Housing Completions in Thanet for the last 5 years are rising from 367 per year in 01/02 to 651 in 06/07.Completions for the last ten years:-95/96 23496/97 24497/98 36698/99 26899/00 28600/01 29701/02 36702/03 33403/04 41604/05 44105/06 49406/07 651The South East Plan proposed 28,900 new homes per annum across the South east to 2026. Thanet’s share was to be 325 per year for 20 years or 6500 (So our current build rate is well above that proposed by SEEDA, and has been for some time).This (28,900) will not satisfy Government who wish to meet the growing aspirations for housing in the South East. A consultants report came back with three alternatives scenarios of 33,000, 37,000 and 46,000 per annumThe Examination in Public has just ended. The inspectors reported recommendation of 32,000 between 2006 and 2026 means 7500 for Thanet averaging 375 per year.Over the ten year period 2001- 2011 the Thanet Local Plan makes provision for 4,200 new homes; that is 420 per year.This figure is higher than SE Plan requirements (either original, or the inspector’s revised recommendations), so for Thanet at least, it is not Government Policy that is driving house building numbers. It reflects much more over optimistic local assumptions about anticipated economic growth through the airport and business parks. Here in Thanet we should also never lose sight of the now 4500 family units on our housing waiting lists and the stress and strain that this causes, particularly on children. It is questionable though whether the right type of property is being built to meet these needs, or whether TDC is allowing developer’s profits to be over dominant.The last three years figures for housing completions indicate that completions are running well beyond even local plan assumptions and are increasing. This is without any impact yet from major developments at Westwood, Sea Bathing, The Lido, Pleasurama or Thanet College, which together will provide around 2000 units alone. Added to those already built (2783), this already exceeds the Local Plan (2001-2011) target.

DETECTIVES and fire chiefs are appealing for witnesses after arsonists targeted the St Lawrence Bowls Club pavilion in Ramsgate.The Ellington Park structure was set alight between 2am and 4am on Bank Holiday Monday, August 27.The visitors’ changing areas and part of the main roof were destroyed in the blaze. The damage is estimated at around £2,000. Kent Fire and Rescue Service have investigated the fire and believe it was started deliberately. They were called to another fire a short distance away from the pavilion just before that one started. Anyone with information is asked to contact Det Sgt Claire Munday on 01843 222076.Report from Isle of Thanet Extra

Next Thursday, 13th September at 7:30 in Albion House we have the monthly meeting of the Eastcliff Residents Association, ERA. As well a chance to meet and discuss Eastcliff Matters, the guests next week are the team from the developers of the Royal Sands Development on the old Pleasurama Site.This proposal has created some controversy in the past and there are still questions concerning the roof treatment and access.Council Planning Officers will be there as well as hopefully someone from the Environment Agency.Unfortunately, I cant be there, family matters drag me away!

Those wonderful people at the Ramsgate Society run an award scheme for improvements to Ramsgate's environment over the year. It would be great if Eastcliff could win it for a change, I've suggested three possibilities:1. The array of Winsor street lights along Victoria Parade. Initiated by considerable efforts by County Councillor Elizabeth Green, and financed by KCC Highways (Jim Scott) and TDC Heritage Lottery money (Brian White), this lighting scheme has made a huge impact on the promenade and incidently triggered application for similar lights in other areas, including one succesful one (so far) in Wellington Crescent.2. The Renovation of the Eastcliff Bandstand (phase 1) Initiated by ERA (Geoff Woods), facilitated by myself (Councillor David Green), financed by the Lottery, New Opportunities Fund and TDC/Government Single Regeneration Budget. Not only greatly improved and restored, but now a real feature on the Eastcliff in the evenings and has triggered a range of events using the facility.3. The Eastcliff Flagstaff and Town Flag Initiated by myself ( Councillor David Green) and supported and financed by the Ramsgate Charter Trustees, has restored a prominent feature on the Eastcliff related to Ramsgate's Marine history. Has proven to be a useful feature, attracting visitors up Madeira Walk and triggered the production of a magnificent Town Flag.nominations to jocelynm@talktalk.com (the one with most nominations wins)

I was wrong earlier, there's more news worth reading here:Nigeria unaware they’ve applied to join the European UnionA Member of European Parliament Eric Harvey has tearfully confessed to being caught up in a scam that could have seen Nigeria gaining entry to the European Union. The MEP revealed he was initially contacted by a young Nigerian man in trouble, saying, ‘it was so sad, the son and daughter of a disposed military chief needed money to release millions of secretly held funds so they could escape persecution. The bonus was that they would give me a slice of the pie too. It was a win-win… obviously I was concerned about their well-being, not the money.’Read more

The county’s Ryman Premier teams are in action tonight with local bragging rights at stake.Maidstone United will travel to Ramsgate hoping to get their season back on track after only one win in five games. Rams fans will recognise a familiar face as Mo Takaloo returns to the Southwood Stadium. Rams really need to win this one.Margate will be looking to continue their three game winning run with a trip down to Hastings United. A win could see them take top spot in the Ryman Premier.A hat-trick from Shaun Welford last night saw Ramsgate cruise past lowly Maidstone United, who had a man sent off and slipped to the bottom of the Ryman Premier.Stefan Ball opened the scoring with a free kick on seven minutes, and Welford doubled the lead 10 minutes before half-time with a header. The night got worse for Maidstone before the break when Ben Lewis got his marching orders for an elbow on Ball. Welford converted a penalty on 55 minutes for his second of the game, and rounded off the 4-0 win with another header.The result lifted the Rams to eighth in the table, and was the perfect response to Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Harlow.Maidstone’s miserable season continues, with five defeats from their first six games.Margate went to Hastings looking for their fourth consecutive win, but the run came to an end with a 30-yard wonder goal in the second half. Gate trailed early on, but improved throughout the first half and drew level just before the break. Good work on the left from Jay Saunders gave Steve McKimm time and space to drive home from the edge of the area.The visitors had the momentum, but could not capitalise as the game was decided by a screamer from substitute Danny Williams which gave Scott Chalmers-Stevens Margate’s goal no chance as it flew into the top corner.

Cllr Elizabeth GreenPLANS to re-build two Kent grammar schools have come under fire from opposition Labour county councillors who claim Kent County Council has scrapped its original proposal to merge them.Kent County Council’s Conservative administration recently announced it is to retain Clarendon House grammar school for girls and Chatham House School for boys in Thanet, saying it wanted to maintain single sex schooling for the area.But Labour says the decision flies in the face of falling secondary pupil numbers across the county and claim KCC had been on the brink of merging the two – a move it has now abandoned because it did not want to undermine the county’s selective system.Shadow Labour education spokesman Cllr Christine Angell accused KCC of safeguarding grammar schools ahead of the need to properly plan for declining pupil numbers. KCC has estimated that it needs to remove more than 8,000 spare places at secondary schools over the next decade.Cllr Angell said: “Falling roles across Kent mean exactly that - across Kent. Where KCC Conservatives choose to ignore that for dogmatic and outmoded support for the policy of selection at 11, the public gets increasingly confused and cross. "Initially, I understood there was to be a new Clarendon school built on the Chatham site, with pupils in the first few years sharing lessons, eventually to have the same head. "Now we hear the two schools are to continue with the status quo. It is hardly a way to run a county council.”Local Ramsgate Labour county councillor Elizabeth Green said KCC was ignoring the opportunity to re-organise all Thanet’s secondary schools using money from the government’s Building Schools for The Future initiative.“KCC Tories are missing that opportunity in a short-sighted, dogmatic defence of selection at age 11. Kent Council had a proposal to merge these grammar schools and I believe this could well return in the near future as they had a strong desire to remove single sex schooling from Ramsgate.” KCC says the two schools will be kept separate “for the foreseeable future” and it hoped the government would support its bid to re-build them.CLLR CHRISTINE ANGELL: "...the public gets increasingly confused and cross"Report from Isle of Thanet Extra

A public consultation on plans to regenerate one of the key sites in Margate starts Monday 3 September. Its tempting just to leave this difficult question to Margate residents, however I'm sure the impact of Dreamlands future interests many in wider ThanetThanet's Tories have chosen a curious method of consulting over the proposals that by passes the newly agreed statutary planning procedures. I'm not sure of the significance of this, but any consultation is better than none I guess.Planning guidance has been developed for Dreamland and the surrounding area including the Arlington Square site by Thanet District Council, which has been working closely with a range of other organisations, including the Margate Renewal Partnership, SEEDA, Kent County Council, English Partnerships and the Save Dreamland Campaign. This sets out guidance to developers and also gives local people a way of judging future planning applications for the site.The development brief proposes a mixed scheme, which suggests that the majority of the site, including the listed Dreamland building and Scenic Railway, should be kept as part of an amusement based destination, along with an element of other development, including residential. It also states that development proposals should meet the following criteria:Refurbishment of the Dreamland Cinema building for leisure uses that could include conference facilities.Keeping the Scenic Railway.An amusement park on the existing park area around the Scenic Railway.Bars, restaurants and specialist shops within the park.Provision of a 250 space public car park.Associated enabling development, including a mix of family homes and apartments.The development will be phased to ensure an amusement park to operate before, during and after the development.Strong pedestrian links with the High Street and Railway StationA drop in session is being held on Monday 10 September between 2pm and 4pm in the reception area of the Council offices in Cecil Street, with people able to come in and find out more about what the Council would like to see on the site, have their say in a brief survey and talk to Council officers. Copies of the full planning brief will be available for people to look at and they can also take away summaries of the document.Surveys are also available from Council offices and local libraries and can be filled in online at www.thanet.gov.uk The consultation will run from now until Friday 12 October.ENDS

The only Polical News worth reading?BRAIN SURGERY EXAMS “TOO HARD” SAYS GOVERNMENTBrain surgery exams are to be made much easier because not enough people are applying to become brain surgeons, the Government has announced.Only 500 people sat and passed the tough examination last year but Britain contains at least 65 million brains, many of which need almost constant surgical maintenance.Questions in the old difficult exam would typically ask candidates to identify brain areas such as the hypothalamus and set out in detail what functions they performed. Under the new regime people will secure a pass mark if they can point to a brain on a table and then point to their heads to show they know where their own brain lives. The new easier brain exams are one of a whole host of tests the Government is making more simple because too many people are failing. For example, the new driving test which is being introduced next April will no longer regard driving the wrong way up a motorway as an automatic fail.Under the Government’s new brain regime anyone with a relevant qualification, such as a City and Guilds in carpentry or at least two years work experience as a plumber’s mate, will be able to sit the simplified exam, and not just already qualified doctors. Jack Weil, head of on-the-job training for Drain Doctors in Dundee, said none of his plumbers had attempted the move into brain surgery, despite the name of his firm. He said: “The household toilet is very similar to the human brain, once it gets filled up with shit you’ve got a real problem.“I know my men could remove an awful lot of crap from most people’s heads with either a plunger or one of those great big Hoover things, if only they were given the chance.” A Government spokesman said the changes were necessary because you could not get a brain surgeon to come out these days “for love or money”. She said: “The Yellow Pages is full of adverts for people who say they will fix you head, but phone one up and he won’t be free until next Thursday at the earliest.”

With Ramsgate Port set to bid for the maintenance work arising out of the project, news that the Government Inspector has given the all clear for the Lobdon Array substation brings the project that bit nearer. Port Ramsgate could be the focal point for the London Array project with servicing and construction work earmarked for the western end of the harbour, with a £10 million quay built from private funding. Its promised that more than 150 people would be employed to work on the turbines, while up to 800 workers would be needed during the building of the giant pieces of machinery. The same height as the London Eye, each turbine could produce 4000kw of energy, with each blade the same as the wingspan of a 747 jet. Another possible spin-off for the port could be providing a home to contractors building the massive reinforced concrete 400 ton bases that are up to 150ft tall.London Array director Peter Crone said the windfarm development "is a chance that the east Kent economy cannot afford to miss. It is the single biggest project in the area since the building of the Channel Tunnel". Am I alone in wanting to know much more about what the work would bring to Ramsgate before endorsing the scheme. How many jobs for local people? What would be the environmental impact on the town and marina? Would this really be the begining of a sustainable industry for Thanet? Go-ahead for wind farm substationThe substation will feed offshore electricity into the national gridCampaigners hoping to stop a wind farm substation being built in their village have all but conceded defeat following government approval of the scheme.The development is part of the £1.5bn London Array project, for 341 turbines in the sea between Kent and Essex.Swale Borough Council had refused planning permission for the substation, at Cleve Hill, in Graveney, north Kent.But the wind farm developer appealed and the government has now supported a planning inspector's recommendation.David Jeffrey, from the Graveney Rural Environment Action Team, said: "There is probably very little manoeuvre in taking the fight any further, but we are waiting to hear from our solicitor.

The Government inspectors report on the south east plan broadly endorses the draft plan. Highlights for Thanet include the recommendation that Westwood Cross should be regarded a sub regional centre on a par with Canterbury, and that the corridor from Dover to Thanet be designated a "regional development spoke". The region is recomended an increase in housing from 48,000 to 53,000. Dissapointingly, the panel accepted a lower figure of 30% for social housing than the Regional figure of 35%. An extensive Examination-in-Public that fed into the report was conducted by the inspectors between November 2006 and March 2007.The Assembly's Response (press release)Assembly summary of the report (HTML version)Assembly summary of the report (PDF version) - 296 KBThe report can be downloaded in full from the Government Office for the South East website.Chapter 18 - East Kent and AshfordThe Panel accepts the rationale for the sub-region, recognising that there is a need to spread the benefits of an Ashford growth area to surrounding areas; it will allow the sub-region to be marketed as a whole; and there is a common need to improve connectivity in this area at the periphery of the region.Core StrategyThe Panel feels that introduction to the strategy gives a good indication of the challenges facing this sub-region, although the importance of the Kent AONB should also be recognised. It agreed with most participants that Ashford provided the best opportunity for large scale inward investment that would hopefully provides spin-off advantages through supply chains to the rest of the sub-region.Economy and RegenerationThe Panel recognises that development agencies and partnerships have a major role in seeking to stimulate demand and development interest throughout this sub-region, but particularly in the coastal towns and recommend that a reference to this be added to Policy EKA4.Referring to the extensive discussion at the EiP on Lydd-Ashford International Airport, the Panel concludes that it would be inappropriate to refer to the potential role of the airport in the plan. It makes it clear; however, that this does not indicate that growth will be prevented but that the case for expansion should be determined through the development control process.On jobs forecasts, the Panel accepts the figure of 50,000 jobs as a policy led target but acknowledge SEEDA’s advice that its achievement is heavily dependent on the success of Ashford and the hoped-for transformational effect of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL). It also acknowledges that this target implies a higher rate of job growth than labour supply which is a reasonable objective given the nature of the sub-region’s commuting patterns.As with other sub-regions, the Panel feels that the issue for employment land is one of quality rather than quantity and the fact that rental levels are not high enough to encourage investment in the necessary infrastructure or access improvements to unlock existing provision. Where new employment land is concerned, the Panel recommends that the fundamental objective of exploiting potential at locations served by CTRL domestics should be included in the core strategy.The Panel agrees with Kent CC that the objective to attract knowledge-based jobs at Ashford should still remain in Policy EKA7 but that the location should instead relate to the urban growth area and not include a specific reference to Wye Campus, particularly since Imperial College has already indicated that it was no longer pursuing the proposal for Wye Campus.Settlement ShapingThe Panel accepts that investment in new sources of water supply will be necessary to meet the proposed growth.On flood risk, the Panel is satisfied that a process is in place to manage flood issues at Ashford.The Panel recognises that the plans for Ashford include transport infrastructure without which development cannot proceed, which includes the new M20 junction 10A. It is less clear what influence transport has had on the remainder of the area (outside Ashford) as transport studies have not been completed.Where the Dover area is concerned, it does not support it as a regional hub but does accept that the international dimension of the town's cross channel ferry services make it unique in the region. It believes that this reflected in its ‘Gateway’ status and the three regional spokes that connect the town but also recommend that the corridor north from Dover to Thanet be designated as a regional spoke.HousingThe Panel recommends an increase from 48,000 dwellings to 53,000 (2,650 dpa) which it feels would better reflect regional imperatives and local needs. This partly reflects the fact that the sub-region has the least stress on its strategic highways network and will also benefit from major public transport accessibility improvements from the introduction of CTRL domestic services in 2009.A summary of the district and sub-regional allocations are included in Annexes 1 and 2.On Affordable Housing, the Panel concludes that it is justifiable to set a lower level (30%) than the regional target (35%).ImplementationThe Panel welcomes the establishment of the Ashford's Future Delivery Board and strongly endorses the partnership working on delivery mechanisms and the business planning approach that is leading to a costed implementation plan for capital expenditure.The Panel concludes that transport improvements are so vital to support the spatial planning framework that a separate section is justified. It also considers that, given the gateway status, landside access issues to Dover Port are particularly important and are concerned about the short-term disruption that accompanies Operation Stack.

Nelson Mandela at Parliament Square statue unveiling11am Parliament SquareWednesday 29 AugustNelson Mandela will be in Parliament Square tomorrow, you may wish to show your support for him at the unveiling of the statue in his honour.The unveiling marks the end of a determined seven year campaign to see a permanent memorial in the heart of London that recognises Mandela's struggle – and that of many others - against apartheid and the longstanding connection between Mr Mandela and London .If you would like to attend go to the Square tomorrow morning, join in celebrating this historic moment and honouring this great stateman and all those who contributed to the fight against apartheid and against racism. The bulk of the square is open to the public and there will be viewing screens.The actual unveiling is at 11am but you are advised to arrive well in advance of that - i.e. around 10am.

Picture courtesy of Eastcliff RichardThe Eastcliff really has it all this weekend. On Saturday, Ruth Cousins is hosting her Childrens Art at Albion House and the ERA are serving Tea and Cakes in Albion Gardens.All weekend we have the Wantsum Jazz Festival including on Sunday, here at our very own super-duper, out of this world East Cliff bandstand (as ER would say). Acts include Omar, the John Altman Quartet, the Electric 'Arkestra' Experience, and the Harbour Jazz Orchestra. It al starts at 2pm, and includes food stalls including Thai kitchen and Eddie's beer tent. Finally, the Ramsgate Town Partnership are supplying fireworks over the Royal Harbour.