I guess the main thing this is about is TDC trying to get money out of Ramsgate to the economic and environmental detriment of Ramsgate, a case of here we go again.
There is of course the jobs aspect and the recycling aspect which make it sound acceptable until of course you factor in the reduced jobs in tourism and the environmental impact of transporting these materials.
Also a note here Doug Brown and Brian White were the two senior council officers that I dealt with when discussing the pleasurama development with the council. Probably wholly or partly responsible for not enforcing the material change planning regulation which should have been invoked when the height issues caused the major modification to the roof and should have lead to a new planning application.
They have now left the council and are obviously better placed to support private enterprise which is potentially very damaging to Ramsgate but presumably profitable. I would think it is likely that they may have been responsible for the wording in the local plan that would allow an increase in industrial activity at the port.
Many thanks to Barry James for putting the videos on YouTube. Hopefuly there will more on this meeting which I will add to this post.
After the business with the council buying the largest
remaining empty shop in King Street to convert the ground floor shop into
social housing and the assurances from various councillors that they would
never get planning consent through the committee stage. Which was immediately
followed by it going through without a hitch and the council granting
themselves planning consent to cause extreme damage to Ramsgate shopping
centre, I would expect this one to go through on the nod, so the obvious
question is what can Ramsgate residents do?
I would say the main problem is that the majority of the
councillors at TDC are focused on improving Margate, probably because if the
don’t live there they have to visit Margate to attend meetings and events. The
council chambers are there and the only major council funded venue left is the
Winter Gardens.
I think the answer is to get some more councillors who are
Ramsgate residents. As it is pretty much impossible to get elected as a
councillor unless you are standing for one of the main parties. Labour,
Conservative or UKIP I recommend the following course of action.
First any Ramsgate residents who think they would be
prepared to stand as a councillor join the political party they find most
acceptable. Second put themselves up for election as a councillor in any of the
Thanet seats, particularly safe ones. Third try to redress the balance so that
Ramsgate gets a fair share of the cake.
Inreresting video and agree with your comments.
ReplyDeleteAre any councillors in favour of this dump? O'Regan will be concerned White and Brown actually damage their chances...
Surely the issue with your election point is that candidates not form their own towns are banned or restricted? For example why is Alan Poole of Broadstairs sitting on RTC and TDC?
Anyone know the existing monthly running costs and staffing of the Port?
ReplyDeleteDo my best here anon, to stand for any of the TDC seats you have to have lived or worked in Thanet for the last year, so if you have lived in Ramsgate for the last year you can stand in a Margate ward as a TDC councillor. This isn’t some sort of local rule set up to annoy you but applies across the whole of the UK.
ReplyDeleteWith the port the figures are tied up with the marina and probably impossible to separate as they use the same staff. I think that since the port has existed it has made a large loss while the marina has made a large profit.
Michael, if TDC own the port regardless of whether planning permission would be given or not, cant TDC just tell this company that TDC prefer a tourist related activity for the site and will not be granting them a lease.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think it works like that, you are assuming that TDC is one individual acting with common sense, I would say that collectively TDC will do anything they can to get in revenue to fund their pet projects. They are unlikely to act to Ramsgate’s benefit and I think their collective view is of Ramsgate as a port/industrial town, Margate as a leisure town, the Thanet villages as housing and Westwood Cross as the shopping centre. The truth is more like Ramsgate is self generating into a mixture of the independent food shopping centre around Staffordshire Street car park, leisure café culture around the harbour and a desirable place to buy property based on the high number of listed buildings.
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ReplyDeleteany port related use must be better than what we have at the moment it will at least bring in some revenue for the port running costs that are costing tax payers ££££ just to sit and rot
Thanks Michael but at 5:00 you ignore the RTC etc seats issue? TDC seats for Thanet as a District are one thing but why are RTC seats provided to people not in Ramsgate?
ReplyDeleteYour same rule of loyalism/residency applies or the Party members want to keep a variety of seats for their cronies?
Surely non-Ramsgate residents would be banned from sitting just as we have parachute MP candidates making decisions on areas where they do not live? Aside from Alan Poole of Broadstairs on RTC we have Craig Mackinlay as MP potentially who's a Tonbridge councillor?
And what are the actual Port/marina costs - a view on the split between Port and Marina activity can then be taken. Presumably the latter is mainly collecting fees and the former doing nothing?
10.59 any use regardless of the noise, pollution and resultant job losses in the tourist industry?
ReplyDelete40.40 well either you set out to change UK law, or you join one of the political parties and get a seat on one of the councils. One thing you can be sure of you are very unlikely to get a seat if you stand as an independent.
I think if a planning app was to go to appeal on port related use it would be another loss to TDC thus costing even more tax payers cash but surly an EA would have to be undertaken before any outcome either way
ReplyDeleteAnon 1.53 regardless of any planning, TDC own the land and can just say that the port is not going to be used for this purpose. Just like as featured on the local BBC news today that TDC want Margate's appeal as a tourist destination enhance by the development of better hotels.
ReplyDeleteIf that's what they want for Margate then the same must apply to Ramsgate's seaside area.
Michael, I agree with your opinion that TCD seem to view Ramsgate as an industrial centre. However, it's history is has never been one of an industrail town, so I wonder where this view comes from?
ReplyDeleteRamsgate has great potential, and as you say, people are already regenerating Ramsgate themselves.
With regard to standing as a non party political candidate for Ramsgate, please consider joining the Independence Party for a United Thanet, which is dedicated to removing the scrapping the existing Thanet District Council and escaping from KCC to create a new Authority run by an elected leader and Cabinet. For more details Google www.iputthanetfirst.co.uk
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