Paramount Park: London Resort Company Holdings to host a series of public exhibitions unveiling plans for the £2bn theme park on Swanscombe Peninsula.

Please click on the following link :-

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent-business/county-news/paramount-park-to-unveil-plans-19496/

We hope that everyone will fully embrace the opportunity to take part in the first stage of public exhibitions, which are specifically designed to establish the preferred communication and consultation methods of the local community and interested parties.

The public exhibitions will be held on:

Thursday, July 10 from 2pm to 8pm

Ebbsfleet Academy (in the sports hall)

Southfleet Road, Swanscombe, DA10 0BZ

Friday, July 11 from 11am to 2pm

Eastgate (North Kent Community Church)

141 Springhead Parkway, Gravesend, DA11 8AD

Friday, July 11 from 4.30pm to 8pm

British Legion Greenhithe

London Road, Greenhithe, DA9 9EJ

Saturday, July 12 from noon to 5pm

Swanscombe Leisure Centre

Craylands Lane, Swanscombe, DA10 0LP

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.”

New Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley health group in first public meeting

New Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley health group head backs major NHS changes

12:45pm Friday 3rd May 2013 in News By Tim MacFarlan, 

Bexley and north Kent reporter

Dr Baskhar Bora

DOCTOR Baskhar Bora is proud to be a jobbing GP but the Greenhithe physician now has a lot more on his plate than just treating patients.

Full story: News Shopper

DOCTOR Baskhar Bora is proud to be a jobbing GP but the Greenhithe physician now has a lot more on his plate than just treating patients.

Doctor Bora is head of the new NHS Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) which on April 1 assumed responsibility for 249,000 patients from the axed primary care trust and a £279m budget.

The move to abolish PCTs and put doctors in charge of the majority of commissioning health services and almost 70 per cent of the NHS budget, has proved contentious.

Some argue it is a risky experiment which will take GPs away from treating
patients and leave them bogged down in the sort of bureaucracy which bedevilled PCTs.

Speaking following the CCG's first public meeting at the White Oak Indoor Bowls Centre in Swanley on April 30, Elmdene Surgery GP Dr Bora is confident the changes will be better for NHS users.

The new CCG members.

He told News Shopper: "I got into medicine because I like treating patients and seeing patients.
"I enjoy that and I enjoy my job.

"With this role I can have a bigger influence not just on my patients but in the whole locality.

"As a commissioner I will be able to commission services for which people can be seen in a few weeks instead of what used to be almost a year.

"That is one example where I can make a difference."
Doctor Bora says the NHS is something Britons should be proud of but that is needs to change in order to survive.

He said: "People don’t appreciate the health service until they go to other countries but the NHS in its present state cannot survive unless we improve the quality of clinical care.

"What we are trying to do is make sure that we preserve the NHS the way it is."
Dr Bora lists his priorities as reducing elective admissions, tackling inequalities in care provision across Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley and improving end of life care.

The body he heads is made up of all the area’s 36 GP practices represented by a 13-strong governing body including six elected GPs, a chief nurse, a hospital medical specialist, two members of the public and three health managers.

Dr Bora added: "The main difference is GPs are now accountable.
"It is much more clinically focused and we make sure the patient’s quality of care is utmost."