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Monday 27 June 2016

Newington By-Election: Vote for David Green??


 I posted previously about David Green seeking to become  Labour’s election candidate in Newington because he wanted to “seek revenge” on the voters of the  ward for  rejecting  him in 2015. http://thanetgreencouncillor.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/labours-newington-candidate.html

I said at the time that portraying yourself as a “revenge seeking candidate”  was being disrespectful  towards voters and is not a healthy, or desirable, motivation for standing for  public office.  I still believe this to be true.

But today, instead of focusing on  David Green’s motivations, I want to examine his  previous record as a local  councillor so that  people can make up their minds about his suitability for office. To do this  I have drawn up a list of  David Green’s key political achievements when he was a member of Labour’s ruling administration at Thanet Council and a member of Thanet Councils Labour controlled Cabinet between 2011-15  .

Please bear in mind that this is my own analysis of, and opinion about, David Green’s political record between 2011-15. I would expect anyone interested in this matter to seek information elsewhere, including from David Green himself and the Labour Party,  in order to have a balanced picture. That said here is my list of what David did.
 

1.     Member of the Labour Administration/ Cabinet which approved the  secret fee deferral agreement with TansEuropa Ferries which cost council tax payers £3.4million. David Green did not publically criticise this arrangement when it became known.

 
2.     Member of the Labour Administration/ Cabinet which banned live animal exports from the  Port of Ramsgate, even though the council had legal advice saying that this would be unlawful – costing council tax payers £5million in compensation to date.  David Green has, to the best of my knowledge,   made no public statement distancing himself from this reckless and expensive decision backed by himself and his Labour colleagues.  
 

3.      Member of the Labour Administration/ Cabinet which invested between £7-8million of council taxpayers money into the Margate Dreamland Amusement Park project and who appointed the  park operator which has  failed to pay debts of more  than  £3million and is now in administration.  David Green has, to the best of my knowledge,   made no public statement criticising the massive mismanagement of the Dreamland project which may eventually cost tax payers dearly.
 

4.     Member of the Labour Administration/ Cabinet which decided to sell off  Thanet’s publically owned heritage  to the private sector  such as the Ramsgate Pleasurama site, Broadstairs and Ramsgate’s pavilions, Margate’s Theatre Royal  

5.     Member of the Labour Administration/ Cabinet which failed, over a 4 year period, to develop a Thanet Local Plan thus  allowing speculative developers to secure planning permission/  build housing on our rural green field sites at Manston Green, New Haine Road etc  instead of building on previously developed brown field sites.


6.     Member of the Labour Administration/ Cabinet which supported the development of an expensive (£26 million), unnecessary and environmentally damaging Parkway station.

 
7.     Member of the Labour Administration/ Cabinet which cynically exploited the Save Manston Airport campaign by pursuing a Compulsory Purchase Order many people knew was  extremely unlikely  to be unachievable in order to gain electoral advantage. I do not recall David Green making any public criticism of this manoeuvre.

 
8.      Member of the Labour Administration/ Cabinet which trashed via a dawn bull-dozer raid the Little Oasis Skate Park Margate which had been  paid for and constructed by young people and their parents. Not a word of public criticism  from David Green do I recall.
 

9.     Member of the Labour Administration/ Cabinet which failed to recover into council ownership the  Ramsgate Pleasurama site from developers who despoiled and blighted  the seafront for 20 years.

 

10.  Member of the Labour Administration/ Cabinet which disobeyed Government guidance to allow the public to film its meetings. Choosing instead to call the police to remove those who wished, through filming, to have councillors held to account. I do not recall David Green supporting proposals  to allow the public to film  of meetings until the council was forced to so  by law change.   

 
This is not, in my opinion, a very inspiring record of achievement for a wannabe “revenge seeking councillor”. Having looked at the list of candidates I would personally vote for the LibDems but even then, like David Green, they are also staunchly Pro-EU and I voted Brexit. But one thing for sure I would not be voting UKIP, Tory or Labour’s David Green
 

16 comments:

  1. Have any of the candidates issued any manifestos yet?

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  2. I believe in the past he has backed the party line & not listened to the people or voted for what is truly best for the town.

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  3. You could produce a similar list of shame for just about every other long-standing councillor in Thant. They are all tainted by cruddy useless decision and an abject failure to examine issues in any detail.

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  4. Can say in a positive note that he did answer emails and get involved in a local issue and attended a residents meeting with Iris at his side - didn't expect that railroading of the meeting but managed to keep it in line - shame we didn't get anywhere with sorting the key issues out ;/

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  5. Ian, Your comments are aimed at the Labour Party and not at David as an individual. Perhaps you need to look in a mirror before condemning others who have achieved significant status and respect in this town.

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  6. David's standing as a councilor - and a senior one at that being previously Mayor and in Cabinet - under the Labour banner so can respond to the above? Is filming still not allowed at TDC or RTC?

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  7. 20:46 respect and status for what?

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  8. Elected politicians should be judged on their record, so it's perfectly legitimate for Ian to list Dave Green's failings. I have no doubt that Mr. Green would try to defend himself by pointing out that, whilst he was a member of the administration which did all of these things, he didn't necessarily agree with all of them. However, I'm afraid he has to take collective responsibility for the disastrous administrations he served in and the massive damage they have done to the area.

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  9. Has Dave spoken up on the Thor mercury pollution or indeed any of the TDC councillors?

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  10. Quite right. None of the councillors has spoken up, Interesting to note that the Environment Agency is all over Stone Hill Park's planning application recommending restrictions and controls to protest the aquifer. Funny how they didn't do anything to protect the aquifer from Wiggins, Thor or Sericol. Bolting the stable door after the horse has gone (I think that's what it's called).

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  11. Wells is keeping his head down on the manston monitors scandal as is Bayford on Pleasurama

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  12. SHP is effectively a New Town isn't it? How will Thanet's crumbling sewers and polluted aquifer cope given the floods from a minor storm last weekend?

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  13. Dave Green in the Gazette today writes that Labour didn't cause any debt at TDC and the Port etc was well-run. How could we have thought otherwise and reduced Labour to just a few seats?

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  14. Ian Driver and the Greens write in the Gazette too to support the SHP plans...which will be hugely environmentally damaging...

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    1. Not so! If you read our letter carefully you would see that we are demanding a broad range of environmental mitigation for the site including high levels of insulation, micro-generation, water re-use technologies, the facilitation of improved public transport to and from the site and safe cycling and walking. We have also asked for more trees to be planted and the rpovisions of community allotments. No one else has been asking for this.

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