Margate Architecture: The state of the seafront from Margate Harbour down to Palm Bay

Sunday 6 February 2011

The state of the seafront from Margate Harbour down to Palm Bay

slipway to the seafront

I have long been distressed at the state of the seafront walkway from behind the Harbour in Margate down to Palm Bay. It is a disgrace. It also doesn't appear to get cleaned at all. I went down over a few days and photographed the same dog crap, broken glass and litter that just didn't get cleared up. There are also hardly any bins to speak of and some people have started rigging up their own by tying up carrier bags on the railings at the entrance to the slipways that take you up to the main road at the top by the Lido. These unfortunately end up bursting with dog crap and just left hanging there. Which leads me to question:

What is the cleaning rota for this public walkway?

Why are there so few dog poo bins?

Is this part of the Viking Trail? If yes, this is a disgrace? There is a sign directing the Viking Trail users to divert down to this stretch of seafront while works are being undertaken at Turner. So are we really directing tourists and visitors down this stretch of seafront?

Don't get me wrong, this bit of coastline is magnificent and it should be one of our best assets. Visitors to the area are walking along here to Broadstairs. Isn't it shameful that they have to navigate 20 minutes of filth before they get to North Foreland?

How much nicer wouldn't it be for the user of the jet ski, Palm Bay if this stretch of seafront was maintained?

Can we really be serious that we'd rather spend money on hoardings for private properties along Margate seafront, or paint the lighthouse stripes and place large maritime buoys on the roundabout in front of the station (more info to come on this later)? This area deserves to be just as well maintained as the seafront at Birchington along to Minnis Bay. We will never increase all round family usage of this area if it left in such a mess.

I'm going to continue to photograph this area to see how long it takes for it to be cleaned.