More turbines

The Crown Estate gives the go-ahead for Kentish Flats and Thanet Offshore windfarms to expand by 50%

The agency that controls the UK sea bed, the Crown Estate, today announced that it has agreed to extend the first and second wave of offshore wind farms to provide more than 2GW of additional capacity, enough to power 1.4 million extra homes. The organisation said it has authorised the extension of five existing offshore wind farms that combined could provide an additional 1.7GW of capacity, and had also approved the expansion of two other planned projects in order to provide an extra 340MW of capacity.

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Liberating labyrinth

This is rather lovely: in the midst of fear and pain, people finding comfort and consolation in a simple but convoluted path. I'm no fan of religion (but a great fan of the few hospices I have spent time in) and although this labyrinth was instigated by a reverend and inspired by a cathedral, it seems that this pattern of bricks has a power, and fills a need, that transcends our modern and formal interpretations of the divine. You can donate to the Pilgrim's Hospice here.

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General Election results

Here's how you voted. See how it compares with my forecast...

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Le Petit Poisson in the press

The local press are also impressed with Le Petit Poisson. It's hard not to be.

Year of refurbishment brings 'amazing results'

A seafood restaurant has undergone a stunning transformation on the site of an old public toilets and pier ticket office. Le Petit Poisson - at the top of the pier in Central Parade - reopened last week after the £200,000 makeover.

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Freedom from choice

Nice to be Mayor, to be Mayor, nice!The next Lord Mayor is a shoo-in. Of course. And not everybody's happy about it. Of course.

So, the Canterbury City Conservatives have "arranged" a smooth transition from one Lord Mayor to the next. Please don't be surprised or disappointed by the absence of consultation - it seems to be their style. They may have a grudging admiration for the Soviet era ballots with 99% turnout and 100% agreement. I expect the North Korean style of compulsory consistent consensus is an inspiration to our own Precious Leader, Jonji-il Bi. But when it comes down to it, is anyone bothered which councillors fill the roles of Lord Mayor and Sheriff? Wouldn't it be smarter to choose the most photogenic and media-savvy people from the district, regardless of whether they're councillors?

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How to help the Pier

Joining Herne Bay Pier Trust is a chance to make a difference to the town and play a part in building the history of the future. The trust is urging people to become involved in preserving the pier and add their views to plans for the area surrounding it.

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Classic Cars: punny headlines, good news

Big crowd drawn to May fiesta
Mustangs and Cadillacs make day a Triumph!

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Storm brewing

A war of words has broken out between pier campaigner Kim Hennelly and county and city councillor Jean Law just days before Tuesday's Pier Trust annual meeting. In a series of e-mails between the two women, Cllr Law accused property investor Mrs Hennelly 49, who lives abroad most of the year, of "whingeing". But Mrs Hennelly replied: "I am not whingeing. How bizarre you think that."

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Post-election: stress, disorder

In contrast to the hard mathematical precision of my recent results analysis, today I go out on a limb for a national prediction. The LibDems will collect more votes and more seats than ever, but not as many seats as the number of votes would imply (as usual). What will thrill them to bits, however, will be the wildly disproportionate influence that they will wield as the maker/breaker of kings and coalitions. 

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Daft General Election Forecast!

Behold my far-fetched but statistically sound election result forecast. You will by now have heard and seen any number of polls and analyses, confidently "predicting" Thursday's outcome. I expect you are all worldly-wise enough to realise they are a load of tosh. Weary call centre slaves heckle the unsuspecting few by phone, and smug pundits recklessly extrapolate the results to several decimal places of precision. Knowing that you will be unsatisfied with such piffle, I have assembled the most reliable prediction yet - read it if you dare...

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