Clean water campaigner Feargal Sharkey and Green Party peer Jenny Jones heading to public meeting in Ramsgate

Campaigner Feargal Sharkey is coming to Ramsgate

Former punk band frontman turned environmentalist Feargal Sharkey will be one of the speakers at a public event in Ramsgate next month.

Thanet Green Party has organised the meeting to discuss the impact of the continuing pollution around our coastline due to sewage releases into the sea by Southern Water.

The event will be held at The Modern Boulangerie in Ramsgate on February 24.

Green Party peer Jenny Jones, a former archaeologist who was a Green Party member of the London Assembly from its creation in 2000 until standing down in 2016, will also attend as a speaker.

Feargal Sharkey, who was the lead for band The Undertones, has become a prominent and effective campaigner against pollution of our rivers and coastline.

Thanet Green Party Chair Cllr Mike Garner said: “Not only has Southern Water been responsible for an increasing number of pollution events, adversely impacting our coastal environments and several local businesses which depend on them, they’re also responsible for an increasing number of water outages this year.

“We’re really pleased that both Feargal Sharkey and Jenny Jones, who’ve worked together on several prominent campaigns to highlight failures within the water industry, have agreed to join us to discuss these issues that affect all of us.”

The meeting takes place at The Modern Boulangerie in Harbour Street on February 24 from 7pm to 9pm. Free tickets  are available via  Eventbrite at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/thanet-greens-public-meeting-with-feargal-sharkey-jenny-jones-tickets-514756730237

 

18 Comments

  1. Perhaps when these Green Evangelists hit Thanet we could get advice on how to get Councils to pick up years of neglected litter.Not only dangerous to wildlife but also filling up hundreds of silted drains. We dont believe in water catchment here.The Worlds most importamt asset.The Green Party ward of the Harbour is one of the dirtiest wards in Thanet.I could also moan about hundreds of neglected weeds.

    • It is really treacherous when coming out of Birchington station and turning left towards the seafront, thanks to months (or possibly years!) of rotting leaves on the pavement. I’ve slipped twice on there recently.

    • David, Central Harbour has three Cllr’s, two are Green. Both Becky and Tricia have challenged Town and District Councils on waste management and suggested better methods. Not satisfied with this they, like many Thanet Greens, are regular litter clearers on streets and coasts.
      If you want something done, and you are able, you can join in. You can also vote Green in May so Town and District Councils have more Cllr’s who walk their talk!

      • That is the problem: plenty of people litter pick, but no-one actually uses a broom and sweeps any more. Hence weeds in gutters, and leaves on pavements. It isn’t like that in London, not even in the “deprived” areas.

        • Having just come back from London, I can tell you that it is just like that in London, Peter. Having driven all the way from East Dulwich down through Deptford and onto the A2, I went from posh all they way through deprived and out, and the litter is grim and the pavements are covered in leaf litter.

    • I’d rather see weeds, which are good for wildlife of the smaller varieties, than have the old codger from KCC with his gyphosate spraying indescriminately around the streets twice a year …. a complete menace and no use at all because he doesn’t follow up with a hoe, the weedkiller doesn’t work on anything tougher than chickweed, and we end up with browning foliage which is both ugly and no use whatsoever to insect life.

    • Your right David, blocked road drains cause flooding which is especially hazardous for people on mobility scooters! St Lukes Avenue floods regularly by the church, and yes filthy roads don’t help either! I did once see a mechanical road sweeper there, but they went round parked cars, and when they moved away the road was covered in leaf mulch! The UK has become a third world country due to Tory misrule for the last 12 years!

  2. It’s good to see that Feargal Sharkey has “A Good heart “ and is now getting a respectful reputation for his insights on environmental issues particularly with river and sea pollution .
    I hope that this is a successful meeting and that Southern Water will now realise that the good people of Kent will no longer put up with their appalling behaviours of recent years

  3. Will anyone be representing Southern Water?
    Will TDC withhold money paid to KCC for highways and drains until the drains are cleared?

    • Was that when you were “getting teenage kicks right through the night …. Alright ! “. Lol
      “Teenage Kicks”, was John Peel’s favourite ever record .

  4. Water has gone off in Ramsgate again this afternoon. Expecting the water companies to do anything but stack their profits seems short sighted at this point.

    The government relaxed all the rules they have to adhere to and since we have had water issues on and off. Strange that.

  5. Garry please remember that we pay council tax.I pick litter but do you want me to now unblock the hundreds of silted drains,sweep rotting leaves that turn to vompost and create weeds.Spade out the tutfs growing in our kerbs preventing water freely running knto drains.Pick up record levels of poo and maybe paint over the graffiti. If the TDC greens and other parties got on top of these things we would be living greener.

    • The Greens have a self-satisfied “Smashie and Nicey” attitude (“Does a lot for the environment, doesn’t like to talk about it!”), and obviously don’t understand that doing a half-hearted job is often far worse than doing nothing.

  6. Thanet being Green.Have you ever travelled the A2,M2 and A299.The green verges are fairly clean and then you hit Thanet. There is more litter on the Thannet way than the ogher 70 miles from London.Its probably the dirtiest litter strewn piece of road the UK.The Highways department should be charged for neglect.No enjoyment for wildlife in Thanets road verges.

    • It’s all just “green-washing”.

      A couple of weeks ago, we witnessed the dustman emptying the food bins, and dropping much of it on the pavement… pavements that are never swept.

      I’ve asked this question before, but never got a proper reply from anyone with influence: Why don’t dustman carry a broom and shovel with them these days? With TDC’s policy of never cleaning most streets, surely at least THIS should be mandatory on local vehicles?

Comments are closed.