TDC tax-take for failure

Two-thirds of the District deprived of funding. The remaining one-third of funding wasted.

Quoted by Mayor Green at the TDC meeting. Followed by quotes form The Sun recording the decline of Margate into one of Britain’s ghost towns.

Not that the money isn’t there: it’s simply been wasted.

Richard Samuel District CE makes a very good point at minute 35 of the webcam: “significant public policy failure” ie the public sector has failed to prevent the towns being destroyed.

He’s right: every decision and investment by the public sector has essentially brrn wasted: the problems in Thanet have got worse over the years.

Not improved. Actually got worse.

Not just the current recession but years and decades of failure. And £60M of council tax each year simply sprayed up the wall.

The Cliftonville plan again details lack of planning controls for overcrowding or small flats – despite repeated concerns over this being one of the reasons for decline.

Falls in parking revenue – no tourists as the attractions have closed.

A fall in Planning fees – saturation in construction.

The collapse of the tourism industry and over-conversion of hotels.

While the c.2.5% council tax increase each year for 5 years is presumably on top of the £6M savings (maybe not) – which with 2.5% on £60M tax means a net increase each year. No savings at all.

Featherbedding of reserves and public sector salaries: over 10% of available funds held back for muck-ups or to tidy the books - and 30% increase in staff in the last two years and 30-50% of council tax spent on the council itself.

A fundamental misunderstanding by the public sector that their wages and pensions and expenses are 100% tax ie funded by the public.

Simply put, the council has achieved nothing except riding the decline down. To the point now where it’s hit rock-bottom.

Nothing in the meeting on reopening Dreamland.

Nothing on Thor mercury pollution.

Nothing on the 0% salary fraud – which I understand is a £10k salary increase and £5k car allowance increase for Richard Samuel. That’s not 0%. That’s a fraudulent civil service increase.

Nothing on the stealing of disabled grant funds for council offices.

Nothing on publishing council expenses and salaries.

Nothing on asset sales of public properties simply to fund council salaries – rather than toilets being opened and buildings maintained and returned to use.

Nothing on the removal of noise and air monitors and Manston pollution – and the repeated 106 breaches allowed by TDC.

Nothing on the polluted drinking water.

And now dredging a harbour to allow for a ferry that was promised a year ago - and obviously wouldn't fit in the harbour. And more lorries parked by the beach: as some sort of bizarre tourism initiative to spot the rubbish thrown on the beach.

If we're not drinking faeces in the water then we can look at it bobbing on the tide.

Community cohesion has simply collapsed – now running the gamut from anti-social behaviour such as dog dirt to council fraud to toxic pollution and presumably to riots.

Why not sack some senior civil servants and get the rest to organise some grant funding for KCC or Government? That is what they do isn’t it? Manage the area for the public and improve it?

Rather than sweating the public’s assets it looks like we need to sweat the civil servants and councillors – we don’t need to employ them if they can’t improve the area.

A council that’s collapsed.

A council simply funding itself and talking to itself and watching the towns burn down and fall down.

The highest lung cancer rate from Manston.

The most polluted drinking water under Manston.

Sandy and Roger have simply failed to use the public staff and funds and time and goodwill and should resign.

Recall by 10% of councillors or the electorate and 3 month contract terminations on TDC senior staff will reduce party political gridlock and incentivise them to retain their jobs and pensions.

Roger Gale has spent 30 years as MP watching Margate collapse.

Steve Ladyman has spent 13 years in Parliament with one of the worst councils in Britain still unreformed.

8 weeks before an election and mere silence from Sandys and the Party candidates: no manifestos from Central Office means there’s nothing they’re allowed to say.

And nothing they do as the District collapses.