Tuesday, September 02, 2008

News From The Front

Gerry O'Donnell aka Family Guy, the People First parliamentary candidate for South Thanet, has put finger to keyboard to whizz me a missive concerning the parlous state of our cliff lift here in the trendy part of the Ile's premier town.

Our teeny-tiny council/kiosk gauleiter has apparently been having a run-in with TDC over the on/off status of the up/down device, culminating in the following fulmination to the Uranians:

The continuous breaking down of this lift, particularly over the most important Bank Holiday weekends, summer months and in particular, during the various weeks in which international events have been staged is unacceptable. I would add scandalous.

Ramsgate has suffered enough from TDC's ineptitude and dereliction of its duty towards the good people of Ramsgate. TDC's attitude to any of Ramsgate's seaside attractions and facilities is and has been that 'if it needs fixing, close and demolish it'.

The lift should be working at all times, throughout the year, from 8am to 6pm in winter, longer in summer, as an essential utility/facility for the rate-payers of Ramsgate. I know that TDC doesn't give a fig for the disabled but a working lift on both cliffs would, in properly run districts, be considered essential for their inclusion in all of the town's beachside amenities.

I do not believe that vandals are to blame for any significant damage to the lift. I think it is poor maintenance flowing from poor and parsimonious management.


Clearly our Jezza is that steamed up he could crush a grape! He's got a point, though, as the following newsreel from ECR TV demonstrates:

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

But gerry o d is a sad chap, who would be better off trying to get on who wants to be a millioncouncillor than trying to be a real one. He should elope with tim garbutt

Anonymous said...

The lift in Broadstairs was all padlocked up and clearly out of use on Sunday afternoon. It sends a message that Thanet simply doesn't work.

Anonymous said...

Gerry's right.....but people don't vote for him. This means one of two things. Either they don't care about the things he cares about, or they don't like him. For my money, if Ramsgate First elected an electorally-viable candidate as leader they'd sweep the board.

Michael Child said...

Richard first many happy returns, to me the whole infrastructure of the cliff facades, cliff railings and lifts seems to be in a pretty bad way, I reckon that lack of maintenance is building us up some huge bills for the future.

Anonymous said...

People were trapped in it over the weekend according to the Thanet Tomes. Had to be relieved by firemen.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the clip!

Anonymous said...

Well Gerry O has a point. Chatting with those in the know I was told that the lift often breaks down because of water damage. So unless the council fix the leaks, the problem will just happen again and again.

The policy of spending just to fix, without the foresight to do preventative maintainence is foolish in the extreme!

Sindy Shylock said...

Maybe if Gerry sold some nice healthy salads instead of hotdogs and other junk food then both he and his customers might be leaner and more energetic and not so dependent on the lift?

Just a thought.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that by serving fatty food to passers by Gerry is singlehandedly responsible for making Thanet so revoltingly fat and all the lifts keep breaking but it / he can't help.

Lucy Mail said...

At last someone talks a bit of sense!
Well done Sidny!
Were they to impose a weight limit of, say, 13st per male and 10st per female, it can only be good for the lift, can't it?
Might even make the lardies feel a bit unwelcome and self-consious, which they most certainly are and damned well should be!

Anonymous said...

This from a bloated sow, I don't think so. And I mean solely the characterisation, not the person behind it.

Mitch said...

Yes, Happy Birthday ECR, 29 again!!!
Must admit the opening time/ closing times are erratic. Bit better than when it was manned though and at least nobody gets hurt or abused in what must have been a soul destroying job...
lucy mail, have you got something against us well built 14 stone mature men or what?

Anonymous said...

Has anyone relieved those poor trapped firemen yet ?

Lucy, if she were a legislator, would introduce unenforceable law I reckon.

Can you imagine Thanet's bluebottle finest standing there with a set of scales ?

"Hop on there sir, you are twenty stones sir you cannot use the lift"

Smack bash.

Twenty stone man uses lift.

Police make exaggerated claims against Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

Police Area Commander writes a poem to drum up public sympathy for his officers.


"We have weighed on the lift top scale

And met a man too big for us to jail

He kicked us to bollix and used the lift

Apart from the compo one shitty old shift

Lucy Mail said...

Dear (P)Rick, who wouldn't be able to use our lift, even if you were cut in half and sent along in two goes, I thought you'd been told to sod off with your inane drivel!

Anonymous said...

Rick only weighs eighteen stones - and good luck to him! You just mind, Ms Mail, that you don't meet a bacon slicer when you next trot around Waitrose. Or are you a Lidl kind of a sow?