Yesterday I attended a meeting of Thanet Council’s
Pleasurama Working Group. The meeting was called to consider the legal advice
received by the Council about its relationship with Pleasurama developers SFP
Venture (UK) Ltd. This company was appointed by Thanet Council 12 years ago to
develop a luxury hotel and apartments on a prestigious seafront site. In this
time the company has developed precious little. Instead it has succeeded in turning
this once beautiful seafront location into a festering bombsite which has
blighted an otherwise lovely area of Ramsgate for more than a decade.
As someone committed to open and transparent government I
would like to be able to tell what the legal advice said and what the Working
Group decided. However, on this occasion even I, who has previously released
secret Thanet Council documents in the public interest, have to agree that the
advice was of such a sensitive nature that it should remain confidential for a
short while longer.
My personal view is that SFP has been in breach of its
development agreement with the Council for at least a year and that the company
should have been thrown off the site a long time ago. When I began to campaign
for the removal of the developers more than a year ago I met nothing but from
resistance, ridicule and downright hostility from the Council’s ruling Labour
Group, especially Ramsgate Labour councillors, who openly supported the
developers despite a decade of failure. Thankfully a number of Conservative Councillors
including Jo Gideon, Ros Binks and Julie Marsden joined with me to call for the
removal of SFP. It is only relatively recently, when the labour Councillors realised
they might lose their seats at the next election that they woke up to reality and
decided to take the matter seriously.
My view has not changed. I believe that the Council must remove
this company of failed developers from the site as quickly as possible. Whilst
not going into details, I believe that the legal advice received by the Council
is very helpful in this regard. I repeated my views at yesterday’s meeting and
I was not alone. There will be another 2 meetings where the legal advice will
be discussed and a final decision on what the Council will do should be taken in
the next 2-3 weeks.
I sincerely hope that the Council will decide to rid itself of
its incompetent and failing developers as quickly as is legally possibly. If this
course of action is approved and the Council recovers ownership of the land
there should be a proper and meaningful discussion
with the people of Ramsgate about the Pleausurama site should be used for.
I think that most of the people in Ramsgate would agree with you Ian. However, we are then faced with the question of why the council has allowed this mess to drag on, particularly when they were presented with evidence that officers had neglected to do the proper background checks and that the developers didn't actually have the money to build the thing. My perception is that councillors are far more concerned with protecting their mates who got us into this mess. The way out of this is for Laura Sandys to back calls for a public inquiry, so that any fraud and incompetence can be fully exposed and the individuals responsible named and shamed. Then, the agenda of covering up who did what will become redundant and we will be able to move forward. Of course, those in power are unlikely to back this call because many of them backed their chums and were equally negligent in not asking relevant questions. Let's have it out.
ReplyDeleteThe entire history of the Pleasurama Project and for that matter the TransEuropa Ferries scandal has been characterised by cock-ups, incompetence and maladministration and no-one - senior officers or politician has been named, shamed or disciplined for this. there will be more to come with regards to that shady organisation East Kent Opportunties which has cost Thanet taxpayers millions with zero returns. It makes my very angry and very sad about how Thanet Council is managed. Hopefully we can change all this at the 2015 elections.
DeleteOff topic, Ian, but did you hear about the bedroom tax loophole? Some folk are eligible for a refund:
Deletehttp://www.london24.com/news/east_londoner_hailed_hero_after_finding_loophole_in_bedroom_tax_1_3211700
But they'll have to be quick because the Lords are going to close it next month (scroll down to 2:58 PM 'Housing: Underoccupancy Charge') :
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/140114-0001.htm
The developer agreement needs ending and the site cleared ready for the Summer.
ReplyDeleteOver to you Ian as a councillor: write to Mcgonagal, Sandys and the Police and ask for FOI of all documents, a summary and a Police inquiry. Unfortunately they are shuffling around trying to cover up/delay to protect pensions. A review of what has been paid to 0% Samuel etc would be useful.
ReplyDeleteYes a public inquiry into this and TEF.
ReplyDeleteThat way one hopes all those who left TDC having signed confidentiality agreements will have to answer questions.
Perhaps someone out there can confirm whether this is the case.