Thanet’s largest-ever planning application was passed almost unanimously by Thanet councillors. ChinaGate. Again with no consultation and almost total public opposition.
Quite rightly ChinaGate has been quietly brushed under the carpet but isn’t it time to end ChinaGate properly?
Thanet's failed council needs closure on its imcompetence na ffailure to move forward.
Shouldn’t TDC recognise the errors of procedure and improve their consultation process: sadly the systems are those used by any council. Which means that, as with any organisation, it’s only as good as the people in it.
As MP I will ensure closure of ChinaGate.
Thanet is a failed council as evaluated by the Government itself. No wonder there are so many failed regeneration projects, widespread pollution and fake consultations.
We have 48 councillors that have not only totally misjudged the will of the people but now refuse to end ChinaGate and reverse the application.
And all our MP’s and candidates supported it on the flimsiest of evidence or statements.
Time for Change.
As MP I will call on the public to vote out each councillor for failure and of course (as Policy #1) insist on a vote of no confidence to sack the Gang of Four.
CGP’s application should be revoked and I am unclear why both a back-to-front building from the plans, has been constructed on the aquifer, and not on brownfield sites.
The supposed Chinese employers (Jobs! Jobs!! Jobs!!! - but don’t look too closely sounds familiar) have disappeared and Tesco bag of receipts from TDC’s moles reveal senior council figures travelling to China on the developer’s funds.
No prior detail was ever revealed and nothing subsequently.
A development without detail. What an abuyse of the publc and demcoracy.
A £25,000 donation has also been paid to Ramsgate Labour Party and MP and similar donations discussed by the Conservatives.
We now have a disconnect between the parties serving the public and funding their own party machine in this part of Kent.
Will these moniers be used to fund the election to maintain corruption and failure?
Time to end ChinaGate: cancel the planning application, remove the building and limit developments to brownfield sites like the (Policy #2) closed Manston airport.
Providing proper FOI scrutiny with webcasts and broadcasts for Council meetings, voting records to evaluate councillor policies and tighter scrutiny of Planning can only help prevent fiascos like ChinaGate at a failed council.
And for the public to vote out their failed councillors and civil servants.
As MP I will request a formal call-in of the application and a Parliamentary enquiry into ChinaGate. Cargo warehouses and ring roads of course are an issue with no cargo airport in Kent.
But one 20 miles away in Ostend.
Nor any effective regeneration in months and years and decades.
Tomorrow: Policy #4: Development
Time for Change.
4 comments:
As I pointed out with regard to Councils, MPs have no power to overturn the decisions made. You would have no power to overrule the local authority's decision to grant consent. You will have no power to shut it down. Calling in an application is not within an MPs remit, nor of any use anyway since the decision has already been made. If you believe that a breach of procedure has occured then you'd be best put contacting the Ombudsman as you are entitled to.
As for scrutiny of Planning, I invite you to the next Planning meeting on Wednesday 18th March at the Cecil Square offices, to see for yourself how it operates. Your complaint appears one of not liking the fact that Councillors made the decision not to agree with you, rather than there being a lack of scrutiny.
Ostend is nearest to Margate at 67 miles, not 20 as you pointed out.
Lets get this straight, your plans for rebuilding Thanet involve shutting down Manston, Thanet Earth and stopping development at Westwood X and replacing Thanet District Council with a form of social enterprise, that is to say a commercial business?
Thanks James: I don't agree with your points at all.
I appreciate you're a Party activist and it's sort of a job to denigrate other views.
And even to nit-pick if you must - but to ignore major issues such as water pollution?
That way just creates the Failed Council we have to date. And wastes time in responding.
All the posted comments are largely mere politicking.
This why the public automatically distrust politicians.
On the specific issue of an MP's rights, role and procedure you are simply incorrect.
An MP as the elected representative to Parliament has huge power both specific and influence on an area. Not always rightly so, but generally it does.
For example, Steve has a column in the paper as the MP and rightly so.
A free and fair election by the public confers such extra rights and responsibilities.
And Parliament can reorder it's duties and process.
Damian Green from your party being arrested gains cross-party support for him to be released, simply for doing what an MP does. Boris sacked the London Police Chief. While Aitken and Archer and other pary's MP's (I can't think of any off the top of my head) are jailed for simple criminal acts.
Again from a politicking aspect you're in danger of confusing process and pettifogging with meaningful policies and change.
And even a bit of common sense.
Because no rulebook - Parliamentary or otherwise - covers every eventuality. It's not meant to. It's a guide for improving an area, a country and a society.
In TDC we have far more namecalling and "subclause 3" petty rulings and quoting rather than stopping Margate burning down and Ramsgate falling down.
100,000 people don't give a damn about most politics but buildings in flames and falling down are ultimately an MP's responsibility at some point.
As an activist you could have called or emailed one of your collegaues to help sort out the main matters of pollution etc.
In replying to you I'm wasting time better spent on a further chase of the Environment Agency or checking the effect of mercury poisoning on internal organs or failing to understand how any British council could possibly consider that faked consultations and 106 breaches at an airport are in any way acceptable.
I fully intend to act on these issues and other campaign promises.
A council is a social enterprise and commercial business. Above all it's the will of the people made real and for the greater good.
I won't attend the Planning meeting: councillors are paid to do that for me as a citizen. And if they do not then like other citizens I will vote them out or call for their dismissal if it's an extremely bad council.
TDC is a Failed Council. Most councils are not like this.
Will you chase up the mercury and aviation fuel pollution? Like 100,000 people you drink and breathe the stuff?
I'll copy this to your other posts and tailor some of the different points you make.
We're a democracy - and I am running for a public position so by all means comment and criticise on the blog, but it's fairly pointless as Party Machine stuff unless it exposes serious flaws on an issue or has terrific suggestions for improvement.
Many thanks.
I cant make it any clearer. Your policies and thus your candidacy are doomed to hopeless failure by your inability to grasp the basics of politics. MPs are representatives of the people not dictators. They have no powers over planning law, nor the ability to dismantle local government structures to their will. Rules are rules, not to be disregarded because you dont like them. Just imagine the chaos that would ensue were MPs able to do whatever they wanted.
I invited you to Planning because you have claimed that the Council fails to follow process with regards to planning applications. If you mean what you say then by all means appear next month and you can point it out to me in person. What's the worst that can happen?
My influence on the "Party Machine" is nil since Im not in the Party. Any influence you think I have is merely illusionary.
You've played your political hand fast and loose. Your policies lack credibility and your policy of abolishing TDC and sacking Ramsgate Parish Councillors for apparently no cause show you lack the political sanity for the office you seek. Your green credentials applied so rigorously as they have been damage your policies by making you unable to understand the balance between environmentalism and ensuring developments go ahead in order to provide for us in the future. It must never be a zero-sum game as you indicate in your announced policies.
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/community/james_maskell/
It says your as Conservative mmeber here in your entry James.
Maybe you've resigned since but your approach is that of a Tory activist supporting the Party Machine.
Do you agree that TDC is one of the worst councils in the UK?
Do you agree that every aspect of the 106 has been breached by the current administration endangering the public that vote for them?
Do you agree Thor mercury is banned?
Do you agree Infratil are repeatedly overflying towns and polluting water and the administration does nothing?
Sorry James, this sounds like mere Party work.
MP's have lots of power and influence. That's why Parliament makes the rules and changes them.
Planning scrutiny: failure: the Planning officers themselves confirmed they don't check building policy has been followed. Hence extra buildings, floors, designs etc.
You may not like it or think there's a better way in which case speak up.
How would you improve TDC?
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