C Rawson, E J Laven, J Pantony & H Preece at The York Street Gallery in Ramsgate

The current Exhibition  is by Four Women Artists C Rawson, E J Laven, J Pantony & H Preece the exhibition runs -  28th Jan - 4th Feb

Lunch at the Crispin in Sandwich books and Petrushka

We finally got around to taking the Christmas tree to Sandwich tip for recycling today, along with the enviable small electrical devices which one no longer repairs. The days of putting a new element in the kettle or iron are long gone.

We had a light lunch at The Crispin, this a consistently good pub with good food and a pleasant atmosphere that I have used since the 1960s, a pot of tea each, bacon and cheeseburger with chips for me and a mozzarella and tomato ciabatta for she who must be obeyed, the tab was £17 something or other.

Alas no bookshops in Sandwich and nothing like Mrs Gunion ran there certainly since I have been visiting Sandwich in the 60s up to around 1990, oh to timewarp back there with a few hundred pounds to spend on books.

The inevitable charity shops in Sandwich yielded up only this small pile of books for my bookshop, nothing of great merit although I was very pleased to get a book on puppetry. Petrushka: The Russian Carnival Puppet Theatre by Catriona Kelly, an interesting book and helpful for me as we seldom get books on puppetry.

The paperback reprint is in print and for sale on Amazon, Ebay and the rest for around £23 including postage the cheapest copy of this the hardback first edition on Amazon is listed at £460 see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Petrushka-Russian-Carnival-Puppet-Theatre/dp/0521375207/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1422546562

This takes us into the misleading chaos of modern internet bookselling as I guess it will go on the shelf in my bookshop for around £15 and if there are no takers for it in the shop then I will put it on Amazon where I would expect it to sell for about £18 with the costs incurred of selling it online being about £6, if you are following me into this maze you are doing better than most.

So say you have a copy on your bookshelves at home and you find that the cheapest copy listed on the internet is £460, what do you do? First let me be quite clear here when some books are listed on the internet for £460 it is a good indicator that if you have a copy you would get this sort of amount for it if you put it on ebay, however in a lot of cases there really is very little chance of them selling for more than you would expect them to sell for.

This isn’t the sort of book where it being a first edition or a hardback enhances the price much and the paperback is in print new for £23.23 including postage, see http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/0521108993/ref=tmm_pap_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&sr=8-1&qid=1422546562

        

Now if you brought it to my bookshop I would offer you £5 in cash or £7.50 in exchange vouchers and as I said if my guess was right I would sell it for £15 and this would averagely take around a year. If it didn’t sell in my bookshop I would probably realise about £12 for it by selling it on the internet. Bumbling along like this for most of my working life I usually generate a gross rate of profit in the 40% ball park. 

My guess is that if you were to put it on Ebay after a few months of relisting it you would probably sell it for around the £20 mark including postage and having spent around £6 on P&P how you came out would depend on the listing fees you had accumulated.

My guess also is that if you actually wanted to buy the book online you would probably go for the new paperback that Amazon have in stock in their warehouse.

I did a very quick sketch of The Bell Inn from The Crispin as you can see the vanishing points are all over the place.

Oh and a few photos.

I think the ladybird had been living in the Christmas tree, pictures should expand if clicked on.

Local Plan Consultation 2015 part 1, the easy way?

OK we all know there isn’t really an easy way of filling in government forms, online or off, but in this case the online option really does seem to be the easiest way.

The main advantage to responding  online is that you can go beck and change you responses right up to the 6^th March.

To do this you will need to be registered online, so first go to the council’s consultation web page and either register or log in https://consult.thanet.gov.uk/consult.ti  

Then click on the link to the 2015 local plan consultation and follow through the pages of explanations, which you may or may not skim, read or ignore.

Eventually you get to the first question: Do you agree with the level and approach to encouraging economic growth in Thanet?

I think this translates to: Do you agree with the pages of text maps and diagrams you have skimmed through so far? So you then back paddle trying to find the key elements, I think the key map is this one. Unfortunately where it appears in the online consultation it is pretty much illegible.

So click on the picture of it below to make it bigger and after it has got bigger click on it again to make it even bigger.   

Anyway with this first question I have put in a first draft of a response to the first question which I intend to go back and modify, here it is.

“The problem with the approach to encouraging economic growth within the plan is that it is substantially base around a port with ferry services and an airport with freight and passenger services.

As neither exist or seem likely to exist the council’s approach appears to based around alternative but unworkable options for the sites where these once existed.

E.G. “1.14 Ramsgate Port is an infrastructure asset and is important for the green economy sector and as a wharf for the movement of minerals.”

Port Ramsgate is upwind and uptide from Ramsgate Marina, Ramsgate Main Sands, the associated café culture and tourist economy providing much of the town’s employment. So while normal ferry activity (passenger and roll on roll off) at the port would be likely to be of net benefit for the local economy, any lose and therefore dusty industrial cargoes would be likely to cause dust to blow over the main tourist economy, removing far more jobs than it creates. This would also apply to the washing of mineral cargoes at Port Ramsgate which would likely to create bathing water pollution.

Something very similar applies to the council’s recent support for turning Manston Airport in to an airfreight hub. While obviously a regional passenger airport would be likely to enhance the economy and appears to have public support. The council supporting a freight only air hub under the guise of saving the airport is just misleading. It would seem likely that as Margate and Broadstairs are upwind of Manston and an airfreight hub would create large amounts of air pollution with very little benefit to the local economy and be likely to result in considerable job losses in the local tourism industry.

I think it is very important when constructing a local plan for Thanet that it is understood that the tourism industry is a fragile one and activity on the edge of environmental compliance is unlikely help tourism.

The bottom line her however is that unless the local plan allows for a situation where we have no ferry service from the port and no flights from the airport it isn’t really a local plan but more a local pipedream.”

I would say one thing is certain and that is every developer with an eye on Thanet will be responding to the local plan, so it is very important that local residents respond too.  

A ramble about sewage, taking credit cards with PayPal in my bookshop and Manston Airport.

Not much in the local news today and I noticed that Kent Online had a lead article about sewage http://www.kentonline.co.uk/dover/news/southern-water-reveals-sewer-blocker-30657/ while here in Thanet there are major works underway to deal with our sewers.

The problems in Thanet relating to our water supply and sewage are unusual and related to tunnelling our chalk, which is very easy.  

From a water supply point of view you either know how the system works or need some simplified explanation which I will try to provide.

If you think of Thanet as big lump of chalk sitting on a layer of clay surrounded by sea you won’t be far out. The chalk acts like a sponge, the clay underneath stops the rainwater running out the bottom and the sea at the sides stops the rainwater running out the sides.

There isn’t much sideways movement of water or obviously or the surrounding seawater would have made the Thanet groundwater brackish millennia ago, however our sewers which started being built in about 1840 and seem to have used roughly the same construction methods for the following hundred years are now giving problems.

In most places if you want to lay a major sewage pipe, you dig a trench and put the pipe in the bottom of it then fill it in, in Thanet they often dug a tunnel through the chalk and lined the bottom of it with something that wasn’t porous.

The snag here is obvious if you get a blockage the level rises to above the impermeable lining and soaks into the chalk contaminating the drinking water aquifer.

Bumph about this is starting to appear online, see file:///C:/Users/Michael/Desktop/11%20thanet%20sewers%20groundwater%20scheme%20public%20publication%20final.pdf and https://shareweb.kent.gov.uk/Documents/environment-and-planning/flooding/Thanet%20Stage%201%20SWMP%20-%20Report.pdf and google away at your leisure.

On to Paypal, well the first few days of using the payal card reader linked to the android tablet (see http://thanetonline.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/taking-credit-and-charge-cards-in-my.html )have gone reasonably well.

The only issues have been that the tablet automatically reboots at 7 am, which means it forgets the paypal password, so it is best insert the password when opening the shop and when the reader gets to around 20% charge it refuses to work, giving you a recharge message instead of an insert card message, once you have plugged it into a charger it immediately works ok, so it is best to have a charger handy.

Manston comes up at parliament on Monday, here are links to the two main submissions http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/transport-committee/smaller-airports/written/17277.html and http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/transport-committee/smaller-airports/written/17493.html it’s very difficult to see in either of these documents any compelling case for a cpo.

There has been a fair amount of activity at the airport over the last week with one of the broken down planes being broken up for scrap and various amounts of disused concrete has been removed, all in all more clearing of the site that doesn’t need consent or where consent has been granted.

Actual demolition on the site is a bit of grey area consent wise, in most cases I don’t think planning consent would be required as it isn’t a conservation area, however local authority planning department and environment agency involvement will be needed for some things mainly because of Manston being on the aquifer.  

If for instance the current owners want to remove the runway, I think they would be obliged to consult with those agencies to ensure that they did this in a way that wouldn’t damage the aquifer.

This is rather in the same sort of bracket that you need planning permission to build a garage in your garden but you don’t necessarily need planning permission to knock down a garage in your garden, but would be advised to inform the council if you are going to.

I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding going around that parliament could actually force TDC to engage in a cpo with an indemnity partner that TDC had rejected, this just isn’t the case.

If the department of transport makes any significant changes to which airports they consider to be important, this is highly unlikely to happen until well after the general election when the new government had become established.

I will leave you with a picture of the traditional Thanet Tea Ceremony, in this case being performed in Margate. The timing of the ceremony can be varied with a 240-volt kettle as this type of generator offers a 110-volt output, which allows for the slower boiling method. As an ex engineer this is often used in areas where members of the populace are technically described as "well fit" used less in areas of gba. 

Obviously it takes a highly skilled water engineer to fully comprehend what is happening in the picture.

As a bookseller I can usually offer further reading.

Today's most strange Kent tweet has to be this one from Kent emergency services.

More on the Pleasurama saga in Ramsgate and a ramble.

Firstly a follow on from Tuesdays post about Pleasurama and the cliff report, see http://thanetonline.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/pleasurama-royal-sands-latest-cliff.html I want entirely happy about the response to my request for information about the site infrastructure.  

Anyway here is the email request I sent them:

From: michaelchild

To: customer.services ; casework

Sent: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 11:37

Subject: customer feedback request

I am writing to you for an update on the Pleasurama site, mainly as there is a certain amount of rumour circulating on the internet.

There are four main areas of interest relating to the civil engineering infrastructure of the project and updates on any of them would be useful at this time.

1 The cliff façade condition survey; is there any progress on this? And if there are any reports that are in the public domain can you please send them to me by email?

2 The flood risk and structural integrity of the sea defence, has any investigation been made into this? The latest information I have on this that the EA strongly recommended a flood risk assessment. Mike Humber emailed me telling me that the sea defence dated from 1860 and the council while being responsible for the maintenance of the sea defence hold no plans or maintenance record for it. This is particularly important now the construction method has been changed from bored piles to pad foundations sitting on sand held in place by the sea defence.

3 Cliff maintenance access, has any assessment been made to ascertain if there is enough space between the proposed development and the cliff façade to maintain the cliff façade for the life of the development? Important as the various surveys of the façade describe it as having a short serviceable life.

4 Road access, has any investigation been made into the psv and hgv access for the development? Mostly this relates to the Marina Road inclined viaduct, which as far as I can see from the plans is to be used for psv and hgv access for the development, once the development is built, despite KCC signing it as unsuitable for construction hgvs.

Best regards Michael

Here is the email they sent me with the cliff report:

Dear Michael,

Thank you for this, we have only just received the final report back and it is attached for your information.  Our Engineers are reviewing and will be taking action as necessary. 

The scheme has full planning permission to be built out, there is no legal requirement to do a flood risk assessment, and the access is considered satisfactory for maintenance purposes.

At present we are still undertaking a mediation process the details cannot be shared due to legal reasons, however please rest assured that we have informed the HSE of our negotiations and they will be kept informed and asked to visit should the legal’s complete satisfactorily.  We would also ensure a rigorous programme of works that would take into account access and egress limitations and work with the developer to ensure adequate flood risk protection.

I trust this answers your questions.

Regards

And here is my reply, which I have just sent them

Thank you for the report you sent me.

I am sorry to say I am not entirely happy with your response and am therefore seeking a further review.

With respect to the flood risk, three factors have occurred since planning consent, one is that Ramsgate sands have become significantly denuded greatly reducing the protection to the 1860 sea defence fronting the site, the second being the change from pile bored foundations to the development to pad foundations on sand held in place by the sea defence and third the EA letter http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/ea/id2.htm

I does occur to me that I could make economic sense for the council to have an independent fra made of the area as it is the council and not the developer that liable for maintaining the sea defence. The company usually used by local authorities for this is http://www.hrwallingford.com/ they did the fra for Turner Contemporary.

When I spoke to you on the telephone you told me that there would be a seismic survey and I haven’t received the results of this from you.

You also said that this would be an independent survey, however what you sent me is a survey by East Kent Engineering Partnership, essentially the same council officers who signed off the main repair contract that has proved to have been faulty. [Coating badly applied, significant panel failure within a couple of months of the contract ending]

I also note that the report you have sent me seems to be saying by omission, inasmuch as it describes the condition of the foundations for the arched part of the façade, that the foundations for the portal part of the façade shown on the design drawings do not in fact exist in reality and this would appear to need underpinning.

There are several other significant and observable issues that the report has omitted covering, these include the surface of the cliff top above the brick and render part of the façade, the foundation of the centre balustrade the brick and render part of the façade which has been exposed and appears to be on made ground and in need of underpinning.

Can you please confirm the position regarding an independent structural engineers report on the condition of the cliff façade?    

My understanding is that Cardy Construction commissioned an independent report when they started work on the foundations back in 2009/10 and that this report resulted in site workers examining the façade for movement prior to starting work each day for signs of movement, can you please send me a copy of this report and any other reports on the cliff that I haven’t got?

All of the reports I have got are published here in a series of linked pages links at the top http://thanetonline.com/cliff/

Your point that the gap between the development of the cliff façade (4 metres) is sufficient to allow for maintained of the cliff façade for the life of the development is “considered satisfactory” requires further clarification.

Can you please send me the report stating how much space is need between the development and the cliff to allow for future maintenance of the cliff façade?

Obviously during the expected life of the development [80 to 100 years] parts of the façade will have to be removed and replaced and the cost of doing so is most likely to fall on the local authority. I assume that the viability and cost of these repairs are a matter of public interest.

Your point on the withholding information for legal reasons, can you please confirm that this would cover issues relating to the civil engineering of the site infrastructure and the structural integrity of the cliff façade?  

Regards Michael.

On to the Thanet tourism grant, see http://www.thanetgazette.co.uk/Communities-minister-announces-250-000-tourism/story-25923803-detail/story.html this once again has all of the look of Margate council getting a grant to spend in Margate.

I will ramble on here if i get time.

Self at Turner Contemporary Margate a first attempt at a review.

 The latest exhibition at Turner Contemporary “Self” is comprised of over 100 self portraits covering the last 400 years, no photographs I’m afraid as photography isn’t allowed.

 I reckon this is one of the gallery’s best shows and well worth a visit, here is what it has to say about it on the gallery’s website http://www.turnercontemporary.org/exhibitions/self

 I guess the most disturbing of the works is Jeremy Millar’s silicone corpse, see http://www.grantmasonfx.com/jeremy-millar-2011/ I was also quite taken by the Damien Hirst interestingly the contemporary stuff stands up well against the classical portraits.

 I had just been buying books for my bookshop, which often leaves me a bit mazed, see http://michaelsbookshop.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/new-acquisitions-for-our-bookshop-today.html so it could have been partly my state of mind, but frankly the exhibition just bowled me over, star show.

 Halfway through I had to slope off to the café for a scone and a coffee, it was pretty busy, gallery and café, so a surreptitious sketch, not very good.

One of the great advantages with Turner Contemporary is that you can get very close to the works of art and it isn’t crowded to the point of gallery rage, although frankly with this exhibition I think once the word gets around it may get very busy indeed.

Taking credit and charge cards in my bookshop using PayPal, I have taken the tablet

Well I have bitten the bullet and bought a tablet and it is good.

Very good in fact, the main issue with Paypal was the app did install on all of our phones and paired with the Bluetooth but once it was paired with one device it wanted to keep it making it rather clunky so I bought a cheap Android pad from Argos a Lenovo A10. So yes the answer is it works with paypal and I am learning to use what is essentially a much bigger phone that you can't make phone calls on.

It takes a bit of getting used to but roll on a phone this size, well maybe not, but for blogging and many of the internet stuff do on a daily basis it is a very good bit of kit. £130 well spent.

I think we have all the issues covered now, the customer wants to pay in the shop and a mixture of the Paypal app on the tablet and the Paypal card reader functions fine. When a customer phones up wanting me to post them a book, it can handle this by linking the address the book is going to to the person who wants it, and the cost to us is greatly reduced.

An issue with the paypal app is that it doesnt work on all devices, so buying the tablet, which you can’t try first involves risking buying one that just won't work, so that’s the main reason for this blog post.

Another aspect is learning to touch type on the pad and taking it all the way to produce a blog post, something I am getting better at.

The pace of technology is pretty alarming at times, but I think the days of it damaging book sales are finally over, people seem to have realised that they need both the pad and the book.

What I can't understand I how the bookshop where the books are significantly more expensive than the internet can work or have much in the way of a meaningful future.

Anyway a few pictures looking down the bookshop from the till desk using the camera in the tablet, another camera for me to learn to get the best from.

I guess an important aspect of the bookshop cheap Android tablet is that I would think most adults would be able to use one instead of a desktop or laptop computer and as all of the Android software I have installed for normal computing is free, then £130 covers the was whole lot.

A much bigger keyboard than the mobile phone one, with predictive text, takes a bit of getting used to. On this version of Android your spelling mistakes and typos get underlined which is good.

The voice recognition works like this and seems to be fairly good. I will try to strain it now.

One thing about speaking to a machine is it you never really know what it's going to say in terms of text it might say for instance something with you really didn't want it to sir on the other hand in this case it seems to be working perfectly.

Well it only got say wrong and wrote sir instead

On the text editor front I don't think you can really beat installing the Google drive app and writing any text in a document on that. Once you get used to it you can go as fast as with a keyboard and MS Word.

Then just a long tap and copy into the blogger editior .

Mark Warren & Nina Andrious at The York Street Gallery in Ramsgate,

The first  Exhibition of 2015 is by Mark Warren & Nina Andrious. The exhibition runs - 21st Jan - 28th Jan