Westgate Jam Fudged

Views on Canterbury's controversial Westgate traffic trial ditched

Thousands of signatures and hundreds of letters about a controversial traffic trial are being swept under the carpet by council bosses. The official public consultation into the scheme to ban traffic from the Westgate Towers in Canterbury started on Friday and all previous comments will not count.

It means the 4,000 people who signed a petition calling for the scheme to be scrapped, and the hundreds who wrote both in favour and against the trial, will have to put pen to paper – or fingers to keyboard – again.

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Vickery-Jones showered with praise

Now here's a funny thing – at Canterbury City Council Executive on 29th March, the leader of the council, Cllr Gilbey, went out of his way to congratulate Cllr Vickery-Jones on his recent successes.

The first of these was the chaos that resulted from the re-routing of traffic around the Westgate Towers, which will probably soon be renamed the Vickery Victory Arch.

The second praiseworthy achievement was Cllr Vickery-Jones' masterful and diplomatic handling of Tesco's threatened invasion of Herne. John Gilbey gave a moving account of Cllr Vickery-Jones' single-handed triumph over the retail giant:

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See the NoToTesco march

Here's a natty little video of Sunday's march against Tesco in Herne. It is described as a message to Cllr Vickery-Jones.

I wonder if he'll get the message...

I wonder what it takes for him to get a message...

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Cllr Vickery-Jones has said that nothing short of civil disobedience can prevent Tesco inflicting itself on Herne... Not so.

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The "never apologise, never explain" approach to democracy

Here's a councillor who thinks he was elected to speak his mind. What do you think - did you vote for representation, or a brain dump?

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Battling Bay councillor Peter Vickery-Jones and campaigner Phil Rose have clashed over a campaign to get the Downs registered as a village green. At a recent council meeting, Mr Vickery-Jones blasted Mr Rose as "pious and lamentable".

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Tesco at Herne: villagers fight, councillor gives in

The Herne villagers fighting Tesco are being stitched up by Cllr Vickery-Jones. The villagers and the parish council are refusing Tesco's "cash contributions", but the councillor is happy to take the money on behalf of CCC, contrary to the wishes of his constituents.

The Council is perfectly well able to make life difficult for people using the planning process, but Cllr Vickery-Jones seems very willing to throw up his hands in surrender when it comes to Tesco. It wouldn't be the "cash contributions", would it?

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Tesco ignore Herne residents

Fierce public opposition to Tesco's plans for a store in Herne can be ignored, according to supermarket giant spokeswoman Carol Leslie, but villagers may get some compensation in the form of a community centre above the shop.

Mrs Leslie was speaking after what she described as a "very productive" meeting with ward, county and parish councillors about the planned Tesco Express in the empty Upper Red Lion pub.

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Crass criticism from stunning councillor

Yes, dear reader, I was there and this actually happened - Cllr Vickery-Jones scored a few notable firsts. He is the only person to have called the village green application "crass", and he is the only person to have called me "pious".

He also suggested that as a "newcomer" I didn't have the right to clutter things up with my pesky village green application. He seemed to have forgotten that the application is supported by 1,180 other people, some of whom were using the Downs on a regular basis long before he ever saw the light of day in his native Derbyshire.

He also demonstrated an astonishing lack of understanding in his belief that a village green could in any way only ever benefit a single person.

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Massive anti-Tesco protest rally at Herne

Villagers turn out in force to fight Tesco

Tesco was set to hold talks with councillors today (12th Jan) after 500 people piled into a village church to oppose a new store in Herne. There were incredible scenes as hundreds turned out to vent their anger at the supermarket giant’s plans to move into the Upper Red Lion pub. The public meeting attracted so many people it had to be moved at the last minute from the village hall to St Martin’s Church. Defiant parish council chairman Tony Day, who will meet with Tesco today, said:

“There will be no negotiation. It will be Tesco out of Herne and nothing but.”

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If you would like to join the campaign send your contact details to

tonyday@nototesco.org

Visit the campaign website:

www.nototesco.org

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Don't want Tesco, do want pub!

Following up to last month's hoo-ha about Tesco bidding for the Red Lion pub in Herne, and one of the ward councillors being the only person who didn't think it was a disastrous idea, we now have some more local feedback...

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NO. We do not want Tesco in the village of Herne or Broomfield for that matter. ('Tesco always just muscles in and takes all the trade', Herne Bay Gazette, September 29).

I am on the planning committee of the parish council and would not support any plans that involve the Upper Red Lion for anything but a pub.

I am having the subject put on the agenda of the parish council meeting on Thursday, October 13, starting at 7.30pm

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The Upper Red Lion at Herne, Tesco, and Peter Vickery-Jones

What do the locals make of the tale of an old village pub, a greedy supermarket and a local Councillor? Disgusting, stupid, ignorant... and they're not talking about the pub or the supermarket.

Here's how the tale has been unfolding over the last couple of weeks in the HB Gazette. The pub closed in March 2011, and is up for sale at £¼m. Tesco will take it off Punch Tavern's hands if they can get planning permission, although both sides are being tight-lipped about the deal. Ignoring the concerns of local businesses, Cllr Vickery-Jones wades in, spouting daftness.

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