From Cllr. Clive Hart - Leader of the Opposition at TDC.
"For seven years they've struggled on, but over the past month the current Conservative administration at Thanet District Council has finally lost any control they ever had of the local authority. Instead of running the District properly and cautiously they've been gambling with essential local services, fighting expensive legal battles with our own residents and the people of Thanet have been consequently punished for Tory neglect.
In February the Tories launched TDC into the unknown with their hurried 'shared services' scheme for East Kent. Decisions were rushed through that could see TDC tied in to long, expensive and binding agreements with it's neighbouring authorities with no clear financial savings yet established, but substantial financial penalties should the ventures fail. These changes will mean the loss of local democratic control of housing, waste collection and support services and effectively allow major decisions to be made for the future by just a tiny group of council Chief. Executives and council leaders. Jobs could also be lost to Thanet, as due to our geographical position any centralising of management in East Kent would be unlikely to be based on the isle. Within just a few days of making these decisions the council was then presented with a Financial Risk Assessment in which their own council financial officers described their 'shared services' project as probably the largest risk facing the council to date and that the likelihood of shared services not being progressed was also deemed to be high risk. The Tories are gambling with our essential services.
At the beginning of March we then had the 'summing up' session of the Montefiore Village Green application at Albion House in Ramsgate. This matter should never have descended into this sorry state of affairs - a long drawn out legal battle between a local council and it's own residents, who just want to retain some green space for future generations. For several years now, the current Conservative administration at TDC has been behaving like the most ravenous of property developers but this latest episode simply beggars belief. At the 'summing up' the public had to sit through over four hours of complex legal wrangling but that was just the penultimate step in a process that has drawn on for three years and still has several months to run. Goodness knows how much this has cost us all as local ratepayers? When a council is directed to behave in such a confrontational manner towards its own residents it really has been pushed in a very dangerous direction indeed.
And during the past month Margate's High Street was branded one of the dreariest in the country and Ramsgate Royal Harbour was downgraded to the bottom six of ninety one UK harbours.
Seven years of Conservative rule has culminated in a month of gambling, confrontation and punishment for neglect. The current Conservative leadership at TDC should stand down - NOW!
Published by Thanet Labour Group Press Office - 44 Northdown Road, Margate, Kent, CT9 2RW.
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