Thanet elects a new leader

We can't not mention the big news of last night really, can we? I know most of the Thanet blogs will have covered it at length. But seeing as we were at the Full Council last night when the vote took place, I can't really miss saying:

We have a new Leader of Thanet Council! 

And do you know what? It feels very good. Like a breath of fresh air has breezed in. And no, Councillr Moores that doesn't signify I'm a Labour blogger! Though not sure that why that would be an insult! 

So congratulations Councillor Clive Hart. Not that it's going to be an easy task steering Thanet through these choppy waters. But given how for most of the community events we've taken part in Labour Councillors have always been present, we're looking forward to more strategic partnership working with key stakeholders in the town. 

News on BBC Online

Michael Child

Thanet Online

Vintage Pin Ball Parlour returns to Margate Old Town

The Vintage Pinball Parlour returns to Margate Old Town for Christmas. Open daily from 12-5pm at the Pie Factory, 5 Broad Street, CT9 1EW from the 16th - 24th December. There have been some really great pop up shows and exhibitions at The Pie Factory this year. 

There is no hotel operator in place - so what will it look like and for how long?

Over on the Arlington Margate blog there is a scaled elevation drawing of what the Margate seafront could look like for years to come if permission is granted to demolish the front of the building without there being a hotel operator in place. And guess what folks, the developer told TDC in May that there isn't any interest from a hotel operator and there isn't likely to be one until after the store is completed and trading.

http://arlingtonhousemargate.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/no-interest-in-hotel-site/

The blog post has details of the email sent from the developer to TDC in May confirming this lack of interest.

We also see that Thanet Councillor Simon Moores is of the opinion that anyone who discusses factual evidence is a fantasist while at the same time asking the public to believe the truth lies in unattributed statements from the local newspaper. http://birchington.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-comes.html

 

 

Thanet Distict Council and Freshwater had planned to evict residents of Arlington House

Over on the Arlington Margate website, there are details of the elusive Section 106 agreement between TDC and Freshwater. A document file has been relased to the public that reveals the communication between TDC and the developers agents. 

http://arlingtonhousemargate.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/tdc-freshwater-cpo-threat/

East Kent £40m Regional Growth Fund Launch

We had only 48 hours notice to attend a breakfast meeting from 8am - 10.30am last Friday at Hornby on the 18th of November. Seems like it was aimed at businesses large enough for people to be able to take time off at the last minute.

Lots of talk again about how Manston Airport will create thousands of jobs. And yet more on the possible future Parkway Station.

Is there a risk that a Parkway Station would cost us a cut in train services at the towns of Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate?

Who wants to come to an town to have to get a shuttle bus to their final destination?

In the meantime we're waiting to hear how much of this fund will be utilised to create jobs within small businesses and SMEs.

Full article on The Thanet Times:

http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Chance-grab-slice-pound-40m-growth-fund-jobs/story-13919347-detail/story.html

Professor Heard's Curious Victorian Magic Lantern Show - Thursday 10th November

The Friends of the Shell Grotto are putting on another one of their fabulous fundraiser events. Professor Heard's Curious Victorian Magic Lantern Show comes to The Walpole Bay Hotel at 7pm on Thursday  7th November, featuring Misadventures at Margate.

Conflicts at the first meeting of the Local Development Framework Cabinet Advisory Group

Statement from the Thanet Labour Group:

The first meeting of the new TDC Local Development Framework Cabinet Advisory Group was held on Thursday 6th October. The LDF covers a wide range of detailed planning policy issues guiding development and investment for Thanet's long-term vision.

The first meeting was called to iron out organisational matters for the group who will be working on the long-term vision for TDC.

Regarding poor practice, Cllr Alan Poole immediately raised concerns that two cabinet members (Tories - Cllr Bayford and Cllr Moores) had been put on the advisory group and were therefore 'advising themselves'.

Cllr Clive Hart also raised the issue of a possible 'conflict of interest' concerning Cllr Bayford's membership as the group were discussing Kent county and East Kent Opportunities matters and Cllr Bayford is a Kent county councillor and a director of EKO. The legal officer had to dig very deep to squeeze Cllr Bayford out of this, but he did finally advise all was legal. Cllr Hart strongly disagreed with the legal officers advice that Cllr Bayford could carry on, on the basis that under the councillors code of conduct, councillors are supposed to consider how the 'man or woman in the street' would see any conflict, and he believed they would be appalled regarding Cllr Bayfords confusing roles.

Cllr Bayford then performed his usual 'you're being political' routine on Labour members so Cllr Hart reminded the group that the meeting had been made political even before members had sat down in theirseats as Cllr Bayford, the Conservative council leader, had already decided there would be three Conservative's and only 2 Labour members on the advisory group (most other advisory groups are balanced due to the current 'hung' situation of the council at TDC).

Regarding continued Tory 'spoiling tactics' at TDC. These reached new heights when the LDF group got to deciding terms of reference and other organisational matters for the newly formed group. In the end Cllr Bayford was so angry at the perfectly reasonable request for advisory group members to maintain voting rights for their recommendations, that he ended the meeting prematurely and simply 'informed' the assembled group that he and his Cabinet would write its own terms of reference for them!

Following the meeting Labour Group Leader Cllr Clive Hart said "I felt it was a terrible shame that Cllr Bayford brought the LDF Advisory Committee to a sharp and premature close with the insistence that he and his cabinet will now write our terms of reference for us. Worse still is his insistence that we should not even be be allowed to vote on our recommendations.

I sincerely hope Cllr Bayford will see sense and maintain voting rights in this process. At the meeting there were several references made to the fact that the group 'ONLY' recommends matters to cabinet and I feel the further changes proposed by Cllr Bayford would water down the hard work of the committee still further".