important updates on the Pierremont Park Depot situation please read

Thank you for signing the Pierremont Park Depot petition. We have a couple of important updates today and an important (but very simple) new request (not for money, don't panic!)...

Thanet District Council's Monitoring Officer has now finally considered our motion and confirmed that the petition request wording is valid.  We will submit it in mid Feb so that they have to debate it at their meeting on 26 March - or act before then to do what we're asking...

Since we had sent the wording to them in October and some councillors had previously been trying to tell us that what we were asking them do was "illegal" - it is something of a relief to know at last that they will now have to consider our request - which was obviously our belief all along, but it is helpful to have it finally confirmed officially.  

The other useful update we've had from the Democracy Services team is that signatories don't actually have to be Thanet residents. Visitors views are considered important too and will be considered. So if you know of anyone from outside the area who is passionate about our cause with this petition - please now ask them to sign it.  

Of course we still want more local signatures as well and we're delighted to see the total inching upwards as we have new volunteers enthusiastically helping to tell more people what's going on and collecting more supporters.  Please keep sharing as widely as possible.  If you'd like to get paper copies of the petition to ask people who may not be online, get in touch and we can provide you with approved sheets to complete. 

In other news, we have flagged up the Covenant on the land which . It seems that TDC may  have considered they could ignore this covenant, since it's old and sometimes covenants can be over ruled, but we think this one may be robust and we've asked them to tell us their reasons why they think it isn't, if that is their view.  There is a seemingly relevant legal precendent, R V Shropshire Council.

We had a great public meeting last week with lots of new supporters, including a group of local school students, getting involved this time. A few of us then attended a Town Council meeting last night where it was agreed that the Town Council will work with us and other local stakeholders to work up a Social Value Plan for the Depot site, which it seems is what may be needed to help ensure it ultimately gets used in the best way to benefit the park environment and the community as a whole. 

The photo above is by Photography by Rebecca and was taken at our poetry evening on 6 January - which was also well attended and great fun.  Friends of Pierremont Park is turning in to a really vibrant group with so much potential to do even more to support our park, so that's one good thing that's coming out of all this bother of the Depot.  It's bringing us all together as a community. 

Please email us friends@pierremontpark@gmail.com if you have any comments or suggestions in response to this update.