A court hearing will take place this Wednesday (December 8) after eviction notices were issued for every person currently staying at the temporary Traveller stopping site on Ramsgate Port.
At least 40 adults and 17 children are affected.
Notice had already been served on some of the Pavee families at the port which has been in use as an agreed stopping point since the end of May. Thanet council said this was due to a ‘new group’ moving onto the site without authorisation although Gypsy and Traveller Coalition representatives said they are all part of the same family and added that some notices were served two days after the death of a two-day old baby amongst the group,
An eviction hearing at Margate Magistrates’ Court on October 1 was adjourned until November 9. This was again adjourned for the bench to review points of law raised by representatives of the family on the Port until the hearing this week.
Thanet District Council originally attended Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, May 27 seeking an order for removal of the group from Palm Bay. This was unsuccessful on welfare grounds and the council was required to identify an alternative site in order to comply with the court. Ramsgate Port was identified as being able to provide facilities whilst being outside of a residential area.
The court decision was made due to poor health of some members of the group, including a baby and a child.
Numerous concerns have been raised about the facilities at the site during the past 6 months, including a call for additional standpipes, more toilets (separate male and female due to cultural etiquette) showers, more bins and also a move further back on the site.
The requests were backed by Ramsgate county councillor Karen Constantine, district councillors Becky Wing, Tricia Austin, Mike Garner and Raushan Ara and Ramsgate Town Council’s Anne-Marie Nixey as well as Father McNally who looks after the community.
The Gypsy and Traveller Coalition says conditions have not improved, that health services are being used for serious needs and that bins and the toilet facilities are now not being emptied.
‘Obligation’
A spokesperson said: “The magistrate court on May 27 refused to grant the council’s application to move the family and suggested instead the council find a place for the family to stop because of the diabolical health issues they were enduring.
“Many of the family have long covid and some are still suffering from the effects of double pneumonia and other serious illnesses which are now being treated by an NHS team.
“The council heeded the magistrates and moved the family onto Port Ramsgate but are now disputing who family members are, in spite of dealing with this family and its members for the last 8 years.
“A council officer’s statement to the court seemingly and bizarrely suggests family members (brothers, sisters, grandparents and even parents) cannot be considered close family members.
“Before the court ruling on May 27 the council’s way of dealing with the people on the Port was by constantly moving them from one unauthorised camp to another around Thanet. All at a cost to the tax payers of court fees and barristers. This trend is to seemingly continue.
“There have been no incursions onto public or private land in Thanet since the family have been on Port Ramsgate.
“The people on the port are statutorily considered in law as homeless and therefore the council have an obligation to accommodate the family appropriately as they do any homeless family.
“To date the council have only carried out this legal obligation by way of the court refusing to move them from a previous encampment.
“The council has refused to empty the bins on the site alleging human waste has been deposited in them. In theory they are correct: There are young children on the site in nappies. Mothers are depositing nappies in the bins, very much like every mother in Thanet will deposit nappies into the bin.
“The site has Portaloos which the council are now, bizarrely, implying have been emptied into the bins. The emptying of these Portaloos, which are heavy moulded one-piece plastic blocks, is carried out by a specialised vacuuming machines.
“It would be virtually impossible to pick them up and somehow empty them into the bins.
“We believe this refusal to empty bins before a court date to determine the eviction case is an attempt by the enforcement team to cause the site to becoming littered and untidy and this to then be used in the court as another reason for removal from the site.”
Thanet council says facilities have been provided and officers have found no evidence of acute health needs.
A Thanet council spokesperson said: “A court hearing for an Order of Removal relating to the encampment at the Port of Ramsgate is scheduled for Wednesday 8 December. This hearing follows a previous hearing on Tuesday 9 November which was adjourned.
“The latest court hearing is for the eviction of all members of the group residing at the Port of Ramsgate site. The council has provided adequate facilities for two authorised families as some members had complex welfare needs. Facilities include multiple toilets, shower facilities as well as a number of rubbish bins.
“On 22 October our officers carried out another series of welfare checks with the group and found no evidence of any acute medical needs. In addition, no subsequent letters have been provided to the council which detail any medical reasons why the group should continue to stay at the site. The council is therefore under no obligation to provide facilities in these circumstances, especially as they come at a significant cost to the council.
“As such, a section 77 direction to leave notice was served on the group. Options for alternative accommodation have been discussed with members of the group, including their right to approach our housing options team for support.
“The Port of Ramsgate is not a suitable location for long term occupation of traveller encampments. The council is however continuing to explore various options as part of the local plan process to find a solution for traveller encampments coming to Thanet. These include the possibility of a permanent site where travellers could stop temporarily for short periods of time, and also family-sized plots which would allow smaller groups of caravans to stay on a longer term basis. This is an ongoing and complex process which will also require consultation.”
However, a ‘call for sites’ earlier this year received no response in terms of Gypsy and Traveller accommodation.
County Councillor Karen Constantine says welfare checks could not have been efficient as there are still dire health needs amongst the group, including the baby still under Great Ormond Street and QEQM hospitals, which TDC has been notified about.
She added: “There is very poor health that we are concerned about and I believe some of the families will not survive on the road. Also some of these kids are going to school, TDC needs to get a grip on this and get a site.
“There are overflowing bins, the toilets need fixing, it is appalling. The way this is being done also creates additional, unnecessary costs and is another expense with TDC wasting money.”
Cllr Constantine has also called for the county council to carry out a focused inquiry on the health of Travellers, which has been accepted.
Judicial Review bid
The Gypsy and Traveller Coalition says a Judicial Review bid is being lodged with the High Court on the grounds of breach of human rights.
They said: “There is now in place a barrister for the family who is instructed to approach the High Court in regards to a judicial review being lodged on the handling of the family over 8 years by the Thanet council officers. Again this is going to cost the tax payers many thousands of pounds.
“There have been numerous attempts by ward councillors and a Kent County councillor to bring the council chief executive around the table, with other relevant parties, to resolve this matter and save taxpayers money. These entreaties have to date being ignored.
“This family has been orbiting Thanet on and off for the last 100 years. They have a right to be here and to be considered as human beings by Thanet council officers.”
The Thanet council spokesperson said: “Legal representatives of some of the travellers have contacted the council about a possible judicial review but no claim has been issued. The council is considering its response.”
Authorised sites
There are 17 authorised Gypsy and Traveller sites in Kent – 11 district council ones and six run by the county council – but all are full with long waiting lists.
In December 2019 approval was given for work to assess Potten Street in St Nicholas-at-Wade, Tivoli Brook in Margate and Ramsgate Port for use as temporary tolerated stopping sites in Thanet.
Both Ramsgate Port and Tivoli Brook were removed from the plans in July 2020. The proposal for Ramsgate Port was scrapped because it was “undergoing a feasibility study and the proposed area is in use for the storage of cars and is returning a revenue, it is also an industrialised area and not suited to families and young children.”
Thanet does not yet have an authorised site for Gypsy and Traveller use.
I would like to know who is paying for all these facilities – “inadequate” or otherwise – and the state contributions made by these people to the health care they all receive?
I suspect we already know the answer.
And what do you think the answer is? I guess your answer is based on nothing more than your prejudice of the traveller comminity.
Correct! Prejudice born of experience.
Just tell me when the majority of Traveller’s ever pay NI contributions, Council Tax and rent for the lands that they invaded?
I won’t hold my breath for your answer.
Invade.
Predictive text again.
Ton.
In this day and age its amazing to see such ignorance and bigotry unashamedly on view.
The people on the site were put there because the TDC have neglected providing appropriate accommodation for them as they are legally obliged to do.
The people are statutory considered homeless and there lies TDC obligation.
Much the same as their obligations to any homeless person or family.
Do you feel because of the minority ethnicity of the people on the port the usual obligations don’t apply?
Why would that be if that’s your case?
On the issue of tax.
We all pay tax and most frequently at the point of purchase. The people on the port do the same and as working people will pay what taxes they need to. Just like you only pay as much tax as you have to and not a penny more.
Have you a link to this data base you imply you have that allows you to state who does or doesn’t pay NI and income tax?
No?
J’accuse.
Most homeless people don’t tear around trying to intimidate the locals, let their kids do so illegally in/on said vehicles, swear & make threats to the locals, don’t door knock for imaginary roof/drive damage to try to con them out of cash, don’t crap everywhere, don’t dump their rubbish everywhere etc.
travellers that dont “travell ” ? but when they do they leave a pile of shi*e for someone else to clean up and us ratepayers to pick the bill up ?
It’s amazing that those who demonstrate such bigotry never seem to be able to remember past information. Every time the Travellers ask for bins etc from the council so they can clear up but this is always denied so the rubbish left and the clear up is the result of thanet council. Hopefully in the future you will not let bigotry cloud your memory
We pay for ours Swithin vis tax etc. These people do not and play the minority hand every time but give back nothing. I suggest you replace your rose pink glasses for real world.
Can you provide the evidence these pay dont pay tax?
You must have it or one would persume you wouldn’t makes such a statement.
Can you provide evidence that they do? Do they declare all that cash in hand work?
FedupB
Have you any evidence at all the people on the port don’t pay their way. Or have offered to only for the council to refuse any payments?
Or are you talking through it…your bigotry I mean of course.
Funny, could have sworn that the local councilor at the time for Dane Valley Ward was running around providing bin bags etc for them-then when they were evicted all the rubbish was just dumped on the green, not in bags.
Steve. Are they the same people who were on Park?
Or is it all Ethnic minorities look the same to you?
I wasn’t aware that white British were an ethnic minority.
Good Lor. Did it ever occur to you the term ‘Traveller’ is a generic term and the people on the port have a proper epithet.
If you read the article you would see the correct term for this group of people. Pavee.
It would seem the term Traveller has been hoisted on to certain communities in England and some people expect them to constantly live up to the term
Good job they wasn’t termed ‘Cartwheelers’ or you might expect them to be cartwheeling 24/7.
As for rubbish etc.
Did you see the beaches this summer…overflowing with rubbish and human waste. Since the people on the port have had bins they have used them and the article clear shows.
What would you do if your bin wasn’t emptied?
Contact the council-as we pay for our bins to be emptied. We wouldn’t just dump the rubbish in the road or some other public space as they do.
So the council won’t empty the bins and you are happy with that and if the site becomes untidy you will be unhappy with that.
Would seem you have a very bizarre mindset.
Maybe they could load their caravans up & take it to the tip? I would be happier if they weren’t illegally squatting & playing the system with every trick to remain.
The statement…’this family have been orbiting Thanet for 100 years”…total nonsense they have the thickest Southern Irish accents. And as for their request to have separate toilets for their cultural etiquette is laughable because they shared the same blackberry bushes at Palm Bay. They cannot live in those vans during winter. Toilet cassettes that fill with 2 people in a day, yet alone 2 adults and 4 children. No clothes washing facilities No decent body washing facilities. Living off take aways and children not going to school. Victoria slum conditions in 2021.
Lord David Sanger, via his archive, has apparently provided the court with documentation as evidence of the people on the ports ancestors helping to establish his ancestors Lord George Sangers show empire in Margate. That was more than a century ago.
‘Accents do not the man make’ insular communities often retain their ‘mother’ accent.
Is a person born in the UK with, say, a vestige of a African accent would you suggest they were not English but African?
Same with a Indian or Pakistani person.
The people onbthe site clear have long term connections to Thanet.
Do you?
Those caravans were never made for winter use they are lucky the hi winds have not tipped them over. With all the “enterprising” ways of the “ travellers” why don’t they buy a house.
Once again bigotry clouds memory. To refresh you they tried to purchase a site near minister using their own money but the locals blocked it. So as you see they when they try to solve the problem themselves they are blocked by people similar to you.
Why do you think people don’t want them in the area? You are judged on your behaviour and the travellers behaviour is 99% of the time unacceptable.
They run riot, they rip people off for shoddy work, they dump all there commercial waste illegally, they don’t contribute financially towards the system that they want to provide for them, they always play the victim card yet anyone that has any dealings with them ends up the victim!
You allegations might be true of many small groups of people in Thanet who are not ‘Travellers’
It would seem the people on ghe Port are decent people and do not fit the criteria you have put in place.
Perhaps a look a little closer to home will show how your post has the taint of discrimination.
Nothing like playing the ism/phobia cards to try to shut people up.
Maybe you would like them next door to you?
Bill.
Why don’t people who live in houses buy caravans to live in?
Probably for the same reason people who live in caravans don’t buy houses. Duh.
The point is that, if evicted, they will no doubt move to somewhere else in Thanet and the Council will have to pay money to evict them again. Then they’ll move somewhere else and the merry go round continues.
A proper stopping spot needs to be created which needs to be booked in advance with limited pitches available. A payment made each week to reflect the reasonable running costs of providing the facilities together with a deposit to be paid which gets kept if they leave any mess which needs clearing up. Other councils do this quite satisfactorily.
That way, the sites can be controlled and the Council can charge a reasonable sum to at least cover their costs.
The solution can only be a proper designated site. Which TDC is obliged to make happen.
How is that going? What is the next step after the villages councillors voted against the site at Minster services.
What next?
I think that the Travellers would have a far more sympathetic ear if they showed a bit mire respect for the community in which they find themselves.
There’s no doubt whatsoever that wherever they stop, rubbish, filth and damage are their calling cards.
Phyllis Quot.
It would seem the Ramsgate residents closest to the port have no issues with the people on the port
The local councillors seemingly can bare witness to this as they have been monitoring the situation.
Where does that leave your opinion presented as fact?
There are plenty of caravan sites with plenty of facilities all around the country.
If the travellers do not like the facilities provided for free at the Port, they could move on and pay for something better elsewhere.
John.
Have you seen any comments in the article by any of the people on the port?
If not what are you dribbling on about.
There are lots of houses all over Kent and the country would you believe!
Do you think homeless people can just move into these houses?
If not why do you think these people can just move onto sites that are already occupied?
To, Ton, Real World, Phyllis, John, PJ.
Your ignorance is breathtaking.
Everyone in this Country has basic human rights. No one should be forced to suffer. Let alone babies and young children. These families have been part of Thanet for 100 years or more. These families pay taxes and also contribute to the local economy. Yes, they speak with an Irish Accent, but they are residents of Thanet. Yes, there are cultural norms that Thanet District Council have repeatedly failed to take into account. The mess on the site is 100% because TDC have stopped collecting the rubbish. Does that sound familiar? Imagine the outside of your house if your bins weren’t collected and foxes and seagulls were scavenging!
Local Authorities have a legal duty to provide sites for traveller families. It’s no surprise that our council has failed to do that over many years. Hence this situation. Some LA’s do that very well and with a sense of pride. Again TDC do not.
It’s time for TDC to properly address the needs of travellers in line with their legal obligations.
What are they paying for the services provided by the council?
If you like them that much then let them live with you.
The virtue signalling only goes so far. Like everybody else they don’t want these individuals next door to them.
Steve.
Your comments on this thread indicate you are a rather sick individual when it comes to ethnic minorities.
Hopefully you are not in any position of power or work with the public.
That would be truly worrying.
Again I haven’t seen any black or Asian travelers-they are all white British-the same as myself. The problem is not the colour of anybodies skin, or what accent they have-but the way they behave. If they behaved like decent citizens then they wouldn’t be in this problem. People don’t want them anywhere near them purely because of how they conduct themselves-it is a problem of their own creation.
RL.
Oh grow up, what a puerile comment.
why dont you let them live in your garden’
If the councillor supported rescue horses having a piece of ground provided for them would you suggest she should have a few of them living in her drawing room?
Your lack of reality is breathtaking. These people do not on the whole act like decent members of society-they rock up, swear & intimidate the locals, including councilors-even for ‘daring’ to walk on ‘their property’ at sites like Jackey Bakers, make threats of physical harm, defecate on the sites, dump their rubbish on the sites-even when provided bin bags by local councilors, knock on doors inventing phony damage to roofs & driveways to con people-especially the vulnerable out of their money/life savings, ride vehicles illegally-swerving near to members of the public & let their children do so as well.
Orbiting Thanet for 100 years is not a tie to Thanet-they orbit everywhere, playing the game until they are moved on legally. Many of us actually have real ties as in our families have lived in Thanet for hundreds of years.
What taxes do they pay exactly? Very rarely their vehicles are taxed-yet of course rarely is anything done as to not upset them, as it is for the rest of us if we decided not to renew. Council Tax? Are you saying they pay for the land they rock up on & eventually get evicted from? They declare all their ‘building’ work for which they only accept cash? Highly unlikely.
I know white guilt is all the rage at the moment-but the reality is if these people behaved like decent human beings then people would be happy to have them in the community. Their behaviour isolates them & creates this problem where nobody wants them anywhere near them as a result due to the ‘cultural enrichment’ they unleash everywhere. I understand there are some zoos closing down due to the pandemic-maybe they could be moved there as they like to fling their crap everywhere & they are away from the general population.
It is a two way street-you have to behave as something resembling a human being to be afforded human rights & what about the basic human rights of residents going about their regular life not to be intimidated, threatened, conned, have lots of crime around them etc? Last I checked parks & greens were public domain for residents, not suddenly owned by travelers the second they turn up.
Many in your ward might think there are more pressing issues for an elected official to be getting on with, rather than pandering to the current woke trend by devoting your efforts to appeasing criminals & those who choose to live like rats in a sewer & inflict it on everybody else. Let’s hope they remember your priorities at election time. Plenty of pneumonia in the elderly who cannot afford to heat their homes as well as others forced to live in squalor due to scummy landlords.
Well said Steve, they are not welcome because of how they behave and conduct themselves, is that simple!
RL.
Who said these people are not welcome?
The local residents seem find with them.
The local stores seem happy enough to the point some are going to provide letters to that affect for the court it has been said.
Where does that you thinking you can speak for all in the area.
You probably dont even speak for all in your home!
Steve.
Your bigotry would shame a right wing fanatic.
Have the slightest shred of evidence that the people on the port are guilty of even one of the things you allege?
Your post is simply stereotypical claptrap that borders on hate speech.
It is people that you that gives Thanet a bad reputation throughout the UK, a la Ukip Council, not the people on the port.
Decent minded people in Thanet would reject your prejudiced rant and the dribble that goes with it.
We could do with more diverse people in Thanet and less of hate filled peoplr like you.
You disgust me and I’m sure many people of Thanet.
What bigotry? I like Irish people, my dealings with them have pretty much been positive. But then again I have mostly only come into contact with people who live in houses,wash themselves, are toilet trained, polite & not aggressive.
Open your eyes-they are illegal squatters-playing the system as always, you can pretend they are somehow different from all the others around who have done exactly what I said if you wish. Maybe they are a better class of traveler-problem is when you have been bombarded with the other sort for years then you don’t have a high opinion of them-again that is their communities fault, not ours.
I don’t support UKIP, BNP or any such parties-I find them repulsive.
Yes, Margate is becoming incredibly diverse-we have traveler troublemakers turning the isle into a tip, the poncy art crowd getting all the money that should be going into actually regenerating the area for the last decade-for their absolute bilge they call modern art, while everywhere else festers & we have the BLM lot telling the 95% plus white residents of Thanet how racist we are & giving lectures on black hair etc while grabbing the cash as well.
Maybe you enjoy this cultural enrichment, but most residents don’t. Again-my hat is off to the Dane Valley woods groups who like many other local projects & charities that don’t get the cash they deserve (thanks to the Turder Centre/Dreamland/Dem Collective) grabbing it all are trying to enrich the area & have to clean up the mess your wonderful buddies constantly dump there, rather than in the bin bags provided free of charge by the council(taxpayers) that the rest of us have to purchase ourselves.
Can we please get some actual worthwhile diverse cultures/projects here, rather than people with chips on both shoulders doing vanity projects, circle jerking over Emin’s dirty bed & people defecating everywhere?
No, I have no evidence of defecation from the people on the port-there is plenty of it from the other traveling groups the last several years though. These people might be as nice as pie & if they are then I hope they are given substantial help. However-the ones who over the last several years have turned Dreamland, The Lido, Jackey Bakers, Dane Valley etc into rubbish dumps full of anti-social behaviour & hostility to the local residents deserve no help.
Cllr: I don’t know what ignorance has to do with it. I was making a simple, personal observation. It’s what I seen at first hand.
If you had a party, and invited some people around, and they abused your hospitality by defecating behind the sofa, urinating in the hall, and leaving soiled nappies in your kitchen sink, would you invite them again?
Phyllis Quot.
Attempting to present opinion as fact is problematic and will see your bigoted opinons challenged
Has the people on the port done any of the things you use in your analogy? Or the equivalent?
If so can you provide proof of that?
If the bin men didn’t collect my rubbish (as a council tax paying resident I would be entitled to that service) then I would do the very best I could to store it safely, and not inflict it on the rest of the community.
Phyllis Quot.
The family on the port have done just that. Kept the site tidy and the overspill rubbish secure from the large contingent of foxes that roam there and of course the seagulls.
They have done a sterling job under adverse conditions.
If only other living on certain streets in Thanet would do the same.
Not too much moaning bybthe anti-traveller pitch fork brigade on this thread…but then the daily flytippers on the streets of Thanet are not in the main an ethnic minority community!
That might have something to do with the lack of complaints.
I few on here are missing Nigel so much its frightening.
Red John, or is that Dave Spart? You must be missing Jeremy so much & his idea of a total loony leftie Utopia-where anything goes(except women & jews) & the police are defunded.
Cllr Constantine you are just as blind your self, you jump on this to make out your doing good just like the ones that think you can cross the channel and claim everything. Fact we have ex-servicemen/woman in this country that get f**** all after serving this country and some have died living on the street’s .Yet nothing is done to help them. Old saying. Charity beings at home, these people are not from Thanet and only connection is every year the come here and demand, destroy and expect everything for free.
Is it part of the job that cllr’s and MP’s have no idea of life because they are paid to much not held accountable for their actions.
I don’t think my councillors allowance of £15k for working full-time equates to being paid too much? And before you start my expenses are minimal too, I don’t think I claimed a £100 in the last year.
I’ve actually ‘been around’ GRT my whole life. Going to school with with some travellers and later working with them. This group are from Thanet, we need to provide a decent site instead of endlessly moving them on. Which is both costly and counterproductive. Everyone should have a safe secure home. TDC need to take action!
Tut tut Cllr – please check KCC site to reveal your expenses claims in past four years and certainly not £100!
You’re right. You didn’t claim £100. In 2019-2020 you claimed £259.20, and in the year before you claimed £994.00.
Why would they? When they have councilors bending over backwards to give them freebies-nearly always thrown back in their face such as former Dane Valley councilor Taylor & his free bin bags-as they would rather dump their junk on the green & in the Valley Words for the council to clean up at our expense & the poor groups who do such a good job up there. They learn quickly that they don’t have to play by the same rules as the rest of society by playing the race/victim card.
Chris. Can you evidence your claim these people are not from Thanet.
They have children born here!
Are they not from Thanet?
What your criteria for being from Thanet?
There proof they have been connected to Thanet for other a 100 years…how long have you and your family been here?
Longer than that.
BTW. The new flux of people from London…are they not from Thanet either?
Your post is ludicrous in its contentions.
As a matter of fact, a huge amount of help is available for ex-service men and women.
As said your just interested in them and hard working, honest, tax paying people of thanet are expected to pick up the bill. They are and have never been from Thanet. Shame you think this way as there’s many more people in Thanet that deserve better than these so called travellers. Your argument is blinkered and one sided
Would you like to reveal your identity so I can report your hate speech to the police? Steve?
My ‘ward’ is in fact a division and housing responsibilities belongs to the TDC councillors. Your lack of knowledge is lamentable.
Re: Steve and his friend Chris. You can hear the scraping of knuckles as the former scurrys for concealment under the rocks of Margate.
Hardly, as I have pointed out to Karen there is a recent legal precedent regarding free speech for a former officer called Harry Miller who was hounded by police & the wokesters, bravely he took it to court & after a lengthy legal battle the judge found in his favour & was appalled at how the police had behaved.
Again, seeing as how what I have said is merely facts reported on this very website for several years & other Kent based news websites with photographic evidence of the rubbish left behind when these people depart there is nothing for which any prosecution could happen anyway & like Mr Miller if they tried I am bloody minded enough to sue the police & anybody making false complaints to them.
Not hate speech. That has already been tried in the courts thanks to Harry Miller-where a judge ruled the police response to his supposed ‘Transphobia’ was unlawful, so there is a precedent to protect free & fair speech from those who like to shut it down with threats. You may not like what I say, but it is factual & fair opinion based on news reports & personal observation, along with the comments from others-including councilors who have been threatened.
Nothing I said about the behaviour of the travelers has not been reported on this very website & other local news websites-it is reality, as was the one who knocked on my door telling me my roof needed sorting out & telling assorted lies, before I politely sent him packing. I enclose some of the articles for you to look at-again you cannot be prosecuted when these things are a matter of public record.
Yes Karen, I am still thinking you are the Newington Ward elected official which you of course resigned & are now a Kent County Councilor-my mistake & many apologies. However, if housing is as you say TDC’s remit, then why don’t you just let them get on with it? Having your cake & eating it?
https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2017/06/29/travellers-are-reported-to-be-back-at-jackey-bakers/
https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2019/08/29/pubs-and-businesses-in-margate-and-cliftonville-forced-to-shut-early-after-series-of-disturbances/
https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2019/08/29/bailiffs-on-site-at-lido-car-park-for-expected-traveller-group-eviction/
https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2019/08/07/tivoli-park-traveller-group-brings-isles-unauthorised-encampments-to-39-so-far-this-year/
There are other Kent websites with other articles-including showing the mounds of rubbish left behind when these people finally depart-but will not link them as they are rival publications.
Steve well said, no hate speech spoken just the truth as observed by many people through out the UK. Cllr Constantine got her knickers in a twist because people are not agreeing with her opinion.free speech is not just for the woke generation
Chris. Your racist backstop of using the term ‘free speech’ to suggest you and other bigots can say as you like does not take into consideration that free speech doesn’t supercede a person’s right not to be racially abused or endure hate speech about their community.
If your extreme right wing friend Steve has the strength of his principles of free speech he will be happy to identify himself to councillor Constantine and explain his case to the relevant authorities.
I believe a newspaper has a legal obligation to provide the details of a poster who has been reported to the police for hate speech.
The days of abusing ethnic minorities is well and truly over, a lesson you and your cohorts should take on board.
Sadly it is the done thing now from the wokes/far left to intimidate/cancel people if you don’t like their opinion with threats & intimidation.
However, nowhere has anybody that I can see said anything racial about these individuals-seeing as they are white British I don’t see how that could happen anyway here & nobody has used the derogatory terms used by some in society-we have said travelers.
Anything I have said is pure fact backed up by reports from this website & others, along with my personal experience of having one of them try to con me into getting roof repairs. I also cannot be cancelled as I have no wish to belong.
Tbh its nearly 2022 and about time tdc provided permanent stopping sites, with all mod cons. Not a temp ex ferry site adjacent to a bretts batching site.
Our councillors will know suitable sites So job done, no more problems with any travellers.
Councillors will also know why travellers love to stop in tdc, maybe they could spill that information <
How easy it is to be a councillor ….
Bins emptied.
Seems the petty council officers refusing to allow the rubbish to be collected have got wind a national newspaper was interested in the bin fiasco.
Can’t have the rest of the country realising whats going on in Thanet between elected councillors and council officers.
Of course-it is the only way to get anything done these days. Just like the poor sods living in damp infested houses full of black mold while their physical & mental health suffers-they have been complaining for months & years in many cases & nothing happens. it gets on ITV News & magically the Council are round that day or the next morning fixing things.
I’m not a bigot nor am I a racist. I agree that changes are needed but there’s is a life choice. We all have to work together for the greater good to achieve a better future. Nothing in life is free we all work hard for what we have, bad behaviour from anyone is unnecessary and unwanted. So I wish them all the best for the future and hopefully with compromise on both sides there’s a happy outcome. We can only comment on what we have experience with people we meet from all walks of life. Arguments will continue, and people will disagree and sometimes get upset it’s part of the human race. And red John I can trace my family back 250 years in Thanet but before that we came from middle England. Hope that has clear up a bit more for you sorry if my opinion is different to yours, we all see life differently
Chris
Having a difference of opinion is fine but not when that opinion is couch in terms that borders on racial stereotyping which is a form of racial abuse which is hate speech!
The people on the port were placed there by council officers because a magistrate saw no point in moving them on with serious health issues in the family only to move them on again after 6 weeks.
Only then did the council officers attempt to break the vicious cycle of evict, camp, court evict.
But now the council officers are looking to get back in that money wasting cycle.
19 unauthorised encampments in the last 3 years!
You would think a council executive would have cottoned on doing the same thing over and over again that doesn’t work is not the way to go.
On another point. It is often stated that the vast majority of the council executive and the managers in the departments making these money wasting decisions dont actually live in Thanet.
Can we wonder how true that is?
Sorry but the only hate and abuse is clearly coming from you. Clearly the only opinion that matters is yours and everyone else is wrong. From your personal attack on me maybe you should hand yourself to the police.
Can anyone explain why the Council can’t charge them a weekly fee to stay at the Port ? As far as I am aware it is perfectly legal to recoup the money it is costing to provide the facilities and it may reduce the argument that they don’t pay their way and want everything for nothing. The Council won’t then be out of pocket. It’s a serious point that needs considering although I’m sure some on here will interpret it as hate speech / victimisation / harrassment / bigotry.
A suggestion for Kathy-seeing as how all these threads on the traveling community generate a high level of passion & inevitably always degenerate into slanging matches between those for & those against, meaning you have to close them anyway & now we have people being called Nazis, racists etc merely for having a different opinion & silly threats of reporting comments to the police-which are based on facts from your own website & others from the past several years, perhaps like with pending legal cases you can just block all comments in future?