Press Release from Ramsgate First 10th October, 2008“One small step for a town council, one giant leap for Ramsgate.”
Perhaps the district councillors were tired after the bruising three hour pitched battle over the China Gateway. Perhaps.
The churlishness with which they voted in a parish/town council for Ramsgate spoke volumes about the institutional malady that infects the district council chamber.
Sandy Ezekiel baldly stated that the Ramsgate Town Council will be brought into effect after the 1st April 2009 and that elections to it would take place “probably” in September 2009. No words of congratulation for the people of Ramsgate who, he acknowledged, had voted for their own town council in the District Council’s Referendum. There was no wishing them well. Just a minimalist statement that made you feel it was a molar being extracted without anaesthetic.
Richard Nicholson, seconding the motion, was his usual ungracious self and offered no words of good will for the people of Ramsgate.
Nor were there any words of congratulation from any of the other Ramsgate District councillors. The people of Ramsgate should take note.
And then came the vote.
As chairman of Ramsgate First it was a wonderful moment. The shine was not taken off by the miserliness in which the motion was carried. Four years of hard, tiring, often frustrating work. But it was for Ramsgate, and for me and the supporters of Ramsgate First that was reason enough.
I believe that Ramsgate now has an opportunity to build itself a better future with a Town Council that will more jealously guard its inheritance and more boldly assert its future potential. No longer will Ramsgate be an afterthought in the District Council’s deliberations.
Now the really hard work begins. We must make sure we elect Town Councillors that really care about the town and who are willing to work.
Well done Ramsgate.
Gerry O’Donnell
Please copy
or is that from Ramsgate Last, Gerry o'donnel first
ReplyDeleteAnd then they start paying through the nose for the privelidge of having a toothless tiny Council. O'Donnell has made much of how its only going to cost half a million a year to run, as usual he has made little of how much his projects are going to cost for that is where the real price will be paid. How does he propose to raise the capital required to pay for his 'improvements' in the Town Centre? There are only two ways, one borrow the money or two raise it by way of Council Tax. Either way it has to be paid for by the Taxpayers of Ramsgate and at the moment that will be by the majority who live outside the Town Centre, as yet he still hasnt even acknowledged the existance of any other part of Ramsgate except the area bounded by Addington Street, Elms Avenue, Cannon Road, Chatham Street, and Boundary Road and Victoria Road there are other parts of Ramsgate that you will rule over as well Gerry ( in the unlikley event you ever get elected ) but with your myopic tunnel vision you cant or wont see them. The fact is that people were led to beleive that they were going to get something like the old Ramsgate Borough Council back and that is what they voted for,,
ReplyDeletebelieve me people it just wont happen !
Mike many of Ramsgate’s problems, given the areas of high deprivation and unemployment combined with the high level of important heritage would be eligible for grants, EU national government, lottery, arts and so on. At the moment Margate is getting a much higher proportion of this, as a TDC Ramsgate councillor you have had long enough to redress this balance, so how about offering congratulations and waiting to complain if it goes wrong.
ReplyDeleteIts gone wrong already michael. to the tune of £35 a household. Ramsgate Parish Council = waste of time. Sorry but parish Councils are just that.
ReplyDeleteAnon 19:51 - the people of Ramsgate do not seem to think so.
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