tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post106436601679316607..comments2024-03-13T10:32:22.656+00:00Comments on thanetonline: The strange and peculiar story of Thanet District Council reorganisationMichael Childhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09499435016469020417noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-17224789287966325392011-10-02T23:18:37.743+01:002011-10-02T23:18:37.743+01:00I think it is rather odd that part of the job requ...I think it is rather odd that part of the job requirement for the directors of tdc is not residency in thanet, and the fact the chief exec can "work at home".<br />so we have a chief exec who doesn't pay council tax in thanet, parks for nothing in thanet and probably gets supplied with lunch and tea and biscuits.<br />contribution to the local economy nil takes out of the local economy £100+k.<br />sounds as though we are getting a raw dealAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-29519357140842444862011-10-02T21:27:27.409+01:002011-10-02T21:27:27.409+01:00I am quite happy to admit that I'm not an expe...I am quite happy to admit that I'm not an expert on planning. However, I'm a fast learner and I'm prepared to give it a go. I'm prepared to do the job for much less than £1000 per week. Can anyone explain why my application should not be considered? <br /><br />If these jobs had been advertised in the local press I'm sure many people, like me, would have come forward to save the taxpayer a bob or two.<br /><br />P.S. When I talk about saving a bob I'm not suggesting that I would like to help save the current Leader of the Council.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-13999911835188837532011-09-30T19:38:01.464+01:002011-09-30T19:38:01.464+01:00I think too much gets blamed on government cuts. I...I think too much gets blamed on government cuts. I understand that the government grant was reduced but i do not know by how much, but where is the saving to TDC in making a head of planning redundant and employing someone else to do the job, Making a chief exec who has stated he wanted to to retire early due to his ill health "redundant"at the cost of over £200K, and promoting someone "in house" without any competetive interview. i seem to remember the previous "Estates director was made redundant a couple of months after his 50th birthday at a cost to the local tax payer of £250K another cost saving measure by TDC. So much money has been wasted by changing the titles and terms and conditions of the chief exec, directors and heads of service to no benefit of the local taxpayer. I even recall a certain member of the highways dept who was made redundant when he said he want to retire so he could get an extra £90K. This is the sort of waste that should be tackled and the elected members should do something about.... but no they are quite happy for the "gravy train to continue" but I cannot undertstand why.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-74729561619273555222011-09-30T16:06:57.265+01:002011-09-30T16:06:57.265+01:00So we should reject Tesco because there's a ch...So we should reject Tesco because there's a chance they might close down & move on at a later date? Should we have done the same for Thanet Earth, Pfizer, Turner Contemporary & everything else?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-59711871956718775952011-09-30T14:04:15.911+01:002011-09-30T14:04:15.911+01:00I would say that the Tesco roller coaster business...I would say that the Tesco roller coaster business is a fair example of what of what I mean in this post. I take this to be a large project, and the council did have a chap in charge of large projects, but when the cuts came along, he went. My guess is at the moment the council don’t actually have anyone with experience in this field, and that it is a post being covered on a temporary basis by someone with experience and responsibilities in another area. So I very much doubt that the council realised that they had used the same consultancy experts as the potential developer. <br /><br />I think a lot of the problem here relates to the way government cuts are made, I suppose when the money was essentially unlimited the council had experts of their own in this sort of area, employed outside consultants and the had the whole thing overseen by English Heritage.<br /><br />As far as I can see all of the previous rules and red tape still exist, but not the staff to implement the old system. This is tied in with the problem that the council can’t just say “sorry everyone, we made a mistake” and even if the could, there isn’t much in terms of procedure for when they have made a mistake. <br /><br />I suppose a question here would be, want do local people want the council to do? One of the options would seem to be an expensive legal battle with Tesco. <br /><br />I should also point out that is not that long ago that Tesco opened a supermarket in Ramsgate that resulted in the closure of many local shops and when the damage had been done to the town, so that it was reliant on the Tesco store, they suddenly closed it.Michael Childhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09499435016469020417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-18738930126439651442011-09-30T13:15:20.504+01:002011-09-30T13:15:20.504+01:00You forgot to mention the bit where it says "...You forgot to mention the bit where it says "The report will be assessed independently by English Heritage" anon. Or don't you trust English Heritage either?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-7447193136537957982011-09-30T13:02:26.222+01:002011-09-30T13:02:26.222+01:00Over on Margate Architecture blog and others there...Over on Margate Architecture blog and others there's the story of a council that paid for an independent report regarding a planning application and then reclaimed the cost from the applicant. The report was also produced by a partner of a consultancy who often worked for the applicant's client. Could only happen at TDC but I guess the senior officers can see nothing wrong with this. Thats TDC interpretaion of 'independent' for you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-49992657472940467472011-09-29T12:27:16.801+01:002011-09-29T12:27:16.801+01:00I thought the reply was very good in that the Chie...I thought the reply was very good in that the Chief Executive & Chief Financial Officer responded to the facts and made no comment regarding unfounded conjecture.<br /><br />But then again I live in Broadstairs….happy days.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-3570393916522487422011-09-28T23:32:45.304+01:002011-09-28T23:32:45.304+01:00Sounds like business as usual for tdc, the chief e...Sounds like business as usual for tdc, the chief execs coterie looked after everyone else left like headless chickens and the poor old resident of thanet loses out.whilst the likes of RS & BW sun themselves on massive payouts funded by yes the poor old resident of thanet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com