Press release from IMS Bertie has already covered this in considerable detail on Thanet Strife (link on sidebar) but I thought I should put it up to add support.
Commercial Group Properties don’t exactly seem to be going out of their way to win friends and influence people, if you had invested £100 in their shares a year ago today it would now be worth less than £20, I wonder how much of this is due to their failure to engage with local people.
If you look at the stock exchanger site http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/pricesnews/prices/system/detailedprices.htm?sym=GB00B1P70L34GBGBXAIM%20B1P70L3CMGP you can see this doesn’t have much to do with the recession, I put it down to badly thought out plans for their development here.
I also noticed in today’s Your Thanet Roger Latchford’s interview, in which he mentions all of the major regeneration and renewal projects with the notable omission of china Gateway, which I thought interesting.
IMS PRODUCTIONS
11 Grosvenor Rd, Broadstairs CT10 2BT
Tel 01843 604 253
PRESS RELEASE
DECEMBER 2008
DEVELOPER ACCUSED OF SHOW OF POWER
Developers behind the controversial China Gateway project have been accused of a “show of power” and “bullying” by people living near the site of the proposed development.
The development company, Commercial Group Properties, have
fenced off part of the road verge near Pouces Cottages with barbed wire – going to the legal limit of their newly acquired land for China Gateway and making parking impossible for local people.
Amy Murray of Pouces Cottages said: “It’s made it very hazardous for pedestrians and other road users, and made parking impossible for visitors to the cottages.”
“It is their land, I understand that, but this is just a show of power.”
Local people believe the fence has been erected to “punish” them for campaigning against China Gateway, a proposal to build a huge warehousing complex for Chinese electronic goods on farmland in Manston.
CGP received planning permission for phase one of the China Gateway project on October 9th, and a CGP employee has told local people that the application for phases two and three of China Gateway, both on grade one farmland, is going in early in the New Year.
But Amy said that if the developers are trying to warn them off campaigning against the new application, they’re wrong.
She said: “It’s made the residents even more determined. We might be the little people in all this but we won’t be walked over. This is a show of power by CGP but we won’t be intimidated.”
CGP’s tactics and the campaign to stop the developers will be discussed at an “emergency environmental” meeting in Ramsgate at 7.30pm on Friday December 12th at St George’s Hall, Broad Street. Key speaker will be Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party and Member of the European Parliament for Kent.
For more information ring Christine Tongue of IMS on 01843 604253 or email Amy Murray on Amkiky@aol.com
News, Local history and Thanet issues from Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate see www.michaelsbookshop.com I publish over 200 books about the history of this area click here to look at them.
My interview covered regeneration and I clearly mentioned Manston and Eurokent Business Parks. This is because Phase 1 of the Manston Business Park has already got Planning permission for the China Gateway. Sorry to dissappoint you.The China Gateway project is still firmly on our Phase 1 Agenda
ReplyDelete16.34 is not Anonymous, I Roger Latchford have written it.
ReplyDeleteI also think aforementioned CGP invested in a lot of land in recent years in Dover that they though they could flog off for £mmm where they expected the lorry park to be...
ReplyDeleteThe activities of these guys does not show any respect for the locality and this bodes badly for their plans relating to negative impact. It also indicates that they will be very good at creating new enemies to oppose them.
ReplyDeleteIf history is any indicator this could be their undoing although nothing is "set in stone" yet.
Telling Phrase, 'Its Their Land' smells of jealousy to me
ReplyDeleteSorry about the delay in responding, I have been having the devils own job keeping up with demand for local history books due to Christmas.
ReplyDeleteRoger I would recommend that you join blogger and create an identity so that you can sign in and comment under your own name, this doesn’t stop you from commenting anonymously, but if discussion becomes heated prevents anyone else from impersonating you.
The problem with China Gateway is that it has bad plans produced by the same architect that produced the bad plans for Pleasurama, it’s these bad plans that have blighted the town where I am trying to trade, I am a local businessman and you are a Conservative councillor and I would like to see some deceive action from you.
Either insist publicly that the developer for Pleasurama gets a flood assessment done and incorporates emergency escapes onto the cliff top, as strongly recommended by the environment agency or tell them to go away and approach Westcliff Park Estates who tendered for the development, with a building that fitted into the space available and offered to incorporate a swimming pool to be given to the town on completion. They have already produced a large and excellent development on Ramsgate’s westcliff.
You may have noticed that CGP’s share offer price fell by 5p today and I wonder if this could be something to with the fact that the airport master plan shows the new airport access road going right through some of China Gateways new factory units.
Ask you own contaminated land officer what he thinks of building a large and very dense, mixed use industrial development adjacent to the drinking water abstraction point. We are already paying more for our drinking water because of industrial pollution several miles from the abstraction point.
The technical phrase here is reverse osmosis and dilution, the non technical phrase is, don’t dig the privy next to the well.
Matt why they should have erected a fence with barbed wire this low, in contravention of section 164 of The Highways Act 1980, is quite beyond me as is why some of the posts are less than 500mm from the highway against local authority guidelines. These signs of their competence do not bode well for Thanet.
Peter, does this mean that travellers can access it now and stay for the festive season rent free?
ReplyDelete