Simon Blake

From West Kent, vaguely musical, likes quizzes and craft beer.

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@artdeco_fan @JlpRoger I think it sold, but may be wrong. No updated sold price on Rightmove yet but I think it takes 90 days after the sale. It's a stunning house to be fair.

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@artdeco_fan @JlpRoger Interestingly, the same applicant has also applied to demolish the 2 car garage at Camster and build a 10 car replacement plus workshop. Must have deep pockets !

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@JlpRoger @artdeco_fan Reasons/justification for the change are all documented in the 'design and access statement' document on the application :-
https://t.co/l3I7NJemqI
As you say, the evidence is now gone.

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@artdeco_fan @JlpRoger The applicant is seeking retro planning for the fence and said that the old railings were unsafe (probably true) but that the safety of the public using the path was not their responsibility hence a safer but less aesthetic wooden replacement.

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@JlpRoger @artdeco_fan I checked the planning application again to see if there were comments and yes, several dozen, seems that you're not alone in disliking the new fence ! Will be interesting to see if these are taken into account.

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@KevSmithTyrone @fentonstevens @EastEndJoe You beat me to it !!!!

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@matt_saunders_ Many restaurants/pubs where you order and pay up front now add a tip, before you've experienced the service you've paid the tip for. It's increasingly common, unfortunately.

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

This is the same graph with a full vertical scale.

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

The graph is drawn to make the demand look much worse than it is, trying to shift the blame onto the customers who are merely trying obtain and use the product that they're paying for.

[SOS Whitstable @SOSWhitstable]

This chart is a masterclass in how to make ordinary variation look like a crisis.

The biggest problem? The y-axis starts at 500 instead of 0. That massively exaggerates the height differences between the bars, making a relatively modest increase in water demand look dramatic and alarming.

571 ML/d and 670 ML/d are only about a 17% difference — but visually the red bars appear almost twice as large as the green one.

Then there’s the colour coding:
🟢 safe
🟡 warning
🟠 danger
🔴 crisis

Those thresholds are arbitrary, but the design makes the audience feel like demand suddenly becomes catastrophic at 650.

This is why data visualisation ethics matter. Charts shouldn’t be designed to manipulate emotion — they should help people understand reality accurately.

A simple zero-based axis and neutral colours would tell the story honestly.

[Simon Wheeler @SiWheeler78]

@Ofwat simply has to remove @sewateruk license. South East Water are blaming Moody’s junk status on the last two major outages, whilst taps are dry again for thousands in Kent. SEW aren’t compliant with the conditions of their license & intervention is now urgently required.

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@JlpRoger It is a strange one. Maybe KCC overordered on the paint and need to use it up ?

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@horton_official I have made the Tun Wells MP aware late yesterday and asked him to progress this in parliament.

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@horton_official SEW credit rating was downgraded yesterday by Moody's to a level which apparently means they're now in breach of their license. I haven't got the time to verify this but it seems par for the course. Surely there are official Govt procedures in place for such an eventuality ?

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@Kilkeerock @ThreshedThought And SEW's credit rating with Moody's has today been downgraded to 'junk', meaning they're breaching their license to operate so the Govt/OFWAT need to step in. Can you push for this on our behalf ?

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@JlpRoger If the Retrospective application is not permitted, would they have to put it back as it was ?

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@JlpRoger There is a Retrospective application - 26/01121/FULL - to remove the iron railings, maybe this is what went up instead, but I agree, it's awful for several reasons

[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@DevorahLeah Just four but that was a struggle !Wordle 1,799 4/6

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[Simon Blake @BlakeUnit]

@CuriosityonX I will play Devil's advocate here and say Atheism :)