Here's a picture from Google Street View of an ordinary house in Birchington. Well, actually, it's not any old house. It's 10, Sea View Road, home of Field Marshal Sir Roger Latchford OBE, one of the new crop of seven old UKIP county councillors voted in at the recent KCC elections. In fact he's just been elevated to the lofty position of UKIP's Chief of Staff for the whole of Kent.
Now, there's no privacy issue here in my publishing this picture. The former Tory and TDC Deputy Duffer's address is on all the election material, and his house is there on Street View for all to see. So nothing contentious there.
That photo was taken in 2009. Take a look, however, at this more recent picture of Sir Roger's drive, which was taken from the public footpath by one of my spies in the last week...
Notice anything different? Yes, that's right, he's had a lovely new, brick block paving job done! Nothing contentious there either, you'd think. Ah, but thereby hangs a tale. Apparently a couple of neighbours also had their drives resurfaced recently, one by a father and son team from Birchington, the other by a company based in Sandwich. Sir Rodge, on the other hand, chose a pair of itinerant Irish lads to do his, which hardly chimes in with UKIP's bluster about local jobs for local people, methinks.
To be fair to the OBEed one (
Why? - Ed.), it's hardly the makings of, er, Drivewaygate. And anyway, I'm told the workmen pulled the proverbial over his eyes by claiming responsibility for the neighbours' improvements. Which just makes him a silly old brick, if you ask me.
15 comments:
Not a company run by Shaun by any chance. Was it?
Nice job I hear the lads put up in a Ramsgate park.
Sea Front Pavings are good at putting concrete blocks up or is it down. Surprised he finished the job tho'
has there been sufficient time to see if the weeds grow through it ?
Is the area on combined or separate drainage. If separate is the paving draining unlawfully to waste water drain ?
TDC and Water Authority can enforce re-work if the paving breaches drainage requirements.
I was hopeful that a chap of your calibre ECR would have come up with a relevant EU directive.
I'm sorry to say, Lynton, that I'm not up to speed with EU directives regarding paving.
It's a stab in the dark, but I'd hazard a guess that Old OBE isn't either!
This post is not of your usual standard Eastcliffe.
Sorry, 5:00pm. I'll report myself to the Blogging Standards Committee.
Don't get me started on the Blogging Standards Committee. I tried to create a Euro septic drainage theme in the thread anon 5.00
As I understand it your rival blogger, who you call Biggles, has indicated that he has been advised by TDC solicitor from the outset of complaint about his blog.
The complainant, on learning this, reported abuse of process to the TDC leader and has suspended his involvement in the complaint process.
So now TDC has a complaint process and no complainant.
Leaving Cllr Hart a novel problem even by TDC Standards. How to cover up an exposed cover up about another exposed cover up.
I gather that Cllr Hart's secretary emailed the complainant asking him to keep playing. And that he refused and told Hart you must now put the history to full council at law.
The complainant does have grounds for Judicial Review but has, apparently, told Hart that TDC isn't worth the effort. He just wanted to use Simon Moores indiscretion to get TDC to cover up an exposed cover up about an exposed cover up.
What amazes me about the long history of derring erring in Thanet is that there was a convicted forger. Dollars and documents like qualifications, UDR ID cards and Armed Forces Service Records.
But it hasn't occurred to Kent Plod yet to ask whether there were forged firearms certificates!
They have only had 30 years to think about it.
I love the quips that the only thing that worked in Thanet was Jimmy's matches and "Typical Thanet long term useless".
Even Latchford avoided employing local Labour.
Private Eye Rotten Boroughs has several councillors under a police investigation - the sooner we have that at TDC the better.
Old Latch as a politician back from the dead can advise on the monitors now.
If only we knew where Buchanan and Pedro lived and they could enjoy the same sort of jet noise they've provided to us.
Shame you cannot get a good Arial view as OBE does look the type to grow his own potatoes.
One rule for Adolf and another for everyone else!
Here's the thing. My mate has a house which he rents out. He had a tenant who was receiving housing benefit from TDC. A couple of weeks ago he didn't get his rent and he found out that TDC had rehoused this tenant. They hadn't told him. He went round to the house and found it had been trashed. Literally thousands of pounds of damage. TDC advised him to speak to the police. The police told him it was a civil matter. The lawyers told him to forget it because he'd never get money out of someone who didn't have any.
I am confused. If I walk into your house and smash it up I will be arrested and charged with criminal damage. If I rent a house from you and smash it up I will not be charged with criminal damage. Something's not right here.
Secondly, why is TDC rehousing someone who has trashed their previous accomodation? I have no objection to using taxpayers' money to house people who are homeless through no fault of their own, but I'll be damned if I can see why we should be paying to house someone who has just trashed the accomodation we were paying for. As far as I'm concerned they can sleep in a cardboard box.
If UKIP really wants to make a difference at local level perhaps they need to develop a new paradigm; preferably, one which ensures that there are consequences, rather than rewards, for anti-social behaviour.
Here here
And while we're at it, why does Roger have a huge 'A' on a lollipop stick by his front door? Does it stand for anything? I think we should be told.
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