Thanet Waves

FLYBE IN THE OINTMENT

2012-01-25T18:11:00.000Z

The issue of night flights at Manston Airport has been rearing its ugly head again. Despite the fact that FlyBe announced that they'll stop using the airport for passenger flights by March 2012, Manston Airport owner Charles Buchanan has told This Is Kent that the decision "reinforces the need for the airport's proposals for limited and managed scheduled night-time flights" and David Foley from Thanet and East Kent Chamber of Commerce also banged the war drum by singing from the same hymn sheet on BBC News.

But hey, wait a minute, didn't Manston Airport's Master Plan explicitly state that the success of passenger flights would be a precursor to any 'additional services' it might offer? Here's a quote:

"We anticipate that initial growth at our airport will come in steps. Initially, passenger flights will be offered by aircraft based at other airports and operating single daily return flights to various destinations from our airport. As the market grows, additional services will be offered and aircraft operators will look to base aircraft and crews at our airport. Our airport is not the first to predict growth based on this model and many regional UK and mainland Europe low cost airports have developed in this way." (Manston Master Plan, p50)

Since the success of passenger flights formed such an important part of Manston Airport's Master Plan, the fact that FlyBe will no longer be running passenger flights due to low demand makes it more problematic for Manston Airport to argue the case for night flights. After all, the Master Plan clearly states that additional services will be offered as the market for passenger flights grows and since the market is clearly not growing then I'd say this doesn't reinforce the need for night flights at all. If anything, they should say it reinforces the need for day flights!

A big reason behind Manston Airport's existence is, of course, freight. This is why I assume night flights are still being pushed for, even though doing so in the absence of any passenger flights somewhat contradicts their Master Plan. If you remember it, according to an overview of how Thanet Council hopes the District will look by the year 2030, it was hoped that Manston would be "the commercial centre of Thanet" and that Kent International Airport will have "established itself as a major cargo base for the UK, processing 500,000 tons of freight per year, particularly from nearby continental markets."

Since freight is clearly the name of the game, I found it odd to discover that Cardiff Airport has been at the heart of similar plans, with an IFW news article stating that it could become "an air-freight hub for Tesco, flying in perishable goods from Spain and Holland for delivery to supermarkets across northern Britain." Hmm, Tesco, eh? Since Margate residents near Arlington House are trying to resist plans to build a Tesco superstore, this should ring alarm bells – could this be the ulterior motive behind Manston Airport's persistent push for night flights? It seems more than a coincidence to me.

STRIKE IT RICHBOROUGH

2012-01-23T19:02:00.000Z

The towers and chimney at Richborough Power Station are going to be demolished, according to BBC News, Kent Online and This Is Kent. In last week's planning committee, as covered by 'Ville Views blogger James Maskell, councillors voted unanimously in favour of demolishing the iconic East Kent landmark, and though I'm saddened by the news, I'm not in the least bit surprised. It was an inevitable consequence and I think people should resign themselves to accepting this new reality. It was inescapable.

At first, I had ambiguous feelings about the idea of demolishing Richborough Towers. On the one hand, I felt that the case could be made that they're a great example of Brutalist architecture from a bygone historical era, and I previously wrote about how I had a sentimental attachment to them due to the fact that my grandfather worked at the power station for most of his adult life.

On the other hand, I saw no entirely legitimate reason to keep the towers because: a) They've been in a state of disuse for so long now that maintenance costs would outweigh any nostalgic value b) It's not like they could be brought back into operation now, is it? and c) It's been 16 years since they closed, so it seems rather futile to hang onto two big lumps of concrete when they serve no practical purpose whatsoever.

I ended up joining a Facebook campaign to save the Richborough towers and chimney, largely out of a sympathetic loyalty to the significant role they played in my grandfather's career. Some environmental activists spoke out in support of saving the towers, but considering the role Richborough Power Station played in polluting the very environment those activists claimed to be defending, it seemed like a massive contradiction in terms to me.

However, I did end up writing an e-mail to Planning Services in which I outlined how important I felt the towers were to my family and I concluded with the following statement:

"If indeed the site is to be used as a 'green energy' recycling plant to generate electricity, why not keep the towers as a reminder of how things used to be done? Why not set up a museum and try and educate school students across Kent about the importance of energy resources and sustainability, teaching them about the important historical role Richborough Power Station once held?"

Fanciful as it might have been, that opinion still stands. However, let's be honest, keeping the towers was never a likely outcome. But if anything deserves to replace Richborough Power Station, this new Green Energy recycling plant is a rightful successor. As someone who strongly believes that action needs to be taken on reducing CO2 emissions and building a low carbon economy, why would I poo-poo the notion of setting up a green energy facility such as this? It's the perfect way to modernise the site of the former power station and drag it kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Sure, Richborough Energy Park might not look as iconic as the towers and chimney, but it will ultimately share the same goal of generating electricity, only this time without having to burn fossil fuels and melt our planet's beloved ice caps. And what's so bad about that, eh?! The only disadvantage as far as I can see is that Richborough Energy Park will only be generating electricity for Belgium via undersea cabling and not for the UK, but hey, if it generates enough jobs, it will achieve far more than the power station will do if we continue to allow it to sit on a derelict brownfield site.

So, despite my initial objections, my discomfort, and my sadness at the thought of an East Kent landmark being blown up, I've slowly come round to the idea of demolishing the old to make way for the new. How do you feel about it?

THE ONLY SOLUTION...?

2012-01-17T21:22:00.001Z

The proposed demolition of the chimney and cooling towers at Richborough Power Station is going to be discussed by the planning committee at Thanet District Council tomorrow (Wednesday 18 January). I'll be honest, I'm not really sure how this planning committee malarkey works. Does this mean that we'll get a definitive yes or no whether the demolition is going ahead? Can anyone enlighten me?

While we're still on this subject, I noticed on the drive past Richborough Power Station that there's a huge sign (see the above picture) describing the proposed Green Energy Plant as “the only solution for the residents of East Kent that already has planning” adding that “there is no need for TWO energy plants we have the only ONE required.” If that's not a blatant attempt to resort to propaganda – oops, sorry, I meant advertising – to fill the heads of passersby with pro-demolition messages then I don't know what is.

It gets more in-your-face though. If you think that sign's not persuasive enough, or that they're not trying hard enough to convince the public that blowing things up is the only way forward, check this out...

I've noticed lots of these signs on the drive past the power station. It's signage for DDS Demolition Ltd., a company which describes itself as “a demolition company predominantly operating throughout Kent, London and the South-East” and that they are “a front runner in the demolition industry.” Clearly, they make no bones about the fact that they're interested in being destructive (quite literally), and judging by the dozens of signs they've hung up along the fence near the Richborough Roundabout, it looks like they're more than eager to do the job.

So, despite the fact that an official decision about the power station's demolition hasn't yet been made by TDC (as far as I'm aware), it seems as though the site's owners at Richborough are upping the ante by going crazy with the signs to win the PR battle with passing drivers. You'd almost think that the demolition of the towers and chimney is a foregone conclusion, wouldn't you?

IN THE KNIGHT'S GARDEN

2012-01-14T09:03:00.000Z

After all the merriment of discovering Roger Gale MP had been gifted a Knighthood by Her Majesty the Queen, our Knight in shining armour rode into town and cast a chivalrous eye over his constituency. Upon looking in his own back garden with a noble glint in his eye, can you imagine how Roger must have felt to discover that 23% of children in North Thanet are living in poverty?

According to statistics published by the Campaign to End Child Poverty, North Thanet is one of the worst constituencies in Kent to be blighted with impoverished minions, as reported by the Kent Messenger Group last week. The soon-to-be-Sir Roger Gale must be feeling rather sheepish now his royal accolade has been blighted by the revelation that his 'subjects' are all traipsing round with begging bowls.

Needless to say, putting these stats into context with the rest of the county, it's quite appalling that Thanet is being described as one of the worst for child poverty. In this instance, poverty is considered as being confined to "families claiming out-of-work benefits or in-work tax credits where their income is less than 60% of the average" and though living standards in the UK are an enormous improvement on Dickensian levels of destitution from the Victorian era, it's still an unseemly reminder that we still have work to do.

Sorry to be brusque here, I mean no offence, but perhaps one of the first steps to making sure that child poverty can be eradicated is by giving some parents a kick up the arse. It's easy to blame the problem of poverty on economics, or low wages, or broken households – all of which can be key components – but I do wonder whether this report fails to take into account just how much parental dysfunctionality is a factor too. After all, some children may indeed live in poverty, and I truly sympathise with parents who are trying to do the right thing but finding it difficult. But parents who claim to be struggling to feed their kids while at the same time spending more than £50 per week on fags and booze are, let's face it, the lowest of the low.

In spite of this, I am a big believer in facing up against social injustice and combating child poverty. Indeed, it pains me to admit that the weight of responsibility on household incomes these days is unbearably high. Food prices are rising, energy prices continue to soar, and the amount of financial responsibilities an ordinary UK citizen now has – being expected to pay for gas, electric, water, TV licensing, home insurance, a car, petrol, car tax, road tax, phone bills and internet broadband – means that it can often feel impossible to keep your head above the water. But if it came to a choice between throwing a crate of Carling Black Label in a shopping trolley or taking home a good nutritious meal for my child, I know which one I'd choose.

I don't think people should be afraid of making moral judgements and saying to some parents: "Hey, well, if you didn't buy all those cigarettes and bottles of wine your kids might actually have a square meal each day of the week." Obviously, most parents are decent human beings who are trying to do right by their children, working in low-paid jobs, spending every penny as wisely as possible but still finding themselves out of pocket or short on change through no fault of their own. But the sort of parents I'm talking about are the ones who don't make things easier for themselves financially, usually due to a particular nicotine, alcohol, drug or gambling habit of some sort.

As problems go, North Thanet's child poverty statistics are probably linked to the high numbers of unemployed people (and, ergo, benefit claimants) and the dire shortage of jobs in the local area. If those issues were addressed, it's possible child poverty could be remedied, but as for the dysfunctional parents, I don't quite know what the solution is. All I know is it's not as simple as sweeping it under the carpet and saying it's all due to laziness, which is utter nonsense. It's not quite as black and white as that – we're talking about children's futures here, so they fully deserve our help. But I think it'll take more than giving Roger Gale MP a Knighthood to solve this one, don't you?

IAN DRIVER IS NO LONGER A PASSENGER

2012-01-13T18:37:00.000Z

Councillor Ian Driver is no longer a passenger in the Thanet Labour Group after handing in his resignation note last night and leaping out of a moving vehicle like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (sort of). This could be just as momentous as John Worrow's resignation, as little more than a month after assuming power we now have an odd situation where the Labour leadership have less councillors than the Conservatives but are instead kept in power thanks to the support from the Independent candidates.

This essentially means that the balance of power at TDC is now very delicate and every decision has a risk of being made as if treading on egg shells. I do hope we can avoid a situation where power keeps yoyo-ing back and forth between the major parties every few weeks because I worry this will end up making our council look like a laughing stock. I suppose it is now down to Clive Hart and his cabinet to show that they continue to have a mandate to govern – it might not come in the form of possessing a working majority (which even the Tories can't lay claim to), but it could very well come in the form of winning the political argument through sound reasoning.

Hopefully, councillors of all political stripes will do the right thing and pull together for the good of Thanet and form a consensus on the issues that matter most, rather than squabbling and bickering in a tug of war which will only make our local council's approach to governance positively schizophrenic. One thing's for sure – once again, this means that the Independents are the kingmakers and that ultimately it is they who will need to be wooed on a regular basis in order for a successful leadership to function. It's not a perfect state of affairs, but I'm afraid we're stuck with it.

Leadership challenge or not, we will still be lumbered with a hung council. If people want to moan about that, then perhaps more people should've turned out to vote. My own view is that Labour will remain in control of TDC as long as the Independents continue to vouch for them, but this probably won't stop the Conservative Group from trying to convince the local population that since they now have one more councillor than Labour they have more of a mandate to rule. Ironically, if the Conservatives did this, they'd effectively be advocating proportional representation – something which they were more than happy to criticize when voting No to AV, but hey ho, horses for courses eh?

I can't see things swinging back in the Tories favour just yet. The Independents won't want to be seen as flip-flopping. Besides, if push came to shove, I doubt the newcomer to the Independent bench Ian Driver will side with the Tories in a vote of confidence, knowing that Driver's prior support for Arthur Scargill's Socialist Labour Party indicates how far to the left he leans. Having met him in person at the Citizen's Advice Bureau, I can safely say that Ian is a man who is rather strong on principles, but whether this is to his own benefit or to that of his former party is anyone's guess. Obviously if Ian didn't feel at home in the local Labour party then I sincerely hope his decision to quit settles his conscience somewhat. I wish him well.

But I wish we could avoid these political rifts which end up making TDC council chamber look like it's descending into some sort of Machiavellian psychodrama. I mean, this is Thanet District Council, for goodness sake. It's not the House of Borgia.

IN THE GHETTO

2012-01-04T23:08:00.000Z

In a spirit of bad tidings to mark the arrival of the New Year, Grania Long, the interim chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, has spoken out in The Guardian about the coalition's welfare changes and has some gloomy predictions about Margate potentially becoming a 'benefit ghetto.'

"The whole of the south-east is a sea of high rents punctuated only by a few small isolated low-cost islands … mainly old seaside towns such as Margate and Hastings where the once buoyant tourist trade has long since declined. But if claimants migrate to areas like these then this will create benefit ghettoes … the result is likely to be increased social problems and a breakdown in community cohesion."

I seem to remember seeing bleak predictions like this last month, when The Guardian similarly predicted a mass exodus of lower income families from London taking refuge in Margate over the next few years in response to George Osborne's austerity measures, suggesting our seaside town will return to becoming a 'dole-by-the-sea' resort. Now come on, The Guardian, I admire your consistency, but I do wish you'd stop trying to rope Margate into your dystopic fantasies. The Guardian's concerns might indeed be warranted but if they're not careful all this speculation about Margate becoming a 'benefit ghetto' might actually magic it into existence, and nobody wants that, surely? Be careful what you wish for. Although, quite why anyone would want to wish for that is anyone's guess.

SIR GALE OF CAMELOT

2012-01-03T19:34:00.004Z

Congratulations to Roger Gale, Conservative MP for North Thanet, who was recently reported to have been given a knighthood in the New Year's honours list. As much I question Gale's political views – in particular his support for capital punishment – it has to be said that acting as a political representative for 28 years and winning no less than seven general elections with an average of 52.91% of the voter's share is nothing to be sniffed at.

I'm not sure how I feel about the honour's list, to be honest. I find it all rather elitist. Being someone who is rather ambivalent about the monarchy, I would feel a bit uncomfortable kneeling down in front of the Her Majesty the Queen. I'm sure she is a very nice lady but I wouldn't really want to kneel down in front of anyone, so it's nothing personal. I'd like to feel that I'm no-one's servant and feel uneasy with acts of deference and subservience. I'm my own man. The only person people should kneel down in front of is their own reflections, that's my view.

Then again, saying that, I'm sure my cynicism about the royal honours list would be tested if I got offered a knighthood or an OBE in years from now - would I accept it, or would I be a refusenik? The late author J.G. Ballard once refused a CBE by saying: "It goes with the whole system of hereditary privilege and rank, which should be swept away. It uses snobbery and social self-consciousness to guarantee the loyalty of large numbers of citizens who should feel their loyalty is to fellow citizens and the nation as a whole."

Though I (sort of) share Ballard's view, I'm not sure if I could turn down a royal honour and not live to regret it. My grandparents considered themselves royalists – they're far more conservative and traditional than I – and they would probably be rolling in their graves if they knew I'd refused a royal honour and besmirched the Edwards family name. Would I be the sort of person who'd put principle aside and just accept a royal honour for my namesake? I'm not really sure. I guess it depends if I earn the bloody thing first, eh?!

Anyway, I'm sure Roger Gale will have no such qualms accepting his honour, so I'd like to offer him my congratulations. Personally I would've liked to have seen Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page get given a knighthood, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. Let's hope he gets offered it before he ascends that stairway to Heaven.

20 LOCAL PREDICTIONS FOR 2012

2011-12-31T19:35:00.000Z

Happy New Year everybody! Let's speculate about what the next year holds in store for us, shall we?! Being of a psychic persuasion (erm, not really), I've been gazing into my crystal ball and have come up with 20 local predictions for 2012. With tongue firmly in cheek, take them with a pinch of salt and let me know what you think:

Clive Hart finds his feet as Leader of Thanet District Council. Local media and bloggers jokingly remark about how Clive Hart is Thanet's Tony Blair, while Finance guru Rick Everitt is Thanet's Gordon Brown. Publicly Labour deny this, although no-one seems to be able to explain who left an answerphone message calling somone a 'bigot'.
The Independents will make the Labour administration nervous by speaking out of turn in the local press and appearing to curry favour with the opposition. This will get the Thanet Conservative Group excited and hopeful that they will be able to mount a leadership challenge, but ultimately nothing will come of it.
Considering tight budgetary constraints and the impact of government cuts on council funding, Labour's budget will surprise people and will generally be quite well-received, given the circumstances.
David Green will be given a cabinet post in the Labour administration. Given his name, it will be ironic if he gets put in charge of greenfield space.
The council will remain under Labour's control for the whole of 2012.
It will be a troublesome year for local journalism: Northcliffe Media will take steps towards merging the Thanet Gazette, the Thanet Times, the Canterbury Times, the Faversham Times and the Herne Bay & Whitstable Times. Local journalists will be sworn to silence on the issue. Privately, they will all be extremely disappointed at the news.
Despite widespread sympathy for the cause amongst local people, the ePetition to reform live farm animal export laws will fail to reach the required 100,000 signatures needed to make it eligible for debate in the House of Commons.
Ian Driver will spend a short time in prison after organising a mass protest campaign against live animal exports - he will organise for people to lay down in front of lorries and catapult animal faeces at lorry drivers.
Labour's decision to implement free parking in Birchington South Ward will come back to bite them as there will be more residents demanding free parking in their wards, particularly in Margate Central.
John Worrow will become more outspoken, establish himself as a local activist, get struck by lightning and become a superhero, much to everyone's annoyance.
Over the Christmas period, a rich local businessman has been visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future and will give all his money to the poor. This, however, will be a complete waste of time. Nobody will notice he's done it and people won't give a shit anyway.
Gerry O'Donnell leads Ramsgate residents in protest at the lack of work being done on the Pleasurama site. This leads to Gerry O'Donnell famously declaring to BBC South East and ITV Meridian about the Great Wall of Ramsgate during one protest, shouting: "Mr. Hart, tear down this wall!".
There will be a change of leadership in the Thanet Conservative Group before the end of year - an interesting possibility is whether Alasdair Bruce will be made leader. Since he represents the same Birchington South Ward as Independent candidates John Worrow and Jack Cohen, this could make things very interesting.
There will be an increased social media presence by the Conservative opposition - they will set up an equivalent to Labour's Thanet Lab blog and more Tory councillors will start blogging. They will also make more use of their @BlueThanet Twitter account.
Young Tory hopeful Payam Tamiz will make a return to local politics following his resignation last year after he was discovered to have made derogatory references to women on Facebook. Payam will rejoin the Conservative Party and resume his political activities. He will turn his hand to blogging and go head-to-head with his young Labour equivalent Will Scobie. Expect fireworks!
On the whole, Turner Contemporary's 'honeymoon period' will continue throughout the year. Their first exhibition of the New Year, Turner and the Elements, will garner mixed reviews, and will once again make people sceptical. However, Tracey Emin's controversial exhibition held throughout the summer (26th May 2012 - 23rd September 2012) will generate a lot of publicity for the town and will pull in thousands of tourists who have come to the UK to celebrate London 2012.
More shops will open at the bottom of Margate High Street as the knock-on effects of Margate Old Town's success start to make a positive difference. One of the new boutiques will be remarkably similar to the 'I Saw You Coming' shop owner in Harry & Paul's BBC comedy sketch show. Just kidding, Old Town folks, you know I love you really!
After some legal wranglings, Arlington House Tesco will eventually be passed, much to the consternation of local campaigners. Work will begin on restoring Arlington House. However, due to further legal challenges from the residents, restoration plans will keep getting scuppered.
Despite the news about FlyBe, plans to introduce night flights will still be making headlines. In the end, night flights will be stopped but in bizarre circumstances. The application will not require planning permission and will instead go out to public consultation. The consultation will come out in favour of night flights, but the Labour group (backed by the Independents) will still vote against them. Since this will go against the tide of public opinion, it is likely this decision will not be viewed as a popular one.
Despite the efforts of online campaigners, Richborough Power Station will be demolished before the end of the year.

Well, what do you think? Anyone else got any predictions?

MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY!

2011-12-23T22:01:00.001Z

Things are getting decidedly un-festive on the blogs lately. Hearing talk of legal advice being sought by someone due to a comment made on 'Ville Views has troubled me considerably. It's hardly an example of peace and goodwill to all men, is it? For that reason, here's a little bit of light relief:

Merry Christmas everybody! And yes, that is my son. His name is Reece, in case you'd forgotten. He's nearly 6 months old now and, as you can see, he seems to be quite enjoying the festive season. I got him a lump of coal for Christmas. I hope he likes it. Still, it could have been worse... it could've been an orange.

Anyway, I'll be back blogging in a few days time. Try not to eat too much turkey everyone. Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to offend the vegetarians by that last comment. I'm equally tolerant towards those who eat nut roasts too. Anyway, hope you all have a good one. Peace and love. xxx

MARY PORTAS WAVES WHITE FLAG TO TESCO

2011-12-20T21:32:00.000Z

I see that Mary Portas has been doing some more PR legwork for the government and has waved the white flag of surrender by saying that supermarkets should be forced to build in town centres. I imagine that the residents of Arlington House who are campaigning against plans to build a Tesco superstore on their doorstep will be beside themselves with annoyance.

Mary Portas did have some kind words to say about Margate Old Town, and admittedly there are a handful of constructive suggestions in her report, but the suggestion that High Streets will be reinvigorated by forcing the likes of Tesco to build more stores in town centres and discouraging out-of-town hubs is pure lunacy. Does the report make mention of the fact that a Parliamentary briefing paper from last month called Supermarkets: Competition Enquiries into the Groceries Market acknowledged that “many critics have argued that the supermarkets have exploited their dominant market position in a way that is contrary to the public interest”?

Is it so hard for people to see that giving supermarkets and chain stores the nod to set up stall in our town centres like Mary Portas suggests may end up further crushing local competition and will have a negative impact on small businesses and independent traders? Here was me thinking part of the problem with High Streets was the rise of Clone Town Britain where, as the New Economics Foundation states, “real local shops have been replaced by swathes of identikit chain stores that seem to spread like economic weeds, making high streets up and down the country virtually indistinguishable from one another.” Does Mary Portas not see anything inherently wrong with this? Clearly not.

Then again, maybe it's got something to do with the fact that Mary Portas had a small role to play in the downfall of the British High Street given her track record with chain stores such as Oasis, Clarks and Louis Vuitton in helping with the development of Westfield Shopping Centre. “Not only is Portas promoting the very clone stores she's supposed to be preventing,” said PR blogger Simon Francis, “she's a champion of the shopping centres which are destroying the high streets.” So, Mary Portas has worked on behalf of big shopping centres and chain stores in the past, and now she's calling for us to roll over and let big supermarkets tickle our bellies? Funny thing that.

Something that bugs me is the suggestion that it is only Labour Party supporters who oppose or have antipathy towards the development of a Tesco superstore near Arlington House. Sure, it's a safe bet that the allure of private sector expansionism and the promise of more jobs is tempting enough to make a Conservative Party member drool and give Tesco the thumbs-up. But what is it that makes people think that those on the Right won't oppose such plans made by Tesco? Is it really only those on the Left who sway towards being anti-corporate and willing to challenge supermarket chains?

Let's remember for a moment that the Conservative Party contains many right-wing libertarians. Traditionally, they're the ones who are likely to champion the private sector by calling for a smaller state and demanding more privatisation and less government intervention. The late ex-Trotskyist Christopher Hitchens who died recently of oesophageal cancer once said: “I find libertarians more worried about the over-mighty state than the unaccountable corporation.” So, tell me this, what is it about the power of the state which so repulses these libertarians, but when it comes the power of Tesco, they remain strangely silent?

Is there anyone on the Right who opposes the runaway expansion of corporate monopolies like the big four supermarket chains? After all, since most corporations are only accountable to shareholders, you'd think that if right-wingers value the concept of democracy they'd be willing to challenge the status quo, but alas, there seems to be few who are willing to poke their heads above the parapet. Funnily enough, however, as I was searching, I found this quote:

“All corporatism - even when practised in societies where hard work, enterprise and cooperation are as highly valued as in Korea - encourages inflexibility, discourages individual accountability, and risks magnifying errors by concealing them.”

Margaret Thatcher, Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World, pg. 121

Yes, that's right – Maggie Thatcher. It seems that old Madge – icon of free market fundamentalists and right-wing libertarians alike – wasn't particularly enamoured with corporatism. Obviously, I have no idea how she feels about the rise of this particular cabal of supermarket chains we call the 'Big Four', but surely her words suggest that being sceptical about corporate power is not wholly the domain of the Left? So why is it only Labour Party supporters who get lumped into the anti-corporate box? Why aren't Conservative Party supporters equally capable of seeing how the disproportionate power of supermarkets unjustly distorts the market in a way which undermines local entrepreneurship? Is that so much to ask?

ANARCHY IN ARLINGTON

2011-12-12T23:14:00.000Z

Ever heard of local author and cult novelist Terry Finch? Nope, me neither. Apparently, according to this website, Terry Finch wrote a series of pulp paperbacks in the late 1970s called The Reprisalizer, beginning with 'The Fury': “a tough, uncompromising tale of gangland violence and ruthless retribution on the streets of Margate.”

In the books, The Reprisalizer was the pseudonym embraced by its main protagonist Bob Shuter, a man seeking revenge for the electrification of his twin brother's testicles, who sets about “blasting Thanet's underworld apart in a hail of .38 slugs” and becoming “a vigilante whose war of vengeance is brutal." Sounds rather like your average Friday night out in Escape, doesn't it?

Anyway, I stumbled across this fansite dedicated to Terry Finch's work, and noticed that Arlington House features quite prominently on a particular section of the site. When I asked the site's administrator if Arlington House really was the inspiration for some of the artwork, I got an email from Frank Barrow, President of The Terry Finch Appreciation Society, who said the following:

“It is indeed Arlington House in Margate. Terry actually used to live there in the mid '70s and set quite a few of his novelettes in and around the building – the most famous ones, of course, being 'Anarchy in Arlington' and its sequel 'Arlington Apocalypse' – two of Terry's key police siege stories.”

Wow, how excellent is that?! I can't wait until the eBooks are made available! Word has it that a film adaptation of The Reprisalizer is currently in the works by writer and director Matthew Holness, the man behind spoof Channel 4 TV show Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, with shooting expected to begin next year. One might even speculate that the creation of this fansite is no mere coincidence...

Wait a minute – isn't that the same Matthew Holness who upon winning a Perrier Comedy Award for his portrayal of the fictitious pulp horror novelist Garth Marenghi famously refused to speak out of character? The same Matthew Holness who has previously been known to embrace a literary technique called false document to add a layer of mystery and intrigue around his comic creations, blurring the line between fact and fiction?

Hmm... Garth Marenghi... Terry Finch... Has the penny dropped yet? Well, you never know, if we're lucky, we might actually get to see what Arlington House looks like on the big screen when The Reprisalizer hits our local cinemas in summer 2013. That's if Tesco don't interfere, of course.

In the meantime, of course, as Frank Barrow said to me: “Here's to Finch, Thanet and preserving Brutalist architecture throughout Kent!” And who could argue with that?!

Please make sure you visit The Reprisalizer website... and prepare to be amazed!

CLIVE HART WILL GO ON

2011-12-08T22:05:00.007Z

In the words of Celine Dion: Near, far, wherever you are, Clive Hart will go on... to become leader of Thanet District Council. This surprise result in tonight's council meeting comes after the Thanet Labour Group put forward a motion to remove Tory Bob Bayford as Leader of the Council last week following John Worrow's resignation from the Conservative Party.

The result pretty much rested on which way the four Independent candidates would vote and, as it happened, Labour's Clive Hart got 28 votes (garnering votes from Independents Jack Cohen and ex-Tory John Worrow) and Bob Bayford got 26 (with one vote from Independent Bob Grove), with one absention (from Tom King), so that officially means our council has a new leader. It's a result I certainly wasn't expecting.

It's worth remembering that the timing of Clive Hart's arrival as new Leader of Thanet District Council is quite unprecedented. I believe that Thanet is now one of the only councils in Kent to be controlled – albeit in part (I assume in coalition with the Independents) – by a local Labour Party, breaking from the true blue hegemony we've become accustomed to since last year's local election results. I'll be the first to say that it would've been nicer if Labour had took control in a fashion that wasn't comparable to a coup d'etat (i.e. being decided definitively at the ballot box instead). Nonetheless, it'll be interesting to see how much of a difference this makes to local politics.

As you can tell, I was present at the council meeting to witness proceedings. It felt a bit like I was sitting on bloggers row, as I had the chance to watch the decision unfold sitting alongside 'Ville Views blogger James Maskell and Tony Flaig of Big News Margate. I didn't know what Michael Child looks like, but I assume he was there, as I notice he has already posted a blog entry about Clive Hart being declared the new leader. Tony's piped up about it too. I guess I'm just a bit slower on the uptake than they are.

Anyway, I'm sure there will be plenty more to discuss about this momentous decision in due course. Until then, as far as district councils go, it looks like Kent is no longer a true blue county. How does everybody feel about that?

NOTE: The other Labour-controlled council in Kent is, of course, Gravesham Council, which makes Thanet Council the second local authority to go red.

WHAT SORT OF ARSE IS LOYAL TO TESCO?

2011-12-07T19:36:00.000Z

I've just finished reading Big Babies Or: Why Can't We Just Grow Up by Michael Bywater, a witty but barbed indictment of 'the infantilisation of Western culture.' He argued on this New Statesman article that the Baby Boomer generation is guilty of being "greedy, trivial, venal, cosseted" and wrote in the Telegraph that we are "patronised, spoon-fed, our responses pre-empted and our autonomy eroded with a fine, rich, heavily funded contempt." The reason I thought I'd mention it is I couldn't help but think of local plans to build a Tesco superstore near Arlington House when I read a passage in the book in which Bywater writes about Tesco 'bespoiling another town' and jesting that:

"Store chains offer 'loyalty' cards, as though a giant corporation run by megalomaniacs is worthy of 'loyalty' (merciful heavens, what sort of arse is loyal to Tesco?)."

Quite right. My 'loyalty' was certainly tested when the Arlington House blog reported that an 'independent' heritage report commissioned by TDC on the upgraded listing of the Scenic Railway was authored by Dr Chris Miele, a partner in the legal firm Montagu Evans, which lists Tesco Stores as one of their main clients. Unsurprisingly, given the 'independent' nature of the report, it concluded that the Scenic Railway would not be affected by building a Tesco superstore. I wonder what helped Dr Chris Miele reach that conclusion? Oh well, never mind, just think how pretty the seafront will look with a giant Tesco staring back at us, eh?

Anyway, why is it that Tesco deserve our loyalty? Is merely offering us cheap food and the promise of 'more jobs' an honest way to win over hearts and minds, or is it just a confidence trick? If you ask me, the expansion of big corporate behemoths like many UK supermarkets bear much resemblance to the growth of Attila the Hun's Huhnic Empire, invading all walks of life until we are forced to submit to their ubiquity. And let's face it, if the Huns turned up on your doorstep and set up a military outpost in your front garden, would you welcome them? I doubt it. For that reason, I see the "Big Four" supermarkets as being no different to the Empire builders of old. A good bit of Celtish resistance is healthy.

Don't get me wrong, supermarkets do have their place in society, but it sure as hell shouldn't be slap bang on the seafront, in the hope that it's the first thing tourists see the moment they arrive at Margate train station. What sort of postcard for the town is that? And another thing, don't Tesco have enough bloody supermarkets on our doorstep anyway? They already have a big one in the heart of Thanet - at Westwood Cross - not to mention the little Metro in Cliftonville and the small ones in Ramsgate and Broadstairs. Why build more? This isn't a case of business expansionism, it's an incursion, and it'll only make local businesses on the seafront suffer, from Margate's shops all the way along to those in Westbrook and Westgate. And they expect us to be loyal?!

Anyway, I recommend you buy Michael Bywater's book. What could easily have been a one-sided nanny state diatribe makes some very thought-provoking points about how a mixture of needless government policy-making; a PC brigade which often borders on the absurd; obsession with fashion, celebrity and consumerism; a belittling PR industry spin machine which mollycoddles and hoodwinks the public into herd-like conformity; and the condescending nature of mass media advertising have led to an absurd state of affairs in which grown adults take permanent flights from maturity and expect to be treated like Big Babies. I think it's about time we all grew up, don't you?

DOLE-BY-THE-SEA PART II: THE SEQUEL?

2011-12-06T18:30:00.007Z

The Guardian have published a nightmarish vision of the future inspired by George Osborne's austerity measures in which Margate gets a brief mention. It predicts:

"The housing benefit reforms of 2012 and 2013 had swept tens of thousands of lower income families out of inner London, to the fringes of the capital and beyond to Margate, Hastings, Milton Keynes and Luton."

Lovely... so Margate will return to being a 'dole-by-the-sea' resort for dumping benefit claimants and low income families, will it? Surely that risks derailing a lot of the great effort being done to regenerate our area and will bring us right back to square one. Even BBC Newsnight recently claimed Thanet will be among the 20 most-affected areas likely to be hit by spending cuts, so this prediction appears to be fitting a pattern of doomsaying. I hope it can be avoided.

Sadly, however, I remember reading a piece on Inside Housing in which David Farmer, Thanet Council's head of housing regeneration, admitted that historically tenants in Cliftonville have been “bussed into Margate by London boroughs as we have landlords who will house them” and that he feared cuts in housing benefit across the south east will only increase their number. “We are aware of it,” he said, “and we are worried.”

Oh well... at least they'll have a nice art gallery to look at...

THANET GAZETTE ON THE VERGE OF A MERGER?

2011-12-05T21:14:00.001Z

The Isle of Thanet Gazette could very well be sailing into choppy waters, if UK regional journalism news website HoldtheFrontPage is to be believed. In an article published last week, it claims plans may be afoot to merge the Isle of Thanet Gazette and its sister paper, the Thanet Times, with the Canterbury Times, the Faversham Times and the Herne Bay & Whitstable Times.

Could that mean our beloved local newspaper will be subsumed into a cross-regional North East Kent rag? If so, I feel this occurrence could potentially have calamitous consequences for grassroots local news reporting in our area. John Nurden, Editor at Kent Regional News and Media, didn't seem pleased with the news either, tweeting about the merger by saying: "The words fire and frying pan come to mind."

You may remember the blog article I wrote a few months ago in which I stated my opposition to Kent Messenger Group's attempt to buy several Northcliffe Media newspapers, of which the Isle of Thanet Gazette was one. In the end, KM pulled out of the deal in October after it was referred to a full Competition Commission inquiry. As Roy Greenslade has stated: “The companies decided they could not afford, in terms of either money or time, to argue their case through a commission inquiry.”

Greenslade seems to presume that talks of merging the Isle of Thanet Gazette with other regional titles are part of “the gloomy fall-out from Northcliffe Media's blocked attempt to sell seven Kent titles to the KM group.” I can't help but feel that should a merger come to pass it could prove hugely detrimental to local journalism in the long run. After all, since a North East Kent rag would spread news reporting thinly over a large geographical area, how will we be able to call it genuinely local at all?

FUELLISH BEHAVIOUR

2011-12-01T22:50:00.000Z

Since a bunch of Iranian protesters have provoked international outrage by storming the UK Embassy in Tehran – ransacking offices and burning the Union flag – wasn't it heartening to see that until very recently our friends at Manston Airport were allowing Iranian passenger planes to refuel in Thanet? What a lovely gesture that was.

According to the Daily Mail, since Manston Airport is privately-owned by Infatril, the deal struck with Iran Air dodged international sanctions which were imposed due to fears that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon. In the diplomatic fallout to the Embassy raid, however, there are fresh calls by Foreign Secretary William Hague to impose tougher sanctions against Iran. These calls seem to be heeded now the EU is pursuing a similar tough line against Ahmedinijad and the Iranian regime, so in the midst of this ongoing and rather embarrassing situation, Manston Airport Chief Executive Charles Buchanan stopped allowing Iran Air to make refuelling stops, admitting on BBC News:

"As a commercial enterprise this was a profitable exercise for us but the sensitivities of dealing with Iran have changed."

It's easy to be wise after the event, isn't it? Let's just pray a new deal isn't struck which ends up being similarly at odds with the rest of the international community!

STRIKE A POSE

2011-11-30T19:40:00.000Z

It was the day of strike action today, in case you hadn't noticed. Call me a fence-sitter if you want, but I'm not going to comment publicly on whether I think the teachers, as one example, are right or wrong to withdraw their labour at the urging of the unions. Obviously, for many parents up and down the country the strike seems to be viewed as an inconvenience they could well do without, particularly when you consider that a whopping 24 Thanet schools are believed to have been closed today.

However, it's worth remembering the vitally important role that teachers have in society and how we owe it to our children to take heed of their understandable concerns about pension reforms. Whether going on strike is a suitable way to address those concerns is up for you to decide, but I do err on the side of sympathy.

I'm not usually one to go in for these internet-based viral things, but I saw that a friend of mine on Facebook had posted this, so I felt compelled to share it:

Are you sick of highly paid teachers?

Teachers' hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do – babysit!

We can get that for less than minimum wage.

That's right. Let's give them £5.93 an hour and only the hours they work; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That would be £41.51 a day (8.30 am to 3:30pm with 60 minutes off for lunch and play – that equals 7½ hours).

Each parent could pay £41.51 a day for these teachers to babysit their children. Now how many children do they teach in a day... maybe 32? So that's £41.51 x 32 = £1328.32 a day.

However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any holidays.

LET'S SEE....

That's £1328.32 x 180 = £239,097.60 per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries).

What about those special education teachers and the ones with Master's degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage (£6.90), and just to be fair, round it off to £7.00 an hour. That would be £7.00 x 7½ hours x 32 children x 180 days = £ 302,400 per year.

Wait a minute – there's something wrong here! There sure is!

The average teacher's salary (nationwide) is £25,000 ÷ 180 days = £138.90 per day ÷ 32 children = £4.34 ÷ 7½ hours = £0.58 per hour per student – a very inexpensive babysitter and they even EDUCATE your kids!) WHAT A DEAL!!!!

Make a teacher smile (or cry!); repost this to show appreciation!

Clearly, if the above is true, we should consider ourselves lucky that we pay teachers as modestly as we do. Just remember – not all of those who work in education or the public sector are riding a gravy train. Most are not-so-lucky.

If a teacher can walk away from a long career at the age of 65 with an average pension of around £9,806 (as the Hutton report states) then the whole 'gold-plated' argument much-loved by the gutter-press falls apart like a stale cookie. At the very least, that should be a reason to listen to the strikers rather than berate them, should it not?

DEV BISWAL GETS SAUCY

2011-11-29T20:01:00.000Z

It's been brought to my attention that Dev Biswal – Thanet restauranteur and head chef at The Ambrette – featured in an issue of The Grocer magazine earlier this month in which he slams some of the own-label curry sauces sold in supermarkets. In an investigation into the quality of said sauces, the Michelin Guide-recommended kitchen maestro tasted some of the offerings from Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons and concluded that they could barely be considered 'curry' at all:

"The leading supermarkets make a big contribution to the degredation of so-called 'curries' by introducing such uncared for and low-end products. The general public has a right to eat authentic, healthy, affordable and good-tasting food."

I'm sure Mr. Biswal will be mighty pleased if the day finally comes when the masses descend upon Margate's proposed Arlington Tescos with bagfulls of Tesco Value Curry Sauce at 17p a tin, don't you?!

Many thanks to Dev Biswal who granted me permission to use the above image for this post. Please make sure you read his blog.

CLLR JOHN WORROW RESIGNS THE WHIP

2011-11-25T19:03:00.001Z

I see that councillor for Birchington South Ward, John Worrow, recently set up a local blog and has dropped the bombshell today that he is resigning the whip of Thanet's local Conservative group. The implications of this on our 'hung' council could be seismic in that it brings the amount of Labour and Conservative councillors to level pegging with 26 councillors on both sides. Since neither party has a majority, what's to say John's resignation won't lead to a future council leadership struggle? Interesting times indeed.

Perhaps John's entry to the blogging scene was due to all the glowing adulation he received after being voted TDC's 2nd 'sexiest' councillor here on Thanet Waves back in June. Maybe the allure of social media channels proved so strong that John simply couldn't resist reaching out to his online fanbase. Don't let the newfound fame and independence get to your head, John! I'm kidding, of course, but in all seriousness, please make sure you visit John's blog. It's well worth a read. He accuses the current local Conservative administation of behaving in an "unbending, unrealistic, and unsympathetic manner" particularly towards live animal exports protesters and small business owners within John's Birchington South Ward.

On a separate note, it is refreshing to see local councillors engaging with their constituents through the medium of blogging. I honestly think that the majority of councillors should embrace blogging as it is undeniably good for democracy and enables voters to find out more about their elected representatives. To their credit, Thanet Labour Group have been using the Thanet Lab blog in a very collaborative fashion to air the views of a number of Labour councillors. In fact, according to my analysis, 14 local Labour councillors out of a potential 26 have either contributed to or ran a local Thanet blog of their own.

It's just a shame that the local Conservative group don't appear to have been as unified in their embrace of blogging. At the moment, we have Simon Moores and Ken Gregory. They could've had John Worrow joining their ranks but his resignation now means that only 2 Tory councillors out of a potential 26 are now blogging. Well, I suppose it's a start, isn't it?!

NICK ROBINSON CALLS TURNER 'A BIT OF FLUFF'

2011-11-24T18:27:00.002Z

Nick Robinson did a rekkie to Margate as part of Your Money and How They Spend It, a documentary investigating how taxpayer's money is spent, which aired on BBC2 last night. As Daily Mirror columnist Jane Simon has noted, the bespectacled Political Editor "smugly zeroes in on some spending decisions that seem particularly unsound" with one such 'example' being the Turner Contemporary which Jane describes as "a multi-million pound art gallery in struggling Margate."

Standing in front of the Daniel Buren window installation, Gallery Director Victoria Pomery was interviewed by Nick Robinson and did a fairly good job dealing with some tricky questions thrown at her. After referring to the £14m of public money that went into building the Turner Contemporary, Nick went into 'attack dog' mode. Here is a transcript of how the conversation went:

NICK: You must at times see the real poverty that there is here [in Margate]. How, in a sense, do you argue to yourself the reason why people in very low-paid jobs should pay their taxes to build what is in a sense a real luxury?
VICTORIA: I don't see any of the arts as a luxury. I see the arts as integral to our lives, all of our lives, whoever we are. And I think for me it's really important that everyone can access fantastic arts that make them think in different ways about themselves and the world that they live in.
NICK: Isn't this just in the end a bit of fluff?
VICTORIA: I don't think this is fluff at all. I think this is serious. We are really ambitious. We want to be part of Margate's history and part of its future. And we feel we can really help and support the wider regeneration and renewal of this area.

Exploring the opposite side of the argument, Nick Robinson interviewed Dawn McClaren, a local mum who said she was angry about the use of taxpayer's money to build an art gallery given the fact that her college-educated son can't get a job due to the chronic lack of jobs in the area. Also making a very brief appearance was Labour councillor Ian Driver who expressed optimism about the gallery and predicted we'd soon feel the benefit in a few years time when the local jobs market eventually picks up.

Concluding his investigation, Nick Robinson pointed out that arts funding for the whole of England adds up to about £447m which he describes as "a drop in the ocean of public spending, and a lot less than Winter Fuel Allowance." From that, I think we should take comfort in that as far as investment in the arts goes, there are far more cost-heavy areas of public expenditure that deserve far more scrutiny.

Besides, only a fool would have failed to notice the immediate impact the opening of Turner has had on the local area in such a short space of time. Personally, I'm of the view that the arts are vitally important to society, particularly in how those in the arts industry can engage with the education sector, so I couldn't be more pleased with the progress that Turner Contemporary is making and the effect it is having on the local area.

The rebirth of Margate is already starting to occur in the Old Town (for which the Margate Renewal Partnership recently received an award for Great Neighbourhood from the Academy of Urbanism at a national ceremony) and The British Guild of Travel Writers even gave an international tourism award to the Turner Contemporary earlier this month.

The proof – as they say – is in the pudding. Jobs may be sparse, sure, but Rome wasn't built in a day. Let's just count our blessings and be thankful that the Turner Contemporary isn't quite turning out to be the 'white elephant' that some people thought it would be.

You can still watch Episode 1 of Your Money and How They Spend It on BBC iPlayer and make up your own mind.

CAT-ASTROPHE!!!

2011-11-11T18:29:00.001Z

I see that CCTV footage on Kent Online of the Ramsgate wastrel who was caught swinging a cat around by its tail has gone viral. Now, it seems, the national press have joined the chorus of outrage. The story has since been picked up by BBC News, Sky News, The Sun, Daily Mirror, The Independent and The Telegraph in the same sort of hysterical coverage that accompanied CCTV footage of a woman in Coventry who dumped a cat in a wheelie bin last year.

This sort of sickening behaviour is appalling. The man deserves to be prosecuted, so I fully support the efforts of the RSPCA to catch him, bring him to justice and make him answerable for his actions. However, as much as I detest violence towards animals, isn't it odd how people who complain about animal cruelty to cats in this particular instance weren't so kind about Libyan tyrant Muammar Gaddafi when he was being swung around by rebels, kicked in the head until his hair dripped with blood and allegedly sodomized with an iron rod before being shot in the head?

As evil as Gaddafi's regime undoubtedly was, isn't it peculiar how some people seem to think it's OK to condone the abuse and near-torture of a human being – even if he was a despot – yet to swing a cat by its tail is suddenly beyond the pale? Has the world lost its sense of perspective? Surely if you agree that swinging a cat by its tail is morally deplorable, then the similar treatment of another human being should be treated as cruel in equal measure, no matter what level of wrongdoing Gaddafi was guilty of?

Needless to say, I feel that swinging a cat by its tail is a disgustingly heartless thing to do, but my point is cruelty to humans should be equally reviled. However, looking at some of the vile comments on Kent Online, it seems people are happy to embrace the same punitive braying mob mentality that the Libyan rebels were guilty of when they got hold of Gaddafi and beat him up, arguably making them morally no better than he was. "I would personally like to see the thug swung round by his neck!" says Ferry Tuckwit. "Absolutely disgusting," says JaneAnne. "What a vile little chav. He deserves to be locked up and tortured."

Be careful, folks. You might love cats, but I think you're getting a bit hysterical here. This isn't Libya, this is Britain. Civilised behaviour can't be taught to thugs by tit-for-tat violence. And why? Because in resorting to violence you become uncivilised and thus destroy the whole basis of civil obedience in the first place. We should remember that justice should not be vengeful. Don't form a vigilante group and bugger people with iron rods, OK? That won't solve anything! Just show a bit of bloody decorum, will you?!

EMIN PLANS 'HARDCORE' TURNER EXHIBITION

2011-11-07T20:23:00.000Z

Tracey Emin has told BBC's The Culture Show that her exhibition at the Turner Contemporary next year will be rather naughty indeed. Never one to shy away from what may be considered a sexual faux pas, Emin suggested to interviewer Andrew Graham-Dixon that the 'hardcore' tone of the exhibition looks set to be quite raunchy, with her work featuring alongside J.M.W. Turner and Auguste Rodin. She told him:

“Basically, it's all erotic art. Not everyone knows that Turner did a lot of erotic paintings and watercolours – and, well, obviously Rodin did – but much more raunchy than people ever... All everyone knows is about The Kiss but his other stuff was really hardcore, you know. So I think they'll be bringing that out and I'll look like some placid nice young lady, I think, in comparison to them.”

I'm sure all the nation's perverts will be rubbing their trousers with great enthusiasm at the news. So there we have it – it looks like we'll be treated to lots of nudey bits and bobs being flashed in front of our faces to mark Tracey Emin's homecoming. Oh, joy of joys.

RIGHT ROYAL PALAVA

2011-11-04T20:05:00.002Z

It's been reported by Kent Online that Queen Elizabeth II is planning to visit Margate for Remembrance Day on Friday 11 November. Though the announcement is official, there is no futher information on royal.gov.uk on the details of her visit, so nobody knows for certain what she'll be doing here. However, I have heard rumours that she may be visiting Margate Old Town to meet some war veterans from the local area. I think this is great news – given the poignancy of the occasion, I'm sure the media will be watching like hawks so it definitely stands to give our local area some positive publicity.

As it happens, I'll be working that day, so I won't be available to say hello to our Queen, which I'm sure she'll be disappointed to hear. Unfortunately, I actually have to go out and earn my money rather than rely upon £40 million a year from the taxpayer to spend on lavish trips abroad to the likes of Australia, Canada, Bermuda and Trinidad under the guise of a 'royal visit'. Since becoming Queen, our monarch has been on approximately 386 trips abroad to far-flung corners of the globe. Nice work if you can get it, eh?! That being said, the Queen does work incredibly hard for an 85-year-old, but whether her work is worth £40 million a year is up for debate, as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, I'm not gonna rain on her parade. I'm beginning to sound like an anti-monarchist, which I'm not, as given my cynicism about politicians, I'm even struggling to see the benefits of republicanism, to be fair! By and large, I'm pleased with the news and I'm sure the Queen's visit will be wonderful for the town. I did notice that by an amazing coincidence, a quick visit to the Turner Contemporary website reveals an announcement which states:

'Due to exceptional circumstances Turner Contemporary will be closed to the public on Friday 11 November 2011. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.'

Hmm, closed to the public? On the same day the Queen is visiting? Would it be fair to speculate that the reason Turner Contemporary is closing on that day is because the Queen is possibly planning to have a snoop around their Nothing in the World but Youth exhibition for a private viewing? I certainly wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. Of course, I'm not one to peddle mindless gossip, but it does make one wonder, does it not? Does anybody else think it's possible the Queen might visit the Turner Contemporary after shaking hands with the great and the good in Margate's Old Town?

If the Queen does fancy herself as a bit of an art lover, I'd be curious to find out what she thinks of Jamie Reid's poster for the Sex Pistols 1977 "Holidays in the Sun" single which is hanging up in Turner Contemporary's South Gallery. Jamie Reid, lest we forget, is the anarchic artist who created what The Observer's Sean O'Hagan described as "the single most iconic image of the punk era" by designing a picture which depicted Her Majesty with an added safety pin through her nose and swastikas in her eyes. Speaking of the Sex Pistols "God Save the Queen" single, Jamie Reid later said:

“That single made world wide news. In retrospect, it was probably the last public protest against the monarchy. We have really been duped in the last few years: royalty has taken over media space to the extent that they’re now a living soap opera”.

Oh dear. If our monarch does visit the Turner Contemporary, does that mean she could inadvertently be exposed to anti-monarchist propraganda? Good grief! Well, let's just hope Her Majesty doesn't happen to remember who Jamie Reid is if she happens to see the picture, shall we?! That could be very embarrassing! Then again, I'm probably wrong, she might not even be visiting the gallery after all. I'm only speculating. The Queen's probably got a very busy itinery for that day, what with it being Remembrance Day and everything, so the sudden announcement that the Turner Contemporary will be closed to the public on that day is probably just a coincidence. What do you think?

ANY PORTAS IN A STORM

2011-10-30T10:04:00.000Z

Mary Portas – Channel 4's Queen of Shops and the coalition government's retail champion – swung into town last month and was treated to something of a hero's welcome by shop owners in Margate's Old Town. Anyone who felt Mary Portas deserved being hailed as the saviour of our local High Street will be amply disappointed to discover that she has since admitted to KM Thanet Extra that the solution to Margate's empty shops could be to transform them into residential flats or business spaces. This begs me to ask the question: Did a visit by the Queen of Shops really do diddly squat for our local shops?

Leading a review into the future of the British High Street is one thing (which aims to 'bring back the bustle to our town centres' as her official website states), but to swan about calling herself a shopping guru while at the same time admitting that opening shops isn't her prerogative makes me feel as if her visit was little more than a shallow PR stunt. What exactly was the point of getting some consumer-friendly reality TV personality to spring this load of flannel on us? If he were alive today, they might as well have hired Fred Dibnah to do a tour of Margate only to tell us the solution is to raze the whole bloody lot to the ground.

Of course, I don't agree with Dibnah's philosophy of demolition. I'd love to see Margate's High Street be completely regenerated, with new shops popping up by the dozen, but it seems to me that Mary Portas's comments only add to the suggestion that local shops have no real future ("many towns nowadays are over-retailed," she says). This taps into a sense of defeatism, the idea that Westwood Cross has won the war and that any shop which doesn't happen to be a chain store isn't worthy of our attention, so we might as well build ghettos of rented accomodation instead. To that, I say nonsense. As acute as the UK's housing needs may be, if the price we have to pay for more living spaces is the monotony of soulless shopping precincts, then I think we should disagree with Portas's comments.

I'm aware that Margate is still ranked as one of the UK's worst High Streets with 36% of its retail premises remaining shut, even though its reputation as a 'ghost town' has since been usurped by Leigh Park in Hampshire. But just look at Margate Old Town and see how fast those shops have flourished since the opening of the Turner Contemporary. What's to suggest that this won't create a domino effect towards the top-end of town that Mary Portas claims is "dying"?

As far as regeneration goes, simply turning old shops into flats or offices for business hire seems to be the easier (and possibly most profitable) option in the short-term. But the real long-term challenge would be to lobby central government for the right to relieve business rates in the UK's most deprived high streets to encourage local entrepreneurs to set up independent shops, free from the tyranny of corporate multinationals. Would Mary Portas be willing to lend her name to that, I wonder? Or would she be too busy trying on frocks?

THAT'S RICHBOROUGH

2011-10-17T18:41:00.005+01:00

Plans to demolish Richborough Power Station's three cooling towers and chimney have been submitted to Thanet Council, according to the Thanet Gazette. In the report, it's stated that they "cannot be retained in any future scheme, because of their location, size and speciality of use" and they are "surplus to the requirements of the site." Needless to say, this should come as no surprise to many of us, but I for one will be devastated to see the towers go. As ugly as they might seem, they are without a doubt an East Kent landmark and they've had a big and important role to play in my life.

I originally grew up in Deal and it only took a stroll from across where I lived to see the Richborough cooling towers on the horizon. Those towers are something I remember being part of my growing up experience and I fondly remember staring at them on many walks along the coast adjacent to the Goodwin Sands near the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club. Not only that, but my connection to them is familial. My grandfather Bernard Edwards worked at Richborough Power Station for nearly thirty years – from 1962 onwards – and had worked his way up to becoming a Unit Operator in the control room.

Eventually, my grandfather was moved onto Sellindge when I was just a child and the rest, as they say, is history. Richborough Power Station was eventually closed in 1996 and left a large cooling tower-shaped hole in my grandfather's life from then onwards. The fact that I was raised by my grandparents only added to the sense of importance those cooling towers had to our family. Subsequently, hearing that plans have been submitted to Thanet Council to have the towers demolished has had a disheartening effect on me.

Obviously, it's nothing I didn't see coming, and it may seem ridiculous to some people, but in my opinion Richborough Power Station's stature as a landmark – both physically and psychologically – was overwhelmingly profound. Not only did it have a vital role to play in my Grandad's working life, but it also loomed large on the horizon for most of my childhood years and well into my adolescence. It was always there. The thought of it not being there is saddening, even though I've since moved away from where I grew up.

I am, however, for the most part, unsure of what could be done to stop this from happening. The towers have been in a state of disuse for so long now that getting nostalgic about them forgets the fact that the amount of maintenance required could spell the end of them anyway. It looks as though we'll be getting a Green Energy Park on the site once the towers are demolished and apparently it'll become a "recycling plant for household, commercial and industrial waste, biomass and gasification plants – where waste is converted through heat rather than incineration into electricity."

I can see some saying that it's foolish to cling onto big lumps of concrete and calling them a 'landmark' when it serves no real purpose. But what's to say the site owners couldn't make use of them somehow, perhaps as a testament to Britian's industrious past in electricity generation? I imagine that'd go down rather nicely alongside a 21st century 'green energy' recycling plant.

In short, I don't mind admitting I'll be sad to see the cooling towers go. Had my Grandad been alive today, he probably would've been just as upset as I am at the news. Sure, I will miss driving past the cooling towers on my way to work. My grandmother will also be sad not to see them in the distance when she takes her dog for a walk. But what do you think? Should we resist the change, or should we say 'RIP Richborough Power Station. Step up, Richborough 2.0'?

IS ROGER GALE A LUDDITE?

2011-10-13T19:10:00.000+01:00

Goodness me, Roger Gale's foolhardy war on technology looks set to continue. Is the MP for North Thanet becoming a luddite or something? A luddite tends, after all, to be described as "one who opposes technical or technological change" and Gale's latest call to ban Twitter from the Commons has made him look as daft as a brush. It seems like this is becoming something of a habit. Last month, Gale criticised the government's use of online e-petitions to determine parliamentary debates and now he's having a pop at social media.

Back in August, Gale had a moan about Twitter and blathered on about how he felt it made a "contributory and probably significant factor in the co-ordination of the recent criminal riots" and called upon the government to grant the police powers to terminate "the use of transmitters servicing trouble spots." It amazes me how some Tories claim to oppose a 'police state' but seem quite happy to grant them powers to ensure that "the rights of society to protection" - as Gale puts it - "have to take precedence over the rights of individuals." Funny thing that.

And now, alongside fellow Tory MP James Gray, Roger Gale has called for all mobile phones and iPads to be banned from the Commons. In particular, it appears that Gale doesn't like the fact that some MPs tweet from the Chamber as he claims it 'disrupts debates.' What, and falling asleep on live TV doesn't disrupt debates too? What does Gale propose to do about that, eh? I'd much rather have an MP who is engaged with modern technology to keep constituents informed of what's being discussed via Twitter rather than have some old fart not paying attention and snoring his head off on the green benches.

As it happens, as of today, the majority of MPs have voted in favour of allowing the use of Twitter in the Commons. As for Roger Gale... well, the story of King Canute springs to mind. It clearly looks like he was fighting a losing battle in this instance. Gale's prehistoric views on the use of modern technology risk turning him into a political dinosaur. Maybe we should rename him Roger Gallimimus.

NO INTERNET CONNECTION

2011-10-11T21:31:00.000+01:00

You might have noticed I haven't done much blogging lately. Don't worry, I have a good excuse. I moved house last month and unfortunately still haven't got a Sky Broadband connection set up. For some reason, Murdoch's minions have been dragging their feet setting up a new phone line for me. At first, they told me my house didn't have one and I'd need to pay BT Openreach to come and do some engineering work. Then, all of a sudden, Sky discovered I actually did have one, and sent me a letter telling me they'd be activating it at some point this week.

Obviously, once I have a phone line, there'll be a longer delay waiting for online access so... I doubt I'll have a permanent internet connection set up until the end of this month. Since it's been a heck of a long time that I've been surfing the World Wide Web, it's got me thinking about a few things. For one thing, why do internet service providers take so bloody long to set things up? I seem to remember reading an article on Wired.com about how a U.N. report declared internet access a human right. Using that logic, wouldn't that mean that my human rights have been violated by Sky's dilly-dallying?

If internet access truly is a human right, surely that'd give all ISPs a real kick up the backside to set up internet connections more speedily? Speaking figuratively, if I were being petty, I could write Sky a strongly-worded letter and use the U.N. report to argue that not being able to use the internet for the past month could be considered a human rights violation. Then again, if Theresa May gets her way with scrapping the Human Rights Act it looks like my pleas would probably fall on deaf ears. I am, of course, only kidding, but it does get you thinking. I rely on the internet for so much more than blogging, so it has felt like I've been without a limb for a good few weeks. Still, I'll be back before you know it. I'll try and post whenever I can. Hang tight.

BANDS GEAR UP FOR TURNER'S LATE NIGHT LIVE

2011-09-28T19:38:00.000+01:00

The band line-up for Turner Contemporary's Late Night Live music event Noise on September 30th was announced recently, with another mystery act yet to be announced following the unfortunate news that headliners Two Wounded Birds have had to postpone their appearance until early next year. Nonetheless, since the event itself is only a couple of days away, I thought I'd post a few YouTube videos to get you all excited. I know I'm definitely looking forward to it. It's sure to be a great night!

Gross Magic

Fans of shoegazing or noise pop will be in hog heaven with Gross Magic, who'll be treating us with their lo-fi penchant for drowning their luscious melodies with My Bloody Valentine-esque feedback. To me, Gross Magic seem to be inspired by early '90s alt. rock, Dinosaur Jr., Pavement, Nirvana (to a small extent) and a slew of other comparable C86 bands, but the accomplished pop songcraft also makes bizarre nods to glam rock and ELO. Watch the music video of their single 'Sweetest Touch' below (which has more than a touch of The Joy Formidable about it):

Juneau Projects

Playing an intriguing mixture of performance art and electro-psych folk, this experimental Beta Band-esque band have a distinctly avant-garde sound which is well worth a listen. Led by Ben Sadler and Phil Duckworth, the duo's previous musical performances at art centres such as Ceri Hand Gallery and the Tate Modern indicates they are eager to fuse artistic expressionism with noise, so you can expect nothing more than an inspiringly delightful racket of eye-opening proportions. This video of them performing "Sang de Bouef" in a live performance at Croft Castle will prepare you for what to expect:

Scream Don't Whisper

Admittedly, this is the kind of band that make me feel like an old man. Scream Don't Whisper are a Thanet-based pop punk act who play music in that uber-fashionable way beloved by BBC Radio 1, with all the hyper-emotive caterwauling we've come to expect from voguish bands like 30 Seconds to Mars, You Me at Six and Kids in Glass Houses. That being said, I must tip my hat off to lead singer Luke Burgess for defying the Americanized drawl favoured by many pop punk singers in their cover of Jessie J's "Price Tag." If you listen carefully, Luke pronounces the word 'dance' in the most English way possible. Good on him, I say:

Needless to say, I'm curious who the mystery act is they are yet to announce, but I'm willing to bet it's going to be someone special! Coinciding with Turner's fantastic new exhibition Nothing in the World But Youth, all of these bands are diverse, fresh and compliment the theme of youthful artistic expression down to a T. I'm quite confident that it promises to be a very enjoyable night, so please do come along. It's held from 6pm to 10pm at Sunley Gallery, Foyle Rooms and Clore Learning Studio at Turner Contemporary on September 30th, so there's no excuse not to turn up. Go on, you might just enjoy it! See you there!

DID TURNER'S CURATORS LISTEN TO MY OPINION?!

2011-09-18T09:06:00.000+01:00

DEXTER DALWOOD, The Poll Tax Riots, 2005
Oil on canvas, 98-1/2 x 134 inches (250 x 340 cm)
Copyright © Gagosian Gallery and used under these terms

Well, whaddya know! As I was strolling around Turner Contemporary's fascinating new exhibition Nothing in the World But Youth which launched yesterday, I saw this big canvas painting called Poll Tax Riots by artist and Turner Prize nominee Dexter Dalwood (see above). I'm a big fan of Dexter Dalwood's work and genuinely feel this painting – which originally appeared in the Gagosian gallery – fits in perfectly with Turner's youth-centric new expo so I was delighted to see it on display.

What surprised me, though, is that I distinctly remember posting a comment on Turner Contemporary's Facebook page back in December 2010 which expressed my admiration for Dexter Dalwood's work and asked whether they could try and include him in any future art exhibitions. Believe it or not, at the time, I was even told that my request had been passed onto the curators.

So, as soon as I saw Poll Tax Riots hanging on the wall of the South Gallery, it got me wondering. Was it just a coincidence that Dexter Dalwood's painting appeared in the Nothing in the World But Youth exhibition, or did the Turner Contemporary's curators actually take my opinion onboard? Did what I say have some bearing upon Dexter Dalwood's inclusion in the gallery, or was it just mere happenstance?

If you don't believe me, please take a look at the full Facebook exchange below (click to enlarge):

And there we have it. Obviously, I'm not arrogant enough to assume that an ordinary bloke like me could have possibly persuaded Turner's curators to include Dexter Dalwood's work on my urging alone, but if nothing else, I certainly feel validated. I mean, what are the odds?! I was agog when I saw Dexter Dalwood's painting staring back at me, I really was, especially considering its massive size. It almost made me feel like I'd had some small part to play in the creation of the exhibition itself, which only made my visit all the more rewarding, let me tell you. I was like a kid in a sweet shop.

I'm going to write a more in-depth review exploring my thoughts on Nothing in the World But Youth at some point later this week. In the meantime, please pop and visit the Turner Contemporary and experience it for yourselves. There's plenty to see and I can't see any reason why anyone would leave feeling disappointed.

I hope you enjoy seeing Poll Tax Riots by Dexter Dalwood up close as much as I did!

KNOW YOUR BOUNDARIES

2011-09-13T18:19:00.020+01:00

The Boundary Commission released proposals today which have suggested changes to Thanet's electoral constituency map. According to the PDF on the South East outlining initial proposals which are subject to public consultation, it says:

"53. The changes we have suggested elsewhere in Kent have led us to propose a new Margate and Ramsgate constituency that contains the resort towns of Margate, Broadstairs, and Ramsgate. Our proposed constituency contains the majority of the existing South Thanet constituency.

54. As a consequence, on the North Kent coast the remainder of the wards in the existing North Thanet constituency, encompassing the towns of Herne Bay and Westgate-on-Sea, are included in our proposed Herne Bay constituency. This constituency also includes five wards from the existing Canterbury constituency and the ward of Little Stour and Ashstone of the District of Dover from the existing South Thanet constituency."

So, in other words, Thanet's three main resort towns (Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate) will have a single parliamentary representative. As far as I understand it, if Roger Gale decides to stand again for re-election in 2015, he will be campaigning to become MP for the newly-renamed Herne Bay constituency, not North Thanet, as it currently stands. Concurrently, what is now South Thanet constituency will have had its boundaries redrawn as Margate and Ramsgate constituency, so if Laura Sandys retains her seat, she will then become MP for Thanet's main three towns.

On the one hand, I like the idea of Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate sharing the same constituency and being represented by one MP – in particular, the idea of bringing Margate Central and Dane Valley under the same electoral umbrella as Cliftonville East and West makes sense to me. This has the desired effect of making the Isle of Thanet itself more unified, so the notion of having one MP represent the whole Isle is an interesting prospect.

However, I do wonder how those living in Thanet's villages or elsewhere in the district (such as Acol, St Nicholas-at-Wade, Sarre, etc.) will feel about these proposed boundary changes. Will they feel excluded, considering how much local authority decision-making is made centrally in Margate, I wonder? Or will that merely make the Herne Bay MP (whoever that may be) more determined to involve them in the process? On a national level, I'm also alarmed by The Guardian's claim that if the 2010 general election had been held under the new boundaries, Labour would've won 14 fewer seats, the Lib Dems 10 fewer, while the Conservatives would've lost just 6. Seems rather convenient, don't you think?

Speaking locally, however, I'm of the view that making one single MP fully accountable to the main fulcrum points of the Isle (Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate) could potentially be a step in the right direction. With a good MP running the show, it might even help Thanet better establish itself as a more self-sustaining and urbanised locale to rival other constituencies such as Medway, irrespective of which way people vote. That, in my view, may very well promise to be better for local democracy. What do you think? Feel free to disagree. These are only proposals, after all. How happy are you with the Boundary Commission's suggestions?

Don't forget to have your say on the Boundary Commision for England's website.

TOBIN'S EX-WIFE SPEAKS OUT

2011-09-10T19:50:00.000+01:00

The ex-wife of Margate serial killer Peter Tobin has been interviewed by BBC Newsnight this week. Cathy Wilson married Tobin in 1989 but left him just a year prior to his move to 50 Irvine Drive in Margate in 1991. It was there Tobin buried two of his victims in his back garden – Vicky Hamilton, a 15-year-old schoolgirl who originally went missing in Bathgate in West Lothian, and 18-year-old Essex girl Dinah McNicol. Both girls were commemorated by Thanet Council when they installed a bench in the grounds of Holy Trinity Church earlier this year.

You can watch the video of the full interview on the BBC website.

TENNANT HEADS TO MARGATE FOR BBC DRAMA?

2011-09-06T09:41:00.000+01:00

David Tennant is reported to be appearing in a TV show set in Margate, according to a blog post made yesterday. On the link which I saw posted on the Margate Harbour Arm Facebook page, the former Doctor Who star is reportedly due to star in a five-part BBC drama series called Love Life written by Dominic Savage and is claimed to be "set in Margate on the Kent coast."

Apparently, they started shooting started yesterday. It's also been suggested that more filming may be taking place on the Harbour Arm at some point in October, but whether David Tennant is scheduled to be involved in that scene is anyone's guess. Different actors will be appearing in each episode, so I'm not 100% sure if the full series is going to be set in Thanet, whether they are filming each episode on location here, or indeed when exactly (or if) Tennant is due to be dropping by, but this is exciting news nonetheless.

Needless to say, I'm expecting everybody in the Old Town to be extra vigilant in case a Tardis appears next to The Greedy Cow so they can catch a few snaps of David Tennant munching on a sandwich during his lunch break! You never know! Stranger things have happened!

JC FARLEY SNUBBED BY 118 118'S BIG BUSINESS BIAS

2011-09-02T21:15:00.000+01:00

Ramsgate-based furniture retailer JC Farley Ltd has fallen victim to the 118 118 phone line's apparent bias in favour of big businesses. It's been reported in the Daily Mail that a local caller asking for JC Farley's phone number was treated to a bit of insidious sales patter about how the national furniture chain DFS offers four years' interest-free credit. This has led to a media storm in which 118 118 has been accused of favouring High Street giants and lambasted for undermining small local businesses by allegedly receiving a 'secret cash deal' from major outlets like DFS.

In an interview with KOS Media, the owner of JC Farley Ltd, John Farley, said:

"I was asked by 118 118 if I would like to pay for the service DFS receives but I can't afford it. Also, DFS has 150 stores; it's very different for them. I can't see anybody calling up for DFS and instead coming to us if they hear advertising deals."

John Farley has also told me the story has been covered on BBC Radio 4 and BBC South East Today so it certainly has appeared to open up a debate about 'clone towns' and how competition from independent retailers is being stifled by big sharp-elbowed corporations with large marketing budgets.

How do you feel about this? Is 118 118 in the wrong? Should it be fair that rich major consumer retailers can hog their share of the market by paying for privileges from 118 118 that their rivals can't afford? According to the Office of Fair Trading, 118 118 has not breached fairness regulations or behaved unethically, but I would argue that pitching DFS deals to a prospective JC Farley customer over the phone goes beyond mere competition and strays more into potentially coercive territory. What do you make of it?

FROM RUSSIA WITH GRUB

2011-09-01T19:56:00.000+01:00

I saw a small chunk of the former Soviet Union sitting just on the edge of Thanet today, whilst driving home from work past the disused power station. This red sign with yellow hammer and sickles promoting CCCP Restaurant almost made me feel like I'd tumbled into a time vortex and materialised in some far-flung East European nation circa 1983, in the final decade of the Cold War era.

If it was intended to grab my attention, it certainly succeeded, and it has even got me curious about the restaurant itself. I may even pay them a visit and grab a takeaway one evening – it's certainly piqued my interest. Russian cuisine? I know that chicken kievs supposedly had their origins in... well... the Ukrainian city of Kiev, but other than that, I'm hard-pressed to think of any other Russian delicacies waiting to cleanse my pallete. Any ideas?

WHALE MEAT AGAIN

2011-08-30T18:57:00.000+01:00

For those of you who remember the sperm whale which washed up on Pegwell Bay back in March, there's still time to catch the Inside Nature's Giants documentary on 4OD, in which veterinary scientist Mark Evans and comparative anatomist Joy Reidenberg dissect the creature in their usual gory way. It's certainly not for the squeamish, but there's only 7 days left of it being online so you might as well watch it while it's still there.

However, am I alone in thinking that the concept behind this programme – in which they butcher dead animals on live TV – is remarkably cruel and exploitative, even if it is a post-mortem done in the name of natural biology? I remember many local people were very upset that this poor sperm whale died on Thanet's shores, so the fact that it is now the subject of a TV documentary in which it is ripped apart by scientists is rather unsettling. If a human being had been given the same treatment, there'd be a public outcry. Oh wait, in fact, there was - Gunther von Hagens came under fire for doing a live autopsy on a human corpse didn't he?!

Funny thing is, I seem to remember that when the sperm whale originally washed up on the beach, Cllr. Martin Wise was quoted on Kent Online as saying:

"We can't forget that this is a beautiful animal and we want to ensure that we remove it in the most dignified way possible."

Dignified?! I've got to admit, when I eventually drop dead, the last thing I'd want is to be cut open and given a live autopsy on Channel 4. That doesn't sound very dignified to me. In fact, I'd say it's rather shameful that the Channel 4 team didn't waste any time sending a TV crew out to make mince meat of this poor creature no sooner had it washed up on the beach, or maybe I'm just being soft.

Still, the opportunity to watch the episode of Inside Nature's Giants is there, if you've got the stomach for it. It's your choice.

BLINK AND YOU'VE MISSED IT

2011-08-28T09:00:00.001+01:00

I went to see Blink in Margate last night, an open air event on the beach full of arty farty razzle dazzle and culminating in a sizzling firework display. It was Pan Optikum's finale of soaraway gymnastic feats where they flew above spinning sparklers, Catherine wheels and bursts of bright plumes of fire which left the best impression on me, which I'll admit was something special. Other elements of the event, such as Wayne McGregor's Random Dance troupe, were located in an odd place which meant I had to mingle around the beach to get a good view, which wasn't easy. As an observer, it was slightly challenging to watch, a bit avant-garde, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

Some people have been rather gushing in their praise, but to me, the mood amongst the crowd as they walked away seemed to be one of shrugged shoulders and general disappointment. Maybe it was too arty for some. Perhaps it was the poor layout which meant people couldn't get a decent view. I personally felt the event itself was OK, complimented by the impressively acrobatic and pyrotechnic-filled final performances by Pan Optikum and the eclectic soundscapes bursting out of the PA by Scanner, but the event didn't 100% flick my switch.

But why? Well, for me, the worst thing about Blink was some of the unsavoury people who went to it. You had a screaming rabble of delinquent kids barging and shoving past you, drunken tattooed ASBO slobs effing and blinding and, unsurprisingly, pram-pushing fishwives wheeling their crying newborn babies demanding you get out of their way by running over your toes. It was like a Jeremy Kyle convention. I know it was a free community event, but for Christ's sake, if that's what our local community is like then you can keep your supposedly 'social' happenings to yourself thank you very much.

Worse still, when I took the bus home, some pisshead who claimed he was “on a curfew” tried to start a fight with me. The bus was full, you see, with the driver telling everyone to wait for the next one. But this bloke insisted on trying to play the Good Samaritan by smuggling somebody else's kids onboard, lifting a buggy and gesturing for me to help lift it, but when I refused by pointing out there was no room on the bus, he started moaning at me for no reason whatsoever. I mean, how petty is that? Starting a fight over a pram? “If I see you again,” he said, “I'm gonna knock you out!”

Sigh. Even people who should be old enough to know better got shirty and shouted to the driver: “We've got kids, we should be on the bus! Tell everyone who hasn't got kids to get off the bus and make way for us!” This indignant sense of entitlement pisses me right off. I'm sure it's that sort of thinking which led to shops getting looted during the London riots. People of Margate, you really should know better. Sort yourselves out. How can Thanet become the great cultural destination we want it to be when events like this get hijacked by loutish, uncivilised nobheads?

Overall, my impression of Blink was that the performance itself – or what little you could see of it – was quite entertaining and well choreographed. But my experience was marred by my clashes with the pissed-up Cliftonville riff raff and the loutish contingent, who were only there to let their kids run riot and didn't really give a shit about the event itself. However, I'd like to say well done to all the Blink performers. They did a fantastic job and I did enjoy watching it from where I was standing. I just wish my memory of the event as a whole was more favourable. Perhaps I'd have enjoyed it more if I'd have been the only person in the crowd!

And needless to say, that's the last time I get a bus in Thanet. Never again!

J. M. W. TURNER IS ALIVE!

2011-08-25T21:57:00.000+01:00

JMW Turner, Self Portrait, circa 1799, PD-Art

J. M. W. Turner is alive and well. He's added me as a friend on Facebook. Judging by his profile, it seems that the 236-year-old is still knocking about doing sightseeing tours of Thanet for the History Walkers. Well I never!

FORMER TDC CHIEF EXEC TOOK 1.7% PAY CUT?

2011-08-24T23:05:00.003+01:00

The Telegraph has claimed that former Chief Executive of Thanet District Council Richard Samuel took a 1.7% pay cut in the financial year of 2010/11 before he left his position. This comes from an interactive table compiled by analysing draft accounts which have not yet been audited and are subject to revision. Back in October 2010, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles called for all council chief execs on £150,000 salaries to take a 5% cut, so Samuel's pay reduction seems to have fallen short of that. Although, it has to be said that previously, in 2009/10, Samuel's salary is claimed to have been £142,476, roughly 5% lower than the threshold Pickles was referring to.

On that basis, perhaps we should be thankful that Samuel cut his salary to £140,037 at all, since he could've easily appealed against it, especially when you compare him to some of the other council chief execs across the UK. Some of them, such as Joanna Killian, joint chef exec of Essex & Brentwood Councils, apparently had her pay increased by £4,000 to a salary of £289,143 – and that's despite widespread budget cuts. Overall, the Telegraph claims that the average salary for a council chief executive is £186,872, so since Samuel's earnings appear to have been below average, we seem to have got off reasonably lightly here in Thanet.

I must state, however, that these stats from the Telegraph don't appear to match up with Thanet District Council's salary data report which claimed that Samuel's FTE salary was £113,625, increasing to £118,625 after receiving cash for his car. Where did the extra £21,412 come from? Since these figures don't seem to corroborate with each other, I'm not so sure what to make of this. Maybe I've misinterpreted the data. I guess you can be the judge. As it happens, assuming the Telegraph is right, I think we should count our blessings. Compared to other chief execs up and down the country, we could've done far worse.

In any case, it seems Samuel left just before the cuts started to bite and the poo hit the fan, so the real question is whether the new TDC chief exec Sue McGonigal is getting paid more or less than Samuel. How much has her salary been reduced in this Brave New World of deficit reduction? I can't seem to find any info on the TDC website which discloses info regarding McGonigal's current salary, so I can only but speculate for the time being. Anyone care to enlighten me?

Needless to say, please take all this data at face value until somebody with a better eye for accountancy can make sense of it. But if the Telegraph's data is proven correct, it's clear we may not be the luckiest, but we certainly seem a lot luckier than others, so I think we should at least be thankful for that. What do you think?

EMIN DEMANDS 'MORE PASSION' IN DOWNING STREET

2011-08-22T19:40:00.000+01:00

Modern art madam and Margate homegirl Tracey Emin has installed a gaudy neon sign inscribed with the words 'More Passion' in 10 Downing Street. Similar to the 'I Never Stopped Loving You' sign Emin installed above Droit House in Margate last year, this new artwork - believed to have cost around £250,000 - hangs on the wall of the Terracotta Room, which should come as no surprise considering Prime Minister David Cameron is reportedly a fan of Emin's work.

Whether this is just a case of our mate 'Dave' donning the Emperor's New Clothes is a matter up for debate, but what's for certain is that Emin was keen to 'tone down' the rudeness of her previous works to make it more accessible. "It has to be something that will relate to different people on different levels because of all the dignitaries and world leaders and religious groups who go to No 10," Emin told the Telegraph, "so it has to be something that's fitting for that situation."

Personally, I feel that Tracey would've done better to capture the public's cynicism about our politicians by creating a more foul-mouthed sign which said 'More F***ing Passion!', but maybe that's just me. As for the cost, I think the final word should go to Jools from the North, who posted this about Emin's new chef-d'oeuvre in the Daily Mail's online comments section:

"£250,000??? My local chippy has one similar. No wonder he charges so much for a cod and chips. Outrageous."

Hmm, not a bad idea that. Maybe Peters Fish Factory should call up Tracey Emin and get her to design them a sign too. They'd make a killing!

FOI REQUESTS CAN BE MADE BY TWITTER, SAYS ICO

2011-08-20T12:08:00.000+01:00

According to a monthly newsletter sent out by the Information Commissioner's Office last month, people can now submit FOI requests via Twitter. What will this mean, I wonder, for Thanet Council’s decision to only allow accredited media sources to make queries to their press office? Everybody else, need I remind you, is encouraged to submit FOI requests by e-mail instead to foi@thanet.gov.uk, leading to a process which takes up to a month to be dealt with. But since the ICO – a government quango – now approves of tweeting FOI requests to local government authorities (like @ThanetCouncil), will that be a more efficient way of allowing bloggers to make FOI requests?

Sure, it might be difficult to condense a question down to 140 characters, but generally speaking, I’m curious about what Thanet Council’s opinion of this is. Could there come a time when Thanet Council will be sent tweets for information and, what’s more, be obliged to answer them? The ICO certainly seems to think they should prepare themselves for it.

In their newsletter, it states:

“While Twitter is not the most effective channel for submitting or responding to freedom of information requests, this does not mean that requests sent using Twitter are necessarily invalid. They can be valid requests in freedom of information terms and authorities that have Twitter accounts should plan for the possibility of receiving them.”

The ICO’s admission appears to pave the way for local governments to adopt a more proactive and responsive approach to utilize social media as a channel for communication, rather than using it as a semi-automated repository for press releases or public service messages. I doubt it will make the FOI process any quicker, but on a local level, it will certainly make it easier for local residents, community activists and bloggers to use Twitter to make FOI requests and apply for information from Thanet Council now that they’re prohibited from making calls to the press office due to not being ‘accredited’ journalists.

I suppose it can’t hurt to give it a go, can it? So... now the Information Commissioner's Office has told us it’s OK to tweet FOI requests, who’s gonna try it out?! Let me know how you get on!

PFIZER SITE MORPHS INTO STARSHIP ENTERPRISE

2011-08-19T18:22:00.004+01:00

Pfizer's Discovery Park has officially been declared an Enterprise Zone in a move the government hopes will attract more businesses and generate jobs in the local area. In the aftermath of the pharmaceutical giant's departure, I argued yesterday that this news should be welcomed, but there is some controversy surrounding Enterprise Zones, so I felt I should address it. Firstly, it's not a new idea - they were a policy favoured by the Tories in the 1980s but only had varying levels of success.

Secondly, there's also an issue regarding their expediency, with an in-depth study by The Work Foundation entitled 'Do Enterprise Zones Work?' analysing their effectiveness using historical examples. They argue that "evidence suggests that Enterprise Zones - or any policy which offers tax breaks or incentives to businesses in concentrated areas - are likely to be ineffective at stimulating sustainable economic growth in depressed areas." It's also said they "do very little to promote lasting economic prosperity" and that "most Enterprise Zones create a short-term boom, followed by a long-term reversal back into depression."

There are also concerns about whether Enterprise Zones actually end up creating jobs for local people. BBC News covered the Pfizer Enterprise Zone announcement by revealing the government's intention to advertise the area globally, possibly in the hope of attracting businesses based abroad to relocate here. Automatically, this makes me concerned as to whether foreign companies might just move into Pfizer's Discovery Park to take advantage of tax concessions, only to outsource their workforce from overseas and base them here in the UK, meaning that no new jobs actually end up going to local residents at all. As the Work Foundation states, "80% of the jobs" Enterprise Zones "create are taken from other places."

There's also concerns about the overall size of the Sandwich Enterprise Zone being too small to generate a wider impact. David Foley, chief executive of the chamber of commerce, told BBC News that:

"If it's just the Enterprise Zone established on the Pfizer site, good though that may be for some people, that will have the effect of sucking in businesses from out and about. If it's a wider area, say the Manston corridor, that will certainly throw the spotlight on what is potentially the fastest growth area in East Kent. I'm afraid there isn't the fat on the bone in Thanet and there really isn't in the Dover district."

Similarly, the Work Foundation's study also claims that the government should consider making Enterprise Zones bigger, but that they are extremely expensive and that "evidence from the 1980s suggests that Enterprise Zones cost at least £23,000 per new job they create." George Osborne has insisted that they have learnt from the mistakes of the past, but what is clear is that Enterprise Zones are not as cut-and-dried a solution as many would hope, so it will need a committed focus by our local politicians to ensure that its benefits are consistent and that the site generates a lasting economic impact in the long-term.

In their study, the Work Foundation concludes:

"The media has focused on the impact of public sector cuts, but there is an urgent need for the government to focus on economic growth. The Coalition has stated that rebalancing the economy is an important priority over the next few years, and this rebalancing includes sharing prosperity around the UK.

However, there is a danger that the economic recovery will be weakest in those places which are already most deprived, threatening to perpetuate the cycle of deprivation and worklessness in those places. Any measure that can reverse this trend should be welcomed.

Unfortunately, Enterprise Zones are not the answer to these problems. Government should focus on the long-term drivers of economic growth: innovation, trade, skills, infrastructure and entrepreneurship. The recovery will be led by innovation, with a small proportion of high growth firms producing the majority of all jobs. The government needs to focus on these long-term issues, rather than short term measures which are likely to move jobs around, and have little sustained impact on economic growth."

Needless to say, the Work Foundation appear to be more opposed to such initiatives as I am, but they do raise some interesting criticisms which the Coalition must learn from if we are to avoid past mistakes from resurfacing. Overall, until such a point comes that we have a reason to criticise the Pfizer site becoming an Enterprise Zone, we should embrace it. Only a fool would say it's not in the best interests of our local economy to lend our support to it, so I can only hope it's successful.

TO THE MANOR OSBORNE

2011-08-18T22:36:00.000+01:00

George Osborne visited the Turner Contemporary in Margate yesterday and stopped for a photo in front of the Daniel Buren installation. Standing with Gallery director Victoria Pomeroy (on the left) and Thanet South MP Laura Sandys (on the right), the Chancellor of the Exchequer's visit was planned to coincide with a government announcement that the Pfizer site at Sandwich, Discovery Park, is one of the 11 locations which have been chosen as an Enterprise Zone.

An Enterprise Zone, according to Google Dictionary, is described as "an impoverished area in which incentives such as tax concessions are offered to encourage investment and provide jobs for residents." In light of Pfizer's decision to close its factory and lay off 2,400 workers earlier this year, with many more indirect workers due to lose their jobs as a result of its closure, it would be foolish to dismiss this news as anything other than promising, whatever your political stance on tax breaks.

Considering the devastating impact Pfizer's loss will have on East Kent as a whole if action is not taken, I feel this news is agreeable enough to be welcomed, especially if it does indeed provide work for local residents and boosts the local economy. As always, however, there are some who may have reservations, but all in all, I feel we should see the Chancellor's announcement as a positive one.

Later, after his visit to the Turner gallery, Osborne travelled to Sandwich and was filmed by a BBC News crew outside Pfizer's Discovery Park. He told them:

"I know how bleak things seemed a few months ago and how difficult things have been for the workforce here and for the local community. I hope we can begin to see the rays of a brighter future."

Elsewhere, on YourThanet, Osborne further explained:

"This is a unique Enterprise Zone because unlike the others it already has state-of-the-art facilities. Job creation isn't going to happen overnight - we'll start with hundreds of jobs and build up to that 2,000 plus figure. There are a lot of workers at Pfizer who are already looking at starting up businesses and we hope to attract others from across the country. We believe this site will become world-class."

I don't know about you, but I'm glad we're seeing some decisive action being taken to try and drag the East Kent region out of the mire, rather than simply being forgotten about. Mind you, I am mindful of the wider issues and concerns about enterprise zones, so I'd like to write more about them tomorrow, so please visit back and I'll go into a bit more detail. By and large, however, I think this news gets a thumbs-up from me. Let's face it, anything's better than nothing, isn't it?

RIOT AND WRONG

2011-08-15T21:29:00.001+01:00

Since a 17-year-old was arrested for attempting to incite a riot in Margate, I've realised the mass violence and looting which sprung up all across the UK last week grew unnervingly close to home. What caused so many young people to take joy in smashing up their towns? Why did vandalism become little more than a fad? Was this fondness for looting high street shops a manifestation of our greedy hyper-consumerist culture, or is it just an unexplainable burst of opportunist burglary and theft?

The left didn't waste any time trying to score political points by making the rather vacuous claim that youth service cuts and the scrapping of both the Future Jobs Fund and EMA are to blame. Even cuts in police numbers have been put under the Labourite magnifying glass and regarded with a discerning eye by Ed Miliband, even though it wasn't long ago that most civil liberties campaigners were criticising New Labour for trying to turn Britain into a police state. Clearly, being out of office hasn't changed them one bit, has it?

Meanwhile, the right seem happy to just dismiss these riots as nothing more than random, unrelated bursts of violence, thuggery and criminality by chavs and hoodies, putting little emphasis on the root causes other than calling it a sign of moral decay and social breakdown. Throw into the mix the misguided belief that bad parenting, absentee fathers, dysfunctional families and welfare dependancy are the primary causes and what we have is a recipe for disastrous policy-making on both sides of the political debate.

To try and explain why these riots happened, even Conservative historian David Starkey popped up on BBC Newsnight to make the disgraceful claim that white people have become black. He said that black culture or, as he puts it, the “violent, destructive, nihilistic, gangster culture” of rap music, has corrupted white youths into lives of crime and gang warfare. If I remember rightly, the last time a man stood up and blamed the nation's ills on a specific ethnic group it didn't end so well. I can't quite remember his name, but he had this paranoid idea that the Jews were out to ruin his country... oh yes, that's right, his name was Adolf Hitler, that's it. As a historian, I'm sure Starkey knows how that panned out.

My point is, these riots and the responses of certain media commentators across the spectrum has highlighted to me that they are all, quite simply, useless. Those on the left veer towards apologism (implying that poverty, unemployment and deprivation justifies the rioters' violent actions somewhat, which is nonsense) while those on the right rejoice in getting puritanical and spouting empty-headed glittering generalities about 'family values' and 'moral collapse' without offering anything of substance.

The fact that we should focus on is that 51% of those arrested were between the ages of 18 and 24. Therefore, this seems to be a problem almost exclusive to a whole generation of young people, so we need to look closely at the causes of disenfranchised youth and perhaps we should even interpret these riots as a sign of collective unrest.

Even though the actions of a minority of juvenile delinquents are not representative of a whole generation, what is clear is that people in this age group – and I include myself in this – have to contend with problems of mass unemployment; fewer job opportunities; stratospherically high rental and housing costs which price young people out of the market, leaving many to live with their parents for longer; and a lifetime's worth of debt to pay off for those that are university graduates (like me). Of course, these are NOT excuses for starting riots. What they are, however, are problems which cause mass discontent amongst young people today, so any attempt to tackle problems with disenfranchised youth needs to take these issues into account.

If employment, jobs, housing and income disparity were given adequate political attention and intergenerational justice became a cornerstone of social policy, then it is quite probable that in future young people wouldn’t feel the need to riot. Instead, I fear we’re getting caught up in a vindictive cycle of police crackdowns and overzealous corporal punishment and risk alienating young people even more, making things worse in the long run. Of course, these rioters and looters must be held to account – many of those involved did, let's face it, have criminal pasts – but the punishments must fit the crime, and there seem to be many judgements made in UK courts recently where this doesn't seem to be the case.

A student caught stealing a £3.50 case of bottled water from Lidl has been sentenced to six months in prison. Children have been held at gunpoint and had their backpacks searched by police officers only to find a pack of Smarties. Now I'm hearing that somebody's due to appear in court for allegedly arranging a water fight in Colchester on his BlackBerry. Is this justice? Or is this a slippery slope to a totalitarian state? Either way, making an example of youngsters in this way is rapidly becoming a circus and it doesn't help people come up with any tangible solutions. I just hope we realise it before it's too late.

WHY I OPPOSE KM BUYOUT OF NORTHCLIFFE PAPERS

2011-08-05T00:14:00.000+01:00

I'm going to throw my hat into the ring and say I'm not very comfortable with the idea of the Kent Messenger Group buying Northcliffe Media's several regional newspapers. Since the Isle of Thanet Gazette is Northcliffe Media's only de facto paid-for weekly, running in direct competition with the Thanet Extra, both veritable newspapers in my opinion, it would certainly send tremors through local journalism if one rival media outlet absorbed the other's assets.

I noticed in this week's Thanet Times – Northcliffe Media's sister paper to the Gazette – that there was an article (see above picture) appealing for donations to Academy FM, the Thanet-based community radio station run by former KMFM founder Pete Willson. It explains how the 'radio station faces being forced off air' with Pete himself saying:

“People forget we are a registered charity and it's been very difficult. We have money in place for three or four months, but if we can't bring in funds the station could face being switched off. If we lose Academy FM that would be tragic for Thanet.”

I couldn't help but wonder if I'd be reading that article if the Gazette were owned by the Kent Messenger Group. Sure, Pete has career connections with the KM, and I have noticed Academy FM has achieved some publicity in the Thanet Extra in the past, but none of those seemed to directly appeal for public support and financial donations. Why on earth should they? After all, Kent Messenger Group's radio station, KMFM, is essentially Academy FM's chief competitor, so why would they print an appeal for donations for them? That's like the Telegraph writing an editorial expressing regret that The Guardian is making losses, rhetorically speaking.

So I guess the Academy FM story is one example of how a KM buyout might impact on local news reporting – if a story doesn't fit in with the media owner's commercial interests, it probably won't get covered. Simple as that. I'm also concerned that a scarcity of regional media outlets will almost certainly threaten the level of public accountability we've been lucky to receive courtesy of our local journalists.

However, I'm well aware that the world of local media is constantly changing and evolving. It was only in 2007 that Northcliffe Media bought the Thanet Gazette and other regional newspapers from Trinity Mirror, so this kind of toing and froing is simply the name of the game. What's different in this instance is that I can only imagine a KM buyout will rid our Isle of its zest for local competitiveness and, thus, I fear the diversity of quality local print journalism may suffer due to a lack of pluralism. I like chocolate bars, but that doesn't mean I only want one on the shelf.

Despite my reservations, I have no doubt that should this buyout come to pass, KM will handle its new acquisitions with the professionalism it always adheres to, but my point is that competitiveness is a key driver in the media industry, and if there's no competition locally, then there is a risk that standards might slip and the public may not get the high standard of journalism they deserve. Besides, even Roy Greenslade wrote two years ago of how relaxing rules on media mergers would “create geographical monopolies” and it will “not solve the fundamental problems of newspaper publishing in the regions.”

We can't say he didn't warn us...

If you feel the same way as me on this subject, then please contact Raúl Nieto at the Office of Fair Trading by e-mailing raul.nieto@oft.gsi.gov.uk and voice your concerns.

TAKING PATERNITY LEAVE

2011-07-09T16:49:00.000+01:00

I must apologise for my lack of blogging recently, but I've been on paternity leave, of sorts. My baby boy Reece Joseph Edwards was born last week, so naturally I've been trying to adjust to being a father. This has meant lots of sleepless nights, lots of bottle-sterilising midnight antics and frantic formula feeding, nappy changes, and taking care of his mummy who is currently recovering from her c-section.

As a result, I've simply not had the time to blog lately because I've been rushed off my feet like a blue arsed fly attending to the newborn and playing Florence Nightingale. This whole experience is every bit as life-changing as people say but I wouldn't change it for the world! I'll try to resume blogging very shortly once I'm on top of things and got my head straight. I'll be back before you know it.

TWO WOUNDED BIRDS PLAY GLASTO!

2011-06-26T17:20:00.014+01:00

Margate indie band Two Wounded Birds played the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury Festival 2011 this afternoon. Check out the video:

I've seen Two Wounded Birds play twice before and I would jump happily at the chance to see them play again. They're definitely going places. The Margate surf quartet got interviewed by BBC News recently about their first ever Glasto appearance, describing their lo-fi musical style as follows:

"We are a rock and roll band. We are inspired by our interpretation of a romantic bygone era, and that includes bands such as The Beach Boys, The Doors and girl groups like The Cookies and The Ronettes."

Not a bad set of influences, won't you agree? It looks to me like Two Wounded Birds are well on the way to putting Margate on the map and I'm really looking forward to their debut album. I believe the lead singer Johnny Danger travelled to LA to meet music producer Andy Paley (Brian Wilson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jonathan Richman), so I'd be totally stoked if Paley helmed the production desks for Two Wounded Birds's first LP. That'd rock my world.

Image from http://on.fb.me/qIn1o9

I genuinely feel Two Wounded Birds have exactly what it takes to spearhead something of a '50s and '60s-inspired rock 'n' roll revival in the indie music scene, something which I think is sorely needed, so the fact that they're a local band is even more earth-shattering to me. I really recommend you check them out on their MySpace page, if you haven't already.

Here's the setlist Two Wounded Birds played at Glastonbury, according to songkick.com:

Summer Dream
All I Wanna Do
To Be Young
Night Patrol
Midnight Wave
It's Not Up To You
My Lonesome
Together Forever

AND THE WINNER IS...

2011-06-24T21:51:00.007+01:00

It's the moment you've all been waiting for – voting in the poll to find TDC's sexiest councillor has now been closed and the winner is... WILL SCOBIE!

As Thanet District Council's youngest-ever elected representative, Cllr Will Scobie won the lion's share of the public's support by finishing in top place with 29.90% of the vote, proving that not only does the boy wonder have youth on his side, but he also has the X factor... or should that be 'sex' factor? Quite how the Labour Party's young prodigy Will feels about being declared the 'sexiest' councillor at Thanet Council is unknown to me, but I'm sure the good people of Dane Valley who he represents will be pleased with the news, especially since one anonymous commenter on this blog referred to him as 'TDC's very own answer to Justin Bieber!'

Finishing in second place was Conservative candidate for Birchington Ward, Cllr John Worrow, bagging himself a respectable 20% share of the vote and securing himself the runner-up slot, while Thanet Council's sexiest female councillor is Labour's blonde bombsell Cllr Linda Aldred with 7% of the vote. The sexiest cabinet member at the local council is officially Cllr Alasdair Bruce who came joint 8th, which brings a whole new level of meaning to his nickname of 'The Rock Doc'!

In a head-to-head between leader of Thanet Council and the Leader of the Labour Opposition, Cllr Bob Bayford narrowly pipped Cllr Clive Hart to the post, beating him by a single vote into joint 10th place and leaving Hart languishing somewhat in joint 11th place. Mind you, I'm sure Clive will take some consolation in the fact that his gorgeous wife and fellow councillor Sandra Hart finished 5th, so I'm sure Mr and Mrs Hart will be more than happy with the result!

Surprisingly, this poll attracted a whopping 301 votes from readers of Thanet Waves, which I think is something of a record for a local blog. I believe the last record-breaker was Eastcliff Richard's poll back in January 2010 which got 181 votes, so I'm very pleased that this poll for TDC's sexiest councillor has captured everybody's imagination. It was certainly good for a chuckle!

I'd like to thank you all for voting and express my gratitude to Academy FM, YourThanet and the press team at the Isle of Thanet Gazette (including columnist Jane Wenham-Jones) for giving this poll some publicity in the local media! I certainly didn't expect it to attract so much interest but it's been jolly good fun and I've enjoyed every second! I hope you've enjoyed it too!

Oh, and check out the news article from YourThanet's online newspaper:

Image from YourThanet Online Edition - Issue No 192

Here is the full breakdown of all the results:

Will Scobie (Labour) (90 votes) – 29.90%
John Worrow (Conservative) (60 votes) – 20.00%
Linda Aldred (Labour) (21 votes) – 7.00%
Neil Hornus (Conservative) (19 votes) – 6.33%
Sandra Hart (Labour) (9 votes) – 3.00%
Harry Scobie (Labour) (8 votes) – 2.67%
Linda Wright (Conservative) (7 votes) – 2.33%
Alasdair Bruce (Conservative) (6 votes) – 2.00%
Elizabeth Green (Labour) (6 votes) – 2.00%
Julie Marson (Conservative) (6 votes) – 2.00%
Keith Coleman-Cooke (Conservative) (6 votes) – 2.00%
William Hayton (Conservative) (6 votes) – 2.00%
Jack Cohen (Independent) (5 votes) – 1.67%
Thomas King (Independent) (5 votes) – 1.67%
Bob Bayford (Conservative) (4 votes) – 1.33%
Chris Wells (Conservative) (4 votes) – 1.33%
Clive Hart (Labour) (3 votes) – 1.00%
Ela Lodge-Pritchard (Labour) (3 votes) – 1.00%
Kim Gibson (Labour) (3 votes) – 1.00%
Michelle Fenner (Labour) (3 votes) – 1.00%
Shirley Tomlinson (Conservative) (3 votes) – 1.00%
Joanna Gideon (Conservative) (2 votes) – 0.67%
John Watkins (Labour) (2 votes) – 0.67%
Kay Dark (Labour) (2 votes) – 0.67%
Peter Campbell (Labour) (2 votes) – 0.67%
Zita Wiltshire (Conservative) (2 votes) – 0.67%
Bob Grove (Independent) (1 vote) – 0.33%
Brian Sullivan (Conservative) (1 vote) – 0.33%
David Green (Labour) (1 vote) – 0.33%
Ian Gregory (Conservative) (1 vote) – 0.33%
Iris Johnston (Labour) (1 vote) – 0.33%
Jason Savage (Conservative) (1 vote) – 0.33%
Jenny Matterface (Labour) (1 vote) – 0.33%
Mary Dwyer (Labour) (1 vote) – 0.33%
Mave Saunders (Conservative) (1 vote) – 0.33%
Rosalind Binks (Conservative) (1 vote) – 0.33%
Sandy Ezekiel (Conservative) (1 vote) – 0.33%
Simon Day (Conservative) (1 vote) – 0.33%
Simon Moores (Conservative) (1 vote) – 0.33%
Steve Alexandrou (Labour) (1 vote) – 0.33%
Alan Poole (Labour) (0 votes) – 0.00%
Brian Goodwin (Conservative) (0 votes) – 0.00%
Corinna Huxley (Labour) (0 votes) – 0.00%
David Saunders (Conservative) (0 votes) – 0.00%
Douglas Clark (Labour) (0 votes) – 0.00%
Ian Driver (Labour) (0 votes) – 0.00%
John Edwards (Labour) (0 votes) – 0.00%
John Kirby (Conservative) (0 votes) – 0.00%
Ken Gregory (Conservative) (0 votes) – 0.00%
Martin Wise (Conservative) (0 votes) – 0.00%
Michael Roberts (Conservative) (0 votes) – 0.00%
Michael Tomlinson (Conservative) (0 votes) – 0.00%
Mike Harrison (Labour) (0 votes) – 0.00%
Pat Moore (Labour) (0 votes) – 0.00%
Richard Nicholson (Labour) (0 votes) – 0.00%
Rick Everitt (Labour) (0 votes) – 0.00%

Total amount cast: 301 votes

WE SHOULD MAKE INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM SOMETHING THAT IS ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE

2011-06-20T11:04:00.002+01:00

Acclaimed journalist Heather Brooke has an interesting opinion on the subject of citizen journalism which I felt had some relevance to Thanet District Council's latest decision to shun bloggers and only play ball with the local mainstream media. Though I don't quite share the view of Michael Child and Tony Flaig that removing bloggers from TDC's press mailing list is an overt attempt to censor freedom of expression, I do feel that refusing to take press queries from bloggers is a daft decision with potentially grim implications for the future of the Thanet blogosphere.

I'd be very interested to know what Heather Brooke makes of it. Brooke's stature in her respective field of investigative journalism is remarkable. Last year, she won the Judges' Prize at the British Press Awards for her tireless work in pushing the House of Commons to make full disclosure of MPs' expenses (which, thanks to her efforts, had become a national scandal). Brooke has also spoken of how “technology gives people the ability to band together and challenge authority in ways that were previously impossible” and has penned a book called The Silent State: Secrets, Surveillance and the Myth of British Democracy which is highly critical of, as she puts it, “the very intense culture of secrecy in Britain.” In short, she really knows her stuff.

Upon being asked a question about citizen journalism in a YouTube video, Heather Brooke responded by saying:

"I think it's a really interesting concept that we make investigative journalism something that is accessible to everyone. So it's not just for experts. I mean, certainly there's a role for experts and people like myself who know about Freedom of Information or other sort of specialist topics, but everybody in a commmunity has some specialist knowledge. You know, maybe they know something about where they live, their street, a particular section of the council, so everybody can bring something into an investigation.

“It's not something they should feel that [it's something] they can't do, everybody can be curious and ask questions, and the problem now is that we don't have local papers, we don't have a lot of local journalists who can be asking those questions. So if there's not people, you know, [if] we don't have these people – journalists, papers – well who's gonna be asking the councillor 'Well why did you spend that money? Why did you go on this trip?' It's gonna have to be the man in the street, or the woman in the street."

So what does this have to do with local bloggers here in Thanet? Well, I'd say everything – what Heather Brooke says reminds me that the internet grants ordinary people the opportunity to set up a blog and hold authority to account, so if a local council appears to discriminate between bloggers and journalists, then this is an obstacle to democratic participation and flies in the face of the public's right to know.

I expressed the view yesterday that if Thanet Council prohibits bloggers from making press queries then it may have the side-effect of stifling and discouraging potential journalists (and, conversely, other concerned members of the public) from finding out information from the council through more direct means than FOI. Granted, people can still put in FOI requests should they choose to do so, but it's no secret that it takes a long time to yield results through this method.

For Thanet District Council to only deal with 'accredited media' draws a clear line in the sand between those who the council feels have a right to directly ask them questions, and those who don't, and I fear it will only be ordinary members of the public who will lose out as a result of this. Though on the surface the move was apparently made to cut costs, it does seem a bit short sighted and could be interpreted by some as demonstrating a lack of willingness to deal with genuine public enquiry, choosing instead only to deal with media professionals.

Anyway, take a look at the full video below and see what you think:

HOW TO GET BACK ON TDC'S PRESS MAILING LIST

2011-06-19T11:51:00.008+01:00

I've come up with a solution as to how bloggers can get back onto TDC's press mailing list. Are you ready? Well, basically... we've got to become journalists. Now come on, hear me out, because I do have a point. If Thanet District Council has removed bloggers from their press release mailing list and refused to take press queries from them on the basis that they will only deal with 'accredited media' in the future, then the only way we're going to get out of this mess is by becoming accredited.

This could probably be an expensive undertaking, but the University of Kent does offer a couple of accredited National Council for the Training of Journalists qualifications such as a BA (Hons) in Journalism and the News Industry and even an MA in Multimedia Journalism. If a blogger had one of those degrees under their belt, could the council justify leaving them off their mailing list of 'accredited' media even if they didn't happen to work for a newspaper? I shouldn't have thought so.

It does lead me to wonder exactly how 'accredited' one has to be to make the council's press mailing list. For example, what if you're a qualified freelance journalist who currently doesn't work in the media but still submits the occasional news article to local newspapers on spec. Would they be entitled to be added to the council's mailing list, on account of their NCTJ qualifications? I imagine so... because they're accredited. It seems like this could be a loophole bloggers could potentially exploit, should they have the gumption to do so.

So that's the best solution I can come up with. Come on, bloggers, go and get yourselves some NCTJ qualifications. Problem solved. But I am joking, of course. Can you imagine what the local blogosphere would be like if Michael Child or Tony Flaig had an NCTJ accolade to their names? It's an interesting thought. But personally, the fact that Thanet Council has removed bloggers from their press mailing lists doesn't bother me in that I have never been on the list anyway. Besides, my blogging style isn't really geared towards investigatism in the same way as Michael Child's or Tony Flaig's is. I may express a view here and there, but I'm certainly no Daniel Ellsberg.

Since I've only ever used the council's RSS feeds, removing bloggers from the press mailing list is not something which adversely affects me. But what does bother me is the e-mail's suggestion that unless you're a journalist for the mainstream media, then the council really isn't interested in talking to you and won't co-operate with any potential press queries you may have. In other words, non-journalists or members of the public who want to call the press office must like it or lump it, and put in an FOI request if they want to find out any information.

I must say, I've never called TDC's press office. I've never felt the need to. But I've also never felt that not calling them was out of the question. So the fact that the door has now been permanently closed to bloggers like myself feels like we're being given the cold shoulder. If Thanet Council prohibits bloggers from making press queries then it could, in my view, have the side-effect of stifling and discouraging potential journalists (and, conversely, other concerned members of the public) from finding out information from the council through more direct means than FOI. Is it right to shut out citizen journalists or even community activists in this way? I don't think so.

Let me put it this way, since I'm a media graduate from De Montfort University, I do harbour ambitions to become a journalist (surprise surprise!). As it happens, I'm currently unemployed, and since job opportunities in the local media are slim at best, I'm using this blog as a way of showing exactly what I'm capable of and making the most of my talents. I'd like to think that I don't take myself too seriously but my point is that if TDC chooses to disregard bloggers in favour of the mainstream press then it's hard not to feel like my ambitions as an amateur journalist basically count for nothing.

Ultimately, the impression I'm getting from Thanet District Council's decision is that people in my position can blog as much as they like, but since they are not 'accredited' then their civic engagement simply doesn't matter to the council any more. The only answer for bloggers, therefore, is to go on an NCTJ course and see if that makes a difference to getting their foot in the door. That, as far as I can see, is the only way how local bloggers can get back on TDC's press mailing list and be allowed to make calls to the press office once again. What do you think?

LOVE MUSIC HATE RACISM FESTIVAL IS TODAY!

2011-06-18T09:00:00.022+01:00

Tracey Emin hates racism. And so do I. That's probably about the only thing we have in common. So if you love music, come and join in the fun at Love Music Hate Racism Festival today at Ramsgate's Harbour Parade from noon o'clock! You can watch all the live musicians and have a spiffing time with a bunch of people who are a damn sight cooler than me! I may be showing my face at some point in the day so I hope to see you there! Ta-ta!

LOVE MUSIC HATE RACISM FESTIVAL RETURNS!

2011-06-17T16:36:00.006+01:00

Love Music Hate Racism festival is coming back to Thanet tomorrow (Saturday 18th June 2011) with an impressive roster of musicians jamming on the main stage with a genre-bending extravaganza on Ramsgate's Harbour Parade. Headlined by old school jungle icon, Congo Natty (known as The Rebel MC), the line-up also features indie ska outfit Kid British, Margate's prodigal son and UK hip hop rising star Mic Righteous and Pie Factory Music-affiliated drum 'n' bass MC Spookasonic.

I'd like to mention that also playing on the main stage is a band called Morning Departure who I once saw play at the Last of the Summer Wine festival back in 2009. I wrote an article about them which got published in the Thanet Extra so since then I've become quite well acquainted with lead singer Kieron Stone on Facebook. It's great that his band earned themselves a slot at this event and I believe that Kieron is even making a 30 minute documentary about the festival. There's also a local punk band called The Anarchists Pogo Party playing at the festival's after party in the Belgian Café whose lead singer Mark Loader is somebody I've met in the past. They're well worth checking out (if your ears can handle it!)

But let's not forget what Love Music Hate Racism is all about. It's about celebrating Britain's multicultural society and the melting pot of musical ingenuity that brings, which is why this festival aims to showcase such a variety of genres from a refreshingly mixed bag of musicians, all in a spirit of racial unity and togetherness. In other words: racists need not apply.

You can attend the festival from 12 noon onwards tomorrow at Ramsgate's Harbour Parade and there will be food and drink aplenty! It's bound to be a blast – whatever the weather!

By the way, I couldn't help but notice that LMHR local group chair is Jon Flaig. Is he any relation to Tony, local blogger for Big News Margate? Does anybody know?

In the meantime, here's a bit of Kid British to get you in the festival spirit...

I'm sure many people in Thanet can relate to that song...

THANET IS A 'WEAK AREA,' SAYS THINK TANK

2011-06-13T18:01:00.020+01:00

Thanet has been called a 'weak area' in which the new Work Programme is likely to fail, according to think tank The Work Foundation. Despite being hailed as a key component in the coalition government's welfare reforms, the Work Programme has been criticised by many, mainly due to the fact that it aims to operate on a payment-by-results basis in getting jobseekers back into work. This has led to the suggestion that some areas – of which Thanet is one – may end up being neglected as a result.

The DWP website states that the Work Programme hopes to “ensure good value for money for the taxpayer by basing payments largely on results, and paying providers from the benefits saved from getting people into work.” It adds that it “is very much a partnership between the Government and providers from across the public, private and third sectors – including social enterprises.” It is also the biggest single payment-by-results employment programme ever introduced.

Concerns about the Work Programme's impact on Thanet were expounded upon in an article on the Telegraph website where Neil Lee, senior economist at the Work Foundation, said the following:

“As the Work Programme is based on payment by results, contractors carry the initial risk. There is therefore the danger that private contractors will focus on investing in places where they are more likely to get people into work to secure a return on investment. The financial risk may also be passed down to small, local voluntary organisations which could be knocked out of the market as a result.

“The Work Programme is based on a national payment structure and does not take into account local and regional variations in labour demand. Economic growth is faltering and parts of the country – still dealing with the fallout from the recession – are facing significant public sector job losses.”

If you read between the lines, you'll see where this is going. Basically, since Thanet is an unemployment blackspot (and there's not nearly enough jobs for everybody), it could very well be an uphill battle for the Work Programme to deliver a profit in our area. If things get worse for Thanet, especially once TDC and Pfizer staff start finding themselves being made redundant, then providers may be inclined to focus their energies on other regions instead which have more job opportunities at their disposal. So, if things don't pick up on the job front, Thanet may end up being cast aside and forgotten about... again.

On both sides of the political divide, the Work Programme has been met with eyebrows raised. Over on Left Foot Forward, Daniel Elton ponders whether these Work Programme 'contractors' are better at 'playing the game' than providing services as many of them “have dubious records carrying out public sector contracts.” Meanwhile, on The Spectator blog, Peter Hoskin believes the Work Programme policy is revolutionary, but “this isn't to say that [it] will be easy to implement, nor as successful as the government hopes.” Even a BBC article by Laura Kuenssberg acknowledges that “many in the industry have fears that the government has set the bar too high, and the scheme may just not be financially viable.”

It's difficult to know for sure how this Work Programme is going to pan out, particularly in Thanet, but judging by the Work Foundation's report, the signs don't look too good. What do you make of it?

WHO IS TDC'S SEXIEST COUNCILLOR?

2011-06-08T09:00:00.112+01:00

I thought it'd be a giggle to follow the example of www.sexymp.co.uk by creating this poll to discover which Thanet District Councillors have the most sex appeal. This is all in good fun and no offence is intended. Just vote for whoever you think is the sexiest!

Which TDC councillor do you think is the sexiest? Choose one.

Linda Aldred (Labour)
Steve Alexandrou (Labour)
Bob Bayford (Conservative)
Rosalind Binks (Conservative)
Alasdair Bruce (Conservative)
Peter Campbell (Labour)
Douglas Clark (Labour)
Jack Cohen (Independent)
Keith Coleman-Cooke (Conservative)
Kay Dark (Labour)
Simon Day (Conservative)
Ian Driver (Labour)
Mary Dwyer (Labour)
John Edwards (Labour)
Rick Everitt (Labour)
Sandy Ezekiel (Conservative)
Michelle Fenner (Labour)
Kim Gibson (Labour)
Joanna Gideon (Conservative)
Brian Goodwin (Conservative)
David Green (Labour)
Elizabeth Green (Labour)
Ian Gregory (Conservative)
Ken Gregory (Conservative)
Bob Grove (Independent)
Mike Harrison (Labour)
Clive Hart (Labour)
Sandra Hart (Labour)
William Hayton (Conservative)
Neil Hornus (Conservative)
Corinna Huxley (Labour)
Iris Johnston (Labour)
Thomas King (Independent)
John Kirby (Conservative)
Ela Lodge-Pritchard (Labour)
Julie Marson (Conservative)
Jenny Matterface (Labour)
Pat Moore (Labour)
Simon Moores (Conservative)
Richard Nicholson (Labour)
Alan Poole (Labour)
Michael Roberts (Conservative)
David Saunders (Conservative)
Mave Saunders (Conservative)
Jason Savage (Conservative)
Harry Scobie (Labour)
Will Scobie (Labour)
Brian Sullivan (Conservative)
Michael Tomlinson (Conservative)
Shirley Tomlinson (Conservative)
John Watkins (Labour)
Chris Wells (Conservative)
Zita Wiltshire (Conservative)
Martin Wise (Conservative)
John Worrow (Conservative)
Linda Wright (Conservative)

* * * VOTING HAS NOW BEEN CLOSED * * *
* * * FURTHER VOTES WILL NOT BE COUNTED * * *

View the results

All images are © Thanet District Council www.thanet.gov.uk

Note: This poll was created with Ace Polls. You may notice the question on the poll is different to the one featured on this blog. I copied the question from the Sexy MPs website and amended it slightly to make it more TDC-related, before realizing afterwards that it may be a bit too rude so I apologize if it causes offence. I am in the process of communicating with the web administrators of Ace Polls so they can change it to my preferred question, which is a bit less boorish, though like I said, no offence was intended either way. My hope is that they will amend the poll question in due course.

LOCAL MPS RANKED IN ONLINE BEAUTY CONTEST

2011-06-07T17:45:00.011+01:00

Image from http://www.telllaura.org.uk/resource/QEQM_006.jpg

Local Conservative MPs for North & South Thanet – Roger Gale and Laura Sandys – have been ranked on a website called www.sexymp.co.uk which rates MPs according to their sex appeal. Voting is still ongoing in this much-talked about online beauty contest, so feel free to head on over to the website and cast your vote. It certainly looks like our MPs need some help...

So far, Roger Gale is 446th out of 648 MPs, but he doesn't seem too fazed by it, telling the Kentish Gazette: “So far as I am aware I am still number one with Suzy – and my dog loves me as well.” Meanwhile, Laura Sandys is trailing behind in 529th place, so I think she could definitely do with an extra helping hand to boost her score, so make sure you get voting.

In my opinion, this website is only a bit of harmless fun. It's nothing to take too seriously, it's just a bit of irreverent frivolity. In fact, I'd be very interested to see a poll which allows people for vote for TDC's sexiest councillor. I imagine that'd be entertaining. Come back later and I'll see what I can rustle up.

WHAT THE FRACK?!

2011-06-06T23:42:00.019+01:00

I've just seen on BBC News that local green campaigners are protesting about a company's plans to drill for gas in Woodnesborough near Sandwich. Coastal Oil and Gas Ltd were hoping to use a controversial drilling technique called 'fracking', a form of shale gas extraction which has been criticised by environmental activists for contaminating drinking water, with scientists even claiming in a study that it has a danger of making H2O flammable. Yikes!

'Fracking' is also feared to have caused earthquakes, according to FT.com. Most recently, drilling in Blackpool was halted by Cuadrilla Resources after the British Geological Survey reported a 1.5 magnitude earthquake near the gas exploration site. Such concerns have also been raised in the USA, where many experts have warned that 'fracking' may cause man-made earthquakes after a series of a similar quakes hit Arkansas.

However, if you're a fan of Battlestar Galactica, like I am, then you probably won't be able to hear the word 'frack' and be able to take it completely seriously. No matter how many tremors it may trigger, the concept of 'fracking' will always bring a smile to my face. Here's why:

Did the earth move for you? Let's fracking hope not.

JOB STUDY TRIES TO QUASH NO NIGHT FLIGHT PLANS

2011-05-31T09:17:00.014+01:00

A study by York Aviation on the economic impact of night flights – paid for by Manston Airport's owners Infatril – has tried to quash the case for 'no night flights' arguing that allowing flying between 11pm and 7am would help bring more than 3,000 jobs to the area. Would it be fair to speculate whether this is merely the PR machine cranking up the ante, pushing the results of a study which undermines the logic of those who campaign for 'no night flights'?

Is this study really trying to imply that opposition to night flights will only keep people unemployed? With the closure of Pfizer and the loss of 2,400 jobs or more, it's easy to see how this might sway local people into feeling that allowing night flights is the sensible option, on the basis that it will magic jobs out of thin air. But is there more to this story than meets the eye? Of course there is. Would Infatril really pay for a study which contradicts their preferred business plan for Manston Airport? I say no.

From the outset, this study was probably bound to have an implicit pro-night flight stance, so we should definitely treat it with some misgivings. It even states on This Is Kent that:

"York Aviation is in the process of finalising the second part of the research which will assess the impact that the imposition of a stringent night movement policy would have on the airport's economic impact and commercial operation."

In other words, I'm willing to guess that these studies are more than likely going to lend credence to Infatril's masterplan. This first study, stressing the amount of jobs that may be created by allowing night flights, has an optimistic spin, so the second one will probably be more pessimistic, replete with doom-laden predictions intended to spook people into allowing Infatril to do whatever the hell they want. However, judging by the large amount of publicity this story has been getting, there is a risk that people will take this study at face value and lose sight of the bigger picture.

According to the latest unemployment figures, 4,382 people are unemployed in Thanet, so it's clear that jobs are sorely needed. But to take heed of a study which is eager to present itself as the saviour of the local economy may not be particularly wise, especially if an AEF study by Brendon Sewill on the “dubious statistical concepts” which airport consultants use to make future job forecasts is anything to go by. Sewill states:

“The suggestion that a new or expanded airport will create more jobs is a sure way to attract support from the public and a fair wind from the planners. Naturally airport companies and airlines make the most of this. Yet because they have a commercial interest in magnifying the number of new jobs, their figures need careful examination.”

Sewill also states the following:

“With the current recession, when thousands are losing their jobs, any promise of more jobs is welcome. Airports and airlines for their own commercial reasons tend, however, to exaggerate the number of jobs that will be created by airport expansion.”

Exaggerate, you say? For those of us who like to hear both sides of this argument, it's worth heading over to the No Night Flights website in which they argue that in comparison to job forecasts by other airports such as Gatwick and Stansted, Manston's job forecasts are by far the highest. This should ring alarm bells to people and does warrant further scrutiny.

Ultimately, we need to remind ourselves that Infatril's goal is to make a profit. What matters so much more than that is making sure the wishes of local residents are respected. Therefore, if this study really is built on hyperbolic statistics, then it's important to resist the urge to be convinced by its obvious one-sidedness. I hope people take a more balanced view on the pro's and con's of this issue rather than merely taking this study as gospel. After all, we may want jobs, but it should be on our terms, not Infatril's.