced a Section 106 agreement used in this manner and quoted as the panacea for any and every change at Manston Airport.

If Thanet District Council don’t have the courage to challenge this inappropriate use of a Section 106 agreement, then I feel the residents affected by airport expansion should challenge the situation in court.

The Night Flight consultation commencing tomorrow is a good opportunity for local residents to make the local authority aware that they are not pleased with the way these planning matters have been handled and insist that the whole situation be regularised through the norms of the planning system.