Wednesday 3 November 2010

Manston: contamination

I completely forgot the RTC meet tonight on Manston etc – just as well if the councillors and civil servant farce of whether there is or isn’t a consultation last year, this year or next year - but happened to wander past and chatted to Richard Styles the Town Clerk.

I mentioned him that the report and accounts and latest budgets are still overdue some 4 weeks after requesting them – and some 3 months after them being signed off by RTC.

I suspect a bit of shuffling of feet over actual costs, Custom House contracts and civil servant salaries and pensions. Better to delay and hide them from the public.

How bizarre a council delaying publishing its own report and accounts for public funds.

I mentioned a strange letter form RTC requesting business donations to the Xmas lights “or Ramsgate may go dark”.

He looked at me as though I’d suggested killing his first-born that the public and business provide £60M in tax in Thanet – plus national tax – so why would we provide a voluntary tax given so little has been done?

The Xmas lights are over 10 years old – during the time of the Charter Trustees who were also doublehatter TDC councillors.

Again he looked horrified when I said why not cut civil servant salaries or sack a few to free up funds or provide grants.

Manston: chatting to a Fire Brigade friend the assumption is that Manston fire cover is only available 9-5. Probably not into the evening and 11pm - and certainly not 3am flights like Egyptair.

A bit of political bullpoo over the 106 and hairsplitting on planning permission etc.

There’s nothing wrong with the 106 as such. It just hasn’t been enforced.

Worse, Infratil and TDC actually removed the noise monitors in Autumn 2006 and never replaced them. And refused to deploy monitors.

All specified in the 106.

That’s a criminal offence for an airport slated for expansion: endangering a lot of the public needlessly.

Especially when part-funded by KCCC and SEEDA.

No explanation from our councillors and MP’s. Nor Brian White and Richard Samuel.

Will Laura Sandys or Roger Gale raise it in Parliament? Or keep schtum?

And today the criminal case into Britain’s worst mass poisoning at Camelford reveals that the water company “told staff to keep quiet over the contaminated water supply”.

Silence on Thor mercury from Messrs Samuel and White.

Silence on Pegwell Bay: Manston fuel draining into the Bay.

Silence on the MOD Fire base: fire training chemicals used on the aquifer.

Silence from TDC Contaminated Land officer.

Silence from KCC Cabinet.

Silence from Environment Agency: Andrew Ogden, Andrew Pearce, Harvey Bradshaw.

And statements from Roger Gale that Thor and Manston were well-run and posed no danger to the public – when the factory exploded in 2007

Silence or nonsense doesn’t help.

No votes in poisoning your own citizens.

Why were the monitors removed from Manston?

When did councillors and civil servants know?

When and how have they raised these problems?

Why were they not replaced?

What are the Thor toxin levels? And Richboro?

How’s the East Kent aquifer?

What is the Manston Fire cover?

Why are planes not following the “no overflights” rule?

It's a lot of cancer by simply ignoring the 106 and likely contamination of the public.

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