Ramsgate Parish Council

Meandering through the local blogs this morning I noticed Mike Harrison getting hot under the collar, about Gerry O’Donnell getting hot under the collar, about Ramsgate town council. Click here to see what I mean.

Well as Mike has directed people to some posts that I did back in May I thought to make it easier for anyone looking for them so click here to read them.

The word on the street is that many councillors of both main parties are not to keen on Ramsgate having a parish council and that TDC are now aiming to put our parish council elections off until 2011.

Ramsgate First

I have received the email below from Gerry O'Donnel and thought it important to publish it in full.

Dear All, 23rd May 2008

Tim Garbutt has used the back of my email to propose setting up his own 'Ramsgate Town Council'. He wanted a public meeting and a committee formed to 'sack the Charter Trustees, TDC etc etc.

I found Tim's proposals ludicrous and Ramsgate First rejects them utterly.Before advising those of you who had received my previous email of this fact I stopped off at Albion House on Friday 22nd May at 7.00pm to attend Tim's proposed meeting so that I could inform him personally of the contents of this email.

Though the meeting was advertised in the Gazette it appears that nobody at Albion House was informed and consequently Tim and a couple of other people were unable to gain admittance. I therefore informed him on the doorstep that his proposals were unacceptable and that all he was doing was possibly jeopardising the parish council.

There are some churls in TDC who are itching to scratch Ramsgate parish council and that Tim's intervention might give them ammunition.I have to say I like Tim Garbutt. There is no doubting his sincerity but his waywardness, especially in his hatred of TDC, often leads him to express thoughts that frighten off others.

I think Tim thinks that I am now some kind of Uncle Tom - betraying his own. He is wrong of course. Often is.It is quite obvious that Tim's views are shared by a few, a very few: less than a handful of people judging by the attendance on Friday and that in no way is he representative of the overwhelming majority of the people of Ramsgate.

I hope, therefore, not to hear some councillors suggest there is any linkage between Mr Garbutt and Ramsgate First or the good people of Ramsgate in their pursuit of their own parish/town council. There is none.

Gerry O'Donnell