Dreamland or Paramount?

The high speed train service is attracting development into Kent.  One hour seventeen minutes from London is a proposal on a 16.5 acre site to rebuild Dreamland Margate as a Heritage Theme Park, it is not yet in for planning permission, but plenty of grant money for the construction has been pledged.

BUT just 17 minutes from the capital on an 872 acre site, also on the HS line, at Swanscombe in Kent is a proposal to build Paramount’s answer to Euro Disney.  Outline planning permission is already applied for and an estimated opening date of 2017 has been set.

So where does this leave Dreamland? Yes it is a heritage site not a futuristic attraction but given that theme parks are generally aimed at the younger generation can they be attracted to historic rides, or would they prefer to take a high speed ride on a train to experience the latest in high tech amusement? One interesting observation will be which opens first, if either gets off the drawing board.

Cinderella on Sea

                                                         “THE  RATEPAYERS  TEARS”

Ville Views blog says, us Ramsgatonians live in a beautiful place, therefore we should shut up and keep playing second fiddle to Margate. This is a typical view of Ramsgate, stated by an outsider who knows nothing about the town. Ramsgate’s downfall is its beautiful location and setting, visitors are enchanted by it and do not see Cinderella beneath its beautiful exterior.

 The odds have been stacked against Ramsgate since 1974 when local government re-organisation created Thanet District Council with a voting advantage of 60/40 in favour of Margate. Since then Cinderella’s fortunes have rapidly declined as all the attention is lavished on its ugly sisters. Ramsgate has even been struck off the tourist map with the closure of its Visitor Information Centre.

Fortunately for Ramsgate, it’s a bit like “Marmite”, it seems that depending on where you live in Thanet you either love it or hate it. Those who hate it put obstacles in the way of its success; those who love it volunteer their time and effort, free of charge to ensure its survival and progression. One thing’s for sure, the more obstacles that are put in the way of Ramsgate’s re-generation the more the town’s volunteers rally to keep it functioning.  There are more volunteering groups in Ramsgate than you can shake a stick at and even the Town Councillors donated their expenses to the good of the town.

We in Ramsgate have a marvellous opportunity to illustrate that “Localism” can really work and take charge of our own destiny to thwart those faceless individuals who are jealous of Ramsgate’s magnificent beauty and resilience. 

Margate – or bust.

I had a couple of visits to Margate recently, one outside the Turner Contemporary and one inside. The outside visit was a walk around the Old Town area which has been nicely restored and provides an interesting backcloth to TC. It was Wednesday morning so things were quiet but on Thursday when I returned it was a bit livelier. What struck me from an architectural point of view was the thin veneer of prosperity which has been added to the seafront facing the TC. This will be extended towards the railway station with the renovation of Dreamland Cinema, maybe Tesco’s new superstore and eventually the Dreamland vintage amusement park.

Behind this veneer are acres of derelict and semi-derelict premises which in years gone by would have been buzzing with holiday makers or supporting the establishments who were accommodating the holidaymakers.  Now those holidaymakers have gone elsewhere there are just too many buildings to find practical uses for their future. Where this happened in Northern towns, the councils purchased many with the help of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and bulldozed them, making parks and open spaces between the remaining buildings. This approach was not considered a success up North so it is probably not the best solution for Margate.

What is needed is to make the seafront “relevant” again. People used to flock to the seaside, they do no more. Children were allowed to roam free; they are now permanently supervised by protective parents. The whole nature of society has changed. If a Middle Class mum wants her children to go swimming, dancing, ice skating, horse riding, or whatever, she puts them into a car, takes them there and brings them back.

There are many financially secure families, living in private houses on Thanet estates, working probably in Canterbury, shopping at Westwood Cross and only going to the beaches when the weather is baking hot. Run down historic town centres have little effect on their lives. We must make the seafront relevant again by introducing family orientated and supervised entertainments and also have a serious re-think on car parking strategies

“A station too far?”

The train now standing at platform 1 is the 8.01am calling at Birchington- on-Sea, Westgate-on-Sea, Margate, Broadstairs, Dumpton Park, Ramsgate, Parkway and Minster. If there is any time left over it may even go to London St Pancras but if not the whole process with be repeated tomorrow.

Just what we don’t need is a new station on the horizon, which we can drive to, instead of the other seven to which we can already walk. Still a footpath from the new station to the airport terminal will be quite convenient and exciting for airline passengers, putting your foot onto the zebra crossing to cross the runway could be quite tricky but the volume of planes hardly makes for a health and safety hazard.

If the airport really needs a station, why not build it at the KIA terminal.

If a commuter car park is really required why not build it at Ramsgate station.

Thanet must have one of the densest concentrations of stations in the UK outside the National city centres, utilise these rather than constructing a new one. Building a new station and bypassing the existing under-used stations will do the same for Thanet stations that Westwood Cross did for the Old Town Centres.

This is definitely a “station too far”, too far to drive to, too far from the airport terminal, too expensive and too devastating on the existing infrastructure to contemplate.

Open for business - Closed to tourists

With the 2011 tourist season almost in sight, it is interesting to see the frantic preparations to get Ramsgate ready for the onslaught of visitors to Thanet (read Margate) triggered by the opening of the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery in Thanet (read Margate).

  The Ramsgate signage is all in place to direct hoards of uninformed visitors to the Ramsgate Visitor Information Centre where they can get acquainted with all the details of the latest attractions in Thanet (read Margate).  Just as well Thanet has an award winning Visitor Information Centre, oh but that’s in errrr Margate. Even the alfresco waiting area is empty in Ramsgate and the only hoards to be found are hoardings. Is this what we pay our council tax for, could not £17+ million have lifted the whole of Thanet as a tourist destination.

Strangely enough the real council slogan “open for business” has an ironic twist with TDC providing little or no support to business in Ramsgate. There are more shops thriving in Ramsgate than there are in Margate, without the council’s help. If they give help similar to that given to the Community Pharmacy Gallery in Margate then perhaps Ramsgate is better without it.

Just a quick reminder about a news flash, some six weeks before last Christmas, was it £40,000 ? to be shared around the old towns to spruce up empty shops. How many empty shops have been given a facelift in Ramsgate (Answers on a postcard please to Cecil St, Margate) What this current administration fails to realise is that “Margate needs Thanet” more than “Thanet needs Margate”.

It seems that the only type of council business conducted on the south of the Isle is employment for the “boys with the black stuff”.

Watch this space for future editions of “Tarmac Thanet News”