I suppose that the most difficult aspect of all this is that they have spent £1,000,000 of our money on repairs that haven’t worked, my understanding is that they also used consultants from the same firm that supervised the cliff repairs, to advise them when they inspected it this week.
Click on pictures to enlarge them.
I suppose the conversation went something like. “Cor look I can poke a stick under one of the main supporting pillars here and aren’t they the reinforcing rods that should be embedded in the concrete foundations?”
“Nah mate nuffin wrong here, just needs a bit of concrete chucking on top, like wot we done the last time that shop assistant bloke wos down here nosing about” “What about the gap at the top of the concrete?”
“Is sitck is too fick to go in innit.”
“Yep see what you mean he said he was worried about all the plants growing out the cracks, I said they weren’t cracks the plants were growing on seagull droppings, that sorted him out alright.
What about the bulging bit up there, with the crack in the middle?” 
“Nuffin wrong there mate, you can go and stand right under it, I would but my foots stuck in this hole, sorry I meant foundation” 
“Is that rust coming out under the big new patch that was so expensive?”“Nah mate sem seagulls again”
Sorry about being a bit flippant here but I am running out of ideas about how to approach the problem, here is their latest response to me about the top of the Marina Esplanade incline and my reply to them.
Click on the link to view http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/foi/id15.htm
Blimey Michael, what have those seagulls been eating?
ReplyDelete13.25 A senior TDC officer did really say this to me.
ReplyDeleteOur cliff face is similar to the barrier between TDC and the real world. Neither have foundations, there are cracks appearing in both and there's a lot of crap involved.
ReplyDeleteI say again: if you are correct Michael and if TDC continue to ignore your warnings then someone on TDC will someday face a manslaughter charge.
ReplyDeleteMichael,has no one been to the top of the steps and probed those cracks with a long thin rod,they might get an unpleasant suprise,I remember the old steps falling without warning,it was only by the grace of god hundreds wern't killed as during the summer months there would be a queue for ice cream from the stall below to the top of the steps.It was the ingress of water collecting behind the facing then freezing in heavy frost that did the damage.with the recent heavy rains I think the danger is increasing day by day,as for saying the incline is safe for forty tons,with all those soft bricks in the arches they are taking a chance with peoples lives,it is a good thing that you draw attention to this serious problem.
ReplyDeleteStargazer.
Do you know who the consultants are? seems like another gravy train.
ReplyDeleteMichael your talents are wasted! You deserve to be the next mayor of Ramsgate!
ReplyDeleteBack in the shop and a bit bleary on Monday morning, will do my best with a few answers.
ReplyDelete14.11 and 22.04 the only solution that we haven’t tried in Thanet is an elected leader i.e. a Boris Johnson type set up.
Although this position would go by the name of Mayor of Thanet it isn’t a ceremonial position like the existing mayors, but a way the public can elect the leader of the council.
I certainly wouldn’t want to be a ceremonial mayor, dressing up and appearing at civic functions, when all is obviously not well.
As far as candidates for an elected leader go, I don’t really think I have sufficient experience, perhaps Steve Ladyman if he loses his seat at the next parliamentary elections, it is a well paid position and I think overall he was one of the better council leaders we have had in recent years.
JH as I have said all along if I am wrong it doesn’t really matter as I have only made a fool of myself, the fundamental problem for them though is the report on the condition of the cliff, which says both that the façade doesn’t support the cliff and that nothing heavy should go near the edge topside.
By that I mean that repairing the façade makes no difference to the load baring capabilities of the cliff, so allowing fire appliances and refuse collecting lorries up there is dangerous.
00.13 yes both the companies involved and the individuals concerned and I am working on the problem from that angle too.