Phoenix rising

“Nothing ever happens in Ramsgate” was a common phrase frequently heard around the town in the last five or six years.  Is this now changing?  Is the Phoenix rising from the ashes?  Is having our own Town Council at last paying off?  There is definitely a link between things happening in Ramsgate and the Labour controlled administration at TDC. I have reservations about the “how and why” of Labour’s coming to power but I have to say it is paying off for Ramsgate.

We have our own Visitor Information Centre, we have progress on the Harbour master-plan, we have the Maritime Museum opening, we have a high speed train, we have promise of a boutique hotel in Albion House, Ramsgate tunnels possibly opening, a refurbished Madeira Walk and Westcliff rose garden, We have promenade shelters being renovated all along the seafront, we have commemorative blue plaques throughout the town, we have a Town trail booklet imminently expected and information boards to come on the sea front  Also just maybe a development of flats and hotel on the seafront by 2014 to attract new residents .

All of this is by no means entirely down to either Ramsgate Town Council or Thanet District Council but a new cohesiveness of effort for town improvement is now taking effect and such a momentum can only increase as the opportunities of Localism are more clearly defined.  Look out world - Ramsgate is on the map.

What kind of town do you want to live in?

 One that looks like this?

Or one that looks like this?

Volunteers are working for your town right now

We need to win funding for the shelters restoration

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http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/862

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One small step for Ramsgate.

The first week of August 2011 will see two promenade shelters on the Ramsgate seafront cordoned off in preparation for their complete restoration. This work is a pilot scheme by the Ramsgate Society, the first part of a larger project to restore 14 shelters which has been two years in the negotiation stage but is now nearing fruition. These two shelters will be out of action until early October 2011 when they will be returned to public use in a fully restored condition.

The two lucky shelters are the centre one of three, east of the Granville Theatre and the prominent Westcliff shelter on Government Acre. The remaining twelve are scheduled for works beginning early in 2012, in batches of four, that is four on Eastcliff, four in the Paragon and Nelson Crescent and four remaining on the Westcliff.

These shelters are being funded to 90% of the cost by a Townscape Heritage Initiative Grant, jointly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Thanet District Council. It is up to the Ramsgate Society and people who care about Ramsgate to raise the remaining 10% of the cost of works. The Ramsgate Society already has raised sufficient funds for the contribution towards the pilot scheme, but will require assistance from the many businesses, organisations and people in Ramsgate to complete the whole scheme. It is now up to Ramsgate to take the first small step towards it’s own regeneration. This project will demonstrate how we can take charge of our own environment and make it better for the whole community. Hopefully, it will be the first in a long line of projects to make Ramsgate a better place to live and visit.

For more information and to get involved visit

www.ramsgate-society.org.uk