Live animal exports through Port Ramsgate

I have just put up Laura Sandys press release about today’s adjournment debate in parliament, see http://thanetpress.blogspot.com/2011/10/outrageous-animal-exports-put-to.html

Ten days ago Thanet District Council promised to support the e-petition, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-15307905 but as yet there doesn’t seem to be anything about this on their website, something that seems a bit strange to me.

To sign the e-petition you need to go to http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/16024

I have just sent the following to Thanet District Council’s Chief Executive and the leader of the council.

Sue Bob this is an open letter relating to today’s blog post about live animal exports, see http://thanetonline.blogspot.com/2011/10/live-animal-exports-through-port.html

Should you wish to reply I will publish your reply in full.

Could you please tell me if it is the council’s intention to support the e-petition http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/16024 on their website?

If the council intend to support this petition on their website can you tell answer the following questions.

When will the council do this?

Where on the councils website will they do this, will there be some significant notification on the council’s homepage?

Will the council be supporting this on their Facebook wall https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thanet-District-Council/83700846372?sk=wall ?

Will the council be using their twitter account http://twitter.com/#!/ThanetCouncil ?

Will the council be using their Youtube account http://www.youtube.com/user/ThanetCouncil ?

With today’s media interest and today’s adjournment debate will the council be responding to this on their various websites in any way?

Best regards Michael.

Anyway I suppose some of you may be wondering why I would bother to question the council’s leadership about this. I suppose the main reason was after hearing about the issue on the news this morning and then publishing Laura’s press release I though I would check the council’s position.

The press including the BBC certainly seem to be saying that the council voted to support the e-petition, the council’s minutes for the council meeting of 13^th October haven’t been published online yet and as the webcasting hasn’t happened due to technical reasons, I am taking the media reporting as accurate.

This is what the motion said:

"Council welcomes the setting up, by local people, of a Government e-petition which

calls on Parliament to reform laws regulating the export of live farm animals.

In light of this Council's public disapproval of the export of live animals from the port of

Ramsgate it is resolved that Council supports this Government e-petition and

a) publishes a link to this petition on its website

b) publishes a statement & press release on its website which encourages citizens of

Thanet and elsewhere to sign the Government e-petition."

I am pretty certain that the council had some mention of the live animal export issue on their homepage, but this seems to vanished. The council’s header banner is leading with “Advertise community events” which takes to a mysterious page http://communityportal.thanet.gov.uk/home/ a consultation that expires today, but nothing about the live animals. Perhaps the have secreted the promised link somewhere else on their various web places, I tried searching but no luck.

With this blog, as I have said before I am in a bit of difficult position, I feel that it is my duty on occasions to ask the council questions on behalf of the people who read it, as you may know I am not allowed to use the press department, a freedom of information request usually takes about a month, so this sort of open letter is the only option I can think of.