Security has been stepped up and police response teams will be focusing attention at Thanet Parkway station after issues with antisocial driving around the car park.
Complaints about nuisance driving have been made since the Parkway station opened last week.
The Kent Police beat officer for Cliffsend, Pegwell, Nethercourt and Newington, PC Owen, has issued a message on My Community Voice saying: “A quick message to offer some reassurance around recent issues at Thanet Parkway since it opened last week. Specifically during the midweek when there was a large amount of anti-social behaviour in respect of nuisance vehicles.
“I have liaised with British Transport Police and will be looking at longer term solutions.
“In the meantime, the late and night duty response teams are fully briefed and will be paying it extra attention. I am aware that station security has been enhanced over the weekend too, which hopefully saw a reduction in noise issues.”
County Councillor for Ramsgate Karen Constantine said: “It’s very sad to hear of problems at Thanet Parkway railway station, but not entirely surprising. Residents have contacted me to complain about light pollution, noise pollution, and also variety of cars pulling stunts in the car park.
“KCC, the police and Southeastern are going to have to respond to residents concerns and take them very seriously.
“Many of the problems seem to do with the fact that this station is actually in a very isolated area, and that will always attract certain undesirable and anti-social activities. It must be remembered that CCTV does not prevent crime, it records it.
“I invite any resident to contact me to discuss this.”
A Kent Police spokesperson said: “Kent Police received reports of nuisance driving in a car park in Parkway Approach, in Ramsgate shortly before 10pm on Thursday 3 August.
“Officers attended to assist the car park security staff with moving the vehicles away from the site. Work is ongoing with site owners to review the issue.”
David Wornham, Passenger Services Director for Southeastern, added: “We understand that our customers and the local community will be concerned about the incidents of anti-social behaviour in the car park at Thanet Parkway Station last week.
“We want to reassure customers and the community that Southeastern is working closely with Kent County Council, who own the car park, to monitor the site so that we can report this kind of behaviour to police as quickly as possible.
“Kent County Council have security staff on site and Southeastern Railway Enforcement Officers are also conducting regular patrols at the station.”
Thanet Parkway Station opened on July 31. Southeastern has pledged to staff the station for the first six weeks on weekdays between 8am and 4pm following concerns that the site is unstaffed.
Costs for the station quadrupled from an estimated £11m in 2015 to just shy of £44m.
The total price tag may even exceed £44m as further funding has been needed to complete level crossing and signalling work. The project work was impacted by rising inflation.
British Transport Police and Southeastern have been asked for further details.
Thanet Parkway Station opening – quadrupled cost and the anticipated ‘boost’ to housing development
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Didn’t take long for this to happen
Let’s be honest there are nuisance dangerous drivers everywhere around Thanet at the minute
Eventually we need to stop blaming everything else and demanding security and look at the state of our society. Our state education is poor, large proportions of young people are so anti-social they barely show their face, our roads are out of control with people angry driving, more violent music than ever before, soaring knife crime and too many people who have next to no morals, will be bullies wherever they can get away with it and think it’d cooler to act in an anti social way than be intelligent.
I’ve travelled alot and never seen anywhere with behaviour like we deal with.
This station isn’t the problem. The fact we need security everywhere is the problem!
It is the lack of people coming to Jesus Christ, our blessed saviour.
Rubbish , Checksfield, and not amusing in any way.
Where is his comment?
Get a life and open your eyes to the real world
The Tory government (and Starmer’s right wing Labour) spent years telling young people that if they don’t cover their face they will kill someone’s nan. Now when young people are being Covid safe by wearing masks they are told they are being antisocial and intimidating. You can’t have it both ways I’m afraid.
Don’t want to say I told you so – but I told you so!
Youngsters just ain’t scared of the law anymore, lack of policing and funds , jails are over full , but aslong as our government and councils look after the non tax paying immigrants , they are happy, won’t be long before the station is covered in graffiti, unless of course its bankski, then its called art of course.
In the comments for every single article there are people complaining about refugees, even though not sending refugees back to France was literally the main purpose of Brexit. The people that voted for Brexit in 2016 and Tory in 2019 wanted refugees to be processed in the UK, and everyone complaining about refugees needs to stop trying to subvert the will of the people.
Thats true Pete, the easiest answer to stop the asylum seekers and migrants (2 Different things!) would be to rejoin the EU, and they would stop overnight! The problem didn’t exist when we were a member of the EU, so don’t blame the victims, blame Johnson for lying about leaving the EU, and all those donuts who voted leave without knowing the T & C’s!
I can imagine the police passing the buck to B.T.P. quoting that they dont have enough resources to cover it, a bit like all the other problem areas in Thanet. Typical.
Well that’s a surprise…..NOT!!!
I repeat my warnings .thanet parkway station is NOT a safe place to visit or park your car in
Its great for doing handbrake turns though Barry, so don’t knock it! Anyone know how many people actually use the station yet?
Of course we knew it was going to happen now it’s up to the police to catch them.
Issue on the spot fines for driving offences no point putting them up in front of a Labour Magistrates who would pat them on the back and feel sorry for them.
Drove round car park this morning- 20 cars parked – quite a few workers wearing hi viz ambling about .Superb tyre skid marks – ? called donuts in car park . Are the authorities surprised ?
Admired the bus stop for no bus service .
What the hell is this all about and who is ultimately responsible?
Kent County councillors who ignored warnings of this being a dangerous white elephant, £44 million of taxpayers money wasted.
Barry, the buck doesn’t stop with those councillors. Anybody who shops online, or who uses machines instead of engaging with helpful ticket office staff, or who uses card instead of cash, has contributed to the problem that made an unstaffed station possible in the first place. Most of them were unaware of the consequences of their actions, while others are too arrogant or misguided to care. Hopefully this latest fiasco will be a wake-up call for them and they might think twice about giving the shameless capitalists what they want.
This started in the ’60s. Is there anywhere left that still has pump attendants on fuel station forecourts?
Bring back the 1950’s!
A fuel pump attendant is a poor example, because the procedure for operating them rarely changes and it’s a skill that drivers use over and over again, so the attendants add little value apart from a human touch. Buying railway tickets or shoes or scanning groceries at tills are much more specialist activities and the trained staff still add value, so they need to stay.
I was refering more to the fact that 1000’s of people all over the country were removed from their jobs due to automation… but how much automation is too much? Should we hand plough fields and hand make clothes? Personally, I find ordering tickets in advance , while carefully going over instructions and choices in the comfort of my own home, far more relaxing than queueing at a ticket office while worrying if I’ll miss a train.
You’re missing the point again, Ms Pink. Automation is not the problem here. Automation often benefits us because it takes the strain away from the employees. Buying tickets online has nothing to do with automation – instead it is a job transfer from the paid, trained employee to the unpaid, untrained passenger. It actually CREATES work, but not in a good way.
Petrol station in sandwich is not self service. The attendant serves you.
Has someone mentioned my name? ; )
I agree with you over the disappearance of cash. I can understand many smaller businesses insisting on cards though, as even places as large as Broadstairs no longer have banks, with most villages being without post offices thanks to the mass-closure in 2008/2009 under Labour (a move that devastated small communities, as no post office often meant no village stores, forcing people into their cars).
You were missed Peter for a second or 2 but it soon passed.
Are you not part of KCC
Only a idiot ,would not have seen this happen ,Unmanned station ,means trouble How long ,would it ,take the police ,to get there,when needed.As I said an idiot sitting in a cushy office in London,or Maidstone
Apropos the manufacturing of clothes, it would be interesting to know whether any commercially-produced clothes are not made by human beings. I.e., are any machine-made clothes produced by automatons?
I do hope it wasn’t Ms. Tongue wizzing around on her scooter!
I can not stand that woman, she has a really nasty nature.
What police Plumbob, they have been decimated by Tory cuts over the last 13 years just like NHS, Schools, Ambulance, in fact can you think of one improvement that they can actually prove was down to them, 44 million, final bill not in yet, another genius idea by Gale, Maccie, and the Tory mob at KCC well done. #buildonbrownfieldbuildonmanston
It’s about time the police clamped down on idiots who are driving around retail parks and streets in east kent doing hand-brake turns and driving dangerously putting members of the public at risk, recently a person was killed in millennium Way, Broadstairs. I know some of these idiots are driving from Herne Bay to join their idiot mates in Thanet. The police should should seize their vehicles.
And e-scooters Bill! The whole country has descended into lawlessness, especially due to lack of police, and their belief they can operate safely, and efficiently with those they have, NO THEY CAN’T!
Perhaps this station could be turned into a drifting area, at least they are making use of the station car park.
Put pay barriers in the entrance and exit
it wont be long before its covered in graffitti and spray paint as well then , oh i forgot its street art when its in thanet
Couldn’t agree more 👍🏻
Well, the chickens have come home to roost this time!
If anybody still thinks it’s a good idea to privatise or fragment a service, outsource its car parks, delegate customer service to machines, leave its assets unattended, fire its own workforce and force all its customers to become IT and self-defence experts, then they need to take a close look at this spectacular disaster before they open their mouths again.
Is it any better in Vietnam? Genuine question.
I would hope so, Ms Pink, it’s a socialist republic that knows how to look after its tourists. It’s over five years since I visited that country but you seem obsessed with finding out details of my experiences beyond Thanet. If I thought you were a constructive person I’d share my knowledge with you, but I’d prefer to stick to the current subject of this thread.
Were you anti-flying 5 years ago, or is this a new thing?
Ms Pink, I’m struggling to understand how my dislike of flying is pertinent to a discussion on a mugger’s paradise in Cliffsend. Maybe you’re trying to recruit fellow environmental campaigners for a future protest?
I dislike fun fairs, so I don’t go to Dreamland. But then again, I’m not a hypocrite…
What have HS2 and Thanet Parkway got in common?
They’re both half cocked and useless?
Only half cocked!You are being too complimentary.
What has Thanet Parkway got to do with Vietnam? Of course, Peter Checksfield is now trying to annoy Ian Shacklock.
They’re both half cocked and useless?
MM Rees – What is your obsession with ‘Peter Checksfield’?
I am certainly not obsessed with Peter Checksfield. I think he’s an unpleasant egoist. I’m fed up, by the way , with his unfunny remarks and questions about Wales, and I don’t like the way he’s rude to some other people who comment here.
We know that much of what is posted by the Pink Checksfield is pointless if not useless, but is he/she also ‘half cocked’?
Goodness, Mr Nokes, what an ambiguously-worded question!
There’s a ******* in sandwich who likes to drift around roundabouts. Maybe he’s found a new playground
Lots of unmanned stations in other places , but other places don’t have the scum living in their areas like we have in Thanet. Put up house prices, get rid of old buildings that are now run down flats, wash the streets and watch the scummy rats run elsewhere. In other words make Thanet a place where dropouts won’t come to.
It would be far simpler Anon, since you are so concerned, for you to simply move to somewhere else. The Sunlit Uplands. Utopia. Nirvana. Cleethorpes.
And who was it that allowed the old B&Bs to be turned into slum flats? Our council. So if you want to blame the “Scum” on anyone then you know the target. There are problem people here but you find them everywhere. They probably think you are a toffee nosed wealthy a hole but we are all humans on the same planet. However Thanet is particularly bad when it comes to problems. DFL s nicking the houses. Police that are non existent. KCC and Thanet council that love building white elephants that are targets for anti social behaviour. Those that planed it have no brains for its problems. Unless they know that Manston will be built on eventually.
“Scummy rats” is a disgusting way of referring to other people. The Nazis called Jews “rats” and “vermin”.
Bloody hell, makes a change to see you stick up for people. Especially those who own private vehicles and want to have fun in an empty car park away from the public.
I’m honestly blown away. I thought you’d be the first inline with a pitchfork.
Not sure about that Scott. Rees and P Quot have a fetish for criminals, they usually make excuses for them, so this must have been quite a conundrum.
Thats why you see their comments are about other peoples comments rather than the article.
I don’t have “a fetish for criminals”.
Yaaaawwwwnnn.
Notice how these narcissistic clowns only comment on the negative articles? Anything positive you’ll never see them post on it. Someone drives a car too fast? And bang! The self righteous freaks gather round like vultures to circle jerk over anyone who they disagree with.
Or in my case, they cry to the admin to get me banned. Ha! They could move to North Korea and happily live the life they want everyone in Thanet to live.
The word “mong” was used several times by “Ling ltd” in an earlier comment on a different article. That was why someone thought the comment should be deleted.
I don’t think people should be driving dangerously wherever they are. It’s obvious “Scott” doesn’t know me.
I don’t need to know you to know your views on things. You quite clearly display them on here for everyone to see. You use the term dangerously but we both know you have a vendetta on cars and want them off the road dangerous or not.
So stop backpedaling.
I would indeed like most private cars to be off the road, and for public transport to be very much improved, and nationalized.
Yet you’re against public transport by rail being improved locally?
Can’t say I’ve noticed them sticking up for criminal’s. Belittling other commenters though, for sure.
Let them use it for a bit of fun – keeps them of our roads and doing it down the high street or supermarket carparks.
Spent all that money and no APNR cameras for the parking? Might have put them off if they see a camera pointing at the entrance, or would it? Hmmmm
I say again, crush the cars, no warnings, just do it. Now do the Police have the balls?
I await the comments from the Snowflakes.
I’m all for crushing cars.
But, snowflake that I am, I’d probably let the occupants out first.
I mean.. the term snowflake is used for someone who gets offended by such actions as people drifting in a carpark.
A carpark is not a playground for petrolheads. There is an interesting recent article on another local paper about drifting on public roads. There is very little support from the commentators on that article, and no wonder.
The drifting article is on this site
I would love to know your views on these comments Kathy!
Ms Bailes- the article I’m referring to was on a different online newspaper.
Well anon you stirred them up. I do see where you’re coming from, and yes there are many unmanned stations elsewhere, and many, many more places tha don’t have the”scum” that we have.
What a great idea, let’s rename it “DRIFTWAY PARK” and no nearby House’s to upset. It’s the ideal location being off-road. Perhaps the no staffed station could sell them some Doughnuts?
We used the station for the very first time today, so that we could stroll in along the coastal path to Ramsgate via lunch in Pegwell Bay. We arrived there at 11:06, and were surprised to see around 40 people waiting to get on, many of them pulling suitcases behind them (obviously a good drop-off point for taxis etc). We then tried to find the footpath to Cliffsend village, so proceeded along past some newly erected Footpath signs… only to be greeted by a locked metal gate! We then noticed a well-worn track across the edge of the field in the opposite direction, which cut through what looked like someones gravel drive but is presumably a public right of way. Not being familiar with the modern-ish housing estate beyond it, we wandered round a bit before stumbling onto the correct road to the coast (where we noticed the new replacement pub for the old Sportsman being fitted out with pumps and tables etc). Certainly NOT worth the money, but with better signage and unlocked gates, it could at least benefit those who want a scenic walk into Ramsgate or who like to visit Pegwell nature reserve.
Alternatively, get the (occasional) 45 bus from Broadstairs or Ramsgate, and get off at the Viking ship or the Subway/petrol station at Ebbsfleet, and walk back via the country park, the Coastguard Cottages, Pegell Bay Hotel, Belle Vue pub and along the prom into Ramsgate (part of the England Coastal Path).
I live in Birchington, which takes 75 minutes on a number 34 before even waiting for the occasional No. 45 from Ramsgate. Despite the nuisance of changing trains in Margate, the rail journey today took 50 minutes in total complete with waiting time.
Yaaaawwwn… Good god Rees. You’re making me sleepy.
While I don’t condone drifting on public roads. The commentators on the article you mentioned are people such as yourself. Who don’t condone anything unless it suits their selfish needs.
Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you say anything positive on this site at all. I wonder why?
M.M.Rees I’ve come to the conclusion that, it’s your responsibility to the people of this site. To rename yourself as, The Anaesthetist. It is your duty and you owe it to us all.
There is nothing positive to say about Thanet Parkway at present.
Tell that to all the people at the station with their suitcases today.
Better still, go and try it yourself. I did.
Why would I bother to go to Thanet Parkway when I can walk to Ramsgate station in about 1o minutes?
Erm, to see what it’s like with your own eyes instead of just having pre-conceived notions.
It reminded me a bit of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch station.
There is no such name. It was concocted in the 19th century to attract English tourists. Peter Checksfield would not make fun of other nationalities but it’s alright in his opinion to make fun of Wales and the Welsh.
Well, I’m Welsh, and I am bored of and angered by this long-standing so- called fun of his.Perhaps he could try “teasing” other nationalities for a change.
bored, not bored of
Bored, in fact, by Peter Checkfield’s nasty little comments altogether.
They’re still similar, in that they are quite fancy stations that serve very small communities, and look highly incongrious because of it.
Why not get a Motorsport Organisation to provide and manage a facility on Manston runway to allow those that wish to drive in this manner to do so in a safe way, well away from most people and make money out of it? Could even bring extra money into the area until the site’s future is finally determined.
That’s actually a pretty good idea! : )
I used to love watching banger racing on Sheppey back in the ’70s, would love to see something like that again.
MM Rees I believe your nationality is British the same as the rest of us. Do you have a Welsh passport NO
Fred, if you look at a whole raft of surveys, questionnaires, forms to fill in for various government services, you’ll see that folk have an option to describe themselves in a variety of ways. Including “UK”, “British”, “English”, “Welsh” and on.
Do you have an “English” passport?
Who are you to tell someone what his or her nationality is? Stella Braveman?
My nationality is Welsh. I don’t have a passport.
I love the Welsh, great people.