I am becoming increasingly worried about the public scandal called Ramsgate Pleasurama. So are thousands of Ramsgate residents who have signed a petition demanding an end to the project and no sale of the Pleasurama freehold.The developers SFP Ventures UK Ltd were appointed by Thanet District Council almost 11 years ago to manage this project. In that 11 year period no significant progress towards the completion of the prestigious flats and hotel complex has been made. All we have is an appalling eyesore that has blighted one of the most beautiful parts of Ramsgate's Seafront for over a decade.
Despite promise after promise, the developers have failed to raise the money to take the project forward. And to its everlasting shame Thanet District Council has failed to take robust action to deal with the failing developers. In 2009 senior officers advised Councillors to terminate the development agreement with the SFP. But Councillors from both the Conservative and Labour Parties voted by an overwhelming majority to continue with the agreement. Worst of all they also voted to extend the deadline by which SFP could complete the work until 2017!. That's AN INCREDIBLE 15 YEARS to build this project. I don't think the ancient Egyptian Pyramids took this long to build! And get this! the same councillors also voted to reduce SFPs performance bond from £5.6. million to £1million.
All this is the face of officer advice to terminate the contract. I wonder why a Council, led at the time by gaoled and disgraced Sandy Ezekeil, would want to ignore the professional advice of its officers, and give the failing developers yet another chance?
If this were not bad enough the project developers SFP Ventures UK Ltd, were originally called SFP Venture Partners Ltd which was owned by SPF Services. Both of these companies are/ were registered in the British Virgin Islands. Offshore companies such as these do not reveal who their directors are. I speculate as to whether the directors of these organisations may have had links with Thanet politics or business or both. We will never know.
But one question must be asked why did Thanet Council enter into a £multi-million legal agreement with an offshore company who's directors were unknown to the Council. This is incompetence of the first order and should have never been allowed to happen.
And the latest news is that SFP are now demanding that Thanet Council sell them the freehold before the development is completed for £3.3 million. I say that Thanet Council would be mad to do this. Under no circumstances should the freehold be sold to SFP. After all they already have an 199 year leasehold on the site.
I am the only Thanet Councillor who has been consistently speaking our against the Ramsgate Pleasurama development.
I call on Thanet Council to terminate its development agreement with SFP with immediate effect. Let's get rid of the failing developer and have a public consultation on what the site should be used for.
If I am elected to Kent County Council I will continue this campaign and will not rest until this development is halted.
Here is some footage of a recent public meeting about Pleasurama at which I spoke.
They are ignoring the advice of professional officers because they are fools!
ReplyDeleteThat's why it's called advice, it can be taken or left, no unusual at all for it to be left.
ReplyDeleteHow can you deliver on Pleasurama when the developers hold agreement with Thanet Council, the body you have pledged to resign from?
ReplyDeleteIan, your readers should be left in no doubt as to the costs associated with going against officer advice.
ReplyDeleteIn 2009 Councillors went against officer advice and refused to grant my mother and her disabled partner a two year temporary planning permission to stay in their mobile home in Manston. This was overturned on appeal and cost ratepayers twelve thousand pounds . Their decision also generated a report into bias on the part of Manston Parish Councillors. Reports where an outside solictor is engaged, as did happen here, cost between five and ten thousand pounds. Questions this report raised remain unanswered.
This is only one example whereby councillors go against officer advice without sufficient explanation and incur not insignificant costs. How many more cases are there I wonder?
How unusual Solo. TDC don't like addressing their critics. Probably because there are too many and they don't have plausible answers. Will you publish the application no please.
DeleteAn appeal against a fourth enforcement is underway as we speak 20.16, and I will publish the application number as soon as I have sight of it.
DeleteThis has the stamp of Ezekeilism all over it. No wonder Bayford is so quiet. If there wasn't a hidden Tory interest and the decision to reduce the bond against the officer recommendation was straightforward and above board, he would be shouting from the rooftops by now. Bayford knows a lot more than he is letting on.
ReplyDeleteThe officers clearly knew what Ezekiel was up to, which would explain why they and Iris set out to get him put inside.
ReplyDeleteThere is the example of Tesco's in Westgate and Margate, both reccoended by officers, neither as yet approved. Just because council doesn't follow officers advice (lets remember the vast majority voted to ignore them, not a couple in this instance), doesn't make the result wrong or illegal.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteJames you really are a pompous arse. With your tory mate who was responsible for the ridiculous decision in 2009 having gone to jail, how can you have the audacity to question someone who is trying to get some sense into TDC. There should be a full enquiry and disclosure of all the parties involved. And for the sake of the Tory Party you should keep your mouth shut. Least said soonest mended should be your strance. Just like your current leader, Bayford.
ReplyDeleteWhilst I applaud any attempt to get the Pleasurama site sorted for the benefit of the town, I was interested to read that Cllr Driver is becoming increasingly concerned on the issue. He has been a town and district councillor now since May 2011 yet only recently seems to have noticed this problem.
DeleteMichael Child and Ken Read have been campaigning on it for years and have well researched the subject. They are, perhaps, to be more applauded for their efforts than a politician who suddenly becomes high profile with an election coming up.
With respect Mr Clarke, I have been asking questions about Pleasurama for almost one year. This hardly qualifies as "having recently noticed this problem". I am the only Ramsgate Councillor to have taken a pro-active stance on this issue and the only Councillor demanding that the agreement with SFP Ventures be terminated. I have worked with Mr Child and several other local people on this matter and have also had discussion with District Auditor. I will continue to raise this serious matter until it is resolved. I hope this information is useful
DeleteIan, I hope you will acknowledge that you have not been the only councillor being pro-active and asking questions about this issue for some time? Cllr Julie Marson
DeleteHi Anon 18.56. You are correct. Julie Marson has been asking lots of relevant questions Pleasurama. Julie is also a strong advocate of fairness and even though our political views might differ sometime. I respect her for strong principles. In my opinion Julie Marson and Jo Gideon would make excellent Conservative leadership team on Thanet Council. I have also acknowledged on many occasions the work of Ramsgate MP Laura Sandys on live Animal Exports. Thanks for reminding me about this anyone would imagine we are in the middle of the election!
DeleteIan, You are absolutely right. Both Jo and Julie could make a huge contribution to the conservative leadership team. Not sure they could cope with the line up of officers that need to be sacked. Trouble is the current tired old wannabes including Bayford wont admit they are either beyond their sell by dates or totally useless. The conservatives at the moment may as well not be there.
DeleteShame Bayford and his mates haven't the guts to apologise for the Ezekiel behaviour. On the other hand their apologies would be getting an boring by now. Cat Killer Raffell , homophobic Gregory, Panama what's his name. When will it end?
ReplyDeleteCOUNCILLORS will discuss the potential sell-off of the controversial former Pleasurama site on Ramsgate seafront at a council meeting on April 18.
ReplyDeleteThe item has been put on the agenda after a petition gained 1072 signatures and triggered the debate.
Well said Ian. Most people in Thanet know how obstructive TDC officers are and the depths they will go to suppress information. Michael has done a sterling and thankless job and you have taken up the reins within the Council. Everyone knows that the deal stinks to high heaven. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteAnon Michael is undoubtedly the hero of this. He has worked for years gathering information, asking awkward questions and making the facts available on his blogsite. Many senior Ramsgate Councillors and senior council officers happily slag off Michael and try to portray him as a troublesome eccentric. Had it not been for Michael I would not have been able to campaign effectively against Pleasurama and the Friends of Ramsgate Seafront would not have been as influential as they are. My only wish is that Michael should also have been running in this election as an Independent as well. I mentioned this to him and he laughed at me.
DeleteThe outcome of the meeting on 18th is clear for all to see. On current track record there will be a decision to 'defer for another date', 'order a judicial enquiry' or, 'have a further cinsultation period'. Not so much "Yes Minister". More "The Godfather Pt IV" As for upcoming elections .... it would be a dereliction of duty to vote for any of the clowns now standing in line to get their noses into the trough. What would Mrs.T make of this lot?
ReplyDeleteCllr Driver, if you succeed where others have failed in bringing this Pleasurama saga to a successful conclusion, I will be amongst the first to applaud you. It is something that has blighted Ramsgate and the locality for far too long.
DeleteThat said, whereas some on political bias, are quick to blame either the Labour administration, who first entered the deal, or the Conservatives for the 2009 preview, I find the collective silence most worrying. Where was the voice of Labour opposition in the Tory years and where now are the Tories now they are in opposition. It seems almost like a union of collective incompetence so that no one side is in a position to criticise the other. Furthermore, what exactly are the penalties TDC would face for now ending this contract for surely, ten years plus of inactivity should present a reasonable defence to any such action by an unknown off shore company.