Thanet News Network

5 Fantastic Thanet Blogs

Mon, 28 May 2012 08:23:00 +0100

There are just so many blogs about or mostly about Thanet and the surrounding areas that it is hard to keep track of them all. Here are five great blogs that you definitly want to make sure that you have not missed.

Thanet Says no to night time flights

Sat, 26 May 2012 21:20:18 +0100

After careful consideration the council has said no to night flights.

They said in a press release: Although supportive of Manston Airport, Thanet District Council agreed at Full Council on Thursday 24 May that it could not support the introduction of the airport's proposed scheduled night-time flying.

Councillors were considering the council's consultation response to proposals submitted by airport owners Infratil to introduce night flying operations between 23:00 hours and 07:00 hours.

Concerns over the potential noise and environmental impacts, as well as strong public feeling against the proposals, meant the majority of Councillors did not support the airport'sconsultation proposals, submitted to the council in October 2011.

As well as underestimating the potential negative impact, members also felt that expert advice provided by Parsons Brinckerhoff in an independent report, questioned the potential economic benefits.

Members took three votes on recommendations from Cabinet following their meeting on Thursday 10 May. All three recommendations, as detailed below, were approved:

1. That subject to any further comments that Council may wish to make, Council agrees the consultation response to Manston airport's night time flying policy as set out at Annex 1 of the report.

2. That Council confirms that Thanet District Council fully supports the day-time operation of Manston Airport but further recommends that as a Consultee, the Council cannot support the introduction of scheduled night-time flying operations between 23:00 hours and 07:00 hours for the following reasons:

a) The council's consultation shows 73% of respondents are opposed to night-time flying;

b) Noise and environmental impacts are underestimated;

c) The number of jobs generated and the economic benefits may be overestimated;

d) The probable detrimental impact of night-time flying on Thanet's recovering Tourism Industry;

e) Concerns raised in the World Health Organisation's assessment of the impacts of disturbed sleep;

f) There is concern that the night-time flying proposals have not considered Article 8 of the Human Rights Act;

g) The Airport would need to address whether the proposed night-time flying policy constitutes a plan or project for the purposes of the Habitats Regulations and then follow the further requirements of those regulations as relevant.

3. That Council authorises the Director of Community Services in consultation with the Leader of the Council to provide final written comments to Manston Airport incorporating any amendments considered necessary.

Leader of Thanet District council, Cllr. Clive Hart, said: Last night's decision follows months of careful consideration. After listening to the concerns of local people across Thanet, and taking expert advice on the proposals, we were clear that our response to Manston could not support night-time flying. As a council we do support the airport and recognise their position as a key local business in the area, however this can't be at any environmental cost.

The council's consultation response will now be submitted direct to Manston Airport.

Mitzy is a playful girl (Cats in Crisis Thanet)

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:17:00 +0100

Cats in Crisis Thanet: Mitzy is a playful girl

Playful cat seeks new, loving, owner. Are you that owner?

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Rogue cash-for-goods shop(s) in Thanet? (Thanet Star)

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:12:00 +0100

The Thanet Star � Rogue cash-for-goods shop(s) in Thanet?

Here's a story that perhaps you can help to round out.I have just been chatting with a young lady who has had rather an unhappy experience with what appears to be borderline illegal actions of a shop when she tried to sell her phone. Her story was that she took her phone to a Cliftonville shop in order to raise some cash. This is an increasingly common activity as cash is a touch hard to come by presently.However when she did not agree to the price offered by the shop for her phone things bec...

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10 things to do in Kent this Easter

Fri, 6 Apr 2012 10:35:34 +0100

What are you up to this Easter? Take a look at 10 things to do in Kent | This is Kent

Wondering what to do in Kent this Easter weekend?There's lots happening right here in the Garden of England and here are ten things you could get up to this weekend.1. National Trust, Langdon...

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People of Thanet urged to help make Thanet quicker

Mon, 2 Apr 2012 14:59:00 +0100

Thanet residents and businesses are being urged to vote for superfast broadband to be made available across the area.

The campaign, Make Kent Quicker, is being run by Kent County Council and aims to show Internet providers that there is a high demand for superfast broadband across Kent.

Thanet District Council is supporting the campaign to get improved broadband services in Thanet which will make a real difference for residents, schools and businesses.

More than 5,000 people have already signed up to say they want better broadband in Kent but many more are needed to ensure providers can see the demand for quicker services.

The ambition is for 90 per cent of homes and businesses to have superfast broadband access by 2015. Kent County Council and the Government are investing more than �20 million to help make this happen.

Cllr. Clive Hart, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration, said: The campaign is a great ambition for Kent and one that we fully support.

He added: We urge all residents to vote for faster broadband for Thanet to ensure that Internet providers see the high demand for this service in the local area and invest in the improvements. It only takes a few minutes to register your demand and every vote will make a massive difference to the potential to secure faster broadband for Thanet. Get your family, friends and neighbours involved too.

Anger over lack of government funding for Thanet

Sun, 1 Apr 2012 14:52:06 +0100

Thanet has missed out on government funding to help bring empty High Street shops back into use in what the council is calling a real travesty.

The government announced earlier today (Friday 30 March) that they would be allocating �10 million to 100 districts across the country from their High Street Innovation Fund Grant. This will support new business start-ups, whilst bringing empty High Street properties back into use.

Thanet has not been included in this list of 100 districts, despite Margate regularly being named amongst the worst in the UK for its level of empty shops.

Councils were not asked to apply for this money. It was instead allocated by the government using business rate returns. These look at the business rates collected across a whole district for all commercial, industrial and retail units and warehousing. This is then compared with how much business rate relief has been given to empty commercial units throughout an area. This method of calculation does not focus on High Street empty shop levels.

Leader of the Council, Cllr. Clive Hart, said: To me, this is a real travesty. I cannot believe that Thanet is not going to receive any of this money, given our well documented issues with empty shops. Margate is sadly all too often in the national news headlines, perhaps sometimes unfairly, for having some of the highest levels of empty shops in the country. To hear that �10 million is being allocated by the government to tackle this problem and we are not receiving any of this is exceptionally disappointing to say the least.

He added: The way they have calculated this does not give a true measure of empty shops on the High Street and, as such, we feel this is a very unfair way of deciding who should receive the money. I sincerely hope that the next round of Portas funding, which all our three towns are applying for, will see success for Thanet, as the area desperately needs the additional funding on offer.

Little Weapon

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 18:43:31 +0000

Your Pictures: Richborough Tower's last moments

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:07:37 +0000

Kim's photograph of the last moments of Richborough Power Station's iconic cooling Towers.

We also have a video of the destruction of the Richborough towers.

Your Video: Richborough Towers Demolition

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 10:03:24 +0000

This morning (a little earlier than announced) the towers finally came down.