“CAPITAL”

“They are coming home”. The main phase of the shelters restoration is now well under way and Thursday of last week saw the return of a refurbished frame for the second of the three shelters East of the Granville Theatre.  

Other renovated frames will be following in the very near future. Work is happening on all the shelters, with only the two on the Paragon awaiting highway restriction agreements before they can be removed for a similar treatment.

BREAKING NEWS

The large shelter on Government Acre will be officially opened for public use on Friday 27^th April at 1pm. A mystery guest will be cutting the ribbon and declaring it open for use once again. Any guesses who he or she is? 
                                         WATCH THIS SPACE
                      

“What a load of rubbish.”

KCC say only 150 homes will be affected by closure of Richborough Recycling Centre, although a petition with 3000 signatures was presented to them by Ramsgate and Sandwich residents..

It also says'”Do you believe it is reasonable to close the out-of-dated and expensive to operate facility at Richborough, provided services exist within a 20-minute drive-time of your home?” Is that a leading and biased question, or what?

When I moved to Ramsgate, some six years ago and first used the Richbrough Recycling Centre, I was most impressed by its modern, well organized facilities and the ease access from a straight dual carriageway. I thought, at last a County Council with the right approach to recycling. I had previously used recycling centres in various parts of the UK and rated Richborough as one of the best organized I had seen.

BUT NO!  Kent County Council have not got it right because they are proposing the closure of Richborough Recycling Centre, leaving both Ramsgate and Sandwich with inferior alternatives. Sandwich residents would have to travel to Deal and Ramsgate residents have to negotiate the congested back roads around Westwood Cross to get to the Margate Tip, which is already over subscribed and congested at regular intervals.

So, if nothing happens to change their minds our “out of touch” Kent County Councillors will close the best tip in East Kent by August this year, I think we should take this “load of rubbish” to the steps of County Hall, Maidstone, it is almost as easy to get there as to Margate tip.

"Independents” my foot.

The defection of another local politician to the Thanet Opportunists Party is a sad reflection on the state of our local government. We now have one former Labour councillor, one former Conservative councillor and one former Independent/Conservative councillor making up the new Thanet Opportunists Party., in a blatant attempt to hold the Reds and the Blues to ransom for increased allowances (sorry I meant responsibilities)

We will now be able to see the real politicians in Thanet and those just there for the money and glory. It is incumbent upon our more experienced local councillors to sideline these money grabbing morons. How difficult can it be for the big two to work together and oust these self serving undesirable elements from the decision making process.

Surely a motion to prevent any councillor who has changed allegiance, without seeking re-election, to be granted greater responsibilities in the current session, would put paid to their empire building and be more use to Thanet than a vote on gay marriage. Or is that just too simple, any ideas?

Elf n Safely

I have read some interesting posts and commented on other blogs particularly Thanet Life and Thanetonline where the discussion has turned to aviation matters in preference to gay marriage. Interestingly I made reference to an air crash at Stansted airport in  1999  Had this plane taken off from Manston it would certainly have threatened the safety of Ramsgate. The attitude of other commentators seemed mainly to be “so what, it didn’t happen here" OK I accept it didn’t happen here but it could.

At Thanetonline the main concern seemed to be pollution of our water supply and some commentators used the “negativity” card to “dis” the post. Sometime ago, Michael, whilst on his favourite subject of Royal Sands, reported a large chunk of rendering which fell off the cliff face and crashed 20 or so feet to the ground, injuring nobody. The comments then I believe went along the lines “no-one was hurt, so what”.

My point in this is that we live in a world of hard hats, steel toe capped boots, cycle helmets, risk assessment, proof of insurance when holding an event on council land, cancelled firework displays because the correct H&S form has not been completed on time, but really dramatic events are dismissed as irrelevant because they are too disastrous to contemplate.

If you were building a town, would you site it at the end of a 747 runway? Or if you were developing a major regional airport would you have a town at the end of the runway? I sincerely hope the answer is NO to both those questions. So it seems to me that Ramsgate’s gripe about Manston expansion is not negativity , just reasonable self-preservation.on Health and Safety grounds.

Just watching a report on TV about the unsinkable “Titanic”, isn’t it surprising that human blind faith can delude itself into thinking all is “in the pink” whilst peering through rose tinted glasses.

Any way I am off to bed now but I will be sure to be wearing my hard hat in case a 747 drops in over night, and my steel toe caps in case some plaster falls off the wall. Second thoughts better do a risk assessment before I leave this sofa .and check my insurance clauses before using the stairs. You never know!

Leading Light.

On the 19 July 2012, the Olympic Flame will be travelling into Thanet on its way to the Turner Contemporary. The route for the day will start in Deal at 8.27 am and will enter Thanet via Cliffsend and onto Ramsgate. From London Road at 10.13am it will travel via Grange Road, St Augustine’s Road, The Paragon, Royal Parade, Harbour Street, King Street and exit the town via Hereson Road on its way to Margate.

For the full route throughout the UK,  see here.

I am sure it will receive a great welcome from the residents of Ramsgate and let’s hope that it is a bright sunny day to cheer on the bearers for this momentous occasion.  See you there

Richborough Down

Demolition of the Richborough Power Station cooling towers and chimney took place on Sunday morning 11 March 2012 at 9am. There was an extensive crowd assembled on the Westcliff Promenade at Ramsgate to witness the event. A slight haze in the air did not spoil the view and the Royal Esplanade became a linear car park for nearly an hour.

It was great to see such a large turnout early on a Sunday morning, to see this event, which shows that the town’s residents are interested in their surroundings. There was no sign of the expected warning rocket so the first cooling tower falling took everyone by surprise and extensive clapping after all three towers and chimney bit the dust would seem to indicate that the majority were happy to see the end of this industrial landmark or "blot on the landscape", depending on your point of view.

What a difference 100 years makes.

Thanks to a lucky find on the internet and the generosity of Janet and Richard Mason, the owners of an internet site containing historic postcards of Ramsgate. Fine details of the original style of promenade shelters in Ramsgate could be gleaned from the picture taken circa 1912. This has enabled a faithful recreation of ornate ironwork on the restored shelters. The first of which is nearing completion following extensive research into the interpretation of modern materials to provide a building capable of withstanding the pressures of 21^st century life.

These buildings are amongst some of the oldest seafront shelters around the UK and it is important they are preserved for use by future generations. A rolling programme from East to West of the promenade has now commenced to complete all the renovations before the deadline on the grant application of November 2012. Grateful thanks goes to the Heritage Lottery Fund together with Thanet District Council for facilitating the main Townscape Heritage Initiative grant for restoration. Also thanks to all the individuals and organisations in the town that sponsored and donated to the shelters project. Further donations and sponsorship will still be needed for completion.

You may be asking why we do this and the answer is “because Ramsgate is worth it”. Let us hope it is just the start of many good projects for the future of the town