First here is today’s Manston press release from Sir Roger
Gale:
PRESS RELEASE 10 April,
2015.
Manston Airport – Search & Rescue Can Come Home - Roger Gale
The way is clear for Search & Rescue to return to a
re-opened Manston Airport. That is the
real significance of the announcement made yesterday by the minister of state
for Aviation, John Hayes, during his visit to Thanet yesterday, says North
Thanet`s Roger Gale.
“It is a pity that the real issue was buried under a
synthetic and media-generated political “row” says Gale.
“The Minister responsible for the Coastguard Service has
approved a one-year contract for Bristows to operate from Lydd while
discussions relating to the future of Manston continue. He has made it plain
that during that time there will be no capital investment in new SAR
facilities, paving the way for a swift return to the preferred operating base,
Manston, as soon as the airport is once again operational. That speaks volumes. It demonstrates the
faith that a significant and reputable company, Bristows, has in Manston and it
states very clearly the importance that the Prime Minister and the Transport
Department have placed upon Manston as a strategic national asset – because
this move has the full backing of Number 10. This is part of a process that
those of us who really support Manston have been engaged in for months and it
has nothing to do with the General or council Elections at all. “
Commenting on the status of the RiverOak indemnity package
Roger Gale has added:
“The Minister made it plain that, based upon the indications
that he has received and the contents of a letter sent to him by the Chief
Executive of RiverOak, Steve DeNardo, yesterday, he is confident in saying,
with the full weight of Ministerial Office, that he is satisfied that there
will be no risk to the Thanet Council taxpayers in proceeding to a Compulsory
Purchase Order.
I have a copy of that letter in front of me and in it Mr.
DeNardo says:
“We instructed our solicitors, Wragge, Lawrence Graham, to
draft an indemnity agreement between Thanet District Council and RiverOak to
cover all the Council`s risks. This was because we recognised that for both
financial and political reasons it would be impossible for Thanet to carry any
risk, however small and however remote. I can confirm that the indemnity
agreement as drafted does meet those requirements.
RiverOak is a US registered company but prior to the signing
of the indemnity agreement we will create a UK based and registered company, to
be known as RiverOak Aviation, to go through the CPO process and take ownership
of the airport if awarded. The same company will also hold all the appropriate
CAA licenses.
In support of the CPO process RiverOak accept total
responsibility for making the business case for the airport to the CPO
inspector. In doing so we recognise that if we are unable to satisfy the
Inspector as to the viability of our business plan we will lose the CPO and a
significant amount of our own capital but it will have been done at no cost to
Thanet.
To this end we are prepared to deposit up to £2,000,000 into
a designated escrow account in the UK simultaneous upon the mutual signing of
an indemnity agreement between RiverOak and Thanet District Council”
That is the basis upon which the Minister of State has felt
it possible to say that there will be no risk to Thanet. I do not believe that
the situation could now be clearer.
I have made it plain to the Leader of Thanet District
Council that if she and her administration now proceed to instigate the CPO
procedure then they will do so with the full and non-partisan backing that I
have offered to date and to that end I am prepared to put my own political
reputation on the line.
Further, the Leader of the Conservative Group on Thanet
District Council, Bob Bayford, has indicated that on an equally non-partisan
basis the Conservative Group will back the controlling Group and will share
equal political responsibility for the decision. I do not think that we can offer more and I hope and expect that
reservations will be set to one side and that, on the basis of the Minister of
State`s assurances, the process will now be allowed to immediately commence”.
With Manston Airport being 700 acres, the £2m at less than £3,000 an acre sounds a bit on the
low side.
Something like Dr Evil
Anyway the whole airport issue is moving into the realms of
the surreal, so there really isn’t much more I can say.
I have just come back from Harbour Street where I went to
check if The Ramsgate Society Shop wanted stock of any more local books, here
is a picture of their shop today.
Another bit of local news is that the names of the Thanet parliamentary candidates is now published online at http://thanet.gov.uk/your-services/elections-and-voting/parliamentary-election-2015/south-thanet/
The TDC list of councillor candidates has now gone up at http://thanet.gov.uk/your-services/elections-and-voting/district-election-2015/district-election-2015/
And the list of candidates for parish and town councillors
at http://thanet.gov.uk/your-services/elections-and-voting/parish-elections-2015/contested-elections-of-parish-councillors/
The only thing of note is that neither Labour or the conservatives put up candidates for all of the TDC seats roughly 56 seats 52 Conservative and 53 Labour candidates.
The only thing of note is that neither Labour or the conservatives put up candidates for all of the TDC seats roughly 56 seats 52 Conservative and 53 Labour candidates.
Sorry I did mean to get more of a ramble up but was too
busy, I will have a go now and see what comes up.
On the bookshop front here in Ramsgate, I think this is the
first week that all of the books going out on the selves in the bookshop got
photographed and posted online, see http://michaelsbookshop.blogspot.co.uk/
We will do our best to keep this up as judging from the
webstats people seem to like this.
We have now got a whole month of taking credit card payments
in the shop using PayPal and a Paypal card reader, there haven’t been any
snags, we have managed to take card paid telephone orders OK and foreigners cards that don’t have chips.
As you don’t have to pay rental for the card machine which
we bought outright for £70 or any of the other fees, like the pone call,
software charge, money laundering compliance charge and anything else the bank
can think of, we seem to be saving around £25 per month.
Nearly all the in shop transactions are coming in at 2.75%
and no other charges.
There is a rumour going round that Al Murray is going to
open a shop in Ramsgate, I have been keeping an eye on the other political
shops in the town, I am yet to see a customer in the UKIP shop, I have very occasionally
seen one in the Labour shop, however the Reality Party Café “Evolution” seems to
always have customers.
Looks like Roger Gale has dropped the minister in it as far as breaking the rules of purdah are concerned and the owners of Manston have a good case to report him to the Electoral Commission. Only yesterday a UKIP PPC was summonsed by the Commission for supplying sausage rolls at a meeting. Maybe Roger Gale can tell us how much the Bristow contract is worth a year?
ReplyDelete