The meeting was
addressed by John Davies chairman of the Friends of Ramsgate Seafront (FORS) group and former Thanet Councillor, Ian Driver,
a longstanding campaigner against the Pleasurama development. Mr Davies said
that FORs will be campaigning for a public inquiry into Thanet Council’s management
of the site, especially the sale of the freehold to developers Cardy Ramsgate for £3million last week at a
time when other Cardy companies were reported to be facing serious financial difficulties.
Mr Davies said that FORS will be
organising more public meetings in the
near future to gather support for their campaign for an inquiry with the ultimate
aim of securing the return of the land
to the council.
Ian Driver, said that the derelict Pleasurama site
had blighted Ramsgate seafront for more than 20 years and had deterred investment
and development in the area at the cost of £millions in lost income and jobs.
He said that he did not believe that Cardy Ramsgate would ever complete the development
and that Cardy’s funder, the offshore Panamanian
based Mintal Group, would ultimately take control of seafront site and land
bank it till prices rose. He explained that
Mintal appeared to be owned by multi-millionaire, Colin Hill, who was also the
financier for the previous failed Pleasurama developers SFP Ventures. He said
that Thanet Council should make a determined effort to regain ownership of the land and that there should be a major public
consultation with the people of Ramsagate about what the land should be used
for. His preferred option was from leisure and community use. See video of Ian Driver's speech to the meeting below
Tear the fence down and occupy the site
ReplyDeleteAnd anything goes wrong with cliff face TDC face an action for damages ?
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Thanet council are fare game to take action for damages for any reson that anybody can see a way to go,coupled with off shore secrets.
ReplyDeleteTDC paying £900k to Sands because TDC didn't have the land access ready? Who is responsibe for that at TDC?
ReplyDeleteWhat did Mayor Shonk do before he retired?
ReplyDeleteTDC don't stand a chance against these professional developers. They agreed to give the £3 millions lease to Cardy Construction rather than be sued by SFP Venture for the £5 millions they claimed they had spent. At the time Cardy Construction seemed to be solvent with a good track record and a good order book. Now TDC seem to have been outwitted and again faced the prospects of being sued for the £5 millions or hand over the lease to new comer Cardy Ramsgate who have no track record and most probable are SFP by any other name! So its back to land banking until TDC offer over £6 millions t get the lease back.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid it is well played Colin Hill and TDC is shafted. Much the same as Dreamland acquisition method.
ReplyDeleteA nice cliff face collapse at Ramsgate would now cost TDC a packet and after repair enhance the value of Colin Hill investment.
Beats working for a living.
Kent Police in Daily Mail for expensive salaries and expenses - no doubt Live Animal overtime too
ReplyDelete