tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post6768797851355976988..comments2024-03-13T10:32:22.656+00:00Comments on thanetonline: A few pictures of Ramsgate and St Lawrence, and possible ramble about the airport and so on.Michael Childhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09499435016469020417noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-82856724794563576062012-05-20T18:47:08.352+01:002012-05-20T18:47:08.352+01:001017 has it about right. No-one from the Conservat...1017 has it about right. No-one from the Conservative Party seems to want to listen to the people of Ramsgate and they are certainly not going to win any friends down here by their rigid insistence on their present line. Northwood, Newington and Whitehall are all pretty deprived areas and they voted resolutely for a Labour manifesto committed to no night flights, so either the jobless in these areas are happy to be jobless or they have seen through the Infratil charade.<br />I wojuld suggest that the various Ramsgate wards sort out their prospective candidates for the next election pretty soon and get them out on the street. Only by talking to the people will you get any idea what this area wants.Tim Clarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09360638835659673415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-21676105825042067682012-05-19T19:52:38.847+01:002012-05-19T19:52:38.847+01:00Tony, local democracy should involve serving all t...Tony, local democracy should involve serving all the people in the district, not just those of a few targat wards. Anyway, I will take you on in an election if you like, but how about Viking or Kingsgate wards.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-66580552375075218442012-05-19T19:42:31.271+01:002012-05-19T19:42:31.271+01:00Tom, at the next local election I suggest you stan...Tom, at the next local election I suggest you stand in Ramsgate as a candidate and see how you get on and experience local democracy in action.A J Ovendenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07145698477921862643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-38542148122529264222012-05-17T19:54:58.416+01:002012-05-17T19:54:58.416+01:00Why did Infratil remove the noise monitors in 2006...Why did Infratil remove the noise monitors in 2006, and TDC and KCC ignore this for years?<br /><br />Along with the aquifer, and illegal overflights, the public have been deliberately endangered by their civil servants and politicians.<br /><br />The Police must be called in.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-14823226069562001512012-05-16T22:17:32.121+01:002012-05-16T22:17:32.121+01:00Nobody has "rejected the proposals out of han...Nobody has "rejected the proposals out of hand without discussing them." The proposals have been on the table for more than a year and there has been extensive debate within the local community. In addition, the Council has spent a lot of taxpayers' money commissioning expert reports about the proposals, all of which have concluded that the economic benefits are being overstated and the environmental impacts underplayed. The pro-airport lobby keep banging on about the economic benefits but they have not produced a shred of evidence to support these claims. In fact, the most impressive research has been done by the NNF group which looked at other airports and was able to produce a very convincing demolition of the jobs claims being made by Infratil.<br /><br />I guess the underlying complaint here is that the Tories haven't been able to influence the extensive debate which has taken place. There are two key reasons for this. Firstly, the Tory leadership made it clear that they were supportive of night-flights irrespective of the environmental impact. They were focussed only on the supposed economic benefits. There is no point in debating an issue with people whose minds are closed and so they were, rightly, marginalised. Secondly, the Tory councillors didn't bother attempting to engage with the people of Ramsgate. They could have attended one of the several public meetings which took place; they could have dropped leaflets through letterboxes; they could have set up a stall in the town centre to speak to people. They did none of these things. They didn't bother trying to speak to people because they, arrogantly, assumed they would be able to sit in their ivory tower and override the people's wishes. <br /><br />It is time for Bayford to step aside and it is to be hoped that the local party will elect a more progressive leader who is more in touch with public opinion and more open-minded. Unfortunately, this isn't a description I would apply to any of the candidates who have thrown their hat in the ring, so far.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-14841050084307336972012-05-15T18:35:25.405+01:002012-05-15T18:35:25.405+01:00Fortunately don't have door slamming with airc...Fortunately don't have door slamming with aircraft, leastways you hope not!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-43042925851739607702012-05-15T17:02:08.569+01:002012-05-15T17:02:08.569+01:00Fair comment... and I agree regarding railways. I...Fair comment... and I agree regarding railways. I have lived very close to Margate Station for the past 13 years, & when I first moved here the early trains always woke me; now I no longer hear them (though to be fair it was more the slamming of the doors on the old style carriages than the actual trains that woke me).Peter Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06283534498743254609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-71793613631534514412012-05-15T13:54:26.071+01:002012-05-15T13:54:26.071+01:00Peter, people not wanting them is one thing, but r...Peter, people not wanting them is one thing, but responsible authorities rejecting out of hand without even discussing the full proposals is something else. As to flight paths, well I once lived in RAF married quarters on a Vulcan bomber base (and that is real noise) so I can tell you one gets used to it. No worse than backing the railway line or living next door to some neighbours.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-68304902461878891332012-05-15T12:39:44.828+01:002012-05-15T12:39:44.828+01:00Do you live under the flight path Tom? I don'...Do you live under the flight path Tom? I don't, so I support night flights, but I can understand others not wanting them.Peter Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06283534498743254609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-63772667861604909982012-05-15T11:16:32.139+01:002012-05-15T11:16:32.139+01:00If we still suffer from the legacy of Thatcher wha...If we still suffer from the legacy of Thatcher what, may I ask, did New Labour achieve in thirteen years of acute financial mismanagement. Maybe it was not Thatcher that got it wrong, but the sudden change of direction to a public sector fuelled economy during the Blair/Brown years.<br /><br />Rejecting Manston expansion, without so much as sitting down with the airport operators to discuss mutually beneficial prospects, is par for the course with Labour administrations. It is a simple but effective strategy. The more people on the bread line then the more Labour voters.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-73697709806476340152012-05-15T08:25:03.343+01:002012-05-15T08:25:03.343+01:00What a load of emotive codswallop - you'd have...What a load of emotive codswallop - you'd have us living in tents and bartering for sheep.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3575321478441277410.post-3184886223151721662012-05-14T21:59:57.625+01:002012-05-14T21:59:57.625+01:00It's very simple really. The government of Mar...It's very simple really. The government of Margaret Thatcher elevated the needs of business above all. This philosophy now pervades every facet of modern life. Anyone who runs a market stall, cleans carpets and sells houses or used cars is a businessman, to be revered by society, and held in higher esteem than lowly servants like schoolteachers, nurses, or soldiers. Schools and universities are seen as training grounds for workers; hospitals are seen as workshops to fix the broken workers; entertainment has to be organised so that it doesn't interfere with the working day; the environment is either something that gets in the way of business or presents business with opportunities to make money. Tony Blair's Labour party could have reversed some of this by instigating policies which revolved around the individual. Unfortunately, they too sold out and now, sucking up to business is the only game in town. Local politicians are just weedy little versions of the national ones, so TDC puts the needs to business above everything and everyone else. <br /><br />Of course, those with half a brain recognise that Thatcher's claim that "what's good for business is good for the country" falls flat when you look at the current economic mess. It doesn't take a genius to see that the assumption that economic growth would continue forever, was fatally flawed. You have to assume they knew it wouldn't last, but knew it would last long enough to line their nests. <br /><br />Mr. Hart's stand against night-flights is an encouraging throwback to a time when politicians were responsive to public opinion and didn't take everything "business leaders" said at face value. Ed Milliband could do worse than take note. A party which was committed to putting the needs of people first could do rather well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com