tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post6111372392736155206..comments2024-03-13T10:32:22.656+00:00Comments on thanetonline: Manston cpo and why Thanet District Council can’t proceed with it, Chris Wells and the messages into the void.Michael Childhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09499435016469020417noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-9537671554742798502015-10-18T20:22:14.082+01:002015-10-18T20:22:14.082+01:00Arjun, ups and downs with the bookshop, the monopo...Arjun, ups and downs with the bookshop, the monopolisation of the book world by Amazon and the Kindle reader produced a rough patch and I subsidised the shop for a bit. Things seem to have swung the other way now and the bookshop is doing better, the main UK bookshop chain Waterstones had similar issues and were it not for Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut, would have gone under.<br /><br />I think the real problem here is that TDC have a remit to reduce the size of Ramsgate town centre, what is actually says is something along the lines of; centralising the shops in the town to reduce the number of empty shops, what it actually is doing is destroying the town. This was last evidenced by them buying the largest shop in King Street, in a shopping parade that was fully let and will be again very soon, to convert it into social housing.<br /><br />That said I live fairly modestly and the eating out is the only way I can manage to get the positions to paint in, I am prepared to pay for this and am also trying to buy a cheap camper van for the same purpose. <br /><br />Learning to paint and draw our local townscapes from reality rather than photographs is an expensive business and from a café is really the only way I have managed so far, any ideas on this front would be welcome. <br /><br />I need a comfortable seat, a reasonable temperature, a convivial atmosphere, sufficient food, drink and a loo close at hand, which is fairly easy, finding these with a good uninterrupted view worth painting and with the sun not shining straight into my eyes is another matter altogether. <br />Michael Childhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09499435016469020417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-72970200588011984372015-10-18T13:33:04.964+01:002015-10-18T13:33:04.964+01:00I would be happy to see TDC using its compulsory ...I would be happy to see TDC using its compulsory purchase powers to ensure that Michael's premises remained a bookshop. The key difference between this example and the airport is that Michael's shop makes enough money to allow him to eat out frequently, as evidenced by the contents of his blog. By contrast, the airport lost over £100 million. It failed, miserably, to achieve any of the predictions made for it. The same people who made those predictions are the people who have been driving the campaign to CPO it. Why would you listen to them twice? I think the vast majority of people in Thanet think that it's time to move on. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06415123501568769405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-34385458494394357062015-10-17T18:44:06.334+01:002015-10-17T18:44:06.334+01:00Time to move on I think. Manston was only ever vi...Time to move on I think. Manston was only ever viable all the time the MoD were paying for the infrastructure maintenance. It's a dead duck. No axe to grind here, I've lived smack under the flight path for thirty years. It was there when I brought the house and I served out my RAF time on the Wessex flight. Aircraft noise worries me and mine not one bit, but I admit I don't miss it. Let's concentrate on getting the most amenity use we can out of the resulting mess.Nethercourthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04974171584076766334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-69497694853100622872015-10-16T22:51:17.691+01:002015-10-16T22:51:17.691+01:00I still cant understand what the fuss is about. So...I still cant understand what the fuss is about. Someone on TDC gave the impression planning permission would be granted and from that point on Manston was doomed. Even though we have had a change of administration at TDC and are set for even more non-administration or as spellcheck wants tto call it maladministration the airport is never going to function again. I supported the airport all the time it was there but it has gone and we need to look to the future. Housing seems to be the only option and it needs to be supervised in a proper manner so as to benefit Thanet and not become a London overspill. Don Woodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17099505939055955603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-30576827846493618232015-10-16T18:22:45.592+01:002015-10-16T18:22:45.592+01:00In my view a CPO defies logic anyway. Usually CPO...In my view a CPO defies logic anyway. Usually CPOs are when local authorities want to build large infrastructure and need to be able to bulldoze a building in the way. In fact the only CPO I've ever heard of which was not like that is when TDC forced the sale of the Dreamland site.<br /><br />Here the convoluted argument seems to be that a third party should be able to use the powers of a local authority to take an asset from a legal owner to prevent them (the owner) developing it in a perfectly legal way. That's like you, Michael Child, deciding that you want to convert your bookshop into a micropub and me go to TDC to try to use their powers to allow me to buy it and continue running it as a bookshop. You might not, possibly should not, get permission to change use, but what right do I have to try to take your asset off you? Madness.<br /><br />At the very least, I'd expect the owners of the asset to get full market rate for their land - which as you say would be as prime development land as per the plans of the owners - which would be impossible to fund from TDC coffers and would likely Kibosh any plans anyone else might have for getting a cheap bit of land they can bank and build on later.<br /><br />I am not a lawyer etc.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12697826755404106727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-61483141197771856212015-10-16T17:35:04.265+01:002015-10-16T17:35:04.265+01:00Alan my best guess would be around £350mAlan my best guess would be around £350mMichael Childhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09499435016469020417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-69209145441797305052015-10-16T17:24:28.758+01:002015-10-16T17:24:28.758+01:00The former Manston Airport, now Stone Hill Park, i...The former Manston Airport, now Stone Hill Park, is not<br />'farmland'. It is a 800 acre 'brownfield' site and hence worth considerably more<br />than the £7m quoted for the airport. I would suggest it is now worth 10's of<br />millions and possibly 100's of millions, especially if we are talking 'housing<br />development'....precisely why RiverOak want to get their hands on it......they<br />are a Real Estate company and see a huge potential profit as does Anne Gloag.<br />RiverOak are not in the slightest interested in running an airport it is the<br />potential value of the land they are interested in. The 'compensation payment'<br />would reflect its potential value. Anyway, RiverOak has absolutely no chance of<br />CPOing the land so it's a bit academic!<br />Alan PooleAlan Poolenoreply@blogger.com