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Dear *|FNAME1|*,

Welcome to the Ramsgate Society December Newsletter. We hope you have all remained well and can enjoy Christmas and the New Year despite restrictions and the risk of infection. Hopefully 2021 will bring a return to normality in every way – including the reinstatement of the Society’s community events in Ramsgate.

As this Victorian greetings card shows, the Christmas holiday period and sea bathing can happily co-exist as the brave souls on our beach will doubtless also be proving once again at New Year.

Terry Prue
Ramsgate Society Communications Lead

Ramsgate Conservation Area Tree Planting Project

(Photo: Harmer & Sons Ltd)

This year, 2020, is the 50th Anniversary of the designation of the original Ramsgate Conservation Area in 1970 and the Ramsgate Society has been working to mark the occasion by planting 50 trees in the Ramsgate Conservation Area.

The initial cost of purchasing the trees and carrying out the planting will be just over £7000, but this excludes maintenance costs over the next two or three years which will be essential if the majority of trees are to survive and become established. Eight different species of trees have been selected for their suitability for the locations.

We have been fortunate to obtain grants from the Postcode Lottery Fund, Ramsgate Town Council, the Mayor of Ramsgate Cllr Raushan Ara, Street Trees for Kent, as well as setting aside some of our own funds, so the scheme is now fully funded and the trees are on order.

We had originally intended to ask local volunteers to help us plant the trees during National Tree Week 29th November to 6th December 2020 but the newly extended Coronavirus Restrictions put paid to that idea. After considerable thought and discussion, it was decided that it would be better and safer to get a contractor to plant the trees to avoid any risk of breaching the Coronavirus Restrictions. An order has now been placed with Harmer and Sons, based in Acrise near Folkestone, to carry out the planting during a three-week window commencing Monday 18th January 2021. This is just over a month later than we had initially planned but delays due to the pandemic have dictated the timing.

Once the trees are planting, we will be asking local residents to join a scheme to sponsor an individual tree. The details of the scheme are currently being worked out and will be announced early in the New Year. The purpose of the Ramsgate Sponsor a Tree Scheme will be to ensure we have sufficient funds to maintain the trees for the first few years and to replace any that fail or are damaged. More about this in the January 2021 Newsletter.

John Walker

Manston Airport Judicial Review Update December 2020

Many of you will have already heard that the Secretary of State for Transport has announced that he does not intend to defend the Judicial Review proceedings on 16th February and will apply to the Court for his Decision on the DCO Application to be quashed. RSP have agreed not to oppose this application.

In his letter to the Appellants Solicitors Harrison Grant, the Treasury Solicitor on behalf of the Secretary of State said:

“My client has agreed to conceded this claim on the basis of ground 1(b), namely that the Secretary of State did not give adequate reasons in his decision letter to enable the reader to understand why he disagreed with the Examining Authority Report on the issue of need for the development of Manston Airport”

Following the quashing of the Manston Airport Development Consent Order 2020 dated 7th July 2020 by the Court, the Secretary of State will write to all interested parties, setting out key issues and inviting further written representations on those issues.

Interested parties include the applicant, the local authority and anyone who previously registered by filling out a Relevant Representation form at the inquiry stage (and had it accepted as valid).

The Secretary of State will then make a decision based on the Examining Authority’s Report and the further representations. The Secretary of State has three months to make a decision but this can be extended.

The decision could be either a refusal to make a Manston Airport Development Consent Order or a decision to grant such a Consent Order.

If a DCO is refused, RSP may wish to bring a judicial review. The current Applicant would be an Interested Party in any such challenge.

If a DCO is granted, another judicial review can be brought on the existing grounds and any further grounds that may arise on review of the decision letter.

Any money left over from the current CrowdJustice campaign can be held in readiness and used towards the judicial process going forward.

John Walker

Pioneering Places

(Image: Conrad Shawcross Studios)

“Pioneering Places” is an ambitious project funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England and delivered by Turner Contemporary. Part of the project is an exciting new temporary piece of public art to be installed near the East Cliff bandstand.

Since 2018, over 70 local children from St Laurence’s Junior Academy and Ramsgate Arts Primary have been leading this project. Turner Contemporary staff have been working with them through regular attendance at their schools and the provision of weekly creative workshops. As part of the project the children interviewed a number of artists to work with them to convert their ideas into a piece of public art and as a result, they then appointed Conrad Shawcross RA, a renowned British artist who has exhibited internationally.

To see the letter sent by the Turner Contemporary for Ramsgate Society members to read more about this exciting project click here.

John Walker

Is Ramsgate The Litter Capital of Kent?

Ramsgate is one of the most picturesque seaside towns in Kent but when you walk along some of the streets in Central Ramsgate there are occasions when you might be forgiven for thinking that the town was bidding for the title of “Litter Capital of Kent” and making a very convincing case.

Litter is a form of vandalism, which together with graffiti and poor maintenance of the public realm, are the three things that offend most peoples’ sense of civic pride and prevent people enjoying what would otherwise be an attractive historic town with much to offer residents and visitors alike.

As well as being unsightly, litter is a serious social, economic and environmental issue. It causes harm to communities and wildlife, and at a time when local authority budgets are coming under huge pressure it costs over £1billion each year to clear up. Yet it is entirely preventable

Ramsgate for Christmas 1

Liverpool University Press are selling most of their books at half price until December 31st and that includes Geraint Franklin’s excellent book on Ramsgate. Click here to buy and enter code WINTER50 at checkout for the half price deal.

Ramsgate for Christmas 2

There is no better time to encourage your friends to join us as any ‘annual’ membership bought in December will automatically run 15 months until April 2022

Contact the Ramsgate Society

If you have any queries about or for the Society please get in touch

Members with events, workshops or news that you would like the Society to consider featuring in its newsletter please contact: news@ramsgate-society.org.uk