Letter from Sellindge & District Residents Association
THE GREAT UNTRUTH Part 2.
Dear Residents,
You will recall our post of 13th August from a Monks Horton Parish Councillor telling of the ‘Great Untruth’ as performed by the Leader of Shepway District Council, David Monk on BBC Radio Kent.
Well, to our amazement, a reply was received, admittedly, after a prompt of 6 days of deafening silence. Is this the same David Monk that constantly invites residents to contact him to raise points relating to the proposed 12,000 sprawl housing estate. Councillor Monk even stated clearly ‘on air’ for residents to speak with him.
The Great Untruth occurred when Councillor Monk stated that a question posed by Parish Councillor Les Barratt to 27 Parish Councillors at the Civic Centre took the form of ‘Who thought it was a bad idea to build a new town at Otterpool’. – No hands were raised.
When in actual fact, the question posed was ‘Who thought it was GOOD idea to build a New Town at Otterpool’ – No hands were raised.
So, could this have been a ‘slip of the tongue’ or a faux pas by Councillor Monk. Definitely not: Councillor Monk has had six days to reflect on his ‘on air’ statement but states that he doesn’t agree with Parish Councillor Barratt.
Is this the attitude that we can expect from the Leader of Shepway District Council ? Is this the attitude that we have all come to expect from Councillor Monk ? Can we expect more of the same from Councillor Monk ?
It is clear that Councillor Monk had the intention of deceiving the people of Kent on a BBC radio station. It is also clear that support from local residents to build an urban sprawl in a rural location has no support from local Parish Councils and many individual parishioners.
Councillor Monks’ last dismissive email (see below) to Parish Councillor Barratt suggests that he is ill equipped to enter into any form of debate or dialogue.
As a servant of the people of Shepway and given the content of this post, do you think that Councillor Monk is fit to be our Leader ? You have every right to contact him and tell him what you think. You’ll be lucky to get a reply, but if you do, please let us know.
Sellindge & District Residents Association.
District Councillor David Monk Leader of Shepway District Council
Phone: 01303 891001
Bus. email: [email protected]
The email thread continues:
Dear Mr. Monk,
It has been six days since I sent my email to you. Please inform me when I can expect a reply.
Leslie Barratt
Vice Chair, Monks Horton Parish Meeting
Dear Mr. Barratt
You and I are not going to agree, I see little point in continuing this conversation.
Kind Regards
Councillor David Monk
Leader, Shepway District Council.
“Cinque Ports” Bulletin Tuesday 23 August 2016