DIGNITY & GRACE... EVEN WHEN THERE'S NO LOVE LOST...

Dear GMRA members and readers,

Following the recent Kent County Council Elections we received a lot of emails from members who were concerned that by endorsing a political candidate, as we did, meant that we, the residents association would no longer be seen as a non-political group.

The Greenhithe Conservative Councilors have recently published and hand delivered their newsletter throughout Greenhithe and at the risk of further wrath from members we have copied it into this post below: This newsletter tell us that we endorsed the right man in Cllr Keith Kelly, who following his election defeat, didn't throw his toys out of the pram, no instead, he showed dignity and grace in accepting his fate.

We also admire the fact that both Cllr Kelly and Cllr Mote have openly opposed the proposed Lower Thames Crossing at the Swanscombe Peninsula which is of course a view we share as it is not only the correct decision its the right decision for Swanscombe & Greenhithe as well as for the whole of Kent Thameside and the Tames Gateway.

Apologies if this is political, but we need more local representation and thank goodness for people like Cllr Mote & Cllr Kelly who are not afraid to speak up for local residents.

Pier Pub Raft Race and Summer Fair - 13 July 2013

Community Event

Contact Details for pub The Pier Hotel: The Pier Hotel. High Street Greenhithe DA9 9NN Telephone: +44(0)1322 382291 

For Raft Race and Summer Fair. Please call 07773 254605 for full details.

Venue: The Pier Hotel Pub High Street, Raft Race off of Pier Road Public Causeway Greenhithe & Summer Fair at Ingress Park Riverfront Park.  

Date: Saturday 13 July, 2013  
Time: 13:00 to 18:00 

by Thom Morris tmorris@thekmgroup.co.uk

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The panel at last night's meeting

The leader of Kent County Council has said that the authority will be opting for option C – a new Thames crossing cutting through Gravesham. Appearing at a meeting last night, Paul Carter said he had substantial modifications to the plans put forward by the government, but would not reveal them until later this week.

He said: “Yes I do believe we need a new crossing. We’ve been doing quite a lot of work on our own feasibility studies and the work we did suggested it should be east of Gravesend.

“We’ve had some reservations from members of my group and the Gravesham area but we do believe it should be a tunnel, not a bridge. 

“We would object to the link road going through Shorne and we will put that in our response.”

KCC will not sign off its formal response to the consultation until a meeting of the cabinet on July 15 – a day before the consultation closes.

The meeting, held at Hilton Dartford Bridge Hotel on Crossways Business Park, was organised by BBC Radio Kent and BBC Essex.

During the meeting, the Dartford crossing was closed after an accident.

The leader of Kent County Council has said that the authority will be opting for option C – a new Thames crossing cutting through Gravesham.

The panel consisted of David Burch from the Essex Chambers of Commerce; Natalie Chapman from the Freight Transport Association; John Kent, Labour leader of Thurrock Borough Council; Richard Knox-Johnston from CPRE Protect Kent; and Mike Stephens from the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Present in the audience of about 150 people was Gravesham council leader John Burden, Dartford council leader Jeremy Kite, and people from Essex and Kent. Cllr Kent stuck to the same line that Gravesham council is supporting, that of “none of the above”.

He said: “I don’t think the case has been proven – if you remove the tolls I believe you will free up capacity.

“We don’t need a new crossing and removing the tolls is a lot cheaper than building a new bridge and will give some respite from the congestion we get, day in and day out. “We need to wait and see what the impact is from free tolling.”

But Jeremy Kite, whilst agreeing that waiting to see what the free flowing tolls will bring, said option C was the best of the three.

He said: “I do think we need a new crossing and while I do think we should see what happens with the free flow technology, we’re being asked to pick one of those and we think it should be C.”

Public meeting on Lower Thames Crossing

Dartford Borough Council will be hosting a public meeting regarding the options for the location of a new Lower Thames Crossing on Wednesday 10 July 2013.

The meeting will include a presentation from the Department for Transport on the possible options and contributions from other interested parties including Dartford Borough Council Leader Jeremy Kite explaining the Council’s view that Dartford should not be home to a new crossing. There will then be plenty of time for questions and answers from local residents and businesses and an opportunity to get your voice heard.

Councillor Kite said, “The Dartford Crossing is a hugely controversial issue and this consultation is a fantastic opportunity to let the government know how strongly we feel. This meeting gives Dartford residents the chance to find out as much as they can and reply to the consultation before the closing date.”

The meeting will take place on Wednesday 10 July at 7pm in the Ballroom, Acacia Hall, Dartford DA1 1DJ. Doors open at 6.30pm and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

We are grateful to KCC for their support.

Full information and the consultation documents are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/options-for-a-new-lower-thames-crossing 

© Dartford Borough Council 2013