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.

broken glass left for days

walkway behind the Lido littered with dog poo and glass

The view from the Lido to Walpole Bay

The walkway next to the Lido

Behind the Lido

Dirty beach at The Lido

Margate Conservation Area Advisory Group praised in new English Heritage publiction

English Heritage have published a new publication: Valuing Places: Good Practice in Conservation.

Our very own Margate CAAG gets a mention as well as a nifty picture of TDC Conservation Officer Louise Dandy and Margate Renewal Partnership's Derek Harding gets a mention too. Check out section 4, page 12.

Ironically, the feature centers on the newly created Dalby Square Conservation Area. But soon after it was designated there was all the hoo-hah over the loss of the green space at the top end of the square to not very nicely designed houses.

The publication is available as a pdf to download from here:
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/valuing-places/

Plans for Arlington and Tescos

Plans are now online for Tesco's at Arlington. You can view at TDC's offices or online at UK Planning.

http://www.ukplanning.com/thanet

Search under the application number:

F/TH/10/1061

The plans are quite big so might be better to view in hardcopy. I'll comment back when I've looked in more detail.

In the meantime, TDC's press dept released a joyous press release about the site. No mention of the impact on local businesses, traffic, visual impact of such a huge store in close proximity to Margate's main asset, the main sands. Let's not forget the impact of supermarkets on towns.

http://www.cabe.org.uk/news/supermarket-led-development

"Hannah.Thorpe@thanet.gov.uk>

Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 10:50 AM
Subject: Plans in for new superstore in Margate

Plans have been submitted for a new retail superstore next to Arlington
House in Margate.

The application is for a superstore, which would be built on the
existing car park. A total of 409 new parking spaces would be provided
at the ground floor level, with the store located above. Because the
shopping area is at the first floor level, the building includes a large
front lobby to enable customers to get to the store, and a raised
platform for lorry deliveries. Neither of these are usually required
with ground floor stores.

The shopping area of the store is similar in size to the existing Tesco
at Manston Road, Ramsgate. In total, including delivery areas and the
entrance lobby, the store would be 7,565 square metres.

The store is expected to bring 300 jobs to the area, according to
information submitted as part of the application.

The application also includes improvements to Arlington House,
including new windows, repairing and treating the concrete panels, new
lighting and a roof canopy on top of the building. The existing retail
units in Arlington Square would be demolished and replaced with new
shops, cafes, restaurants or bars, with a hotel above. The ground floor
of Arlington House would become either shops, a cafe, restaurant, bar or
community facility such as a doctor's surgery.

Details of the application are available on the council's website using
UK Planning under reference number 10/1061. The plans can also be viewed
by visiting Thanet's Gateway Plus in Cecil Street, Margate from 9am to
6pm, Monday to Friday, with extended opening until 8pm on Thursdays.
Thanet's Gateway Plus is also open from 9am to 5pm on Saturdays.

The deadline for comments to be received is 28 February 2011. Comments
should be sent to planning.services@thanet.gov.uk The application will
be considered by the council’s Planning Committee in spring 2011.

ENDS



Hannah Thorpe
Corporate Communications and Marketing Officer
Thanet District Council
www.thanet.gov.uk
Direct Dial: 01843 577120
Fax: 01843 296866"

Pfizer's closure comes as a big blow

Oh bugger. Pfizer's research center in Sandwich closing comes as a big blow for the area. Others have covered it better than I can.

http://bignewsmargate.blogspot.com/2011/02/pfizer-withdrawal-will-reduce-east-kent.html

So what's that big road for that they're constructing out to Pfizer?

Other places in the world also suffered when Pfizer pulled out. Such as New London Conneticut The now infamous case went all the way to the US Supreme Court Kelo v City of New London was a landmark case. In the end Pfizer left a desert in it's wake after they then pulled out of the area.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/pfizer-deserts-its-monument-corporate-welfare

Perhaps we should also be wary of jobs promised at the airport and whatever happened to the number of jobs that Thanet Earth would bring or China Gateway for that matter.

Margate & Cliftonville praised for work on Conservation Areas

Nice to see some praise coming Margate's way. I was a founder member of the Margate Conservation Area Advisory Group.The wonderful sounding CAAG. Hopefully the roll out of Conservation Areas in Cliftonville will help to preserve some of its fine buildings and green spaces. We meet once per month.

Do get in touch if you would like to know more about the group or get involved.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-12333146

"A seaside town in Kent has been praised by a conservation body for its attempts to preserve its historic character.

English Heritage (EH) said Cliftonville in Margate should be seen as a benchmark of conservation success.

It said volunteers had worked with the district council to set up a conservation area and make "dramatic improvements".

Derek Harding, a director at Margate Renewal Partnership, said preserving its character attracted investment.

He said: "Much of the historic townscape of Cliftonville is intact. The quality, scale and setting of the buildings present some real opportunities."

The town is singled out in a new English Heritage guide called Valuing Places: Good Practice in Conservation Areas.

The report said one in 13 of England's 10,000 conservation areas were threatened by neglect and decline."

Choose how Margate is promoted

Margate is being developed as a brand.

How should it be presented for promotional and marketing purposes? They are running a 'vote for your favourite of three' exercise until Friday the 4th of Feb.

http://www.thisismargate.co.uk/culture/this-is-margate-toolkit.aspx

This exercise has been undertaken by the Local Authority in a series of 'conversations' with the public. A branding agency was chosen from a shortlist of agencies.

I'm not really all too convinced about the exercise of branding a town in general. But I do think it is important to understand who the target market is.

Who is this supposed to attract? If it is visitors to the area, then you have to make sure that this is tested on them.

How will this read on a poster at a distance? Or flicking through a magazine?

To be honest, if I give a monkeys, I'd opt for least offensive, please. And in design, is design by committee, or in this case public consultation ever a good idea? Were any of the great things from Margate's past, designed by committee? Or were they just great ideas that someone with passion put out there?

Should a font be 'fun'? Or should the poster have a striking image on that is fun.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Creative Margate Calendar (private)

Date: 31 January 2011 15:27

Subject: How Margate should look?

To:

Dear All,

As part of the Countdown to Margate 2011, we have been developing a toolkit for Margate, which will be used to promote the town.

The outcomes from the first Margate Conversation event have influenced this work and we now have three draft options for how the typography

within the toolkit could look. We would like to ask you to look at the three different options proposed and choose the option you like the

best.

You can read more about the Margate toolkit and access the online vote

by visiting:

http://www.thisismargate.co.uk/culture/this-is-margate-toolkit.aspx

You can go straight to the online typography choices by using the link

below:

http://www.thisismargate.co.uk/culture/this-is-margate-toolkit/public-vote-for-margate-typogr.aspx

Please can you submit your choice by Friday 4 February.

Thank you for you help and you can keep updated by visiting www.thisismargate.co.uk

Many Thanks

Sharon Sebastian

For Sale: Gate Quays, Marine Gardens, Margate CT9 1RU

Found on London auctioneers Allsop's website:

http://www.auction.co.uk/residential/LotDetails.asp?A=709&MP=24&ID=709000125&S=L&O=A

The awful development on Marine Drive, that ended up loads taller in height than it was supposed to be, and has always stood empty since it was built. Really what is the point of this kind of regeneration development?

Update:

I don't know the planning status on 5-6 Marine Drive. But from this lengthy Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decision (PDF) from February 2010 between a Flat 17 and the freeholder Comehomes Cororation Limited it is supposed to have been built 15 years ago. 12 flats were sold on long leases and the remainder vacant. Sounds like a miserable affair with the leaseholder suffering from unfinished communal areas, no letterbox and no provision of service charge accounts. They were hounded with £25 a pop letters from the freeholder! Nice.