Here be the great Leader of Shepway District Council, Confront him at your peril
He who knows best, He who believes that Mud is Brown.
He who believes that 30% open space is better than 100% open space.

SHEPWAY CABINET MEMBER DETAILS.

Dear Residents,

Following on from our theme of MUTINY, here is a list of all members who think that creating a town of 12,000 houses, thereby decimating and massively altering the character of our area, is a good idea. This is in addition of the already planned and 'under construction' 8.000 houses in Shepway. This is way over and above local housing needs. Who could these houses be for? Where would the people come from? We have a pretty good idea. We think you do too.

Councillor Miss Susan Carey, North House, 116A North Road, Hythe Kent, , CT21 5DY, 01303 670561, , susan.carey@shepway.gov.uk 
Councillor John Collier, 3 Blenheim Place, Coolinge Lane, Folkestone Kent, , CT20 3RJ, 01303 255779, 07813 702852, john.collier@shepway.gov.uk 
Councillor Malcolm Dearden, Highways, Cliff Road, Hythe Kent, , CT21 5XA, 01303 261008, 07889 775999, malcolm.dearden@shepway.gov.uk 
Councillor Alan Ewart-James, Lewty Barn, Cliff Road, Hythe Kent, , CT21 5XN, 01303 265316, 07894817434, alan.ewart-james@shepway.gov.uk 
Councillor David Godfrey, 4 The Pasture, Hawkinge, Kent, , CT18 7PN, , 07584 304301, david.godfrey@shepway.gov.uk 
Councillor Mrs Jennifer Hollingsbee, Snowdrop, Swan Lane, Sellindge Ashford, , TN25 6EB, 01303 812066, 07887 918458, jenny.hollingsbee@shepway.gov.uk 
Councillor Rory Love, 89 Harbour Way, Folkestone, Kent, , CT20 1LZ, 01303 241785, , rory.love@shepway.gov.uk 
Councillor Philip Martin, 65A Canterbury Road, Hawkinge, Folkestone, Kent, CT18 7BP, 01303 892512, 07968 406702, philip.martin@shepway.gov.uk 
Councillor David Monk, 23 Minter Avenue, Densole, Kent, , CT18 7DS, 01303 891001, , david.monk@shepway.gov.uk 
Councillor Stuart Peall, 11 The Pasture, Hawkinge, Kent, , CT18 7PN, , 07956 110887, stuart.peall@shepway.gov.uk

Why don't you contact the Cabinet members and have a discussion on the merits of 12,000 houses on our doorstep. Getting in their two penny worth at the Cabinet meeting were: Godfrey, Carey (who also spoke on behalf for Hollingsbee after she admitted to having two houses in Westenhanger), Ewart James and Peall. 

S&DRA.

MUTINY IN THE COUNTY Part 2.

Dear Residents,

My, oh my, oh my. If you see a middle aged lady on Folkestone harbour dressed in traditional gipsy attire, gazing into a crystal ball, it could be one of our S&DRA authors. For she also doubles as a predictor of Shepway District Council Cabinet meetings.

This is what she said last night:

Now, the cabinet meeting is to be held tomorrow, 8^th June. Councillor Monk has confirmed that it will be a free vote and that he in no way will influence the vote to take this scheme forward to central Government. Wouldn't it be amazing if those members 'positions' were diametrically opposed to ALL local Parish Councillors.

Stand back and be amazed, Guess what; ALL of the cabinet members voted in support of taking Bonkersville forward as a submission to central government. This means that Kim Jong Monk, Leader of the peoples republic of Shepway has the full backing of his Cabinet cronies including our most trusted of local representative's , Carey and Westenhanger property mogul, Hollingsbee.

Once again, we heard from Councillor Carey, how wonderful and exciting the Otterpool Park scheme would be. Extolling its virtues even further, we heard how there would be 30% open space and cycle paths and so it went on. All the while, the public gallery were becoming vocal. Huffing and puffing and hurling insults at the Muppets in the shepway arena. Suddenly, a voice from below us: our great leader, Kim Jong Monk spoke with great authority, - 'If you don't keep quiet, Ill ask you to leave'. The room fell silent ………………………After 4 seconds the gallery rumbled. Looking around at the residents their upper lips curled in disdain as the monotoned Carey pressed on with her delivery of the Bonkersville monologue.

A couple more Muppets had a go at shoring up Carey as a support act and then came the crucial vote, Proposed by Kim (Jong-Monk, that is) and seconded by Councillor Stuart Peall, Cabinet member for the environment, to take the Otterpool Park application forward as a submission to central Government. Every hand went up and the gallery responded with shouts of shame on you all and traitors. It was at that point that Kim (Jong-Monk) asked the public gallery to leave. A few residents walked away with the groups core sitting tight. Kim asked again, the group sat tight. Eventually the Muppets, along with Kim had to leave the chamber leaving us to chat with the door lady. (who possibly couldn't comment on anything).

So, there we have it again; Local residents and their Parish Councils expressing a view that Bonkersville is not acceptable and Shepway Council and its cronie, spineless Councillors voting with no regard for the electorate. As for our so called representatives Carey and Hollingsbee, words could never express the feelings that local residents have for these two individuals that tow the Shepway line at any cost. Shame on you all.

S&DRA.

MUTINY IN THE COUNTY

Dear Residents,

Tuesday evening (7^th June) was an evening that Shepway District Council and its Leader, Councillor Monk would rather forget about. We would even imagine that the blame game has already started among the SDC Muppets asking 'Whose idea was it to talk to the electorate'?

The usual clowns were in attendance: Cllr Monk, Alistair Stewart CEO,  Susan Priest, Rory Love and Chris Lewis.

The only item on the agenda was persuading Parish Councillors of the merits of having a 12,000 capacity New Town on our doorstep. For the time being, let's call it Bonkersville.

It was Susan Priest who opened the batting for the Muppets telling the audience of 27 Parish Councillors, or 29 if you include Councillors Carey and Hollingsbee, how wonderful Otterpool Park (sorry, Bonkersville) would be for the area using terms as 'Hugely exciting' and 'High quality, innovative design'. Ms Priest even boasted of how 'Shepway has a history of award winning open spaces'. Whatever that means! Anyhow, we won't bore you with the tired old rhetoric that we've all heard a hundred times before.

Slowly but surely a trickle of questions came from the audience which grew. Some councillors even having the audacity to show disdain. (Shock horror). By this time Cllr Monk and his cronies were running their fingers around the inside of their collars. Amazing how a little sweat can be so irritating. They could see that this wasn't going to be a pushover as they obviously all imagined.

Just in case you're all wondering where Councillors Carey and Hollingsbee were in all of this, they were tucked away in the corner of the arena imitating a pair of church mice.

Points were direct and honest. At last, Resident Councillors had the chance to voice their disgust at the underhanded way in which the purchase of the land from farmer Champney had been handled telling us all that it was purely for an income stream from tenant farmers. A month later – It's a New Town!!

Then, the question of all questions: 'For the record Mr. Monk. 'Can we have a show of hands including Cllr's Carey and Hollingsbee as to who thinks Otterpool Park is a great scheme' Monk retorted waving his hands; 'No, no, no. We're not doing that. Let's have a vote on who thinks it good for future generations' (or words to that effect).

By this time there was uproar in the Chamber and the questioner replied in higher than usual decibel's ' I'll pose the question for you Mr. Monk, to all Councillors here'. 'Who in this chamber thinks Otterpool Park is a great scheme'. There were no show of hands anywhere to be seen. And what of Councillor Carey and Councillor Hollingsbee. Were they too busy munching on a piece of old cheddar between them or too busy to notice the vote? Their hands stayed firmly down.

The questioner concluded; Mr. Monk, You're a disgrace, a bloody disgrace.

So there we have it. A council that hasn't a clue about what's going on in the district and couldn't care less.  A Leader who didn't even know that a mass demonstration took place against Bonkersville last Saturday, and a couple of church mice that run with the pack.

And do they command any respect from the Parish Councils or the electorate that surround them. We would like to say; we don't think so. Actually, we know they don't

Now, the cabinet meeting is to be held tomorrow, 8^th June. Councillor Monk has confirmed that it will be a free vote and that he in no way will influence the vote to take this scheme forward to central Government. Wouldn't it be amazing if those members 'positions' were diametrically opposed to ALL local Parish Councillors.

Starting at 5pm at the Civic Centre, Let's show those Cabinet members that we're watching them.  After all, we wouldn't want to vote in the same old Muppet next time around.

S&DRA.

SHEPWAY CABINET MEETING - PLEASE BE THERE AT 5PM

Dear Residents,

OTTERPOOL PARK TOWN MEETING.

The Shepway Cabinet will be meeting at the Folkestone Civic Centre at 5pm this coming Wednesday, 8th June, to discuss the above. We are allowed in to hear the Cabinet report being read. Please come along to watch the muppets perform.

Let us show our strength of feeling against this dreadful development being foisted upon us.

S&DRA

D DAY MARCH

Dear Residents,

The weather was good, the atmosphere was good and the people were great.

With well over 400 residents deciding to 'walk to demonstrate' against the building of a 12,000 dwelling 'Bonkersville' Town supported by Shepway District Council and career minded MP, Damian Collins, the solidarity and camaraderie shown among villagers was a joy to behold.

Young and not so young, with others in the middle, treated us all to a display of 'steel in the backbone' – something that our 'so called' representatives seem to lack.

Placard's were witty and direct with residents accusing a certain SDC representative of being a traitor – surely not !!!!

A clever 'photo shop' exercise showed the very same person as being a Korea minded leader. Who could it be ?????  Actually, the photo was quite flattering to the said person.

Others were asking the inner SDC cabal to resign. Flags were flying in the breeze,  childrens placards were fantastic and honest. Well done to all who took the time and trouble to make banners and placards to shame SDC.

SAVE OUR COUNTYSIDE IS THE MESSAGE TO ALL.

A big thank you must go out to all individuals who distributed fliers and pinned up posters. Without your hard work, we could never have got the message across to rally on the day.

As for the bucket brigade, collecting to help pay for banners, fliers and posters, the result was brilliant. With over £500 (yes, five hundred) collected on the day, we can now go forward with money in the bank to our next phase of opposing Bonkersville.

We must also mention the very generous donations that residents have made direct to our account. We are so appreciative of your commitment and support.

Another big thank you to all three speakers, Ronald Lello, David Plumstead and Debbie Burton. All singing from the same hymn sheet - UNITED

Dependent of the direction of SDC and the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG), we could be in for the 'long haul'.  As our wartime leader, Winston Churchill rightly said in 1942: This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.  

The message to the cabal at SDC is: Be in no doubt, we are prepared to fight all the way to preserve our countryside and our way of life.

Thank you all for your support. We will, no doubt, be calling upon you in the very near future.

S&DRA 

IT'S GOOD TO TALK

Dear Residents,

We are so concerned that residents do not fully understand the size of the Garden Town being proposed by Our Shepway Council, that we have a request: Rather than hear it from a third party, why not get it direct from the horses mouth, so to speak.

We would like you all to contact Shepway District Council on Monday Tuesday or Wednesday of this week on 01303-853000 and ask to speak to David Monk or Susan Priest. They may ask you to hold or to ring back later. Why not ask SDC to call you back, but please keep calling them.The more the merrier. as the saying goes

We would like you to ask: 'What is the motivation for placing a new town between villages in a rural community'. We'd also like you to ask 'why purchase land for a farming income stream and all of a sudden have a change of heart and feel that a 12,000 house development would be better'. In fact, ask whatever else you can think of. It's your community. It's your elected Council.

Please be courteous and respectful. BUT PLEASE, PLEASE PHONE.

S&DRA.

LAST CALL TO RESIDENTS TO JOIN OUR DEMONSTRATION

Dear Residents,

This will be the last call for residents to rise up against all that affects our way of life.

Not only do we have to battle against the proposed Lorry Park and a 12,000 dwelling New Town but also battle against the inner cabal of Shepway District Council too.

To be absolutely clear: Meet from 2pm to set off at 2.30pm. Residents from Otterpool Lane towards Lympne et environs meet at Newingreen Lay-by. Residents from Otterpool Lane towards Sellindge et environs meet at Sellindge Village Hall.

Bring whistles, drums horns, trumpets, banners and placards.

Arriving at the Airport Cafe we will congregate to listen to various speakers.

Please give generously to our bucket ladies and gents. Without funds we couldn't operate.

Please all keep to the road lanes and walk at a steady pace. Please remember that our more senior residents may not be as speedy as they once were.

PARKING: If you are driving to the start points, there are no restrictions preventing parking on the A20. Please use both sides of the road if need be.

If you decide to drive, rather than march, please tag along at the back of the procession.

Finally, we are demonstrating against the most serious threat to our way of life.; for just a few hours let's enjoy the camaraderie building between our residents and villages, strengthening our resolve to see these threats off.

Enjoy the afternoon.- SEE YOU ALL THERE

S&DRA.

D DAY

With just 40 hours to go before our Demonstration/March it's vital that we get the message across to everybody that sitting on hands is NOT an option. We've all heard the expression of 'done deal' or 'fait accomplis' . Of course, that's what the likes of Monk and his awful cronies want you to think. Only this week we have heard how the Transport Select Committee have criticised Ministers together with Highways England for carrying out the Lorry Park consultation in haste without exploring the possibility of smaller Lorry Parks. Without our lobbying this may well have not been achieved. 

We have proved in the past that People Power DOES work. We now have the added support of other villages and organisations that swell our ranks and bring further skills to see off the muppets that purport to represent us.

See you all on Saturday 2 for 2.30pm. Sellindge Village Hall or Newingreen Lay-by..

S&DRA

 

A typical residents letter and a generic Collins response.

As you can imagine our residents have been copying us in with emails 'sent' and emails 'received'. Here is a flavour of a typical email sent to our representatives by a local resident.

Dear Ms Hollingsbee  and Ms Carey

I feel compelled to write to express my deep concern about the proposed garden town.

I want to leave you both and David Monk in doubt as to how I feel that you have treated the local community, you should all be ashamed of the underhanded tactics that have used to attempt to ruin the community and environment in which we live.

How you can justify making decisions of this magnitude without consulting your electorate is beyond belief. You purchase land using our money, you refute that the land will be used for development and then announce your bigger plan. Dirty, underhanded tactics by anyone's standards. 

Where is your moral commitment to us the electorate. You are representatives of the people who elected you and you are making decisions which will affect our lives for by your own admission 20 - 30 years. It's all very well crowing about the high standard of design of houses that you will be able to influence the jobs you will create and the green spaces you will provide. What about the green spaces we all enjoy at present which you are quite happy to bury under concrete, tarmac and bricks. You are making it sound as if you are going to be creating a piece of heaven for the lucky new home owners (all of whom you are suggesting will be local). Incidentally, are there 12,000 people looking for homes in the immediate areas being affected.

You should be ashamed of yourselves for letting the local people down so badly. You should be working to protect the environment and communities in which we live. I only hope that prior to the next local elections you all have the good grace to stand aside and give people who truly care about their electorate stand for the positions you hold. You are all a disgrace and the next local elections will be our 'unmissable opportunity' to ensure that none of you return to the positions you hold. You are elected to reflect the views of the electorate and I see very little evidence of that.

Perhaps you would like to raise my issues and concerns with your cabinet colleagues and form a suitable reply at the earliest opportunity. 

Yours sincerely

We anxiously await a reply.

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Now, if you are thinking of writing to Damian Collins MP, on the subject of a Garden Town (Bonkersville), this is the reply that you will receive. So why not copy and paste this to Mr. Collins requesting it not be sent, but ask for a dedicated response to address the issues that you individually raise.

Thank you for your recent correspondence about Shepway District Council's proposals to submit a bid to the government for support to create a new 'garden town' on the land surrounding Otterpool Park Farm. The council has my full support in its decision to launch this debate, but it is also important that we all have our say on the proposals.

I have said before that I believe the creation of high quality homes and business properties on land close to junction 11 has the opportunity to give a significant economic boost to our area. It could allow Westenhanger to become a modern parkway railway station, accessed directly from the motorway junction, rather than by the narrow lane through the village. This development could fund a new design and layout for the Newingreen junction on the A20. Also, by creating a masterplan for where development in this area could, and also shouldn't take place, we can protect ourselves from future plans being brought forward by speculative developers.

There are also important points to note now about the council's 'garden town' bid. Firstly, whilst there will be considerable discussion about the total of 12,000 homes which could be included in the development, that is the upper limit of what would be allowed, and not a target that has to be met. If the 'garden town' bid proposal was successful, no building would start until 2020, and the development would take place over a thirty-year period. In this regard, we are not only considering the demand now for family and affordable homes, but the requirements in future decades as well.

The 'garden' style design of a development like this will also be of the utmost importance; the proposal is certainly not one to create a densely constructed urban community. The council has stated that at least 30 per cent of the land that would be included as part of the 'garden town' would be kept as green space. Importantly, this also includes a commitment that green space between Lympne village and the 'garden town' development would be preserved.

If Shepway District Council is successful in securing support from the government to create a new garden town at Otterpool Park, it can also receive financial backing to fund community infrastructure like new schools and health centres. The existing facilities would not be required to stretch to cope with the demands placed upon them by a larger local population. The government could also make funding available to build affordable homes to buy for local people, at a discount from their market value.

This proposal is bold, and could create a large number of new jobs for local people over many years, as well as providing substantial investment into local services. However, if this plan is to go forward we have to get it right, and ensure it is designed in such a way as to create the maximum benefit for our communities. It would be wrong however to reject this proposal out of hand, and not to give it serious consideration.

Our Association would still prefer to look out onto a field and watch old bullocks roaming as opposed to being sent electronically. We are sure you feel the same.

S&DRA