Further news of cost-cutting and blood-letting at our beloved council has reached the old Eascliff lugholes. Yes dear reader, even on a Bank Holiday Monday I must be a slave to your news lust and forgo plans to whip out my trusty old throbber and give it a thrashing!My spies on Uranus report that Chief Executive Yosemite Samuel ushered grim-faced senior officers into a meeting last week to give them the gloomy news that large pruning shears are being sharpened and that even 'the topmost branch may go too'. Presumably if you add diminishing receipts from credit-crunched tenants and council taxpayers to the interest being paid on assets that are becoming increasingly worthless, it all adds up to a large pile of sod-all. Hence the need for drastic action.
So it looks as if the only turkey Thanet Council will be carving up this Christmas is itself! What worries me is that they can barely be classed as competent in the boom times, let alone with all these costly chickens coming home to roost!
15 comments:
I have never been able to discover why the chief executives budget increased by more than 3 times last year, are you implying that that’s were the pruning is going to start?
Blimey don't you boys have anything better to do on a fine august bank holiday.
Their getting jack from me unless we see a bit of action!
Er, I suspect, Michael, that when he talked about the 'topmost branch' he was in all likelihood referring to the one just below where the fairy sits.
Oooh you mean the tinsel - never liked tinsel - really tacky. Come to think of it if they axed the whole lot would we even notice?
Ben while going through the process feeding young children I am also finishing of a new book, Adventure in Oysterville which is coming out of the printer now, the blogging occurs during the waiting for technology periods.
I do not find the persistant rumours that the council is about to go broke hard to beleive when you look at the state of our streets. I put in a formal complaint a few weeks ago about the shocking state of Augusta Road since when it looks worse if anything.
They cannot even deliver basic services so why have they got involved in adventurous and risky plans like buying the Margate M&S building and turning themselves into property developers? It would not surprise me to find we are knee deep in rotten waste over the winter with the money running out, plus the refuse workers have gone on to council terms and conditions and can take full advantage of generous holidays, sick pay etc so being paid for sitting on their backsides watching telly is a tempting option. Those of us who do pay our council tax are subsidising a weak management whose house is clearly in a state of gross disorder. Isn't it about time the government stepped in?
Abolish Thanet Council.
Is this why TDC is so desperate to push through the application from Wills and CGP? Unseemly haste at Wills' pleading or Samuel's? A quick sale of 5 acres for The Gateway Building and the ransom strip will net East Kent Opportunities £2.25 million. A case of TDC benefiiting from a planning application whilst it is the Planning Authority?
It is a sorry state of affairs when the enforcement officer gets the leader award - what does he do to bring employment and revenue into TDC - seems to hammer small businesses is how it looks to many of us?
Northdown house is to be boarded up this autumn - then what will come next a mystery fire --- they have all lost the plot. Unitary authority calling or an elected Mayor.
We arent sad people blogging on a monday - weather depressingly cold so we're all inside!
Does this mean they've pre-empted my plan to stand for election on a platform of no increase in taxes for five years? Or is this just a load of cr*p story that Samuels is putting out to make him look tough; meanwhile taxes will increase beyond the rate of inflation yet again to pay for the Turner fiasco, and all of the other waste-of-money Council initiatives which ignore real businesses in the area. Vote for the freeze taxes party (me), and help real local businesses which employ real local people.
Oh this one's good - and yes please put me down for the no tax increase party please.
You wait until the Water companies get their wishes under the WFD and puts Thanet under the water meter regime, all because of a weak and supine planning regime (at all levels0.
The polluter pays principle is being seriously undermined in Thanet and now the Tax payer is going to pay dearly whilst large companies will profit at our expense.
Meanwhile it appears that our supine House of Commons is doing nothing?
When I was making a big fuss about allotment vandalism and the delay in erecting fences, I asked about the £4.5 million FIRST installment TDC would receive from the sale and development of Manston Road allotments. I was told that the money was needed for the new swimming pool amongst other things. Now TDC are saying the new swimming pool is threatened by lack of funds.
The fences are now up btw and really good. We all feel a lot more secure and the allotments are really being taken up fast.
Thanks to Paul Burrell and the allotment team at TDC.
Paul Burrell, the late Princess Di's butler? I think you mean Paul Verrall or maybe not.
Haha! I can't believe I wrote that. I'm sure I didn't! Someone has tampered.... With my brain obviously. Yes Paul Verrall.I meant Paul Verrall. Sorry.
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