"Standards"

Standards for England "We believe in principled local politics. Our mission is to champion and promote high standards of conduct amongst our local politicians".

Roger Matthews did wrong. He accepts he broke the rules. Standards for England agree he broke the rules. Guess what happened next...

The Ethical Standards Officer found that, in respect of his promotion of the proposal to develop land at Greenhill, the member breached the Code of Conduct by bringing his office into disrepute. The member also breached the Code by failing to withdraw from a meeting when two planning applications in which he had a prejudicial interest were considered. The Ethical Standards Officer took all the relevant circumstances into the case before deciding that no further action needed to be taken.

Following his clearance on corruption charges in 2010, the police were less than happy (having spent a lot of time and effort on the case) and probably hoped someone could make something stick. The Standards Committee had not received an official complaint about Cllr Matthews before or during his trial. The Standards Committee do not have the power to initiate enquiries or disciplinary proceedings - they can only act in response to complaints received, and details of the complainant are not published. We don't know who lodged the complaint about Cllr Matthews with the Standards Committee.

The Standards Committee decided, for whatever reason, that this was too big/difficult/hot to handle and passed it up to Standards for England, their overseeing body. The heroic and highly principled conclusion that Standards for England have arrived at is to do absolutely nothing. Their "reasoning" being that the trial had been expensive, Matthews had withdrawn from his party, and there's an election soon anyway. CCC's Standards Committee cannot appeal against this decision.

"Standards for England" - aren't they breaching the Trades Descriptions Act in some way? Cllr Matthews appears in today's papers saying "I broke the rules"; Standards for England's investigation confirm this; no action is taken, no sanction imposed.

---

Read the Standards for England report.

Complain about Standards for England HERE.

---

The town's councillors

Tuesday 15th March 6:30pm

Salvation Army Hall, 33 Richmond Street, Herne Bay

Rejoice, dear reader - a special day approaches! Half a dozen or so times a year the chosen few gather together to discuss and vote on things that matter to Herne Bay. On Tuesday, our town councillors will assemble at the Salvation Army Hall, eager to answer your questions. Someone from the Royal Mail will be there to "discuss the concerns" about the experimental system that was inflicted on us before Christmas (and before the snow). The councillors will be deciding where to reinstate the Red Shelter, AKA the Threepenny Bit Shelter; they'll also be neglecting public gardens to save money; considering parish grant applications; discussing No Fishing signs and road re-surfacing; and hearing from the Coastal Towns Manager.

It's an open public meeting.

---

1. Apologies for absence

2. Disclosures by members and officers

Members and officers are invited to declare any interests and whether the nature of them is prejudicial or personal.

3. Public Question and answer session PDF 54 KB

A written question has been received from Dick Eburne on the existing powers of Parish Councils and the cost to the taxpayer of these Councils. His questions and the officers responses are attached to the agenda.

Additional documents:

• Questions from Dick Eburne, item 3. PDF 64 KB
• eburne appendix, item 3. PDF 1 MB

4. Public participation

Provided that notification has been given to the Chief Executive by 12.30pm on Monday 14 March 2011, members of the public may speak on any item on the agenda for a maximum of three minutes. The Chairman to report any notification received.

5. Minutes - 1 February 2011 PDF 75 KB

To confirm as a true record.

6. Actions arising from the last meeting not dealt with by separate reports

7. Royal Mail

At the last meeting the Panel AGREED that a representative of Royal Mail be invited to attend the next meeting of the Panel to discuss the concerns regarding the experimental system for postal deliveries in Herne Bay.

Heulyn Davies, Senior External Relations Manager, Andrew Mills, Head of Deliveries for Kent and Martin Woods, Delivery Lead Kent Project will be attending the meeting as Royal Mail's representatives.

8. Forthcoming decision list - 1 March to 30 June 2011 PDF 73 KB

TO REVIEW the list and consider if the Panel should be consulted on any of the decision topics.

9. Kent County Council's Forward Plan

At the present time there are no relevant decisions on Kent County Council's Forward Plan that will affect the Herne Bay area.

10 Green Shelter relocation PDF 81 KB

Jeffrey Hall, the City Councils Asset Inspector, will attend.

11. Parish Councils Capital Grant Applications PDF 87 KB

TO CONSIDER the report of the Head of Community Development and Outdoor Leisure

Additional documents:

• APPENDIX 1 Overall CIFT Totals All Parishes 2011-12, item 11. PDF 58 KB

12. Changes to planting and maintenance arrangements

Further to the discussions at the last meeting, officers have advised that the specification for some shrubs will be reduced from "ornamental" to "amenity" throughout the district. In practice all this means is that the shrubs will be pruned less frequently and the weeding done less often.

The areas affected are: 

• Dane John
• The Three Cemeteries
• War Memorial Park
• Tower and Waltrop Gardens

Three years ago substantial savings were made on bedding plants and the amount of bedding throughout the district was reduced in the less sensitive areas. Officers received very few comments about this and the changes went largely unnoticed. It is thought the same will be true of the changes in shrub maintenance.  TO NOTE

13. No fishing signs at the pond , memorial park, Herne Bay

TO DISCUSS, at the request of Councillor Ron Flaherty, the appearance of the above signs. The City Council's Outdoor Leisure Manager has advised that fishing in the boating lake is illegal due to the following byelaw.  10 (iii) "take, injury or destroy, or attempt to take, injury or destroy any fish in any such water, or willfully disturb or worry any waterfowl".  Every so often people start fishing in the boating lake and the police / PCSO's and staff ask people to stop due to the byelaw.  A review of the open space byelaws was discussed at a Members briefing on 5^th January 2011 and it was agreed to defer a review so that the implications of the Localism Bill could be considered.

14. Resurfacing of roads in Herne Bay

To DISCUSS, at the request of Councillor Matthews, the following questions:  Can KCC advise why newly re-laid roads are breaking up?  Is a lower standard of surfacing being used than in the past?  Is there any national standard on resurfacing roads?

15. Progress report of the Coastal Towns Manager PDF 56 KB

TO NOTE the report of the Head of Culture and Enterprise

16. Date of next meeting

It is anticipated that the next meeting will be held on Tuesday 7 June 2011 at 6.30pm in the Salvation Army Hall, 33 Richmond Street, Herne Bay, subject to the annual Council meeting approving this date. Future panel dates, also subject to annual Council meeting approval are as follows

• 19 July 2011
• 13 September 2011
•  8 November 2011
• 3 January 2012
• 13 March 2012

All at 6.30pm in the Salvation Army Hall.

17. Any other urgent business to be dealt with in public

18. Any other urgent business which falls under the exempt provisions of the local government act 1972 or the freedom of information act 2000 or both.

It will be necessary to pass a resolution to exclude the press and public for any business under this item.

Your local crime stats

If you're of a nervous disposition, or prone to fretting, this may not be for you. On the other hand, it may be just the thing to put your mind at rest. The Government has decided that it would be a good thing for us all to know just how much crime is going on in our neighbourhoods. The idea behind this is that once we have some hard facts at our fingertips, rather than hysterical scare-mongering from the media, we will be better able to tell the police what we need and want from them. Hmmm.

---

The Home Secretary (Theresa May) says that this is just the start of greater transparency in crime, policing and justice and will allow people to hold their local forces to account.

"We want people to be able to see what crime is happening on their street and to be able to tell their local police if they have concerns, and challenge them about how issues are being dealt with. From today, this new information will allow them to do just that.

This is a major achievement, reconnecting the police and communities through the power of information. But this is just the start. We want to build on this by working with the police and communities to explore how we can go further and faster and drive forward even greater transparency across crime, policing and justice."

---

Anyway, if you're up to it, click over to www.police.uk where you can bash in your postcode and see the awful/unvarnished/encouraging truth, depending on where you live.

Walk the walk

In about 6 months' time, there will be a flurry of democracy as we all choose our councillors. We might choose the old councillors; we might choose new councillors; we might choose you! Next week, CCC will be explaining how to be a councillor. I'm intrigued.

---

Ever thought you could run the council better? [Just about every time I think of it!] Now there is a chance to find out. Canterbury City Council is holding an open evening for would-be councillors at the Guildhall, Canterbury, on Tuesday, November 30th. The event kicks off at 6.30pm and could appeal to anyone thinking of standing as a candidate in the local elections in May, or those involved with parish councils and voluntary organisations.

Speakers will include the city council's chief executive, Colin Carmichael, and councillors who will offer an insight into the work involved. The evening will consist of brief presentations followed by a question-and-answer session.

Anyone who wants to attend should e-mail democraticservices@canterbury.gov.uk, indicating whether they are a prospective candidate or a member of an interested group. If the event is oversubscribed, priority will be given to prospective candidates. There will be a separate session for parish council elections and candidates.

For more details, call democratic services officer Nicola Adams on 01227 862005.

thisiskent

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

Democracy is worth encouraging

Put off joining

Your last edition presents something of a conundrum for local people. On the inside pages you have an item about the Herne Bay Pier Trust and its forthcoming members' meeting, effectively encouraging people to join up. On your front page you carry a report of how some of those who do face public criticism, scorn and attack from the ever-strident Tory councillor Jean Law ("Storm brewing for Pier Trust", HB Times May 6th). Hardly an incentive.

Some would say this is simply good, plain speaking on Ms Law's part. Others would say it is the usual local Tory trait of trying to stamp on any criticism and silence it, and of slapping the faces of those who attempt to call Tory politicians to account.

Brian Glew
High View Avenue, Herne Bay

HB Times letters 13th May 2010

---

Involvement mustn't be dismissed as whingeing, and dialogue requires a reply to questions.

To declare an interest: I am a founder member of the Pier Trust. To declare another interest: I have a degree of empathy with Kim Hennelly (the "whinger"), having been bad-mouthed on the front page of the local press by local councillors within days of submitting the village green application.

I'm not happy with the Council's high-handed and combative response to criticism, which is I think the result of complacency, arrogance and a forgetfulness of purpose. I'm not impressed with the public's lack of involvement in local democracy, which has its roots in disenchantment with a Canterbury-centric Council, a lack of awareness of how to engage, and laziness (amongst many other things, like getting on with life).

None of the councillors was voted in by more than 50% of the electorate in their wards. The Council was chosen by a minority of the public, and it follows that the majority who didn't choose them may disagree with, and even criticise, the Council. For the good of their blood pressure and mental health, every councillor should be able to deal with criticism - I expect there are courses available.

"Just answer the question!" was a phrase that popped into my head with monotonous regularity throughout the run-up to the recent general election. And earlier, in my dealings with the Council over the last year and more. So, a very simple rule of thumb for all councillors and Council officers to bear in mind (or have stencilled on every visible surface) is:

"A straight question deserves a straight answer."

Following this simple rule will mean that the public will not feel we are being pushed away, fobbed off or disregarded. We will be more inclined to join in the dialogue between elected and electorate, leading to a robust, hands-on local democracy. Which is what everyone wants. Isn't it?

Tainted Mayor

One well-informed local fears the Mayorship may become sullied and diminished by politicisation. It's hard not to agree. I'm not thrilled at voting becoming a redundant sham, come to that...

The Precious Leader does seem to be rubbing people up the wrong way in his recent press statements. Fair comment from Mrs Berridge in her letter, though - the Lord Mayor is a figurehead, a ceremonial position, and emphatically civic and apolitical. The CCC website says:

The Lord Mayor is elected by the City Councillors at the Annual Council Meeting in May and becomes chairman of the Council, the most senior member of the civic office and the principal representative of the City and District on important occasions.

The word 'elected' does rather suggest to me the free exercise of choice by the eligible constituency, which doesn't seem to have been the case this time round. Jonji-il Bi has shown his willingness to fight tooth and nail at the drop of a hat, as evidenced by his 'absolutely disgraceful' outburst. I do hope he will fight to defend the Lord Mayorship from the taint of politics, otherwise who knows where we might end up - politically partial Council Officers? Heaven forbid!

---

Don’t taint Lord Mayor with partisan politics

In the May 6th edition of your newspaper you report Cllr John Gilbey as saying that non-Conservative councillors had not supported the role of Lord Mayor and had failed to attend civic functions like the Lord Mayor’s Ball (Anger Over ‘Lack Of Consultation’ For Lord Mayor Choice, Gazette, May 6).

I take exception to that accusation. As the wife of a Lib Dem city councillor, I have worked this past civic year as a member of the Lady Mayoress’s charity fundraising team and have attended a number of civic occasions with or without my husband. Since my husband is councillor for the same ward as the current Lord Mayor, Cllr Harry Cragg, we made a special effort his year to attend the Lord Mayor’s Ball and brought a table of 12 people to the event.

We believed we were attending a civic, not a political, function that evening. It has often been stressed that the role of Lord Mayor is a neutral, non-political one. It seems that Cllr Gilbey wishes to taint a high civic office with the air of partisan politics, which can only be detrimental to the post.

Janet Berridge, Birch Road, Canterbury

HB Gazette letters 13th May 2010

General Election results

Here's how you voted. See how it compares with my forecast...

click it to big it

Freedom from choice

Nice to be Mayor, to be Mayor, nice!The next Lord Mayor is a shoo-in. Of course. And not everybody's happy about it. Of course.

So, the Canterbury City Conservatives have "arranged" a smooth transition from one Lord Mayor to the next. Please don't be surprised or disappointed by the absence of consultation - it seems to be their style. They may have a grudging admiration for the Soviet era ballots with 99% turnout and 100% agreement. I expect the North Korean style of compulsory consistent consensus is an inspiration to our own Precious Leader, Jonji-il Bi. But when it comes down to it, is anyone bothered which councillors fill the roles of Lord Mayor and Sheriff? Wouldn't it be smarter to choose the most photogenic and media-savvy people from the district, regardless of whether they're councillors?

Anger over lack of consultation for Lord Mayor choice

Tory councillor Pat Todd has been nominated to take on the role of Lord Mayor for a second time. An email sent to all council members this week by leader Cllr John Gilbey stated that Cllr Todd is in line for the prestigious civic job, a post he previously held in 2006/7. Another Tory councillor, Northgate representative Sally Pickersgill, has also been nominated as the new Sheriff of Canterbury.

The pair are expected to be voted in by the Conservative-controlled council at its annual meeting at the Guildhall on May 12, replacing Cllrs Harry Cragg and Gabrielle Davis. But Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Alex Perkins is angry that opposition councillors have again been ‘frozen out’ of the selection process. He said:

"I’ve got nothing against Pat. He’s a good bloke who did a fine job last time he was Lord Mayor. But yet again we’ve not been consulted and instead had this presidential style announcement via email by the council leader. It’s very wrong because there are other councillors who would have liked to have been offered the opportunity."

Labour group leader Cllr Julia Seath said:

"There are only two Labour members on the council and as it happens neither of us are interested. Cllr Todd is a very likeable and capable councillor but he has done it before and it would have been nice to see perhaps a long-serving Liberal Democrat member have the chance. But I’m not surprised. How the Conservatives have handled it has become a bit par for the course with them."

Cllr Gilbey said the group had started the selection process some months ago because they did not want it to clash with the general election. He said that neither opposition groups had contacted him about any of their potential candidates and he accused them of not supporting the role of Lord Mayor by failing to attend civic functions like the Lord Mayor’s ball. He said:

"They very rarely turn up and it’s really poor because it’s about recognising the importance of the office of Lord Mayor as much as the individual. Pat was the only one in the group who was really keen and there is no precedent which says he can’t serve a second term. We know he is very capable and a safe pair of hands and that’s what the position needs because it carries significant responsibilities. We had three candidates for Sheriff from the group but the vote went to Cllr Pickersgill who I am sure will do a good job."

HB Gazette 6th May 2010

Post-election: stress, disorder

In contrast to the hard mathematical precision of my recent results analysis, today I go out on a limb for a national prediction. The LibDems will collect more votes and more seats than ever, but not as many seats as the number of votes would imply (as usual). What will thrill them to bits, however, will be the wildly disproportionate influence that they will wield as the maker/breaker of kings and coalitions. 

Unaccustomed as they are to the exercise of power, their initial efforts may appear gauche, attracting criticism and derision. They will be completely unbothered by anyone who tries to rain on their parade. In their shoes, I would push for electoral reform being the primary and absolute pre-condition for any form of alliance, and get the legislation passed asap.

After a while the wheels will fall off, and everything will go pear-shaped, the new friends will fall to bickering, and we will be stuck with stalemate and stagnation. Eventually, the penny will drop and whoever is running the show will realise that the only resolution will be to call an election.

Hah! Now it gets interesting. With the new electoral system (whatever it is, some degree of proportional representation or transferable voting) smaller parties will get more of a look-in on a purely mathematical basis. More importantly, people's voting patterns will almost certainly change. Even under the current system, about 10% of votes are cast for parties that have absolutely no chance whatsoever of winning. Within a new electoral framework that allocates seats and power in proportion to actual votes, many more people will vote for the smaller parties.

We may find ourselves living in a truly multi-party democracy.

Daft General Election Forecast!

Behold my far-fetched but statistically sound election result forecast. You will by now have heard and seen any number of polls and analyses, confidently "predicting" Thursday's outcome. I expect you are all worldly-wise enough to realise they are a load of tosh. Weary call centre slaves heckle the unsuspecting few by phone, and smug pundits recklessly extrapolate the results to several decimal places of precision. Knowing that you will be unsatisfied with such piffle, I have assembled the most reliable prediction yet - read it if you dare...

Rather than relying on a precarious forecast drawn from a few thousand (possibly imaginary) people across the whole country, this forecast is based on the entire turnout in the North Thanet constituency from the last 6 general elections, some 285,00 people in all. With such a large sample, predictions can be made with a much higher level of confidence.

Starting with the universally recognised statistical technique of drawing a straight line that touches NONE of the data points, we can be assured that the turnout on Thursday will be 43,300.

We can now repeat the exercise with each of the main party's percentage share of the vote. (One of the lines does come perilously close to a data point - I do apologise.)

So, the results will be as follows:

Conservative: 19,139 (44.2%)

Labour: 16,367 (37.8%)

LibDem: 5,153 (11.9%)

Given the sample size, this forecast can be relied on to be about 100 times more statistically significant than any other you have seen. The margin of error is about as wide as the page.

Vote on Thursday, or hang your head in shame.

Don't return to sender

CCC recently upgraded their email system with the result that councillors get fewer emails. Unfortunately, it's not spam and suchlike that is being winnowed out, but emails with mis-spelt addresses - they just get trashed.

In the olden days, with the previous email system, if you sent an email to joe.loggs@canterbury.gov.uk in the hope of contacting Councillor Joe Bloggs, you would get an automatic message saying that your message couldn't be delivered (known as an NDR - Non-Delivery Receipt). That way you would know that something was wrong, and you would probably be able to figure it out, and eventually get it right. However, the new system doesn't send these helpful NDR messages. So you send your message to joe.loggs and having no reason to think otherwise, believe that your councillor has got your message and is now springing into action.

It gets worse:  it wouldn't be terribly difficult to automatically route these mis-spelt messages into 'check these' file, and have a human being scan through them daily or weekly. But no, these mis-addressed emails are instantly destroyed, so there's no chance of them ever getting through. In the physical world this is like the Royal Mail shredding any letter that is mis-spelt, mis-addressed or even mis-punctuated. The Council have come up with a short-term fix (see below) which simply involves all of us doing a little bit more work, and Customer Services presumably doing quite a bit more work.

Every IT department has its own special mix of considerations and constraints - in banking it's security, in the stock market it's 'up-time'. What CCC's IT department must not lose sight of is that their special duty is to help, not hinder, local democracy.

General Election Results

See the results going back to 1983...

2005
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	21,699	49.6	-0.7
	Labour	Iris Johnston	14,065	32.2	-2.2
	Liberal Democrat	Mark Barnard	6,279	14.4	+3.4
	UKIP	Timothy Stocks	1,689	3.9	+1.6
Majority			7,634	17.5
Turnout			43,732	60.1	1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

2001
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	21,050	50.3	+6.2
	Labour	James Stewart Laing	14,400	34.4	-4.0
	Liberal Democrat	Seth Proctor	4,603	11.0	-0.4
	UKIP	John Moore	980	2.3	+1.4
	Independent (politician)	David Shortt	440	1.1	N/A
	National Front	Thomas Holmes	395	0.9	N/A
Majority			6,650	15.9
Turnout			41,868	59.0	-9.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

1997
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	21,586	44.1
	Labour	Iris Johnston	18,820	38.4
	Liberal Democrat	Paul Kendrick	5,576	11.4
	Referendum Party	M Chambers	2,535	5.2
	UKIP	J E Haines	438	1.1
Majority			2,766	5.7
Turnout			48,955	68.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

1992
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	30,867	57.2
	Labour	A M Bretman	12,657	23.46
	Liberal Democrat	J L Phillips	9,563	17.72
	Green	H F Dawe	873	1.62
Majority			18,210	33.75
Turnout			53,960	76.02
	Conservative hold		Swing

1987
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	29,225	58.03
	SDP-Liberal Alliance	N R M Cranston	11,745	23.32
	Labour	A M Bretman	8,395	16.67
	Green	D R Condor	996	1.98
Majority			17,480	34.71
Turnout			50,361	72.23
	Conservative hold		Swing

1983
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	26,801	58.44
	SDP-Liberal Alliance	W MacMillan	12,256	26.72
	Labour	Cherie Booth	6,482	14.13
	BNP	B Dobing	324	0.71
Majority			14,051	32.37
Turnout			45,863	70.02
	Conservative hold		Swing

Canterbury councillor Roger Matthews acquitted...

... but developer Julian Brealy convicted

A Kent property developer has been warned he could be facing a jail sentence after a jury convicted him of corruption. The verdict on Julian Brealy came shortly after Canterbury city councillor Roger Matthews was acquitted of the charge. The jury of six men and six women found estate agent and property developer Brealy guilty by a 10-2 majority. He was granted conditional bail until sentence on April 13. Brealy, of Mandarin Lane, Herne Bay, and Mr Matthews, of Beltinge Road, Herne Bay, denied the charge.

Mr Matthews, 58, was alleged to have corruptly received benefit by way of unpaid rent as a reward for promoting the interests of Brealy, 51, and two of his companies, Herne Bay Golf Club and Hollanby Estates Ltd. His landlord was Hollanby Estates. Brealy is managing director and a shareholder in the family business. Mr Matthews, who represented Greenhill and Eddington, denied he showed favour to Brealy in return for being allowed to live rent free for almost six years between May 2002 and July 2008 and failing to pay around £36,000.

Judge David Griffith-Jones QC ordered Brealy to surrender his passport and banned him from obtaining travel documents after hearing he was a director of Heron Helicopters. He will also have to report to police once a week. Philip Noble, defending, said he would be arguing there were "exceptional facts and other matters" that could enable a suspended prison sentence to be imposed.

"What is clear from the verdicts of the jury is they accept Mr Matthews did not corrupt him."

The judge said he made it absolutely clear that in adjourning sentence for reports there would be anything other than immediate imprisonment. But he added he would consider all the material put before him. Speaking after his acquittal, Cllr Matthews said:

"The whole thing has been hell for me. I knew I had done nothing wrong but you can never tell how it was going to go. When the verdict was read out I felt numb. I’d been told I faced up to two-and-a-half years in prison which just added to the pressure. I’m a very relieved man today. I’ve received so many texts and calls from people congratulating me and saying they always knew I was innocent."

Cllr Matthews said he had yet to decide whether to stand at the next local elections. He said:

"It’s something I have to think about. The jury has come to the right decision today, but mud sticks."

kentonline 19th Mar 2010

HB Councillors, by Ward

Full contact details...

If you're not sure which Ward you're in, visit: www.canterbury.gov.uk/whatward.php

---

Reculver

Gabrielle Davis (Conservative)

21 Sea View Road
HERNE BAY
CT6 6JB
01227 367 426
gabrielle.davis@canterbury.gov.uk

Gillian Reuby (Conservative)

Northernlights
King Edward Avenue
HERNE BAY
CT6 6EA
01227 366 081
gillian.reuby@canterbury.gov.uk

Ann Taylor (Conservative)

33 West Hill Road
HERNE BAY
CT6 8HG
01227 367 852
ann.taylor@canterbury.gov.uk

---

Heron

Robert Bright (Liberal Democrat)

63 William Street
HERNE BAY
CT6 5NR
01227 366 550
robert.bright@canterbury.gov.uk

Ron Flaherty (Liberal Democrat)

Dillon House
35 Central Parade
HERNE BAY
CT6 5HX
01227 365 757
ron.flaherty@canterbury.gov.uk

Ken Hando (Liberal Democrat)

3 The Paddocks
Beltinge
HERNE BAY
CT6 6QX
01227 363 334
ken.hando@canterbury.gov.uk

---

Greenhill and Eddington

Margaret Flaherty (Liberal Democrat)

35 Central Parade
HERNE BAY
CT6 5HX
01227 365 757
margaret.flaherty@canterbury.gov.uk

Roger Matthews (Independent)

Flat 1
42 Beltinge Road
HERNE BAY
CT6 6BU
01227 366 950
roger.matthews@canterbury.gov.uk

---

Herne and Broomfield

Evelyn Bissett (Conservative)

45 Mill View Road
HERNE BAY
CT6 7JF
01227 363 693
evelyn.bissett@canterbury.gov.uk

Sharron Sonnex (Conservative)

6 Rye Walk
HERNE BAY
CT6 7XD
01227 369 994
sharron.sonnex@canterbury.gov.uk

Peter Vickery-Jones (Conservative)

71 Grand Drive
HERNE BAY
CT6 8JS
07931 314 111
peter.vickeryjones@canterbury.gov.uk

---

West Bay

Peter Lee (Conservative)

12 Sunningdale Walk
HERNE BAY
CT6 7TR
07831 582 473
peter.lee@canterbury.gov.uk

Vince McMahan (Conservative)

68 Cornwall Road
HERNE BAY
CT6 7SX
01227 742 606
vincent.mcmahan@canterbury.gov.uk

Non-HB Councillors

Full contact details...

John Anderson
Con: North Nailbourne:
Aunt Betsy's Cottage
7 Dering Road
Bridge
CANTERBURY
CT4 5NA
01227 830 260
john.anderson@canterbury.gov.uk

Tony Austin
Con: Sturry North:
The Purlins
Black Robin Lane
Kingston
CANTERBURY
CT4 6HR
01227 830 131
tony.austin@canterbury.gov.uk

Michael Berridge
LibDem: St Stephens:
3 Birch Road
CANTERBURY
CT1 3BS
01227 470 027
michael.berridge@canterbury.gov.uk

Jo Calvert-Mindell
LibDem: St Stephens:
29 Longmeadow Way
CANTERBURY
CT2 7DG
0779 265 6225
jo.calvertmindell@canterbury.gov.uk

Paul Carnell
Con: Gorrell:
Flat 5
18 Tankerton Road
WHITSTABLE
CT5 2AB
01227 770 498
paul.carnell@canterbury.gov.uk

Harry Cragg
Lord Mayor
Con: St Stephens:
60 St Stephens Hill
CANTERBURY
CT2 7AR
01227 760 869
harry.cragg@canterbury.gov.uk

Michael Dixey
LibDem: Harbledown:
Linden House
Linden Grove
CANTERBURY
CT2 8AB
01227 456 626
michael.dixey@canterbury.gov.uk

Rosemary Doyle
Con: Chartham and Stone Street:
16 Richdore Road
Waltham
CANTERBURY
CT4 5SJ
01227 700 296
rosemary.doyle@canterbury.gov.uk

Stephen Dye
LibDem: Westgate:
24 St Lawrence Court
St Lawrence Road
CANTERBURY
CT1 3EY
stephen.dye@canterbury.gov.uk

Nick Eden-Green
LibDem: Wincheap:
16 Dane John
CANTERBURY
CT1 2QU
01227 470 416
nick.edengreen@canterbury.gov.uk

Darren Ellis
Con: Northgate:
68 Field Avenue
CANTERBURY
CT1 1TR
01227 463 501
darren.ellis@canterbury.gov.uk

Martin Fisher
Con: Tankerton:
15 Queens Road
WHITSTABLE
CT5 2JE
01227 266 021
martin.fisher@canterbury.gov.uk

James Flanagan
LibDem: Westgate:
11 Fitzroy Road
WHITSTABLE
CT5 2LG
01227 750 146
james.flanagan@canterbury.gov.uk

John Gilbey
Leader of the Council
Con: Blean Forest:
Brambley Hedge
Black Robin Lane
Kingston
CANTERBURY
CT4 6HR
01227 830 138
john.gilbey@canterbury.gov.uk

Jeanne Harrison
Con: Tankerton:
4 Tower Hill
WHITSTABLE
CT5 2BW
01227 273 570
jeanne.harrison@canterbury.gov.uk

Jean Law
Con: Seasalter:
29 Alexandra Road
WHITSTABLE
CT5 4LR
01227 265 021
jean.law@canterbury.gov.uk

Ida Linfield
LibDem: Westgate:
93 The Street
Boughton-under-Blean
FAVERSHAM
ME13 9BG
01227 750 146
ida.linfield@canterbury.gov.uk

Charlotte MacCaul
LibDem: Wincheap:
66 Strangers Lane
CANTERBURY
CT1 3XG
01227 764 714
charlotte.maccaul@canterbury.gov.uk

Hazel McCabe MBE
Con: Blean Forest:
Little Well Farm
Fleets Lane
Tyler Hill
CANTERBURY
CT2 9NA
01227 471 352
hazel.mccabe@canterbury.gov.uk

Carolyn Parry
Con: Marshside:
Walnut Tree Farm
Highstead
Chislet
CANTERBURY
CT3 4LX
01227 860 600
carolyn.parry@canterbury.gov.uk

Adam Parsons
LibDem: Barton:
c/o Lib Dem Office
Canterbury City Council
Military Road
CANTERBURY
CT1 1YW
adam.parsons@canterbury.gov.uk

Mike Patterson
Con: Chartham and Stone Street:
Ashfield Farm
Waddenhall
Petham
CANTERBURY
CT4 5PX
01227 700 624
mike.patterson@canterbury.gov.uk

Alex Perkins
LibDem: Wincheap:
21 Cambridge Road
CANTERBURY
CT1 3QG
alex.perkins@canterbury.gov.uk

Jackie Perkins
Con: Gorrell:
41 Douglas Avenue
WHITSTABLE
CT5 1RW
01227 263 790
jackie.perkins@canterbury.gov.uk

Sally Pickersgill
Con: Northgate:
39 Abbey Gardens
CANTERBURY
CT2 7EU
01227 459 227
sally.pickersgill@canterbury.gov.uk

Jennifer Samper
Con: Chestfield and Swalecliffe:
Smeeds Farm
Church Street
WHITSTABLE
CT5 1PJ
01227 272 666
jenny.samper@canterbury.gov.uk

Julia Seath
Lab: Harbour:
Brockway
Clifton Road
WHITSTABLE
CT5 1DQ
01227 273 467
julia.seath@canterbury.gov.uk

Mike Sharp
Con: Seasalter:
84 Borstal Hill
WHITSTABLE
CT5 4NZ
01227 770 538
mike.sharp@canterbury.gov.uk

Brian Staley
LibDem: Little Stour:
Littlebourne Nurseries
Littlebourne
CANTERBURY
CT3 1UP
01227 721 315
brian.staley@canterbury.gov.uk

Michael Steed
LibDem: Barton:
Nethersole House
36 Dover Street
Canterbury
CT1 3HQ
01227 479166
michael.steed@canterbury.gov.uk

Heather Taylor
Con: Sturry North:
18 McCarthy Avenue
Sturry
CANTERBURY
CT2 0PE
01227 710 134
heather.taylor@canterbury.gov.uk

Ian Thomas
Con: Chestfield and Swalecliffe:
37 Elmwood Close
Swalecliffe
WHITSTABLE
CT5 2QR
01227 793 057
ian.thomas@canterbury.gov.uk

Pat Todd
Con: Chestfield and Swalecliffe:
60 Sherwood Drive
WHITSTABLE
CT5 4PH
01227 276 396
pat.todd@canterbury.gov.uk

Paula Vickers
LibDem: Barton:
c/o Liberal Democrat Office
Military Road
CANTERBURY
CT1 1YW
01227 455 147
Paula.vickers@canterbury.gov.uk

Martin Vye
LibDem: Barham Downs:
The Dacha
Patrixbourne Road
Bridge
CANTERBURY
CT4 5BL
01227 831 820
martin.vye@kent.gov.uk

Cyril Windsor
Con: Seasalter:
9 Martindown Road
WHITSTABLE
CT5 4PX
01227 272 369
cyril.windsor@canterbury.gov.uk

John Wratten
Lab: Harbour:
14 Cornwallis Circle
WHITSTABLE
CT5 1DU
01227 261 109
john.wratten@canterbury.gov.uk


Roger Gale MP
North Thanet Conservative Association
215a Canterbury Road
Birchington
Kent
CT7 9AH
House of Commons Phone: 020 7219 4087
House of Commons Fax: 020 7219 6828
Constituency Phone: 01843 848588
Constituency Fax: 01843 844856
Parliament email: galerj@parliament.uk
Website: www.rogergale.com



AboutMyVote

There's a stack of good reasons why you might not be registered to vote in the general election. Laziness is not one of them. To vote in any UK elections, you have to be on the electoral register. It’s easy to register – you can fill in your details on the AboutMyVote website. Then you print the form, sign it, and send it to your local electoral registration office:

Electoral Registration Officer
Electoral Services
Canterbury City Council
Military Road
Canterbury
CT1 1YW

01227 862 007
electoral.services@canterbury.gov.uk

Across the world people have died fighting for the right to vote and be part of a democracy. By registering to vote you’ll be showing that you think that right is important. Less than 100 years ago, people in Britain were killed during their struggles to get the vote for women. Today, many people across the world are still denied the right to vote.

If you don’t register, you can’t vote! It’s as simple as that. If you don't vote, you automatically lose the right to moan and grizzle about anything the next government does.

You have the right to vote. Use it.

AboutMyVote

WhatDoTheyKnow

This is marvellous: Freedom of Information made easy. WhatDoTheyKnow helps you get information out of government departments and agencies. Just visit, pick a department, type a request, and they handle the rest.

Even better, WhatDoTheyKnow is an archive of requests and responses made by other people, so you can find out what information other people have found, or even set up email or RSS alerts to get notified when anything comes in that you’re interested in...

WhatDoTheyKnow



TheyWorkForYou

Here's a very handy website for finding out about our MPs actually do, and for keeping tabs on them: TheyWorkForYou.com

It provides citizens with a range of information on their politicians, such as:

* Who their local MP is
* What MPs said in Parliament
* Summaries of how MPs have voted
* Text of debates in Parliament
* Video of MPs talking in debates
* Written questions MPs have submitted to government departments, and the answers they’ve got back
* Email alerts whenever an MP speaks, or a topic is mentioned in Parliament
* Comments and annotations from our users on what has been said

You can find out what your politicians have actually done. For example, here's some of what they have to say about Roger Gale:

• Has never voted on a transparent Parliament.
• Voted moderately against introducing a smoking ban.
• Voted a mixture of for and against introducing ID cards.
• Voted strongly against introducing foundation hospitals.
• Voted moderately against introducing student top-up fees.
• Voted strongly against Labour's anti-terrorism laws.
• Voted very strongly for the Iraq war.
• Voted strongly for an investigation into the Iraq war.
• Voted very strongly for replacing Trident.
• Voted very strongly for the hunting ban.
• Voted very strongly against equal gay rights.
• Voted very strongly for laws to stop climate change.

TheyWorkForYou