Its been a week since I last put finger to keyboard, which in part was due to a particularly punishing Sunday shift, but mainly my inbuilt pessimism etc. In an attempt to revive my spirits I thought, I'd take a walk around Margate, of course many of my walks actually involve driving somewhere first, so I took the car forgetting that due toThanets Pedestrians connections project, I can no longer connect with my favourite starting points using my vintage renault 19. 
Having parked well away from the seafront and Harbour area, I headed into town through the High Street studying the sprawl of vacant properties, momentarily pleased to see what was I think Mackays, being bought back into use, less encouragingly as a charity British Heart Foundation shop. (still if and when I survive my first heart attack I shall no doubt be thankful of the work these people do). I noticed the high street was full of what I take to be either career benefits claimants getting some fresh air before settling down to Jeremy Kyle, bewildered visitors looking for shops, and the occasional office wallah. 
The sea front seemed to be quite empty apart from a gathering on the harbour where more "regeneration" is taking place in fact I recognised one of Thanet regeneration supremos. I took a walk to the visitor centre which naturally was closed, as you would expect living around here, which is a pity, since I was accosted several times for information, as I walked around the seafront by elderly visitors, who had come to visit the Margate they knew, not the "work in progress" or the "come back in five years time" Margate. 
Those visiting Margate this week, will at least be able to enjoyed nice bright weather hopefully, its just a pity that Thanet's chosen to tear up the roads and pavements to coincide with the start of the summer season. BRILLIANT ! The very least Thanet ought to do is open its visitor centre rather than force old dears to confront grim middle aged bloggers, who know nothing about buses and just want somewhere to park.
The sea front seemed to be quite empty apart from a gathering on the harbour where more "regeneration" is taking place in fact I recognised one of Thanet regeneration supremos. I took a walk to the visitor centre which naturally was closed, as you would expect living around here, which is a pity, since I was accosted several times for information, as I walked around the seafront by elderly visitors, who had come to visit the Margate they knew, not the "work in progress" or the "come back in five years time" Margate. 
Those visiting Margate this week, will at least be able to enjoyed nice bright weather hopefully, its just a pity that Thanet's chosen to tear up the roads and pavements to coincide with the start of the summer season. BRILLIANT ! The very least Thanet ought to do is open its visitor centre rather than force old dears to confront grim middle aged bloggers, who know nothing about buses and just want somewhere to park.
One of my customers from Margate today said that the beach was busy yesterday and pointed out that there was hardly anywhere for the tourists on the beach to spend their money, so most of them just went back home leaving their rubbish for us to pay to have cleaned up.
ReplyDeleteI suppose there is a lesson here for other councils who are hell bent on destroying the towns they represent.
ReplyDelete"How to Kill your town" sounds like a good title.
And we hear not a peep on the blogs, but ashamed they ain't.
I'm not sure I follow anon
ReplyDeleteRegeneration of Margate will always fail is the High St i left rotting. As a trader in the centre times are very difficult, just survival, and things like putting up parking charges just shows out of touch the council is with the local ecomomy. My monthly payments to this council are high, and as a local business get very little support, it currently represents very bad value for money.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry, I meant that no one from TDC "pops" in to defend.
ReplyDeleteI get so angry that issues raised on various blogs as Margate here, Ramsgate Pleasurama, Manston and our water supply.
No one ever comes in to address these issues from TDC.
The smell in the harbour must be resolved. It will put people off sitting with their cappuccinos. What is TDC thinking? Isn't it a sluice gate thing?
ReplyDeleteYes the fishermen told me if the sluice gate was opened up the problem would be solved-but no-one on the council listens...they were dragging the seaweed sludge from one side of the harbour arm to the other yesterday and then dragging sand from the beach and infilling it??!!this will not solve anything..
ReplyDeleteHi Tony.
ReplyDeleteJust to add to this discussion. Anybody that still trades in Margate town centre should seriously think about getting out if they can. Its just about good enough for a local newsagents, McDonalds and as many charity shops as it can handle. Margate has definately finished as a resort to enjoy yourself. After last saturdays weather travelling from the mini golf in Cliftonville every bit of the way to Margate beach is a eyesore. When I was a boy fair enough times have changed. I remembered a day out with my nan. We pretty much set off on the same route. I remember along the cliff top wall all the facia was glassed. A man carrying a little monkey in which I had my picture taken with unfortunately not in my possesion. The Lido with kids rides in the left hand corner. Arcades and Bingo. Snooker hall, Cafe/Bar Deckchairs laid out ready for the live music. Then from there to climb up the stairs or take the lift down to the seafront you would see what was remaining of Margate pier. Nowadays you couldnt even imagine us ever having one. Still travelling down towards the seafront nothing like the crowds of people Margate used to see. The Big sweet shop now gone. Nothing enticing you to visit a arcade and only 2 shops selling buckets & spades compared to the 6 or 7 of the 80s. Last of all the Donkey rides and the Jetty with the old 1p arcade. Not one single building I think has ever been revamped in all my memory of Margate only gone to ruin. I was even suprised to see the Joke shop and the Bong shop still trading being left under the Arlington arcade. By the way if you want a decent portion of chips that are not full of greasey fat i reccomend Arlington arcades a visit £1 a portion free sauce unlike other places now and many other things on the menu including hot doughnuts. All in all now Margate doesnt have much to offer a day tripper apart from the sandy/Clean beach. Always saw a cleaner every hour or so going round well praised to him. Once we left the beach I made sure that my kids and partner picked up all rubbish that we had made to make it beneficial for the next person to sit down. Then to go back home and wish the weather to continue in which it did until Thursday now its back to normal, and the 2 weeks summer holiday out of the UK still looks like more of a possibilty.
New Girl,
ReplyDeleteI moved into Palm Bay, Cliftonville just over a year ago. I am very happy in this area and have made my home here after years of wandering. However, I have been here long enough now to see the flaws.
Thanet Council appear to have a "left arm knowing what right arm is doing" problem. Regeneration of course is the in word. I have noticed the following points and would be pleased to be corrected if I am wrong.
1. Westwood Cross has been developed which is great for shoppers and for leisure. However why develop a phase II when the towns around it are dying?
2. So many shops stand empty and in decay. Why not reduce rents so that at least some income is generated and more shops would be occupied.
3. Why do Thanet Council persist in viewing Margate as a "kiss me quick" venue. The town has some beautiful buildings, a fabulous beach, great train and coaching facilities. Why not be encouraging more up market hotels and wine bars etc. If the area was of the calibre of Brighton then people would be encouraged to live here, commuting to London is not difficult and then money would be spent here all year round.
4. Landlords should all be forced to upkeep their properties. Hastings has improved 100% by getting tough in this way.
5. It is unbelievable that millions can be spent on the Turner Centre, when the rest of the town and surrounding areas are in such a state. How do this Council think that such a building will generate any form of tourism etc. when there is nothing else to go with it.
6. The China Gate project has recently come to my attention. Yes I can see that jobs need to be created. However, I lived several years in Medway and witnessed their mistakes. Thanet Council seem hell bent on going the same way. t
They too propose to destroy vast tracts of beautiful countryside in the name of "regeneration". They appear not to want advice from environmental experts either. Certain sections of the this Council appear to be falling into the "living the dream" trap, egoes play a big part too. The legacy in Medway is many empty office buildings and there will be thousands of unwanted houses. Simply wishing for jobs and providing buildings does not regenerate an area. London companies who would want to invest in such an area will not pay top wages. This has been proved. Relocation to them is about maximising profit. However, in order to buy the new properties being built London wages are necessary. I see a similar scenario unfolding here and large areas of beautiful land will be lost for nothing.
7. We have all seen the legacy from carbon emissions that China has left the World, do we want this here? Are this Council strong enough to impliment measures to ensure this does not happen.....from what I have seen so far I think not. We have all seen how unscrupulous the Chinese are in their dealings around the World are they likely to be concerned about Thanet environment when big bucks are being earnt?
8. WHY...is the China Gate Industrial Estate going to be allowed to be operating 24 hours per day 7 days per week? Has anyone done research into the noise levels generated, the pollutions levels created by such an operation. Are visitors to the Turner Centre going to want to be in close proximity to such a project!!! The mere fact that the place will become a potential 24 hour traffic jam will be enough to damage the lungs of our young and elderly. Has anyone researched this point with Asthma etc. experts? Who will fill these 24 hour shift patterns? The EU control overtime laws I believe, or are Thanet Council planning to use up even more land for housing thousands more immigrants from other countries or from other parts of this country to live here. The South East has too many people now to accommodate water and sewerage needs. Investment should be in the north where it truly is needed.(At this point I will say that I was born and have always lived in the south east).
8. Thanet Council have cut back on rubbish collection and in particular garden waste. What a stupid short term policy. Medway Council went down this road too and rued the day. Fly tipping in the prettiest areas is so bad they have to have Council led clear up days now.
On the plus side......I do praise Thanet Council for the way they have kept beautiful beaches and cliff top walks especially nice. Sea front areas too are generally very well kept. They simply lack vision. They have all the assets of countryside, wildlife, birds, beaches etc. this is what they should be capitalising on. Why not prioritise and use all powers available to them to make ALL landlords keep their buildings nice. Then, Regenerate the harbour. Is it not possible (someone might know) to create a moorings site/marina. The sea Promenade would make a wonderful backdrop to this with cafe's wine bars and chandleries etc. The Turner Centre would then be an additional asset for tourism. People should be encouraged to settle here and pay their way, as I have done. I used to be a visitor to Thanet, now all my income is spent here.
Thanet Council, like so many others, are looking for a quick fix. Encouraging the wrong type of development and willing to sell of our heritage to do it. On the one hand we ae to be an art centre to rival Brighton and on the other a highly industrialised area teaming with mass population and low quality housing!!!
To get back to one of the subjects on your web site, we might have something to attract the Americans to if Thanet Council showed some real vision!
I am very pleased to be here and see this as my home. I think what you all have here is worth fighting for and that means getting on top of the reckless waste shown by Thanet and KCC Councils and also getting them to broaden their thinking. They are not aiming high enough to secure the sort of future this lovely area could have with a bit of lateral thinking.
Thanks for having us. Great website.
Joan Goddard
Thank you Joan for you words, I agree that this is not a bad place to live, which I'm well aware of when I'm working, particularly in London.
ReplyDeleteClearly not every thing is bad or wrong round here but certainly our politicians could be a little more pro active and imaginative.