Richborough Power Station Demolition not an event.

The other day I tackled the council about making the best of the power station demolition, the correspondence is below and I reckon they have probably made the right decision on this one.

With the weather forecast it is looking increasingly likely that the demolition will take place this Sunday morning, I will try and get some pictures but have some commitments then.

From:  MichaelChild to: To Do, Calendar To:  sue.mcgonigal

Hi Sue, as you may be aware we have a major event on in Thanet next Sunday, I guess in terms of visual experiences it is pretty much a once in a lifetime event, I would have though the potential for attracting people to the area would be considerable.

I guess I was pretty surprised that the council don’t seem to be taking advantage of this, no press release, no mention on the tourism website, no celeb to press the button, in fact nothing much at all.

I don’t know if you intend to do anything at all, I will be publishing as much as I can find out about it on the blog as I can find out, including that I have asked you if you intend to anything.

 

Best regards Michael

Dear Mr Child

Further to your letter addressed to the Chief Executive, Dr Sue McGonigal, I am

writing on her behalf to respond to your email received on 07/03/2012.   I can

confirm to you that on the 15th of February, 2012, Thanet District Council

Planning Committee gave permission for the demolition of the 3 Cooling Towers

and Chimney at Richborough Power Station.  This is required due to the law which

changed recently as now major demolitions require planning permission. 

In terms of the role of TDC, the demolition has been discussed in detail at the

Thanet Events Safety Advisory Group (SAG) and in conjunction with the

professional demolition team who have been brought together to undertake the

work.  I am responding to your letter in my capacity as the Chair of that group. 

Following those discussions and on the advice of our partners we have determined

that this is not an event and should not be managed as such.  Aside from the

genuine security needs of managing the explosives for the demolition, there are

clear concerns about a large crowd congregating (mainly) on public highways.   

If TDC were to have planned and arranged for this as an event, our

responsibilities and costs would change dramatically.  To begin with the Council

would be responsible, and liable for, ensuring public safety of the crowd

outside of the demolition exclusion zone.  This would mean that the Council

would have to expect a significant commitment from staff on a non-work day, and

funds expended on barriers etc with no identifiable income streams to off-set

those costs. 

It should also be noted that the demolition team are legally responsible for

putting in the exclusion zone and managing the safety and security of that

exclusion zone.  They have asked Kent Police to support them in that and traffic

management will be provided by the AA, with Kent Highways Services assisting if

required. 

As this remains a demolition situation, TDC would only become involved should

the emergency plan have to be implemented and for that reason the officer with

responsibility for the emergency plan will be at the Control Point on the day. 

The demolition team and members of the Safety Advisory Group have worked hard to

ensure that the day goes smoothly, including liaising with the Emergency

Services around issues such as the management of the road closures and diversion

and we hope that the disruption the demolition causes is minimal to those who

live and work in the area affected.

If you have any further enquiries about the demolition then please refer it

directly to Christopher Parr at Cascade Communications who is handling enquiries

on behalf of the demolition team.  His contact details are cparr@cascadepr.co.uk. 

Should you need to contact me, please ensure that you quote the above reference

number in all communications relating to this matter.

Yours sincerely

*********

Community Development Manager

I may also get around to saying something more about the sale of Manston Airport confirmed on Infratil’s website today, I did post about this last month and earlier this month, so was only really waiting for the official confirmation.