The sunset was almost as good as those from Margate last night. The temperatures are dropping away but a high of 22C is still enough to warm the pool and justify the opening of some ice-cold San Miguels at mid-day.Friends report that 'Mowice' is claiming those who opposed the Gateway Application are responsible for 'scaremongering' and that this week's KM Extra had the word blazed across its front page. From a Councillor who swore at an outgoing Mayor at a Civic Event and allowed 'his' Council to accept a gift of £12.500 from the developers CGP whilst it had a 'live' application before his Council, this appears to be just another arrogant and ill-considered outburst that will come back to haunt our Conservative Councillors when the electorate next has the opportunity to vote.
We seem to have a real problem with integrity in this country; the Labour Government at national level in respect of exalting to the peerage, a man who has resigned twice over issues of probity and at local level, a Tory led District Council , that sees fit to accept a planning applicant's gift of sponsorship for a civic event!
This reminds me of a tale attributed to Churchill but perhaps not;
At discussion over dinner the conversation got round to prostitution. "Would you sleep with me for a thousand pounds?" was the question put to the lady on his left. "Certainly not" was the reply. " If I offered you a 'hundred-thousand', would you reconsider?" After a pause the answer was "Well just for one night, I probably would for that amount". " In that case, what about a 'quickie' outside for a fiver?" "No! How disgusting! Do you take me for a common tart?"
"Madam", came the reply, " We've already established that fact. All I am now negotiating is a price."
So what you may ask? It is the 'principle' !
Whether TDC accepted a 'gift' of £5, £12,500 or £250,000 is irrelevant. It has behaved 'like a common tart'. It's 9 meetings with CGP reps, 'Woger' or 'Mowice' or both with Senior Officers in attendance, between Jan and Sep of this year alone, WITHOUT MINUTES BEING TAKEN, raises questions as to why were minutes not taken? This seems odd.
TDC has lost its probity and integrity in the eyes of many of its electorate over 08/0400.(only 10 Councillors saw fit to decline making a decision on the Phase 1 Application, that would have then put the matter in Independent hands.)
'Mowice' has yet to wake up to this fact. Hurling insults at principled and concerned members of Thanet's electorate only serves to reinforce the low regard that many may already have of him.
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(four more days of warmth and back on Thursday, if the air-line hasn't gone belly-up! Thanks to Senor de Latona for time on his computer.)
4 comments:
I hope you are following the Sericol groundwater contamination revelations from my FOI applications ?
Early indications are that only three cllrs knew about this in the 90s. None were aware of the ongoing remediation or of the quantity of cyclohexanone so far recovered at the Poorhole Lane site in the 12 years of the remediation project to date. 470 tonnes so far.
The EA write that it will remain a threat to the aquifer for many years to come.
A month before the Environment Agency replied to me Chair of Planning A Ken Gregory was consulted about the FOI application re Sericol I made to TDC.
He said he had not to the best of his knowledge been involved in due dilgence examination of the Sericol situation.
I wonder if you fill that he was remiss in not circulating the Sericol information to all councillors before they made theor CGP decision. Mayhap a few would have invoked in their consciences a precautionary principle and voted for all drainage issues to be resolved in the application and not at the discretion of Ken Gregory's planning cttee during the build ?
Rick, I share your distrust of TDC being able to handle anything to do with groundwater effectively.
We can only rely on close monitoring of the details being submitted to Doug Brown for examination by that Committee. We can continue to talk to Planning Councillors and lobby them to ensure they realise that they must insist on the highest achievable safety measures to protect that aquifer.
Michael has scanned in a copy of the EA response as a new thread on which I said I would not comment (in order to give others a chance) other than to confirm the transcipt accurate.
I am pursuing my concerns now.
I think Malcolm, Michael and you have done an excellent job on protecting Thanet's interests re CGP.
I hope Ken Gregory makes a comment on this Sericol history. My guess is that he was not told the scale of the incident when TDC involved him, at my request, in response to my FOI application (later forwarded by TDC to EA).
There could be two reasons for this:
(a) The TDC Ground Contamination Dept has not kept abreast of the volumes involved in the EA supervised remediation project at Poorhole Lane.
OR
(b) The 1990s history was repeated IE elected cllr misled by officer report
IF it was the case that Ken was told the figure of 470 tonnes recovered to date (12 years into remediation) then I wonder why Ken did not make that public before the CGP planning decision and why TDC did not reveal the figure to me in advance of the CGP planning meeting.
So far I am not aware of any public comment by a cllr.
An interesting comment from Anon, suggesting that I might have a holiday at Her Majesty's expense has been sent to the ether and I hope Risk will forgive me for editing his later comment:
Rick said:
Actually Bertie I think the Planning consent decision could now be challenged ?
But I leave that to others. Smile on the face of the tiger just wait to see what cllrs have to say.
I will be up to my neck now as I have requested Ombudsman to act as pre-action protocol requirement to proffer Alternative Dispute Resolution to Kent Police Authority. Quite enough on my plate. That is my side of the Sericol evidence.
Looked at even at its most emotive level. Back in 88 there were five families per day in Margate getting possession orders against them at the County Court. These were concentrated on skiled people in low paid work and not on the area's 27.1% unemployed.
How many Thanet families whose men had served apprenticeships and who were giving it an honest go .. lost their homes and moved on ?
Men with genuine qualifications who would have given heart and soul to get a relatively well paid maintenance job at Sericol.
Even Canterbury Uni at that time did a study and warned that Thanet was in effect losing its tall trees. The sort of people who lead proper youth groups, who instruct boxing and martia arts, who are Red Cross or St John volunteers. The fabric of a local community being targetted for homelessness or disaffection and debt at the rate of five families per day .
And a man (Freemason and Tory) with alleged forged qualifications which police had evidence about in 1988, breezes into skilled work. And no inquiry occurs until Sericol internal inquiry (kept quiet) occurred ten years later.
Even at that most basic emotive level it stinks. And I have to say that Thanet tories should feel ashamed.
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20 October 2008 19:05
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