Monk gets his own private fishing lake. The Council have spent £51 million so far, and not a single house has been built. And a transport report concludes Otterpool is being built in the wrong location.
Cllr David Drury Monk (pictured), Leader of Folkestone & Hythe District Council is using the small lake at the centre of the Folkestone racecourse to do a spot of fishing, and allowing his mates to tag along. Afterwards they withdraw to Westenhanger Castle for a beer or two after a hard day on the lake.
As we understand, the general public do NOT have the right to use the lake at present, so Cllr Monk is using his privilege of being leader of the Council to allow himself and his friends the right to fish the lake.
Members of the team have witnessed the building of a pontoon which will be placed on the lake to allow better access for fishing. We wonder who might be paying for this?
Surely, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander? The public ought to have the right of access to fish the lake (pictured above) too. The council could easily set up via it’s website a way to purchase a day license to fish the lake.
Moving on, the racecourse is currently undergoing archaeological excavation with many trenches currently open, but nothing of importance has been found yet.
In November 2019, we made it known that £18.875 million, had been spent on property and monies set aside to progress the development. When one adds in the contracts awarded for Otterpool, it brings the total to £25,399,633, then add on the price for the race course £27.6 million and legal fees and this brings the total spend to date to £52,999,633 million.
Now according to the land registry this morning, the title deed still says the owner of the racecourse is still Cozumel Estates Limited, the company owned by the Reuben Brothers. However, it does appear a deal is going through as the title deed was suspended on the 27th Feb 2020 at 12:23:33.
The report concentrates on the new ‘garden communities’ which are envisaged by government as offering a solution different from the usual car-based dormitory estates that we are so used to seeing. The authors of the report discovered via their visits and research there is an enormous gap between the garden community visions presented by government, consultants and local councils, and the developments likely to be built in reality. The problem centres they think, on building in the wrong location and around the wrong kind of transport. The two problems are of course, interrelated.
The report concludes that we need housing, but we need to build in the right place and in the right way. Housing numbers and targets are not everything. The report suggests the government should commission an urgent re-assessment of every one of the garden villages and towns in terms of funded sustainable transport to underpin the visions portrayed, and the assured delivery of the visions that each has presented to the public.
This is all the more important with the government’s legal duty to lead us to net zero carbon and to build around active and less isolated life-styles for the future.
So to conclude, Cllr David Drury Monk Leader of Folkestone & Hythe District Council has now got his own private lake to go fishing on; which we believe is an abuse of his position. The Council have spent £51 million on Otterpool to date and the transport report makes clear, Otterpool and other Garden towns are being built in the wrong place.
Much has been put on upgrading Westenhanger to an HS1 station. The logical view would be that this would enable workers either to commute out, or, less likely as the employment doesn’t exist, to commute in. It raises the further question that, if a high speed link to London exists, what companies are sensibly going to invest in Otterpool Park, either as employers, retailers or as providers of leisure and entertainment facilities? This would seem to threaten not only the Council view of Otterpool Park, but also their vision of Folkestone as an events town, as they set out in their Strategic Plan. It would seem that the much vaunted High Street will not be dissimilar to Hythe, i.e. Barbers, Charity Shops and Coffee shops, with perhaps Nail Bars and Vape Shops in addition.
To be fair. There are few opportunities to build locally which are close to transport and employment. The fact that the high speed link is nearby is a bonus
Risborough, Park Farm, Gas Works sites – sufficient for local needs and close to exciting HS service. Otterpool Park is not to meet local needs but to bring people in from elsewhere, that is what the Council Strategic Plan sets out.
Good to see some proper journalism for local people.
It’s a real shame media companies such as KM Group (now owned by Illife) don’t actually cover this sort of thing…..but then I guess they’re in hock to the corporate money that keeps them alive. Sad really.
Just get someone with a high powered lens to get a photo of the greedy councillor and his chums fishing and get it out in the papers .
Let the masses see what he is up to
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
I’ll be up there with my rods tomorrow
Much has been put on upgrading Westenhanger to an HS1 station. The logical view would be that this would enable workers either to commute out, or, less likely as the employment doesn’t exist, to commute in. It raises the further question that, if a high speed link to London exists, what companies are sensibly going to invest in Otterpool Park, either as employers, retailers or as providers of leisure and entertainment facilities? This would seem to threaten not only the Council view of Otterpool Park, but also their vision of Folkestone as an events town, as they set out in their Strategic Plan. It would seem that the much vaunted High Street will not be dissimilar to Hythe, i.e. Barbers, Charity Shops and Coffee shops, with perhaps Nail Bars and Vape Shops in addition.
To be fair. There are few opportunities to build locally which are close to transport and employment. The fact that the high speed link is nearby is a bonus
Risborough, Park Farm, Gas Works sites – sufficient for local needs and close to exciting HS service. Otterpool Park is not to meet local needs but to bring people in from elsewhere, that is what the Council Strategic Plan sets out.
Good to see some proper journalism for local people.
It’s a real shame media companies such as KM Group (now owned by Illife) don’t actually cover this sort of thing…..but then I guess they’re in hock to the corporate money that keeps them alive. Sad really.
Just get someone with a high powered lens to get a photo of the greedy councillor and his chums fishing and get it out in the papers .
Let the masses see what he is up to