Closures "justified by fall in council grant"

HB Times 28th Oct 2010

Comprehensive Spending Review: reactions

HB Gazette 28th Oct 2010

Leader's fury at jobs cuts query

Community space needed

HB Times 30th Sep 2010

Seafront Parking Petition

The new parking meters are a mixed blessing, but it appears to be a mixture of bad and very bad...

Anyone who feels the that CCC have short-changed the people of Herne Bay and its vistors, I have a Petition in my shop at 91 Mortimer Street. Please come and sign it.

Kind regards,

Andrew Lawrence, Speciality Foods.

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By the end of July, CCC had collected about £18,000 in fines from the evil robots. I think it's safe to assume that locals will be irritated, and visitors may be discouraged, by the diligent meter-watching and enthusiastic fining. It's important to remember that the money collected from the meters is "ring-fenced" and can only be spent on parking-related stuff - more meters for instance.

Local shop-keepers have a pretty shrewd idea of the footfall they could have expected over the last few months. Some are finding that it just hasn't happened, and are blaming the ill-considered parking restrictions for leaving them seriously out of pocket.

We need more information on this. We need to know from CCC whether this scheme is working as they planned and expected. We need to know from local shop-keepers, restaurateurs, publicans, B&Bs, etc whether business is up or down. Then we can weigh up the costs and benefits, and decide whether the scheme is worth keeping.

Freedom of Information: what they say

HB Gazette 16th September 2010

CCC's Notable Achievements in Herne Bay

Marks out of ten for achievement? Here's what CCC proudly list on their site as their achievements in Herne Bay since 2005. I'm not churlish by nature, but it doesn't seem like a lot.

Notable Achievements in the Regeneration of Herne Bay

1. In 2009, Parklife, a new Youth and Children's Centre opened in Memorial Park. The new facility has proved very popular with local residents and includes a health clinic, youth activities and IT suite. The project, delivered by Canterbury City Council and Kent County Council demonstrates a successful example of partnership working and achievement.
2. The Council agreed a lease with a local business for the let of a vacant unit in the Herne Bay Bandstand. The unit has since become a thriving ice cream parlour with a corner allocated to tourist information with two large notice boards, a stand, a desk and computer.
3. In 2008, a successful community workshop was held to discuss the issues and opportunities for the regeneration of Herne Bay. Feedback enabled a greater focus on the preparation of preferred options for recreation, leisure and community, local economy and tourism, image and environment. The majority of proposals received overwhelming support in the public consultation prior to the drafting of the Area Action Plan.
4. The Council has identified the bus depot on the High Street as one of four potential opportunity sites that form a Central Development Area. Stagecoach has agreed to move, releasing the land for redevelopment. The site is now to be marketed to potential development partners as an exciting opportunity for a new mixed-use development in Herne Bay.
5. In 2007, the decision was taken to move the Pier Sports Centre from the end of the existing pier to the Herne Bay High School as part of the Building Schools for the Future scheme and to an extended herons centre. This proposal will enable the pier to once again be a unique attraction for the town and has led to the formation of the Herne Bay Pier Trust Herne Bay Pier Trust; a local community organisation to promote the future of the pier.
6. The Council working alongside both Sustrans and East Kent Partnership secured the necessary funding to complete the missing coastal section of the National Cycle Route link. The first section of this new cycle path was completed in March 2008, with the completion of the second stage due in 2009.
7. A partnership led by Canterbury City Council has delivered environmental improvements to both Beach Street Alley and William Street. These have enhanced the character, appearance and use of the pedestrian routes that link the High Street to the seafront.
8. In 2006, the Herne Bay Town Centre Partnership was established. The partnership is a voluntary organisation made up of local businesses and community groups, whose aims are to help regenerate the town through better joined up marketing and promotion.

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• Item 2 is, of course, CCC's slippery gloss on the dismal loss of our Visitor Information Centre. Cheek!
• Item 3 refers, I think, to the one-day HB Regeneration exhibition at the King's Hall.
• Item 4 is in limbo.
• Item 5 is now starting.

Electric Ferret: looks harder, finds more

I recently commissioned Zorba the Geek to find a better way to search CCC's bewildering website. Behold the fruits of his labours: the Electric Ferret. Take it for a spin...

Click the CCC logo and search their website for your name, or your street name, or whatever. Then click the Electric Ferret, and run the same search. Now play 'spot the difference'. Top tip: if you're searching for a phrase, put it in double quotes - Beach Street would find all the beaches and streets, but "Beach Street" would find just that street.

Politician calls for depopulation. World trembles.

The Lib Dems have accused you of being a climate change denier. Is that true?

It's not. And denier is an insult because of Holocaust deniers. As a geologist I know about ancient climates and where the atmosphere has been going for hundreds and thousands of years. Yes, there is an impact that man is having on the climate but there’s not much we can do about it, because we're looking at the symptom and not the cause, which is that there are too many people on the planet using up the natural resources. While people are trying to save trees, they aren’t looking at the population issue. Man is affecting the planet on such a scale because of sheer numbers, and that's what needs focusing on.

HB Times interview with Cllr Gilbey, 15th July 2010

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If you would like to find out more about the thoughtful elimination of the human race, and Cllr Gilbey isn't available, have a look at The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. They advocate phasing out the human race by voluntarily ceasing to breed, arguing that "crowded conditions and resource shortages will improve as we become less dense".

Myself, I think that smarter actions, rather than fewer people, would be a better way of being "less dense".

Politician calls politician "political". Nation laughs, yawns.

You have ferocious exchanges with Lib Dem leader Alex Perkins. What do you think of him?

Alex is the opposite of me, in that he's totally political and everything he does is with an eye to the next election. I speak as I see and try to be honest, with the objective of getting things done, and Alex can be economical with the truth sometimes. On a personal level I have no problem with him, and I admire the fact he can talk the hind leg off a donkey and sound plausible. He has difficulties with his group, because they are all split and my group isn’t.

HB Times interview with Cllr Gilbey, 15th July 2010

Nothing to do with jollies...

Andrew is the patron saint of Greece, Prussia, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Ukraine, and sports-themed regional promotion. At the St Andrews Open (a golf thing) our plucky council workers will be promoting us for all they're worth, but it may be a waste of their time and our money.

Row over Council's £40,000 trip to golf Open

Later this month, staff from the city council will travel to St Andrews in Scotland while The Open Championship golf takes place in a trip costing Canterbury's taxpayers £40,000. The city council insists staff will be working hard to promote Canterbury in a way which it hopes will benefit the district many times over when Sandwich hosts The Open at Royal St George's this time next year. However, one prominent hotelier questions the need to promote the city when Canterbury's hotels and bed and breakfasts will be full when The Open comes to east Kent next year. David Sharma, the owner of Howfield Manor Hotel in Chartham, says promoting the city on what will be its busiest week of the year is a waste of public money.

FOR

Council spokesman Rob Davies said:

The city council has made a total contribution of £40,000, spread over two years, towards the cost of staging the Open golf in east Kent next year. This spending has nothing to do with jollies and hospitality, as some people were suggesting during our budget consultation last year; and everything to do with maximising what is a great opportunity to promote the area to a worldwide audience in much the same way as the Tour de France was.

The three staff from the city council will join people from Visit Kent and other east Kent councils at St Andrews. They will be working 16-hour days for 10 days, have no access to watch the golf and will be staying in a rented house 50 miles away from St Andrews to keep the costs down. The team will have a huge, east Kent-branded stand featuring a range of images of the area in order to promote it as a great place for golfing breaks and holidays, to make sure we get the best possible legacy from the Open golf coming to Sandwich.

We will also have the same presence at the 2012 Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes. In short, this trip will see our staff working their socks off for the benefit of the local economy and to get the maximum return for our £40,000 contribution.

AGAINST

David Sharma, who has run Howfield Manor since it reopened in autumn 2008, said:

There will be no accommodation available anywhere near Canterbury while the golf is on, so what is the point of going to St Andrews to promote accommodation? Even hotels in south London will be full during the tournament. This trip has all the hallmarks of a jolly for those people going. And given that there are going to be cutbacks in public services, going up to Scotland to watch the golf seems even more wasteful.

If the council was genuinely interested in promoting tourism in the district then it should look at trying to encourage people to come to Canterbury during the week when things are much quieter - not during the busiest week of the whole year. We don't need them promoting us when we get the business, we need it during down times. I'm going to be fully booked during the golf. I'm just bewildered about this on two counts. First, as an accommodation provider I question the need for it and secondly, as a council taxpayer I'm angry public money is being used for it.

HB Gazette 8th July 2010

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As I have mentioned elsewhere, one of my many hideous personality defects is that I just don't 'get' golf. This leaves me doubly perplexed when trying to assess the commercial logic of sending people to the other end of the country to work stupid hours for a fortnight. I'm assuming that the £40k is simply to buy our exhibitor's pass - feeding and housing our ambassadors at the other end of the country is extra. Thrilled as I am that Council employees are prepared to work 16 hour days promoting Canterbury (District, not just the City, I hope), they don't have to go to Scotland to do it.

The Open will be coming to Sandwich, regardless of the Council's presence and efforts at St Andrews. Hardened golf fans will already have decided whether to come to the Sandwich Open. Of those who are undecided and persuadable, I'm guessing only a minority will be at St Andrews. It seems like a lot of time, money and effort to catch those few waverers - a half-way decent ad campaign in the golfing press would probably do the trick.

If Mr Sharma is correct, the whole area will be fully booked during the Sandwich Open anyway, so people would end up in the bridal suite, or an over-priced broom cupboard, or in the middle of nowhere - hardly the most attractive way to be a visitor.

Key concept: "return on investment". Is anyone at our Council measuring this? Does anyone have any figures for previous years?

Unthinking so-and-so's

The seafront of our seaside town has been blighted with a sprouting of parking meters. A bad move, for bad reasons, with unintended consequences and a hidden fact. Canterbury City Council installed 13 parking machines along the seafront and switched them on June 28. They will operate between 8.30am to 6pm every day from April 1 to September 30 with no overnight charge. The machines are solar powered and can be paid for by cash, council parking cards or mobile phone. Council spokesman Rob Davies said:

"The council has introduced these measures to improve traffic management. The aim is to put long stay parkers into off-street car parks elsewhere in the town and encourage regular turnover of spaces on the seafront. These days, it is usual to pay for parking in seaside towns. It happens everywhere else around east Kent - all the Thanet towns and Sandwich and Deal for example - and this move to introduce charging in Herne Bay brings the town in line with others."

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So having a constant turnover of 17 and 70 year olds slewing their cars to a halt by the meters and then lurching back out into the road within a couple of hours is going to "improve traffic management". How exactly?

So Herne Bay was a little bit different from the other nearby coastal towns, and in a good way - everyone likes free parking. CCC decided that this small but distinctive advantage must be eliminated. Have a look at the vox pop piece to see some reactions - unsurprisingly, some people find it makes Herne Bay a less attractive place to visit. Thank you, CCC, for nailing the lid down.

So where are the signs pointing our visitors to the long-stay off-street car parks? No sign of them anywhere near the Marine Parade parking meters, which is where you would expect them to be, given Mr Davies' argument.

So while the users of all the other sports centres in the district get their parking charges refunded by the sports center they are visiting, the good people of Herne Bay who park on the seafront to use the Pier and gym won't. Part of the reason is that the sparkling new machines don't produce two-part tickets with counterfoils, so the gym bunnies will have a 10 minute, 650 metre trudge to and from the WIlliam Street car park, come rain or shine. Congratulations, CCC, for once again giving HB the short end of the stick.

So here's the rub: the parking fees from the Marine Parade parking meters don't even go to our beloved Canterbury City Council - the fees go to Kent County Council. Marvellous!

HB Gazette 8th July 2010

Hobby politicians

Well, here's a thought - "Councillors are transient amateurs whose chosen hobby is to play at local politics" - and as a result, it is the councillors (not the rest of us) who should foot the bill.

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Gesture wanted from councillors

Once again the Canterbury Times has highlighted that old chestnut of the allowances and expenses paid to Canterbury City Councillors ("Councillors pocket £386k", June 17). Former Royal Marine Commando and war veteran Albert Parris, from Herne, is not the only local council taxpayer to be dismayed and infuriated by these amounts, which total more than £386,000 and individually range from almost £32,000 down to the much more modest basic allowance of just £4,710.

At a time when local council taxpayers are set to experience cutbacks in services, and local authority staff face redundancies, it would be a welcome token gesture if all 50 local councillors refrained from claiming their allowances/ expenses, thus substantially increasing the amount of money available in the council’s coffers to maintain local services and jobs.

Councillor McMahan is very quick to defend the allowances claimed by his colleague Peter Vickery-Jones but scores an own-goal when he states: "We pay council officials more than councillors claim." In saying this, Mr McMahan entirely misses the point - the fundamental distinction between officials and councillors. Officials receive a wage or salary for carrying out a given task in accordance with a written contract of employment. They are the permanent paid employees of the local authority.

Councillors, on the other hand, are transient amateurs whose chosen hobby is to play at local politics. It is not their livelihood. Everyone is entitled to a recreational sport, hobby or pastime but for most people, whether they choose to play golf or to collect stamps, this costs them money. Is it fair then that council tax payers should foot the bill for some 50 "elected representatives" to indulge in their preferred passion for local politics?

To all those councillors who are so quick to defend the allowances/ expenses claimed, backed up with heart-rending statistics concerning the number of hours of "work" they put in each week on council business, I would repeat the following words, attributed to former US president Harry S Truman: "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

John A Fishpool, Dering Road, Herne Bay

HB Times letters 8th July 2010

High maintenance councillors pocket £386k

Expenses, expenses - dontcha just love them? No suggestion here of unseemly duck houses or whatnot, I believe this is all above-board, as-per-normal stuff. It all mounts up pretty quickly, far exceeding the projected savings from museum closures, for example. But it's the salaries that bug me. And Mr Parris has a point.

The price of democracy at Canterbury City Council is a third of a million pounds. Last year the 50 councillors cost us all £386,511 in allowances. Top of the pile was Tory council leader John Gilbey (Blean Forest) with £31,833, which included special responsibility money of £21,138, another £2,129 for his car and £431 in mobile phone charges.

Herne and Broomfield's Peter Vickery-Jones was the second-highest paid councillor with £13,576, including £5,883 for special responsibility £1,596 for his car and £437 for his mobile phone. Wincheap's Alex Perkins, leader of the Liberal Democrats, claimed £13,056, including £269 for his mobile phone and £675 for travel. Whitstable's Julia Seath, the Labour group leader, claimed £6,234.

The best value councillor was Tankerton's Martin Fisher; with just his basic allowance of £4,710. He is currently on bail facing child sex offence charges. Next cheapest was Herne Bay's Vince McMahan, with £4,802.92, including a £92.92 bill for his car. Seven councillors only claimed £4,890 (their basic allowance, plus £180 PC allowance): Mike Berridge; Robert Bright; Paul Carnell; Roger Matthews (recently cleared on corruption charges); Mike Steed; Heather Taylor and Martin Vye.

News of the allowances infuriated war veteran Albert Parris, 73, of Herne. The former Royal Marines Commando fumed:

"Our councillor Peter Vickery-Jones received £13,576, which is more than some of our soldiers get on the front line. It is outrageous. How can he justify that sort of money when we have injured soldiers denied proper artificial limbs? He even gets an allowance from the parish council."

Mr Parris was so incensed he has written to both Whitstable and Canterbury MP Julian Brazier, and the Prime Minister David Cameron. He said:

"It makes my blood boil when I have to beg, steal and borrow £370 to hire a coach to take our guys to Gable Cross police station to salute dead Marines coming back from the frontline. Councillors are making a laughing stock out of us with our money especially when everyone is having to make cuts."

Mr Vickery-Jones was not available for comment, but he is a member of the council's executive with responsibility for property and engineering, planning and regeneration, housing, community safety environmental services, community development and outdoor leisure, including beach huts. He also serves on the Herne Bay area members panel, and the housing appeals and benefits committee. He is a magistrate and member of the Canterbury and Herne Bay Volunteers Centre and Canterbury Mediation Service. The former Merchant Navy marine engineer lives in Herne Bay with his wife and their daughter; and is a governor of Herne Junior School. He has since re-trained as a plumber.

HB Times 17th June 2010

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It's a vexing question, whether the Elected should be paid, and if so - what for, and how much? Nobody's forcing them to be there, after all - they volunteered for a spell of selfless sacrifice for the common good. The Car, Travel, Mobile and PC categories are what I would regard as expenses. The fixed Basic allowance, plus the grand total of the various "Special Responsibilities" tariffs the councillor has chosen to take on, look to me like a salary by-any-other-name.

The Council probably has a small swarm of officers devoted to drawing up contracts. I would like to see them produce a contract that describes what the councillors must do for the Electorate before they can claim their salaries, let alone their expenses. One of our councillors moved to Surrey not so recently, his attendance dropped from 90-ish% to 20%, but his salary is an undiminished 100% - bonkers.

No expenses spared

The nitty-gritty in all its unadorned nitty-grittiness. Here are our councillors' expenses for 2009 - find out who's chatty, who's got wanderlust, and who's just very, very special. I've corrected a couple of errors in the table as it appeared in the HB Times, and re-jigged it as an Excel spreadsheet. There's a link at the bottom of the article for you to download it. Click the table below to see a bigger version.

click it to big it

Download the spreadsheet

2004: a vintage year for reports

The not-so-dusty Pier report from 2004 has been the cause of much pulse-quickening, gander-upping and even name-calling. My insatiable curiousity compelled me to send my spies to the four corners of the earth to learn more, and here's some of what I have gleaned...

The report itself is made of unobtainium and is scarcer than unicorn poo - it appears that very few people have actually held a copy in their hands. It is not available on the Canterbury City Council website. It is not available anywhere online, as far as I know, but it will be available here shortly. One of my operatives based in the North Africa bureau traced a fragment of the elusive document through an antiquarian booksellers in Marrakech. By a great stroke of good fortune, it's the executive summary of the 2004 report, and is well worth a couple of glances.

• It turns out that people have been peering at the Pier on and off for decades: Feb 1974, Dec 1996, Jun 1998 and the now contentious 2004 report. In the meantime, of course, the Pier itself has been falling to bits.
• At the beginning of 2004, CCC chose PMP Consultants (from a shortlist of three) to produce a feasibility study into "a new pier at Herne Bay" in PMP's words, or "the rebuilding of Herne Bay pier" in Canterbury's words.
• The study was jointly funded by Canterbury City Council, Kent County Council and Tourism South East (now called Visit South East England), and was seen as being the first phase of the project: investigating the options for the new pier and assessing the economic viability of the project.
• In March 2004, CCC had the good manners to ask the people of Herne Bay about "the kind of facilities a new pier should provide". I'll see if I can track down what, if anything, they were told.
• In May 2004, PMP delivered their report on the future of Herne Bay Pier - here's the summary.
• In June 2004, CCC announced that PMP had delivered the report, and gave their own summary of PMP's findings - do feel free to compare the two and play spot-the-difference.

Two-thirds Canterbury City

Grab a handful of your favourite blood pressure medicine and have a good hard stare at this. Times are hard and getting harder, attractions are closed and closing. In Canterbury, however, there's over £1 million ear-marked for Westgate Gardens...

Canoeing pontoons, fishing platforms and an outdoor gym are all part of Canterbury council's plans to revamp the Westgate Gardens. The idea is to spend £1,136,000 on the green space, including Toddlers' Cove, to bring it up to date.

Executive member for the environment, Cllr Rosemary Doyle, said:

"This has been in the pipeline for quite a long time. It does need doing. Every now and again you have to revise and see how gardens are being used and whether they are being used for their best effect. The idea is to make it usable for more people. Certainly the canoeing and the fishing are things we have had requests for as people are interested in it. There are canoeing groups that use bits of the Stour at the moment, and we want to make it easier for them to use the river. This will benefit all sorts of groups.

The aim is for it to have universal appeal with improved play areas for children, to improve things for young people such as the canoeing and the fishing, and to make it comfortable for people to walk there and have picnics and admire the trees and the flowers. We want to bring more of the river in to use as well; that is one of the garden's great strengths. It is a huge asset to Canterbury."

The park will benefit from a new play area for children, new bridges, an extended area for events near the Westgate Towers, a better picnic area and improvements to the war memorial area. In Toddlers' Cove, the area of the park further out of town, there are plans to make the area under the Rheims Way bridge safer with CCTV, better lighting and fences and make it easier for people to enjoy the river and its wildlife.

In particular the council wants to open up Bingley Island, a semi-natural site covered in scrubland and trees, so people can better enjoy it. And near where the children's play area is there could be canoeing and fishing areas. Riverside Meadow, which is directly over the river from the picnic area, space will be opened up for older children to play ball games. And the council wants to emphasize the heritage and cultural aspects of the gardens with educational activities, archaeology etc. There will also be new toilets and paths, seating and lighting throughout.

The council already has £377,500 for the project, much of which is from developers who are required to give some money for community projects when they build houses and flats. And the rest is to come from the Heritage Lottery Fund, if a bid the council is to put in during August is successful.

The plans are out for public consultation, so to find out more and have your say go to: www.canterbury.gov.uk/westgategardens or visit the Information Centre in Sun Street. Those who fill in the council's questionnaire by Friday, July 9 have the chance to win £100 of vouchers valid in many high street shops.

yourcanterbury.co.uk 9th June 2010

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If ever you need a handy reminder of what's wrong with Canterbury City Council, the clue's in the name:

It's two-thirds Canterbury City and one-third Council.

In terms of population and tax revenue, the district is fairly evenly split into four: the Villages, Canterbury, Herne Bay, and Whitstable. In terms of spend, Canterbury seems to be getting the lion's share: the Beaney is an £11.6 million project; the New Marlowe is a £25.5 million project; the Westgate Gardens revamp is a £1.1 million project. More locally, the Herne Bay Pier Trust has received £5,000 in start-up funding - a reflection of CCC's priorities, I suppose.

When CCC was explaining the budget cuts earlier this year, they went out of their way to pre-empt the oft-repeated complaint that Herne Bay is the "poor relation":

... ongoing regeneration work shows that the council is putting plenty of resources into Herne Bay, so the suggestion it is the poor relation is simply a myth.

Bollocks.

Portfolios for 2010/11

In this year's round of CCC parlour games, the music has stopped, everyone is sitting comfortably, and all the boys and girls have excitedly unwrapped whatever package they are holding to see what the year ahead holds for them. See who's got what...

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JOHN GILBEY

Policy and Improvement:

Corporate Policy

Scrutiny

Performance

Corporate Projects

Consultation

Planning and Regeneration:

Planning Policy

Conservation and Countryside, including Arboriculture

Housing Strategic Policy & Enabling

Culture and Enterprise:

Marlowe Theatre (+ Darren Ellis)

Economic Development

Markets

Town Centre Management

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JEAN LAW

Culture and Enterprise:

International

Communications:

Press

Marketing

Internal Communications

Customer Services Client

Web and Intranet Development Client

Civic Team

Sponsorship

Advertising

Community Development and Outdoor Leisure:

Community Development

Neighbourhood Development

Community Services

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TONY AUSTIN

Housing, Community Safety & Environmental Services:

Housing Landlord

Supported Housing

Housing Options & Interventions

Asset Management (Housing)

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ROSEMARY DOYLE

Housing, Community Safety & Environmental Services:

Environmental Protection

Commercial Health

Street Scene

Community Development and Outdoor Leisure:

Outdoor Leisure

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DARREN ELLIS

Culture and Enterprise:

Museums

Sports Development

Active Life

Cultural Policy

Marlowe Theatre (+ John Gilbey)

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PETER LEE

ICT and Customer Services:

ICT

Customer Services Operation

Procurement

HR Client

Finance:

Finance

Legal and Democratic:

Democratic Services

Legal

Elections and ERO

Revenues and Benefits:

Benefits

Local Taxation

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MIKE PATTERSON

Culture and Enterprise:

Tourism

Planning and Regeneration:

Transport & Parking Strategy

Property and Engineering:

Whitstable Harbour

Engineers

Facilities Management

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ANN TAYLOR

Culture and Enterprise:

Arts & Events

Community Development and Outdoor Leisure:

Community Assets (Westgate, Kings, Horsebridge, Whitstable Castle)

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PETER VICKERY-JONES

Housing, Community Safety & Environmental Services:

Community Safety

Parking Enforcement

Licensing

Community Development and Outdoor Leisure:

Foreshore

Beach Huts

Planning and Regeneration:

Development Control

Building Control

Planning Enforcement

Land Charges

Property and Engineering:

Estates and Valuation

Building Maintenance

Architects’ Projects

Blood from a stone

My favourite "whinger" sheds some light on how she earned the title from a local councillor. It seems to me that her question is pretty straightforward and reasonable, and I'm disappointed (but not that surprised) that Kim's run into the all too familiar wall of silence.

No pier answer

I am disappointed the Pier Trust has become embroiled in my communications with the city council about plans to rebuild the pier (Storm brewing for pier trust). I feel the matter has flared out of proportion and would like to put events into perspective. The pier has long been used as a vote-catcher at election times by various political parties. I think it is perfectly reasonable for me to ask the owners - Canterbury City Council - what efforts they have made to rebuild it following the Herne Bay Pier Report of 2004.

It was commissioned by the city and county councils and a tourism body. I have asked all three parties the same question: "What action was taken following the report to progress the rebuild of the pier?" I want to know how the city council feels justified in simply stating there are no funds. I have also contacted the city council and Herne Bay MP Roger Gale. I have received various evasive responses but not one factual answer.

As an individual I believe I am entitled to contact my council(s) on issues that matter to me, equally with elected councillors and my MP.

I am a life member of the Pier Trust, give my total support to the cause and hold Trust members in the highest of esteem. They have a thankless task ahead and work tirelessly. Two new members joined at the annual meeting. I believe there are exciting times ahead.

Kim Hennelly

HB Times letters 20th May 2010

Press editing

For those of you who are interested in such things, you can play spot-the-difference between what the local press gets sent, and what it publishes. Below is the un-cut version of the letter "whingeing" Kim sent the local press - see "Blood from a stone". I've highlighted the bits that ended up on the cutting room floor.

Open letter

With regard to your Article in last week HB Times

I am disappointed that the Pier Trust has been embroiled into your report of my communications with the Council regarding their historic efforts to rebuild the pier since 2004. I feel the matter has flared out of proportion and would like to put events into perspective.

The Pier has long been pawned as a vote catcher at election times, including the current, and by various political parties and it is interesting that the Pier was the catalyst of Survey subjects put to prospective MP's and reported in local papers last week. Quoting: "Our local and regional councillors are the ones who decide. MPs of course do their best to exert this influence".

I do not feel it at all unreasonable to want to know what efforts the owners of the Pier (Canterbury City Council) have made to rebuild the pier since 2004 when the glimmer of hope was given in the commissioned Herne Bay Pier Report. This report was commissioned by Canterbury City Council, Kent County Council and a Tourist body. I have asked all three parties the same question: "What action was taken by them following the report to progress the rebuild of the Pier, what decisive action was taken to secure funding, when and with whom and what the outcome was." I, and I am sure many others, would like to know what action has been taken by the owners to maintain, restore and or rebuild the property they hold for the Town. I want to know how the Council feel justified in simply stating there are no funds to rebuild the pier without challenge from the electorate.

Similarly I contacted the KCC Councillor representing Herne Bay (Jean Law) similarly I contacted my MP (Roger Gale). It is fair to say there has been a strong resistance to communicate at all on the subject. Pursuing the question over several months I received various evasive responses but not one factual answer. Pursuing those responses I have received further evasive and somewhat personalised rebuffs detracting from the specified information requested. Now my communications on historical efforts by the Councils, Councillors and MP seem to be considered the Trust's concern which, quite frankly, I do not. I continue to seek factual information directly.

As an individual, I believe I am entitled to contact my council(s) on issues that matter to me, equally with elected Councillors and my MP. I believe that if, more often than not, my contact is ignored or the subject is avoided, side stepped or "spun" I am justified in pursuing the subject. Sadly as is often the case with a handful of Councillors, communications degenerate into personal attack. I appreciate that is often to deflect the situation and avoid the subject but I continue to feel justified in pursuing an honest straight forward factual answer.

I am a Life Member of the Pier trust, give my total support to the cause and hold the trust members in the highest of esteem. They have a thankless task ahead and work tirelessly. Two New Trusts Members were announced at AGM last evening and I believe there are exciting times ahead.

I would just like a an honest factual straight forward answer to a very straight forward question: "What action was taken by them following the report to progress the rebuild of the Pier, what decisive action was taken to secure funding, when and with whom and what the outcome was".

Kind regards

Kim Hennelly