Council Criticised in Messy Exchange

Shepway Council was accused of leaving ‘thousands of square yards of filth’ on the cliffs between the Leas Cliff Hall and the Road of Remembrance.
In a question at the Full Council meeting on Feb 18, Mr Paul Kitson asked ‘when this disgusting filth going to be removed?’

In response, Council Leader Cllr Robert Bliss emphasised that the Leas and coastal park are cleaned daily, but the cliff ‘provides more of a challenge.’ Abseilers are needed to clean this area, and Cllr Bliss assured Mr Kitson that money had been set aside for this in next year’s budget and that tenders were being sought for this.

Using his right to ask a supplementary question, in a somewhat rambling response Mr Kitson expressed dissatisfaction saying ‘as usual the response is ‘we are looking at this.’ It is not acceptable. People here pay a lot of money.’

Chariman Carey had to remind Mr Kitson he had to ask a question. After several more exchanges, Mr Kitson did pose a second question, asking why the cleaning hadn’t already been performed.

Cllr Bliss gave high costs as the reason for not performing this yearly. Mr Kitson attempted to further question the council, but was cut short by Chariman Carey. After some awkward exchanges Mr Kitson left the chamber saying ‘what is the point of you all?’.