Jul 30, 2010 at 0:00 Now & Then: an occasional comparison of past and present (and sometimes the future). This time we're hovering over what is currently the William Street car park.
Herne Bay | Keywords: CDA, Town Centre Jul 29, 2010 at 23:36 Ambitious plans for a £35 million regeneration of Herne Bay town centre have been met with mixed reactions. Scores of people packed into the Salvation Army Hall on Tuesday as Bay councillors gave their views. The scheme, led by developers Denne Construction and regeneration experts Coplan Estates, includes a supermarket, shopping centre, homes, multi-storey car park, hotel and a medical centre. It could be complete as early as 2014. Concerns have been raised that the development will draw people away from shops in Mortimer Street, but that suggestion was shot down by finance guru Cllr Peter Lee.
Herne Bay | Keywords: CDA, Coplan, Denne, Jean Law, Peter Lee, Robert Bright, Roger Matthews, Ron Flaherty, Town Centre Jul 29, 2010 at 13:59 Herne Bay could end up with two giant domes on its pier, just like Cornwall's award-winning Eden Project. The idea is the brainchild of graphic designer Dave Parish. He submitted his plans to a secret meeting of the town's Pier Trust last week, and says feedback has so far been positive. He told the Times: "I am very optimistic about the plans."
Jul 23, 2010 at 23:21 Blooming bollards have brought a sea of colour to Herne Bay - thanks to its In Bloom committee. They installed flower baskets of red and white geraniums over the town’s bollards in the High Street, with help from city council contractors Serco and money from the county council, just in time for the South and South East England judges to call on Tuesday.
Jul 22, 2010 at 22:58 ;)
click it to big itOfficially alien, inert but somehow threatening, Satan's Smarties have been popping up all over. Once you've got your eye in, you realise that they've been hiding in plain sight. Cunning. Looking like larger-than-life models of microscopically disgusting nano-life, they are the pupal or chrysalis stage of a ladybird. Not just any old ladybird, though: the Harlequin ladybird - an invasive species that arrived from the continent in south-east England in 2004 (its range expanded north from continental Europe as the climate warmed) and has already reached the Midlands and Cornwall.
It's voracious, gorging itself on blackfly and eating other ladybirds out of house and home. It's spread has been mirrored by a fall in number of some of our native ladybirds. (Native ladybirds have Union Jack tattoos on the underside of their wing-cases, to help with recognition.)
Ecological dilemma: let nature take its course, or trample them underfoot and make ladybird wine?
Jul 20, 2010 at 23:43 I recently commissioned Zorba the Geek to find a better way to search CCC's bewildering website. Behold the fruits of his labours: the Electric Ferret. Take it for a spin...
Click the CCC logo and search their website for your name, or your street name, or whatever. Then click the Electric Ferret, and run the same search. Now play 'spot the difference'. Top tip: if you're searching for a phrase, put it in double quotes - Beach Street would find all the beaches and streets, but "Beach Street" would find just that street.
CCC Jul 15, 2010 at 23:30 It's not. And denier is an insult because of Holocaust deniers. As a geologist I know about ancient climates and where the atmosphere has been going for hundreds and thousands of years. Yes, there is an impact that man is having on the climate but there’s not much we can do about it, because we're looking at the symptom and not the cause, which is that there are too many people on the planet using up the natural resources. While people are trying to save trees, they aren’t looking at the population issue. Man is affecting the planet on such a scale because of sheer numbers, and that's what needs focusing on.
HB Times interview with Cllr Gilbey, 15th July 2010
If you would like to find out more about the thoughtful elimination of the human race, and Cllr Gilbey isn't available, have a look at The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. They advocate phasing out the human race by voluntarily ceasing to breed, arguing that "crowded conditions and resource shortages will improve as we become less dense".
Myself, I think that smarter actions, rather than fewer people, would be a better way of being "less dense".
CCC | Keywords: John Gilbey, Website Jul 15, 2010 at 23:27 Alex is the opposite of me, in that he's totally political and everything he does is with an eye to the next election. I speak as I see and try to be honest, with the objective of getting things done, and Alex can be economical with the truth sometimes. On a personal level I have no problem with him, and I admire the fact he can talk the hind leg off a donkey and sound plausible. He has difficulties with his group, because they are all split and my group isn’t.
HB Times interview with Cllr Gilbey, 15th July 2010
CCC | Keywords: Alex Perkins, John Gilbey Jul 15, 2010 at 23:17 A CCTV camera has been installed on Herne Bay seafront to deter beach hut vandals - but only for six weeks. The temporary measure was put in place after concerns about vandalism and arson attempts were expressed. The seafront at Western Esplanade has long been a target for anti-social behaviour and criminal damage, with countless crimes reported in recent years.
Jul 15, 2010 at 23:10 How dare Kitewood try to hold the city council to ransom. As MP Roger Gale said, they have already had £1.3 million knocked off the asking price for the land at Margate Road, they agreed a bridge would be built, whoever agreed to the condition that this wouldn't be built until 17,000m2 is occupied should be ashamed of themselves.
Herne Bay | Keywords: Blacksole, Kitewood, Roger Gale MP 
