Wednesday, August 20, 2008

China Gateway Decision Deferred

Regular contributor Jenny writes:

The (Thanet Council) planning committee (convened to decide on whether we should get a 3m sq. ft. taste of Chinese globalisation) tonight voted 8 to 7 to refer the planning application for China Gateway to a full council meeting. The next listed one is for October but I assume they will call a special one before then.

Update: Full story now running on yourthanet website here.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well done for reporting so quickly. I will pass on the good news...with a suitably random and amusing picture

Anonymous said...

For those of us who have been on holiday how do we find out more about the purchase of the old M and S building in Margate and what sanction is there for such an inept decision such as paying so much for that building by the cabinet - any chance of the same sanction as Lady Tesco and her mates got? The normal Thanetition had no idea of the purchase let alone on a mortgage, talk about negative equity and now capital funds are having to be used to fund revenue expenditure at TDC
including paying the mortgage i expect, if what i read of Councillor Wise's comments of the proposed asset disposal is correct. Why couldnt they have had all the arty stuff at Northdown house instead of boarding it up this Autumn?
Sorry to be off the subject but none of the blogs have done any pieces on it?Seems to me instead of messing around chasing non existent Chinese provided jobs they should be saving our ratepayers money not squandering it with negative equity.

Anonymous said...

Dear anonymously concerned (of Thanet)

M&S details

53,55,57 High Street and 10,11,12 Cecil Square (CT9 1 DY)

Transfer dated 29 March 2006 between GEP (South) Limited and Thanet District Council
Price stated £4,500,000

May i suggest that you contact Company House, quoting the company
registration number 5442342 for more details.

Anonymous said...

The puzzling aspect to all this is how senior TDC Cllrs keep quoting the numbers of long term unemployed in Thanet to justify the building of the China Gateway project.

There is a good reason why a lot of these people are long term unemployed. It is because they are unemployable - either lacking the skills, will or social conscience to actually shoe-horn themselves out of their sofas and go to work each day.

How on earth is this scheme going to tackle some of these deep rooted issues ? I am assuming that the Chinese are going to want a skilled, enthusiastic, willing workforce so I am betting that this development will make diddly squat difference to the long-term unemployed figures in Thanet and we will keep funding their existence as we currently do.

Rant over, soapbox removed and stashed away. High horse tethered.

Anonymous said...

GEP (SOUTH) LIMITED
55 BAKER STREET
LONDON
W1U 7EU

It would appear likely from the address that these people are a property offshoot of Jeremy Paxman's favourite pants providers as it was M&S HQ at the time of the sale.

Anonymous said...

Thank you - i knew other bloggers would have the answers - so taking that a logical step further if they hadnt made this purchase we wouldnt have had to have the asset disposal at all - that was to have been £5m receipts and M and S £4.5m
so contrary to Councillor Latchfords's comments the asset disposal is NOTHING TO DO WITH SWIMMING POOLS, instead selling the family silver to cover their blunders.
come on Michael Child do an article on this please it's down to you as ECR and Bertie otherwise engaged!

Anonymous said...

Mr Fridays is concerned that Thanet's unemployed are either long term or unemployable. At the moment the government is giving TDC £110,000 extra per month to try and get Thanet working. You may ask what they are doing with the money, KCC have tried to get invovled in spending the money.

Anonymous said...

Who would you bet on to get a better property deal? TDC or the M&S property team? LOL!

Anonymous said...

Back to the topic.

CGP share price in June - £1.36.
CGP share price today - 56.5p.

And that's without them telling anyone the decision has been deferred!

Anonymous said...

Back off the topic "Pathways to Work" provider compamies get 194 quid per person per week for running courses in writing CVs etc for months.

And New Labour is trying to kid us it is saving money and forcing incapacity benefits claimants into work ?

What are Sandy's figures for incapacity benefits claimants in Thanet ?

Multiply by 194 to derive the weekly cash flow in pounds for developing Manston as a giant Pathways to Work time wasting facility for all the claimants who will actually always be claimants.

As ECR would say "Holy Balance sheets" f-ck off Ken Wills we got a use for Manston. A claimants in perpetuity CV writing skills centre.

Sssssh you know who

Anonymous said...

Phweeeew thank the lord! I nearly lost my excuse for not to getting off my ar$e and going to work!!!!!!!

Bullet dodged, now where the feck did I put that Stella?

15 Years unemployed and loving it! ;)

Anonymous said...

9.53

You are being unemployed for Britain. Well done.

The pattern of inflation is the reciprocal of the pattern of unemployment.

So you are not just sitting on yer idle arse. Far from it you old patriot you. You are on the front line battling inflationary forces.

The other Thatcherite principle is that we need entrepreneurs.

So if you want to double your efforts for the British economy obviously you should work a but at the same time as drawing dole.

Then if you could pare a week here and there to attend CV writing courses so the private company (whose owber is worth 55 million) can cop 194 quid of public money off the sweat of yer CV writing hand ... all to the good.

Who needs the Chinese coming in here with national minimum wage jobs.

Anonymous said...

Just in case the Pathways to Work and Work Capability Test doctors get you ....

Invent a fictitious self employment

Cop the forty quid a week extra for return to work

Get Tax credit with an additional disability premium

Return to sofa better off

Hope this is helpful.


After seven months of self employment go sick again so the incpacity benfits link to giove you the higher rate and declare that as soon as you are well it will be back to yer self employment.

Since you have a job (self employed) you will not be called to Pathways to Work Interviews

Be willing to attend CV writing courses as you would not want to deprive the 55 million quid owner of the company from her 194 quid a week off the sweat of yer CV hand.

Only fools and horses would work for the Chinese at NMW.

Ken Wills ? New bizzo plan mate get into bidding for area Pathways to Work contracts ... do you know how to write a CV perchance ?

Anonymous said...

Forgot to say you stay entitled to yer working tax credit for six months of incapacity benfits so just benfore the six monthn call to see the Work capability doctor public sector parasite person ... sign off the sick and renew yer tax credit claim.

Hope this is helpful fellow patriotic skivers

Anonymous said...

PS Can someone refer Bog Noise Margate to this thread as Tony likes something to cogitate about as he is swing that sledge hammer maintaining the rail tracks.

How pleased he will be to learn to what good use we put his taxes.

Anonymous said...

10:39 LOL... you are my hero..:) its so good to have the migrants also working their little behinds off so I can put my feet up and get that 42 inch Hidef TV bless their little hearts.. :)

China Gateway, Manston Airport expansion are of real concern but with enough finess I should be able to dodge going out and doing a days work for some time to come. :)