Thursday 18 August 2011

Plans for the Development at Granville Marina Arches turned down and a battle with TDCIT and the ongoing saga of the council censoring the news sent to local blogs.


This is the latest news story on the council’s website, you wouldn’t necessarily know this as the local blogs that have the council’s latest TDC news feed displayed are showing “Toilet vandalism Minnis Bay”

As far as I know this is only my blog and councillor Simon Moors’s blog, Thanet Life, either the others chose not to display this or lack the technical ability.

This is the thing that was supposed to replace the council sending us their press releases and frankly it doesn’t work properly.

The last time I took this up with the council was 9th August, this is what I sent them.

Hi there once again the council’s news feed seems to be malfunctioning in some way so that the live animal news item doesn’t appear to have been received although the outgoing feed appears present on the council’s website.

Please take this as being further to my complaint that the council have stopped sending press releases to nonaccredited news sources.

i.e if the replacement for press releases doesn’t work properly then the sending of those press releases to me and other news sources should be reinstated.

Screenshot of cllr Simon Moores weblog attached showing the absence of the press release.

Please assign this complaint a reference as I am taking this issue up with the district auditor and the references will be useful. 

Best regards Michael.

Today I have received the following answer:

Dear Mr Child

Customer Feedback Reference:30035

Your ref: 3A

Thank you for your recent communication which was received on 12/08/2011 and for
bringing this matter to my attention.

I have investigated the Council's news but have been unable to find any problems
with the feed. I have checked the feed on our website and on other sites which
pick up and display the feed and they are all showing the most recent release.

I appreciate that you have noticed an anomaly with the feed as shown in the
image you supplied of Cllr Moore's blog, and so we will continue to monitor the
outgoing feed.

We hope that this resolves the matter to your satisfaction.

If you are not happy with our response, you may write to us with your reasons
within the next ten working days, requesting a further review. 

In order for us to respond as efficiently as possible, please ensure that you
quote the above reference number and address your communication to Amanda
Buckingham - Customer Feedback Co-ordinator, Business Services.

Yours sincerely

******* *****
Corporate Information & Communications Manager

Obviously the feed isn’t working properly at the moment though what one says to the council I really no longer know.

Frankly trying to use the council’s internet facilities just to check this minor issue out is just ludicrous. The council’s press release doesn’t give the planning reference and the previous lot of plans were filed under the address Granville Marina, however this lot are filed under Marina Esplanade on the council’s website.



Anyway I have replied to the council, thus:

Hi ****, in the first instance I should make it clear that my feelings are that while the council’s feeds don’t work reliably the council should return to sending me the press releases, as this doesn’t cost the council anything it seems a reasonable course of action.

For my part I promise to reinstate the Thanet press release blog and this will mean that the press releases are fed properly.

Perhaps it is time to accept that the council are not quite as adept at managing feeds as google are.

   

I have just checked this 19.05 Thursday the information reading on my blog is showing 


Thanet District Council News Feed
Toilet vandalism Minnis Bay - Public toilets in Minnis Bay have quickly been brought back into use, following two spates of vandalism in two days.
1 day ago

on Simon Moors’s blog 

·            
IsleOne
Pole dancing in Broadstairs - Is Thanet about to see its first pole-dancing establishment? You couldn't make it up. And we haven't.
1 day ago
·            
Thanet District Council news feed
Toilet vandalism Minnis Bay -Public toilets in Minnis Bay have quickly been brought back into use, following two spates of vandalism in two days.
1 day ago
·            Bazthesnap
Still Alive - Just a quick blog to say i am still alive despite the 


The problem being that although everyone else’s feeds are arriving propery the council’s are not.

The council’s website is showing 


Latest Press Releases

Ramsgate seafront plans refused
Enterprise zone news welcomed
Success for Ramsgate Royal Harbour Marina
Calll for maximum journey time for live animal exports rejected
Vandals hit toilets in Minnis Bay
Cubit cleans up again in Thanet


The feeds the council are showing at http://www.thanet.gov.uk/feeds/tdcnews.aspx

are 

http://www.thanet.gov.uk/news/latest_press_releases.aspx Press Releases & Focus on Thanet Articles en-gb @copyright Thanet District Councilhttp://www.thanet.gov.uk/advice__benefits/help_using_this_website/RSS_Feeds.aspx 15  http://www.thanet.gov.uk/images/TDC_logo_2009.pnghttp://www.thanet.gov.uk/images/TDC_logo_2009.png New figures show that Ramsgate’s Royal Harbour Marina is seeing record numbers of boat owners.http://www.thanet.gov.uk/news/latest%20press%20releases/marina%20berth%20numbers.aspxhttp://www.thanet.gov.uk/news/latest%20press%20releases/marina%20berth%20numbers.aspx Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:51:36 GMT Plans for a five-storey building along Ramsgate seafront have been refused by Thanet District Council’s Planning Committee.http://www.thanet.gov.uk/news/latest%20press%20releases/arches%20plans%20refused.aspxhttp://www.thanet.gov.uk/news/latest%20press%20releases/arches%20plans%20refused.aspxThu, 18 Aug 2011 15:22:22 GMT Thanet District Council has welcomed the news that the former Pfizer site is to be an Enterprise Zone.

The feeds I am detecting with Internet Explorer 9’s reeds tab are RSS

Thanet District Council News Feed
You are viewing a feed that contains frequently updated content. When you subscribe to a feed, it is added to the Common Feed List. Updated information from the feed is automatically downloaded to your computer and can be viewed in Internet Explorer and other programs. Learn more about feeds.
 Subscribe to this feed
Arches plans refused
‎18 ‎August ‎2011, ‏‎16:22:22 
Plans for a five-storey building along Ramsgate seafront have been refused by Thanet District Council’s Planning Committee.
Enterprise zone announcement
‎18 ‎August ‎2011, ‏‎12:47:28 
Thanet District Council has welcomed the news that the former Pfizer site is to be an Enterprise Zone.
Marina berth numbers
‎18 ‎August ‎2011, ‏‎10:51:36 
New figures show that Ramsgate’s Royal Harbour Marina is seeing record numbers of boat owners.
Toilet vandalism Minnis Bay
17 ‎August ‎2011, ‏‎18:40:28 
Public toilets in Minnis Bay have quickly been brought back into use, following two spates of vandalism in two days.

Best regards Michael

2 comments:

  1. Completely off topic but as a local historian I thought you might be interested in the forthcoming attempt to raise the Dornier DO-17 bomber shot down on 26 August 1940 five miles off the Ramsgate coast. Further details can be found at www.rafmuseum.org/dornier.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I notice that the council have said that the Granville Marina Arches development "would detract from the appearance and character of the Conservation Area" - have they not seen Granville Marina Court?

    ReplyDelete

Comments, since I started writing this blog in 2007 the way the internet works has changed a lot, comments and dialogue here were once viable in an open and anonymous sense. Now if you comment here I will only allow the comment if it seems to make sense and be related to what the post is about. I link the majority of my posts to the main local Facebook groups and to my Facebook account, “Michael Child” I guess the main Ramsgate Facebook group is We Love Ramsgate. For the most part the comments and dialogue related to the posts here goes on there. As for the rest of it, well this blog handles images better than Facebook, which is why I don’t post directly to my Facebook account, although if I take a lot of photos I am so lazy that I paste them directly from my camera card to my bookshop website and put a link on this blog.