SPONSORED WALK IN HYTHE. MAKE FRIENDS WITH THINKING PEOPLE.

Dear Residents,

A FIRM DATE FOR YOUR DIARIES.

A sponsored walk is taking place on Sunday, 29th October to raise funds for our fight against greedy developers and the rotten Council obliterating our communities. 

YOU ARE ALL INVITED. 

Meet at Fishermen's Beach at 10.30 am for a leisurely stroll with friends along the parade.

Details to follow soon.

S&DRA 

MIPM  Shepway District Council  David Monk  Otterpool Park  Cozumel Estates  DCLG Expression of Interest 

A FREUDIAN SLIP, A SENIOR MOMENT OR OTHER? YOU DECIDE.

Dear Residents,

The recent publication of the KM Folkestone & Hythe featured, on page I and 2, an article put out by Councillor Monk stating events from his perspective of just how the public meeting at Hythe Bay School, 12th September, ran its course when some 300 people turned up to hear how Otterpool New Town would affect the Residents of Hythe. 

According to the article, Councillor Monk said " Someone even shouted out calling me a liar. I'm not a liar, and I went there in good faith".

"I'm not a liar"

We have strong evidence to show that that statement from Councillor Monk could be incorrect.

Our own independent research has shown that Councillor Monk did tell a great untruth on Radio Kent last year. Thanks to the honesty and transparency of Monks Horton Parish Councillor Les Barratt, details of (what we are calling) the Great Untruth, have been disclosed to the S&DRA team.

Please take the time to read the following thread of emails. (It should be noted that this is not the email thread in its entirety, but relates to the most pertinent points).  It only confirms what we have already stated; Councillor Monk is not fit to hold Public Office of any kind.

12th August 2106.

Dear Councillor Monk,

My name is Leslie Barratt. I am Vice Chairman of Monks Horton Parish Meeting and reflect the views of  Monks Horton residents on all issues. The issue in question here is the Shepway District Councils' proposal to build a new town of 12,000 dwellings in and around the villages of Westenhanger, Lympne, Newingreen and Sellindge. 

You will recall that you invited me along with our Parish Chairman to attend a 'Parish Councillors meeting' on the 7^th June 2016. You will also recall the general negative response that you received from all 27 Parish Councillors in attendance towards the development of a New Town which you are calling 'Otterpool Park'.

At that meeting I listened intently to all comments from across the chamber and finally raised my hand to speak. I politely asked if, through the chair, we could have a show of hands of how many Parish Councillors thought it would be a good idea to build a Garden Town as proposed by your Council. You flatly refused. I asked again. You flatly refused. You then raised your voice as if to dismiss my request. My initial thought was 'where is the democracy here'? I then raised my voice and put the question to the 27 Parish Councillors in the chamber: 'Can we have a show of hands please:  Who here, thinks it's a good idea to build a New Town in Otterpool'.Not one hand was raised. I recall you remained vocal after the vote was taken. You certainly appeared disgruntled.

I now refer to your recent interview on the 8^th August alongside David Plumstead on Radio Kent.

I was astonished to hear you refer to me as an 'anti campaigner' whatever that is? To be honest, you sounded somewhat muddled: I believe you meant to say that I was a campaigner. If that is what you meant, then you are quite correct; I do campaign for the people of Monks Horton. As a democratically elected Parish Councillor, I campaign on their behalf, as do the other democratically elected Parish Councillors that were present.

You then stated, on BBC radio, that I asked the 27 Parish Councillors at the 7^th June meeting 'Who is against the proposal' (to build a new town).

I believe that when you said 'Who is against the proposal' on Radio Kent, you knew it to be untrue. You deliberately misled the people of Shepway, using a BBC radio station to broadcast that across Kent.

In an effort to deceive the electorate into thinking that there is a high level support for the proposed OtterpoolTown you have only confirmed to the listeners that you are not fit to hold any position of public office. Moreover, your plea for residents to contact you is disingenuous. We have evidence that you never returned your calls or emails to those that have tried to contact you.

Mr. Monk; from conversations I have had with residents over the years, it is clear that your standing in the district could at best be described as 'waning'. From the conversations I have had with residents in the past four days I am sure that there would be thousands of Shepway residents requesting that you now consider your position.

I look forward to your reply at your earliest convenience.

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!8th August 2016

Dear Mr. Monk,

It has been six days since I sent my email to you. Please inform me when I can expect a reply.

Leslie Barratt 

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18th August 2016

Dear Mr Barratt

You and I are not going to agree, I see little point in continuing this conversation.

Kind Regards

Councillor David Monk

Leader of the Council

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29th August. 2016

Dear Councillor Monk,

Thank you for your email of the 18th August. 

Although your response is dismissive, I feel that a response is needed to clarify my position along with the parishioners that I represent.

You have taken a position which I find somewhat baffling. You state that we are not going to agree when there is nothing to agree on. A clear statement was made by me on the 7th June at the Civic Centre when you did your utmost to silence me. 

You clearly heard what I said and you saw the response from 27 Parish Councillors. You then told an untruth on BBC radio knowing full well that it was inaccurate in a feeble attempt to extinguish total dissent for a proposed new town.

This is not the conduct that we would expect from a District Council leader and certainly not a servant of the people of Shepway. 

Given the seriousness of your conduct, I would expect a full apology to be made, not only to Mr. Plumstead and me, but also to the people of Kent, 

Please arrange for your apology to be made, on air, via the BBC stating that you was incorrect in a statement previously made. Please make it very clear that the fact of the matter is: 27 Parish Councillors present at the said meeting showed absolutely no support for the development of a new town that you and your council are calling Otterpool Park. 

A speedy reply would be appreciated.

Regards,

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4th September 2016

Dear Councillor Monk,

Once again, it's been 6 days since I emailed you. When can I expect a reply?

Regards,

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6th September 2016.

Dear Mr Barratt,

To confirm that you and I are not going to agree on this matter, therefore, I see little point in continuing this conversation.

Kind Regards

Councillor David Monk

Leader of the Council

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We will leave it you, the Residents of Shepway, to decide on whether Councillor Monk is a liar or not, or whether he is fit to hold Public Office.

S&DRA

PRINCES PARADE APPLICATION

Dear Residents,

Please click on the link below to reveal all:

Princes Parade development revealed for Hythe seafront as plans submitted for leisure centre and homes

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/hythe/news/leisure-centre-and-housing-plan-132511/

S&DRA

Princes Pararde Update.

Dear Residents,

Our friends in Hythe are spreading the word on the following:

Dear Friends of Prince's Parade,

Update, Membership and Donations

Update

The planning application to move Prince's Parade, develop at least 150 luxury beachside appartments, a leisure centre and car park, is now imminent, indeed we think that Shepway have already submitted it, but it could not be validated by Shepway Planning Department because Shepway had not paid the correct fee! So the "phoney war" is over and we must now begin to deal with the specifics of the planning application. I will keep you fully updated once Shepway manage to submit the forms correctly, validate their own planning application and it moves into the public realm. 

Membership

Until now, we have run the Save Princes Parade Group on an informal basis. However, with the imminent submission of the planning application as well as the Examination in Public of the local plan due at the end of the year we feel that now is the time to formalise the group with a constitution and definitive member list. This will give us a mandate to represent the group at meetings and also allow us to raise funds for legal action should that become necessary.

There is no fee to become a member (although pledges towards the cost of legal action would be very welcome.)

You can read the constitution here: 

http://saveprincesparade.org/our-constitution/

If you would like to become a member please sign up flowing this link:

http://saveprincesparade.org/membership-and-donations/

By signing up as a member you are confirming that you support our aims and are willing to abide by the constitution. You are also agreeing that we can contact you by email. You can cancel your membership at any time by emailing:

http://saveprincesparade.org/membership-and-donations/

Thank you for signing the petition No Development on Prince's Parade, can you help spread the word by forwarding the link below to your friends?

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/no-development-on-prince-s-parade

Thanks

Jim Martin

---

Jim Martin started this campaign on the 38 Degrees Campaigns by You website. If there's an issue close to your heart that you'd like to campaign on, you can start your campaign here.

You received this email because you signed the petition 'No Development on Prince's Parade'. If you don't want to receive emails from the 'No Development on Prince's Parade' campaign in the future, please unsubscribe.

HYTHE - GETTING A RAW DEAL.

Dear Residents,

Last night (12.9.17), we were all treated to the usual display of ineptitude and grumblings of Councillor Monk and two of his Planning Officer's; Chris Lewis and Julia Wallace at the Hythe Bay Primary School, courtesy of the Hythe Civic Society.

Council Leader David Monk

The evening kicked off with Councillor Monk telling us that he didn't realise that it was a public meeting "so hey ho". We wonder if he would have turned up if he was aware of that. It really does pay to check out our website.

The usual old rhetoric ensued for about 7 minutes when he then turned to Julia Wallace to present a slide show on how wonderful Otterpool Park would be and how we should all be embracing this chance to develop a town with their collaborative, bed fellow partners, Cozumel (BVI Offshore, tax haven) Estates. 

The Reuben Brothers. Cozumel Estates, based in the British Virgin Islands.

Next up was Chris Lewis; speaking in quiet mode, at nineteen to the dozen, any points made seem to melt into a stream of meaningless jargon. It was at this this point, after an hour, that a lady member of the audience stood to remonstrate against the endless form of fillibustering, quoting the chairman as saying the presentation would be 45 minutes with the same amount of time for Q & A. It was only then that the Q & A commenced.

The audience wasn't happy, in fact, it appeared that the presentation strengthened their resolve to ask the most probing and direct questions of Councillor Monk, which in most cases he couldn't answer or dismissed the Resident's points out of hand with a wave of his hand: No change there then. 

One of the points made by a Hythe Resident was the availability of water to the new town. Councillor Monk retorted; "We've been in talks with Affinity Water and if they need money to deliver water we'll help them out"  What does that mean was the cry from the audience. Councillor Monk then admitted that a desalination plant could be a possibility. Readers of this website would know that we posted a spoof article just five weeks ago on the building of a desalination plant in or around Hythe. It seems that we weren't far off the mark. So should Hythe Residents be concerned? They should be very concerned indeed.

To date, we know that the Environment Agency, through a FOI request, have not been in discussion with Affinity Water pertaining to the proposed Otterpool Park new town and the consequences of groundwater depletion in the Dour (Shepway) region.

We were also told, via Adam.Warner@affinitywater.co.uk; "We are not planning to build a desalination plan in the South East".  

So, there we have it: Affinity are not planning a desalination plant, but that doesn't mean they won't build one in the future. 

SDC, if Councillor Monk is to be believed, have already had a discussion with Affinity on the lack of water in the Dour region and the possibility, going forward, to meet demand from the New Town. 

Now, here's the thing. SDC are offering capital, Council Tax payers money, to a water company whose shareholders receive a very healthy dividend, offering to build a power hungry, saline polluting industrial unit in our coastal area, just because Councillor Monk didn't realise that getting blood from a stone was impossible, or in this case, getting water from a severely depleted aquifer would be impossible without causing major detriment to the environment.

If you would like to make your own representations on why a severely water stressed area is about to become a suburb of London, or as CPRE put it: London-on-sea, why not write to the CEO of Affinity Water, Simon Cocks, and ask why he hasn't lobbied central Government against the urban sprawl of Shepway knowing full well that at least 90% of our water is pumped from the ground with no substantial emergency measures in place to meet the needs of existing Residents during dry winters. We are sure he'd love to hear from you. 

simon.cocks@affinitywater.co.uk

While you're at it, CC in Roy Burvill, based in Folkestone. Working only two days a week now, but still a very helpful point of contact.

roy.burvill@affinitywater.co.uk

Now, getting back to the meeting. Was the evening a success for Councillor Monk and his Officer's? 

We're sure that they were hoping to have this one in the bag, in terms of support for London-on-sea, but alas. it wasn't to be. The audience, by this stage, had had enough of Councillor Monk and his bully boy tactics. It was time for a vote on who was in favour of building a new town. Although a member of the audience discreetly asked the Chairman to ask for a show of hands towards the end of the evening, the Chairman chose not to carry out the request. Just as Residents were leaving their seats, a local Parish Councillor sprang to his feet and posed the question. "Let's have a show of hands on who thinks it's a good idea to build a new town just up the road from here". Two people raised their hands. Just to ensure fair play, the question was posed "Who thinks it a bad idea to build a new town". Well, it was unanimous. Together with a mighty cheer, all (except for two) raised their hands. So what was Councillor Monk doing whilst all this was taking place. Wildly gesticulating, pleading NO NO NO.

Thank goodness for democracy. Are you watching Councillor Monk.

The evening concluded peacefully, with good grace. 

S&DRA.

SPARE A THOUGHT FOR THOSE POOR TRUCKERS.

Dear Residents,

Starting from the 2nd October, the M20 will be closed between 8pm and 6am. for 2 weeks, between junctions 10 and 11. A speed limit of 50 mph will be set in place together with slipways shut. See details below. 

So why should this bother you? This could be a 'taster' of what our communities would experience, or in fact worse, should the proposed Lorry park become a reality. When the lorry park is in operation, junction 11 will be closed, making the movement of local traffic much worse. Moreover, a speed limit of 40 mph would be in operation on the M20 at the same time. 

So why are Damian Collins and Charlie Elphicke still ranting about building the 'white elephant' at pace. Well, we know for a fact that they are confirmed apparatchik's, ready to perform in the line towing process that any career politician would succumb to, but could it also be that the Road Haulage Association has funded a researcher to the tune of £22,500 to Charlies' office. Just a thought.

S&DRA

LEADER MONK EXPLAINS THE BENEFITS OF OVERSPILL, NON AFFORDABLE, URBAN SPRAWL.

Dear Residents,

Just a reminder to let you all know that SDC Leader, David Monk will be appearing next Tuesday, 12th September at the:

  HYTHE BAY PRIMARY SCHOOL, CINQUE PORTS AVENUE, HYTHE, CT21 6HS. at 7.30pm.

Councillor Monk will endeavour to extol the virtues of living the utopian urban dream, thereby extinguishing the villages and communities that the proposed urban sprawl will subsume.

Many of you have already relayed comments saying "He'll never turn up, it's political suicide, he pulled out of the local hustings earlier in the year, he'll do the same here". 

We will not comment or speculate on Councillor Monk's movements or intentions at this present time. We are sure that you all will be posing questions and making your feelings known to our Leader, in a most respectful manner, but for the time being our simple message to Leader and Councillor Monk is:

See you next Tuesday.

S&DRA. 

THE LONG READ, BUT PLEASE READ.

Dear Residents,

Our friends at Shepwayvox have taken the time and trouble to investigate Cozumel Estates, known to us all as the bedfellows of our Local Council; Shepway, Led by David Monk and deputy, Jenny Hollingsbee. Many of you would have already seen this Shepwayvox article set out below, but for those of you that haven't, we would encourage you all to set aside just five minutes to take the time to read. 

Should we be proud of Shepway District Council for even thinking about entering into a collaboration agreement with the Reuben Brothers, whose raison d'etre is to generate money for themselves, employing loophole accountants to shift profit away from these shores and pay as little tax in the UK as possible? Of course not. 

So what does this tell us about the integrity of our Leaders. We already know that they mislead the Residents of Shepway in attempting to further the Otterpool utopian dream. We already know that as our representatives, they couldn't give a stuff about our opinion, even when those opinions are channelled through our Parish Councils. Is it time for Monk and Hollingsbee to go? Readers of this would almost certainly agree that there is no place for these two individuals in public office. Not because of their political allegiance, but because they simply do not represent us. Could it be that they have a hidden agenda? Could it be that their interests are not our interests? Why is it that they feel that building a New Town in the Countryside, along with their bedfellows; Cozumel, is such a wonderful idea, when the overwhelming majority of informed Shepway Residents feel that it is an exceptionally bad idea. 

Well, we will have our chance to ask David Monk what his own agenda is in ten days time when he will be appearing in Hythe at a public meeting. 

Watch this space for further details. 

The Long Read: Cozumel Estates Limited a British Virgin Island Company.

Posted on August 27, 2017 // 2 Comments

After more than a 7,000 mile journey and a little over 30 hours in the air to visit the British Virgin Islands (a known offshore tax haven) we can reveal a little more about Cozumel Estates Limited. This is the offshore company which has signed not one, but two collaboration agreements with Shepway District Council regarding the development of Otterpool Park. Both parties wish to build up to 12,000 homes across a 700 hectare site.

Cozumel Estates Ltd is a company wholly owned by the Reuben Brothers (pictured). However, it is one of their trusted lieutenants, Alexander Bushaev, who is a director, but not the owner. This is identical to Michael Stainer's position at The Grand

So what have we learnt about Cozumel Estates Ltd on our trip to the British Virgin Islands. Well, the company was incorporated on the 31st May 2002. The registered office and agent were the Overseas Management Company Trust (B.V.I), part of the OMC Group. The Address, P.O. Box 3152 Road Town, Tortola, BVI. Both the Overseas Management Company Trust (B.V.I) and the address turn up in the Panama Papers

The authorised capital of the company was $50,000 dollars. The 2002 Memorandum & Articles of Association allowed for bearer shares.  A bearer share (example pictured) is a document that entitles the holder of the document rights of ownership or title to the underlying property, such as shares or bonds. Bearer shares differ from normal registered shares, in that no record is kept of who owns the underlying property, or of the transactions involving transfer of ownership. Whoever physically holds the bearer document is assumed to be the owner of the property. This is useful for investors and corporate officers who wish to retain anonymity, but ownership (or legal entitlement) is extremely difficult to establish in event of loss or theft.

So put simply, whoever holds the bearer share/s in their hand is the owner of the company.

But we digress. The signature for the Overseas Management Company Trust (B.V.I) was a one Angie Yee and the witness to the signature was a Shirley Todman, both giving the address mentioned above.

The Memorandum & Articles of Association allowed the director/s to exercise its option to submit for registration by the registrar and of the following registers:

• Share register

• Register of Directors

• Register of Mortgages & Charges

Do you think the Directors by resolution have opted to exercise these options, so placing the information in the public domain? No they have not as far as we can tell.

On the 05/12/2006 a change of registered office and agent was made and on the 01/01/2007 Patton (pictured) Moreno & Asvat (pictured) (BVI) Ltd became the new

 agent. Their address, is given as 2nd Floor, O'Neal Marketing Associates Building, P.O.Box 3174 Wickham's Cay II, Road Town, Tortola BVI. They remain the agents for Cozumel Estates Limited. Again the address turns up in the Panama Papers.

On the 11/10/2007 amendments to the Memorandum and/or Articles of Association were made.

Now going back to Mr Bushaev, one of the trusted lieutenants of the Reuben Brothers, and the man who signed the collaboration agreement, shows up in a company called Warley Associates S.A. registered in Panama. Again he is a director of this Panamanian company according to Open Corporates. The Registered agent is Patton Moreno & Asvat, surprise, suprise. Other companies Alexander Bushaev holds or has held positions in include:

• Duelguide Properties BV (Gemeente, Amsterdam, Netherlands)

• Castellaneta BV (Gemeente, Amsterdam, Netherlands)

• Lake Superior Ltd (formerly Trans-World (Aluminium) Ltd ) Westminster UK

• GS (NA) Company NV (Willemstad, Curacao)

Mr Bushaev also turns up in the Panama Papers not once, not twice, but three times. Should we be surprised?

Alexander Bushaev probably sits in more offshore companies as a director and can be contacted in Switzerland, where he gives his address as the Reuben Brothers S.A., 9 Place du Molard, 1204 Geneva. But as we said he is a trusted lieutenant of the Reuben Brothers.

In 2000, the Reuben Brothers gave an interview to Fortune Magazine. During the course of that interview, David Reuben admitted that their company Trans-World (mentioned above) "had paid bribes to journalists" and went on to describe how, in many other cases, "to legitimise bribes, companies were created and invoices sent for commissions or transactions." He describes these and other matters as "warts".

In 2004 the Reuben Brothers, were to set to go to court against Fortune Magazine regarding the matters mentioned in the 2000 interview, but the matter was settled "out of court"

So Cozumel Estates Limited a BVI company who not even HMRC could get information on until June 2017, signed a collaboration agreementwith Shepway District Council on Sept 8th 2016.

• So how could SDC do any Money Laundering checks?

• If it was not possible for HMRC, how could it have been possible for SDC?

• How much due diligence did SDC do on the Reuben Brothers given that David Reuben admitted to paying bribes?

The Reuben Brothers concluded that going to MIPIM in Cannes "was something worth pursuing". These are the men that SDC have climbed into bed with regards the development of Otterpool Park. A development that Cllr David Drury Monk lied about from the very beginning.

As we said a long time ago, the Reuben Brothers are not ones for investing in a pig in a poke.

This is the land Cozumel Estates Ltd owns outright across the 700 hectare site so far (see below). No doubt they may well have agreements with landowners to purchase more land, but they will be revealed in time, as the information becomes available on the Land Registry.

So there you have it. We do know more, but for now, that's all we can impart until further investigations have been completed.

Finally, as a parting gift we can share with you, Cozumel Estates Ltd Memorandum & Articles of Association 2002.

The Shepwayvox Team

There are legitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts. We do not intend to suggest or imply that any persons, companies or other entities included in this blog post have broken the law or otherwise acted improperly, unless found so by a court of law.