The Letter.

Dear Residents,

Last March a local Parish Councillor wrote to our Prime Minister, Theresa May, concerning the effect that a Commuter Town would have upon the District. He also cited reasons why certain Councillors are not fit for purpose with allegations of taking bribes against a number of them. The matter still has to be fully investigated. We stress that these are only allegations. However, Kent Police have issued a crime reference number. The letter was endorsed by local residents, Parish and District Councillors as well as a Kent County Councillor. Please click the link to view.

Letter to Theresa May Feb 2018

The response issued was the usual diatribe that we have come to expect. Did you spot the spelling mistake? Ms Price almost got it right.

DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER.

Readers of our site will be aware of our views when it comes to voting for any candidate in a local election. There may be a Party policy that some candidates strictly adhere to, on the other hand, there may well be a renegade candidate acting as if they were ‘independent’. Either way, the advice is the same. Only vote for a candidate that represents your views.

Here we have a point in question that illustrates that the advice given is both sound and sensible. Looking at the North Downs West candidates in turn you may want to reconsider your voting pattern given that you weren’t fully aware of the candidates’ position on issues that affect you.

Hollingsbee and Carey (Conservative) Both intent on developing a new town over farmland even though over 14,500 homes are already scheduled to be built within the local plan. So if you’re in favour of 8,500 additional homes plus, you may want to vote Conservative. Their view on Otterpool Town has been consistent.

Neil Matthews (Lib Dem) “As you are probably aware, the current District Council has no functioning opposition. This has allowed plans to be made for building a very large Garden Town which should not impinge on the amenity of neighbouring villages and towns. Unfortunately the proposed scheme will certainly do just that. I don’t think this should happen. The Council needs a change of direction.”

This seems to be at odds with disinformation being put out by Val Loseby (Lib Dem, New Romney ward) who stated that the District Council already have Otterpool, a town of 10,000 houses which is going ahead, already approved.

Liz Phillips (UKIP) “I am a farmer’s daughter from Acrise now living in Stelling Minnis. There are two huge bones of contention in our ward: Otterpool and the lorry park at Stanford. My answer will be a very loud ‘NO’ to both. Once agricultural land has been built on, it has gone. Neither development is wanted or needed.”

Sophie Mort (Labour) “OTTERPOOL (bearing in mind the Council has already bought the site and received government funding for a garden town)
 Reduce the number of houses to 6000.
 30% of this housing to be affordable, with local people having first option. 70% of local
market rent is the current guideline for affordable. There are 1000 people on the housing
waiting list who need to have their housing needs met before incomers. First homes for
local families to purchase also to be available.”

Sophia Moffat-White (Labour) No comment

The official Labour Party position: “Labour are opposed to the plans for Princes Parade and Otterpool Park. A Labour Council will scrap the plans for both projects immediately.”

http://www.fhlabour.org/princes-parade-and-otterpool-park-let-us-be-clear/

Susan Chivers (Green Party) “We are deeply against Princes Parade, and the Lorry Park (although that doesn’t seem to be a current issue from what I can see); however, we are not totally against Otterpool as we have accepted that more housing is needed – we DO need to fight to ensure it is to a reasonable scale, though, that all essential infrastructure (water, transport, doctors, schools etc) is included and held to!, and that the prescribed affordable housing percentage is adhered to.”

Susan’s position seems to be in line with the Shepway Green Party.

Your choice, your vote, choose wisely.

STOP OTTERPOOL TOWN

With just a few days to go before our MASS RALLY in Hythe this Saturday, 27th April, local support has been amazing. We feature the Flower Barn within the Potten Farm complex only too willing to come on board to show support. Many Hythe shops and traders are of the same mindset, displaying our posters as a rallying call for residents to attend.

The Rally is an event of two halves. Meeting in Douglas Avenue at 10.30am, the March through the town will be all about stopping the unwanted and unneeded Otterpool Town; the brainchild of Council Leader David Monk. Whistles, flutes and drums to be encouraged. Placards and banners are a must. BUT PLEASE, NO POLITICAL PARTY BANNERS during the march.

Terminating at the rear of Aldi, speakers square, candidates will have a platform to tell residents on why they should be voting for them. This will be the time to display political banners and hand out flyers.

T shirts will be on sale helping to boost Association coffers. Pre-ordering may be advisable, but not essential. Many sizes will be available on the day.

Spread the word, tell your friends and neighbours and let’s get the message out there.

See you all on Saturday.

S&DRA.

BREAKING: JUST REVEALED: TWO VERY SENIOR FHDC MEMBERS HAVE OFFSHORE BANK ACCOUNTS – JERSEY AND ISLE OF MAN. More to follow on this story .

RUNNERS AND RIDERS – MAKE IT COUNT

The Official list is now in the public domain of all candidates in the local elections being held on Thursday, 2nd May 2019.

Click here to view ‘Statement of Persons nominated’:

Please remember that you will not be voting on issues surrounding the NHS or Trident. This is purely about electing a handful of people that affect our lives at a local level.

Please, please, please forget tribalism and vote for the individual. Make a list of all the issues that are important to you and ask them for a position statement. If they fall short of coming up with the goods for you, don’t vote for them. Meet with them, check out their body language, make eye contact, do what you have to do to ensure that you don’t end up with some of the undesirable incumbent’s that we already have.

It’s your district, you make the choices.

Good luck.

S&DRA.

OTTERPOOL PLANNING APPLICATION

Our Association now has the application for the proposed Otterpool Park Town. We will be commenting further in due course.

Here it be:

Planning Application Reference Y19_0257_FH

S&DRA

FOLKESTONE & HYTHE DEVIOUS COUNCIL.

‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again’.

Referring to the three FHDC Otterpool Consultations, our beloved Council has never published the results as to whether local residents were for or against the urbanisation of our countryside with a 10,000 dwelling commuter town. Moreover, the fact that local Parish Councils told Leader Monk and his Cabinet that Otterpool wasn’t welcomed sent Mr. Monk into a near apoplectic rage.

We have recently learned that a Great Chart/Singleton (Ashford) Parish Councillor has been recruited by FHDC to engage with local Parish Councils to raise their concerns over the proposed Otterpool Park development. But why a Councillor based in Ashford?

Mr. McClintock states that he has had experience of dealing with issues surrounding the Chilmington Green development so thinks he can help us iron out any issues we may have with the proposed Otterpool Park development, or words to that effect.

Now, we know nothing about Mr. McClintock and feel sure that he is an upright, law abiding, honourable citizen with good intentions, which is more than could be said about certain Councillors here in Folkestone and Hythe.

Going on past performance of Leader Monk, one has to question the motivation of recruiting Mr. McClintock when we have already met with FHDC’s experts at previous consultations. Could it be that we have never engaged with them simply because we don’t need a commuter town, thereby not ticking the Otterpool Town engagement box to prove to any Planning Inspector that Residents are ‘on board’.

Forgive our cynicism, but could it be that Mr. McClintock is being used by our own Council to engage with a number of our own Parish Councils simply to state to a Planning Inspector that Parish Councillors are now engaging and shaping the proposed Otterpool Park Town, thereby being ‘Community led’ as per the criteria for a Garden town.

As Residents, we all have the right to know in which direction our elected leaders are taking us with regard to Otterpool. Please take the time to go along to your Parish meeting and make your views known.

Did we mention that Councillor McClintock was on the payroll of Folkestone & Hythe District Council.

S&DRA.

MASS RALLY- SPEAK OUT- 27th APRIL.

The Residents of Folkestone and Hythe have had enough of being ignored and gagged. It’s time to SPEAK OUT. Our concerns over environmental and social issues have fallen on deaf ears for too long.

A mass rally is being organised on the 27th April in Hythe. Meeting up in Douglas Avenue at 10.30 am. Guest speakers to be confirmed. More details to follow soon.

Ramping up towards the local election on the 2nd May, let’s show the incumbents what people power really means.

Spread the word and scribe in your diary now.

S&DRA

LAST CALL TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE..

Are you bamboozled by even the thought of responding to the District Councils Core Strategy Review (CSR) 2019……. DON’T BE. If you still can’t see the point of it……THINK AGAIN. You will be commenting on the framework which will support developments like Otterpool New Town. No, you won’t get the opportunity to tell the District Councillors where to go or where to stick their support for mass development; you’ll have to wait until May, at the local elections, to do that.

Many of us have already given up on following protocol, commenting on various sections of the CSR document. If you’re pushed for time or find it confusing, simply email the Council.

HERE BE THE DETAILS;

CORE STRATEGY – HOW TO RESPOND

GOOD LUCK.

S&DRA.

WE HAVE GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS.

On a previous post we advised Residents to email the FHDC planning department with their comments given that the consultation portal for the Core Strategy Review was difficult to navigate. We also requested that the 11th March deadline be extended.

The FHDC planning department have confirmed that they will accept emails and letters but have declined to extend the deadline. Here’s the proof as set out by David Whittington, Planning policy Team Leader.

‘I am afraid that the District Council is unable to extend the consultation period, however as you suggest, if any residents are having issues using Objective (the consultation portal) we are happy to accept their responses via email or letter. I would suggest that residents submit their main points by 11th March. If we receive any further correspondence after that date we will forward it to the Planning Inspectorate but it will be for the Inspector to decide whether to accept it’.

No excuses: get those emails in. You have until 5pm 11th March.

S&DRA.

PUBLIC MEETING BEING ATTENDED BY SUPPORTERS OF MASSIVE DEVELOPMENTS.

Well. well, well. At least one of the Shepway 3 will be attending a public meeting on mass development in and around Sellindge.

The Shepway 3; Councillors Monk, Carey and Hollingsbee who are supporting the decimation of our countryside, may, just may be turning up at a public meeting at Sellindge Village Hall on Thursday 7th March between 4 and 8 pm. This is after confirming that they would never attend a public meeting pertaining to Otterpool New Town. Council Leader Monk confirmed this at a meeting in Hythe of some 300 Residents, describing them as “Rent-a-mob”. Councillors Carey and Hollingsbee have repeatedly said on countless occasions that they would only meet a small group of individuals to discuss Otterpool for fear of hostility towards them. Here’s the evidence from the February Sellindge Newsletter: “We are also happy to meet with individuals to discuss Otterpool or indeed any other issues or concerns“. So what does that tell us about support for Otterpool Town from the masses?

Councillors Monk, Hollingsbee and Carey: Like minded supporters of ripping up our Countryside for unwanted and unneeded housing

This is all about the Core Strategy Review that is being played down by our District Council to the detriment of our rural way of life and countryside. Organised by Sellindge Parish Council, this is not a public meeting per se, but a ‘drop-in’ event which is welcomed by S&DRA, even though a little late in the day with the ‘cut off’ date being 11th March at 5pm.

We hope that you will all attend and make your views known to Sellindge Parish Council; and who knows, you may even meet one of the Shepway 3.

Don’t forget to take along your local resident ‘rent-a-mob’ friends.

Have we mentioned that the Shepway 3 are standing for re-election in early May. We may have, just once or twice.

Power to the people

S&DRA