Deferral on Kingsmead land decision

Excellent news - Kingsmead has won a brief reprieve, thanks to the sheer number of written objections, and the huge support for the online petition.

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Discussion by Executive members of council proposals to appropriate land at Kingsmead for planning purposes has been deferred until the meeting on Thursday 21 June.

Originally the Executive was due to consider the plan at its meeting on 31st May.

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Review launched into HS1 impact on regular rail services

Canterbury City Council is conducting a review into the impact of fast rail services on Kent’s network after research revealed journeys on regular trains are now slower. Rail campaigners have accused operator Southeastern of slowing down mainline services by adding additional stops in a bid to make High Speed 1 more appealing.

It followed a report by Canterbury City Council which revealed the total journey time on regular services on the north Kent line was up to 20 minutes slower since the introduction of HS1. This has prompted a critical review by the authority, which is expected to be completed in two months. Southeastern denied the accusations of slowing down trains stating that timetables were based on service specifications set by Government, outlining how many services there should be from a particular station.

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Making allowances

Council leader John Gilbey once again tops the table for take-home pay among city councillors, new allowances figures show. Mr Gilbey, who represents Blean Forest, earned £32,382, more than half of which came from his special allowance of £21,361 as council boss. The Tory's expenses included £2,000 in mileage and £570 for his mobile phone.

Conservative vice chairman of the council's executive and Seasalter representative Jean Law was runner up with £17,235 – her basic allowance of £4,710 topped up by special responsibility allowances totalling £8,502.

Executive member Peter Vickery-Jones, who represents Herne and Broomfield, came next – his £13,093 including £5,505 in special responsibility allowances and £408 for his mobile phone.

Lib Dem leader Alex Perkins, who represents Wincheap, earned £12,378.23 including £6,611.78 for special responsibility, while former Labour leader Julia Seath, who did not stand in this year's elections but used to represent Harbour in Whitstable, claimed £6,134.

The figures were released by the council last week and broken down into basic allowance, special responsibility, travel and subsistence and PC allowance for the financial year to 31 March 2011.

HB Times 9th June 2011

Comprehensive Spending Review: reactions

HB Gazette 28th Oct 2010

Politician calls politician "political". Nation laughs, yawns.

You have ferocious exchanges with Lib Dem leader Alex Perkins. What do you think of him?

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

High maintenance councillors pocket £386k

Expenses, expenses - dontcha just love them? No suggestion here of unseemly duck houses or whatnot, I believe this is all above-board, as-per-normal stuff. It all mounts up pretty quickly, far exceeding the projected savings from museum closures, for example. But it's the salaries that bug me. And Mr Parris has a point.

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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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Herne Bay councillor charged with corruption

Canterbury city councillor Roger Matthews has been charged with corruption.  The 57-year-old, who represents Greenhill and Eddington ward in Herne Bay, has also been suspended from the Liberal Democrat Group following the shock news.  He is due to appear before magistrates on Thursday, March 26 alongside Herne Bay Golf Club owner Julian Brealy. Matthews said he plans to plead not guilty and will "have his day before judge and jury" at crown court. 

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Radio Sausage

A few ounces of reconstituted tree, shaped into a local freesheet, thump to the floor. The crisp metal edge of the letterbox snaps back into place, briefly trapping a small fleshy obstruction. The pain-numbed child continues its paper round.

This is what passes for effective communication in 21st century Kent.

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