We may mock and we may be wrong when it comes to Ramsgate Parish Council (RPC).

Up to now I have not written anything expressing an opinion about the formation of Ramsgate Parish Council. This has been because there has been too little information for me to forma firm opinion on the subject of RPC. However my research has shown me that Ramsgate may have had the right idea.

Consider this:

• How much focus has Margate town centre and the issues of parking been given by Thanet District Council?
• What safe guards did Margate town centre have in place from Thanet District Council when Westwood Cross was given the green light?
• Margate town centre is the worst in the country with 25% of shops closed
• Margate museum is closed
• What has been done to promote and maintain Margate Caves as a tourist attraction?
• How much scrutiny had the proposed use of the old dreamland site been given by the Council?
• Other than the KCC funded Turner centre what has TDC done to promote growth in Margate?
• Whose idea was the disastrous clock tower traffic lights which went ahead despite mass objections?

Does it seem to anyone else that Margate is not getting the attention it deserves?

It seems that way to me.

Keep reading and discover that Margate is the Kentish "odd man out" and how it could be hurting Margate's future.

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» Continue Reading: Margate is missing out

The lights at Cecil square are getting turned off.

The traffic lights in Margate's Cecil square will be turned off today. This is for servicing and upgrades only. They will be replaced with far shorter temporary lights for the duration. At 9:20 this morning the temporary lights started going up and I expect that they will be activated today.

Expect some level of congestion as a result which may lead to disruptions to buses throughout Thanet especially at peak times as most bus routes go through this junction.

More news as we have it.

Introducing a few non-political blogs in Thanet.

Crunchy 'Nanas is a blog about life from a Thanet based lass. I am a California girl living in Kent County, England. She says Since training for and running a half marathon in April 2007, I have vowed to eat at least one banana a day. Crunchy 'Nanas has been around a fair old while and seems a little disconnected from the rest of the Thanet blogging world.

Who wants all my styff is a blog by a Thanet guy who wants to give away everything he owns. At the end of the day it is just stuff. He says. It does not make me taller, cooler, happier or longer lived. So do I need it? If you fancy some free stuff I'd recommend joining in.

Thanet Waves is a blog to watch. This writer knows his blogging stuff and I detect a top class Thanet A-lister i the offing. If you are currently resting on your blogging laurels then expect to see only dust as this guy goes running past.

The Margate Music Man is the first safe for work blog by (Thanet) famous Peter Checksfield. In it he shows that he knows a think of two about music and in doing so also shows that we people from Thanet do have more to talk about than who Sandy Ezekiel has been offending this week. Another one to watch.


Thanet blogging can only hope to be a cohesive whole if we choose to overlook our personal, political and professional differences and actually acknowledge each other. Ideally with links, reviews and posts in reply (with post specific links). I hope this list has added a little joined up blogging to Thanet.


Website thumbnails provided by BitPixels

Today is a day of having had enough. I have had it with Thanet's moaning and groaning club of anons who think it is their god-give-right to bitch about everything everyone else writes.

If you are so hot-damn right about everything let's see you write a blog - we'll let the judges be time, tide and search engines.

Could you do what Tony Flaig (of Big news Margate) has done and get mentioned in session by the council? What are you waiting for then?

Could you publish Freedom of Information Requests that make conspirators blush? Publish and be damned!

Could you call a spade a spade and expose the obvious veneer of lies? Let's see you try.

Are you able to tell what will happen come the election? Speak up and we'll see how good you truely are.

It's time to get off your backside, stop moaning, and do something. Otherwise shut up.

With the recent dummy spitting incident taking place between Eastcliff Richard (ECR) and Tony from Big News Margate (BNM) it occurs that maybe the stalwarts of Thanet blogging have become a little stale?

Worse yet maybe these once lead bloggers are a warning to us all? Perhaps, like certain bloggers turned politician, excessive exposure to Thanet District Council turns you from mild mannered reporter into an aggressive arse. Are we to see self aggrandising, fundamentalist style cross fighting between left-of-centre ECR and middle of the road BNM in the style of Labour-vs-Conservative seen at TDC?

So I put it to you, the reader, to try and answer: is the politics of Thanet so soul destroying that even our bloggers turn into apes or is this just a falling out between two blokes that need to take a few days off?

Personally I'd like to imagine that we the independent pundits are of a superior cut to the rabble we call a council but we all have our rose tinted specs on sometimes.

Having been talking about the need in Thanet for further information on web related issues I thought I'd share a video I found recently.

Now before someone (and there is always one) starts suggesting that I'm getting at anyone: I am not getting at anyone. However I do feel it is important to remind ourselves the what and why of the basics and to spread an understanding of said basics to people that might not be aware of them yet.

After all Thanet has a long way to go before we see our version of the Huffington Post.

Out of interest I took a look at the top 5 search results for the search term "web design thanet" on Google. What would these five results be like? What can we learn?

Three things were missing from the Top 5 results for "web design thanet": Indented results (supplementary results), breakout results (additional links under the search result) and anything that ranks at all for the search term "Thanet".

The first two indicate a strong web presence and the later indicates that the "web designer" knows how to get his content ranked in search engine. This is vital because a web designer that can not get his or her own content ranked can not hope to get your content ranked. That means no traffic and your website costs are wasted.

Keep reading for my review of the top 5 sites currently available for "web design thanet".

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» Continue Reading: Web Design Thanet

As most of you know I have been sitting as a parent representative on the Sure Start Millmead Children's Centre Management Board. (I step down this Wednesday as is required by our constitution.) So when I had the opportunity to look around a very different Sure Start I jumped at the chance.

This weekend I took a trip to Chelmsford Hundred where a new Sure Start Children's Centre has been built with a church within to serve the spiritual needs of the community. After I returned I discovered the following interview with Rev Gowing-Cumber (my host for the weekend).



Keep reading for part 2.

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» Continue Reading: Chelmsford Hundred

I'm not actually in Thanet at the moment. In fact I'm not even in Kent. So it hardly seems right for me to try and write about Thanet when I couldn't possibly report on the subject.

However Tony Flaig has a report on what a council meeting is like, Naked in Thanet has a story of petitions against nudists being put out to schools and Thanet Hope is talking about quiche so we know that life is still carrying on as normal.

It would appear that I have ticked off an American with very little self control. While it is unlikely that he will come trolling on your blog if he does I apologise now. This individual has a history of nthis form of activity and last time the result was that the suspected person's company got a sound thrashing as all the disgruntled customers (of which there were many) rallied with a lot of angry bloggers and the result wasn't pretty.

Sadly the CEO moved on to a topic I blog about - the Internet and after a couple of high profile slammings in the leading blogs was a topic not to be left alone but someone has chosen to make it personal. It's irritating but it happens. At least I have plenty to chat to my solicitor about now.

Yes, yes, yes and yes. I know that the adverts are all down. So is www.lordmatt.co.uk for many people. It is what is called a balls-up and it is caused by not havign a current card on file with the domain name registrar that cares for the domain in question.

Whoops.

It'll sort itself out over the next 48 hours and let that be a lesson to me. I should know better.

New features at Live in Thanet present an opportunity for the newsier blogs to share their content. Live in Thanet is a cross between a forum and a social network for those of us that live in Thanet and with the roll out of a new news sharing application this might be the time for some blogs to share new headlines with the users of the forum.

What is kept and what is lost is of course down to the votes of the members but I have a feeling that our newsier blogs (you know who you are) would be well advised to slip the odd headline item in there from time to time. After all we don't want just the "big papers" to scope all the glory.

talking of Trains quick witted Steven Trevellion spotted this work of art sprayed onto a train. (Original post)

The question is - in your opinion - is it art?

Mark Nottingham's blog is "bigging it up" for "Labour's success" with the high speed rail link.

(There was I thinking it was Network South Eastern that was running the trains)

I've been quite clear that I have my doubts about the new link but I welcome it all the same. Anything that cuts down the time it takes to get to London is only a good thing. However today I'd like to ask you a question: How much credit can the political forces take for this really?

Our visit to Jungle Jim's was a most successful outing. My three children had been a little disappointed that the annual camping trip with nanny had been called off due to weather concerns and all adults were keen to make it up to them. Which was how I came to be sitting in the cafe at Jungle Jim's.

For those without their own collection of small children Jungle Jim's is an indoor soft play barn and outdoor family fun area. In short a little slice of kiddie heaven. Both party rooms were in use and we got to hear the happy birthday song over the PA twice during our visit.

Arriving after 3pm for the last few hours it cost just £9 to get all three in (adults are free) and resulted in three sleepy happy offspring. You can grab a reasonable cuppa (children permitting) and the atmosphere is really good natured. (Plus we realised that we knew a few of the staff).

Jungle Jim's can be found on facebook and they have a website which told me: Jungle Jim's has been Highly Commended in the 2009 Pride in Thanet Awards and aims to provide the largest and the best Family Entertainment Centre in the area.

Jungle Jim's location is the Quex Park Estate in Birchington (here is a map) so a car is a bit of a must but I guess you could get a taxi.

I see that we enjoyed a second bomb scare at the court house in Margate.

News is scant but that will not stop speculation. So what's your best theory - someone trying to escape sentencing or a revenge plot by an fresh ASBO holder?

I have officially had enough of Dr Moores veiled accusations about me and am seeking legal advice.

The straw that broke the camels back came after flicking through the local paper I saw that Dr Moores is once more accusing me of being "politically motivated" to make matters worse he states that I had infered that any of the content was untrue. I must insist that Dr Moores prove this and should I choose to take things further this will be required before the courts. Stick to the facts Councillor - truth was never in question.

I shall say this only once: politics has nothing to do with it! Moores simply happens to be acting in a way I don't approve of in the domain in which I consider myself well informed. A domain in which I do business and must spend considerable time. One could almost say it is my "home" - a place where I will not stand for harrasment.

Any suggestion that anything going on within the Wikipedia is something I am in control of shows a total lack of understanding of the workings of the site. The voting page that decided the fate of Moores pet article shows that it continued to exist by flying under the radar. All I did was state my view of the rules and leave it to people I don't know to make up their mind. I didn't even vote on the subject.

I understand that Simon feels angry because he didn't get his own way but that is no reason to insult me in the local press. I can understand that Moores feels a little silly after failing to read the guidelines (and then expressing his ignorance on what Wikipedia finds notable) but not only did I not write them I also took the time to read them. When unsure I asked questions. If Moores was unable for some reason to do likewise how exactly does he claim to understand the web - and be a government advising expert? He does not even understand the Wikipedia's explicit policy on notability.

These personal attacks must end now. His wrists were slapped - it happens to us all. It is not important to those still able to see the bigger picture. Thanet is no richer or poorer for it.

Moores has chosen to make this personal and so this is my reply: I'm going to talk to a legal expert, if Moores has anything more to say he would be wise to run it past his own legal council before he does.

Readers will be pleased to note that this notice marks the end of all comment or reference to Councillor Moores prior to completion of all legal advice, consideration and potential actions. Moores is recommended to consult his solicitor.

The Turner Centre, we're still building it. That's the message that KCC wants the papers to tell about the Turner Centre and tell it they have.

Just in case anyone could have forgotten KCC are working away at a somewhat feasible building for the new Turner Centre and they want the world to know it.

The local papers cannot, it seems, find much else to write about other than the official blurb from KCC saying that this building will now attract 300 people a day. Based on what exactly?

Unless someone can come up with anything more solid than the regular council hot air I suggest it is based on pie-in-the-sky guesswork. There is no way that the 300 a day figure came from anywhere else but the department of wishful thinking.

How many people came to the museums before they were closed?

What about the installations in the town centre's M&S building? I'd estimate something like 20 people a day, if that.

So what grounds does KCC have for thinking people will come visit the Turner Centre? Keep reading to find out if anyone is likely to show up.

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» Continue Reading: The Turner Centre is no magic cure