Cllr “Dodgy David” Monk & A Planning Application. You Decide.
On Febuary 28th 2017 at the civic centre Cllrs met to vote on planning issues. One of the planning applications to be decided upon that evening was Y16/0623/SH: Little Densole Farm, Canterbury Road, Densole, where 12 holiday lodges along with a tennis court etc are to be sited in an Area Of Outstanding Natuaral Beauty (AONB); which was second item on the agenda. Little Densole Farm and the land where the lodges (pictured below) are to be sited are owned by Mr & Mrs Westgarth
Planning Application Y16/0623/SH is for the siting of 12 holiday lodges, and erection of a reception building and a store building, together with formation of a fishing lake, a car park area, tennis courts, a children’s play area, and a putting green, to create a tourism site (pictured above).
Mr & Mrs Westgarth own a company called MILLDOWN ASSOCIATES LIMITED; who have a legally outstanding mortgage on 23 Minter Avenue Densole according to Companies House. Now 23 Minter Avenue Densole (see No 4 – Land) is the home address given by Cllr David Drury Monk (pictured) the leader of Shepway District Council. So the owners of Cllr Monk’s home, according to Companies house apply for planning permission and low and behold they get it.
Cllr David Godfrey (pictured below) spoke in support of the planning application and Cllr Dick Pascoe (pictured below) basically told the planning officers to overturn their reccomendation to refuse. As we said Planning permission was granted, but then is that any surprise to you, when the Westgarth’s own Cllr Monk’s home according to Companies House, which as we said, has an outstanding mortgage on it.
Did Cllrs Pascoe & Godfrey know about the mortgage and the connection between Cllr Monk and Mr & Mrs Westgarth? What do you think?
Under Shepway District Council’s code of conduct, Cllrs must act in conformity with the Seven Principles of Public Life. One of these principles is Integrity – that ‘Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefit for themselves, their family or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interest and relationships’
Has Cllr Monk compromised his intergrity?
Another of these principles is Honesty which states:
“Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest.”
Has Cllr Monk compromised his honesty?
It may well appear to a reasonable person that Cllr David Drury Monk, has let his intergrity and his honesty slip somewhat. This is a man who will stand in the forthcoming KCC elections on May 4th 2017. Is this a man who should even be allowed to stand, when the evidence before you clearly indicates he may have breached two of the principles of Public Life. Would any reasonable person now think that there is not just one Dodgy Dave in the Tory party but two? We’ll leave you to decide that.
Shepwayvox Team
Politics is a choice between the disastrous and unpleasant and a man without Principles such as Cllr Monk evidenced in your article, goes to show what many of us have always suspected, if you’re a Conservative, they haven’t got any, nor has he..
How do these people sleep at night? With all the building that is going on lately this present unopposed administration must be thinking that all it’s birthdays have come at once. More to the point how do they get away with it? Who is charged with upholding standards in public office?
How do you tell if a Counciliar is telling lies ?
Their lips move.
If you want your innermost fears shared with the world, tell your councillor…..
Councilor Monk has ethics. Sadly not ours. Self service seems evident here and he here had surely to have declared an interest in the subject under discussion. Did he?, would he? The rules dictate that he should not participate, having an interest in the subject.
It would seem that Cllr. Monk had lost his voice at the time of this issue being raised and forgot to declare his pecuniary interest.
Would that we could all do the same. Maybe that we can, enciting precedent
Sorry, your Honour, Forgot that murder was a crime. Pehraps you yould let me off
This is so corrupt. I’m sick and tired of councillors and politicians looking out for themselves and stuff the rest of us.
So let’s make bloody sure we register and vote. If the opposition can unite on one platform — an end to dodgy dealings and secret sessions and in favour of open and transparent governance — behind one candidate, he can go off and enjoy his bus pass.
How do we make the local and national press take an interest and apply their much vaunted investigative journalistic powers to expose this potential abuse of power?
How do we get the Government’s local government body investigate this?
Why do we have to put up with this seeming abuse on an almost monthly basis?
SV RESPONSE TO DB
DB you ask some very sensible questions. Unfortunately local government and what goes on at this level is just not sexy or appealling to national newspapers. As for local newspapers they do try, but stories can be so easily “spiked” when your owners are offshores or “friends of the tory party”. As for having to put up with it, we get what we vote for, that’s the first past the post for you.
I should add that aside from the apathy of the press and the indifference of central government when it’s a “safe” seat, the individuals whose names haunt the pages of Shepwayvox have tame lawyers only to keen to send out threats of legal action, or use their tame stooges with their fakes emails accounts and twitter IDs to indulge in low level harassment and bullying. Maybe one day, one of these stooges will cross a line and no one will be able to ignore what they’ve done. Remember who predicted this first!!!!