Knowing When It's Come To An End

I was talking with a lady in her middle ages yesterday. She said that the council needed new blood.

She admired the enthusiasm and hard work of Will.i.am Scobie and has been impressed with some of the recent councillors.

But she had a problem with all the ones that are using it to top up their pension.

They may be good thinkers, but they are not doers.

They struggle with emails and rarely reply. The don't tweet, blog, facebook, Instagram or fax.

And she felt that the modern councillor needed to engage with the local internet scene.

But less preaching, more interacting.

I don't mean to be disrespectful with these comments - they are simply what people are saying. Many older councillors have had an excellent time representing the towns. But perhaps its time to let the new blood come through.

Remembrance Sunday

As I sit and watch for 1100,, my mind drifts to blogging.

I hope you are going to one of the local services around Thanet today. The links with Thanet and the navy are clear and there is a strong army presence in Thanet.

Buy your poppy. Support the cause. Remember them

Whats the Drama - Pleasurama!

In 2002 a naive bunch of councillors including Hart, Poole and Johnson voted to approve that SFP become the preferred developer for the site formerly known as Pleasurama, once Merrie England.

With their Swiss Bankers behind them, they were all set to make Ramsgate the new Brighton. The development would create a unique strip of commercial accommodation that lies directly behind one of the most beautiful beaches in England.

Everyone would prosper! Yeah right!!

What actually happened eleven years later we are left with a bomb site, with no shops, no houses, no hotel and a cliff wall that will probably fall down due to the water ingress trapped behind it.

What do the people of Ramsgate have, NOTHING.

There has been no development.

There has been a history of questionable decisions, bad officer advice and rumoured nefarious dealings - from both sides of the house. The 2009 agreement seems to have only benefited the developer and it shows the administration under Ezekiel could ramrod a decision through TDC despite officer advice.

But we now come to the final day - 28 Feb 2014. Three and a half months away. For this is the day that TDC can begin to get the land back from the developers. The development agreement will terminate.

And what does Alan Poole say? "We have an arrangement". I hope that arrangement is simple - you telling them to arrange their things and leave.

We should not be working with these people. Half of the town agrees - SFP. Out. Out. Out.

But this is not what TDC is doing. They are saying they are still in negotiations. Do you think they may be able to knock it up in time then Alan?

Some suspect that TDC are working with the developers because they fear what the costs could be.

We could have to pay back £5M or more for that site. On top of the £3.4M from TEF, the possible £1.4M from the court case over animal exports, the £??M for Dreamland, the coffers are beginning to look empty.

So does this mean that SFP may well be our only choice? Because what does it matter really. It’s only Ramsgate, eh?

Disgusting

The Colour Purple

Don't Judge A Book....

I don’t pre-judge people. I like to meet them, interact with them and always be aware I will never get them. I then begin to form an opinion. But I don’t prejudge.

For me – it doesn’t matter what race creed, colour, age, sex, sexual orientation, social ethic demographic, Acorn rating, rich or poor person you are I have found a pattern.

About a third of people I meet are great, a third are ok and a third not that great. Of that bottom third, there is a third of them that are just plain wrong, but I don’t pre-judge people. Certainly not on colour. This feels like the days when Reg Varney was king. It’s not modern. I judge people on how I find them.

Some people are different. They can see people of a different colour as sickening. They instantly judge.

Some predjuces are instantly attributed to "them lot". “They are all the same. Would rob you rather than help you. Can’t trust them - never could. Not our kind of people. Scum. Extremists. Bring down our lot! Against us. Avoid at all costs.” And some people still feel like this, people will judge you. And that judgement is instant, deep set and is based on predjudice. 

Old Dinoaurs

That’s why I haven’t been political. Because the moment you ‘reveal your political colour’ people will instantly bond with you or always hold it against you.

I don’t judge people by colour. I judge them when I interact with them.

Especially in this day and age, the World is multi-cultural full of diverse peoples all bringing different skills to the table.

The political world is fragmented, strange and frightening. The KCC elections showed us this. In Thanet people are crying out for one thing.

That thing is Change.

Less than 10% of the current councillors are trusted by those that follow local politics. I suspect, even those who run the local political systems will only vote to keep 50% of the councillors.

It makes you wonder why the only voice of "difference" or "change" is purple.

If we keep calling each other names because of our colour, purple are going to win. 

Unless other white, green, yellow, red or blue candidate pop up that actually try to connect with the public we will see no real change. If it’s the same old crap, they will walk away. Because EVERYONE in Thanet knows one simple fact. The status quo needs to have one radical thing happen to it.

Change.

They really are as bad as each other down here! Clive needs to see it. Bob needs to see it. As long as they can’t face each other in the chambers, people will vote "NONE OF THE ABOVE" It’s time to step down and let someone else try. Someone who is not linked to the Ezekiel/Hart administrations. Someone who can concentrate on the future, rather than casting blame for the past. It needs to be radical and come from the top. 

And unless big names stand back and give up their cabinet positions and show real co-operative change, the isle will be purple for the next thirty years. 

The blues and the reds will be left fighting outside the game. powerless.

Unless we make changes - and we make them now - its purple for thirty years.

and the REALLY crazy thing is that some purple are not loaded with history. They can just vote for what is good for Thanet - in their view. In the crazy world that is 'Planit Fannit', it is offering the only form of opposition at the moment.

But remember, Reg Varney would be thinking about voting purple. It’s not just a blue issue.

Because if you are a red that still thinks all the Blues are the rats, then I suggest you think again.

Saturday Night

Word on the street is that its all happening. Right now.

Senior Cabinet members openly saying the Pavilion deal is a "shambles"

Other Cabinet members are saying they seem to be stumbling from one crisis to the next.

Councillors saying that this will be "the last time I vote like this before I jump ship and vote how I feel"

And many of the 'new breed' of councillors are stifled into silence, worried that the secret police will come and invade their very souls if they even dare to talk about them.

The biggest upset is some Councillors who are good for the area have had enough and wont be standing in 2015. Some of the names that have been mentioned will be a loss to Thanet Politics, as was Mark Nottingham.

And do you know what? If a few of the local Labour councillors were to withdraw their support it would be the best thing that could happen to Thanet.

Because it would force a coalition. And thats what we need. A change.

We need to put the weapons down and work together for the good of Thanet. We need to make sure we are getting the best deal.

Because everyone knows, we are getting a bad deal at the moment.

Royal Pavilion, Ramsgate

Why does Ramsgate always seem to come last?

Royal Pavilion, Ramsgate

If the Royal Pavilion was in Margate it would have been a world culture site by now.

The building is stunning. Even if we accept that all the heritage features in the internals were lost over years of neglect, the external skin should scrub up well and with a sympathetic restoration, it could become one of the key features of Ramsgate Seafront.

I admired the plan put forward for the community market and the proposal of a JD Wetherspoons. I used to enjoy popping into the local JDW when I lived in London. They were good.

Some of the images of the interiors JDW have worked with in their restorations are impressive. They could do a good job.

But that is not our decision. That is Rank’s. They decide who they do business with.

So I welcome JD Wetherspoons and hope that the community will support them if they end up with Rank’s decision.

A JD Wetherspoons pub

I do have some problems. Firstly, why did councillors accept that JDW were “the only game in town”, to quote Deputy Poole? When Rank offered the remainder of the lease back to the council, they refused it, feeling that no-one would want the Pavilion. Which officer gave that advice? Did the adviser not know about “back to back” lease sales

I would question that recommendation.

'Only Game In Town'

Do TDC really believe that someone else wouldn't fancy that site, even if it does need a full internal makeover?

We know there was one other bid in the pipeline and that was when it was only a 31 yr lease and we now know they have had at least 40 approaches from interested parties since it went on the market in 2008

And the most worrying thing is the deal TDC Officers are currently striking.

They are about to say to JD Wetherspoons - "Here are the keys to one of our treasures for the next hundred years for peanuts". Do you not feel the Pavilion is worth much?

If the rumours are true, TDC have negotiated a terrible deal with JDWetherspoons and just thrown away one of the jewels of Thanet.

And unlike TDC, I value that site more. I want to see it sympathetically restored and well maintained. I would want to make sure if things didn't go well, we would be able to get the lease back if they are not using it. I would ask for some community provision - perhaps a Jungle Jim’s type play area - in the remains of the building they do not want to occupy and I would insist it was subsidised.

Ramsgate deserves better, and the Pavilion deserves more and, most definitely the People of Ramsgate deserve much more. 

They deserve a ruling Cabinet that treats Thanetians fairly and all parts of Thanet equally.

The offer will be made soon and let us hope decisions made now do not disadvantage Ramsgate for years to come.

Hello World

10 pint "hello"
20 go to ten