Cliff Terrace circa 1900

On the eve of MP Laura Sandys Cliftonville Conservation public meeting, Thanet District Council has published the seven Draft Cliftonville character appraisal documents and many people have been asking to see sight of them for years. The appraisal documents were commissioned and paid for by English Heritage and were completed in 2011. So it is a hugely big deal for these documents to now be released and up for consultation.

So go download them and tell Thanet Council what you think: 
http://thanet.gov.uk/your-services/planning-policy/heritage-strategy/draft-plans/

There are seven areas up for consultation and this is a first step towards them achieving Conservation Area status. 

Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum have popped up saying the other side won't work with them. Then they've all popped up to say they will. So thank goodness for that. We can all now look forward to people sitting around the same table working out how best to preserve and enhance the wonderful built environment in Cliftonville. 

The seven proposed areas are:

Draft Edgar Road and Sweyne Road Character Appraisal (PDF)

Draft Grotto Hill Character Appraisal (PDF)

Draft Northdown Road Character Appraisal Part 1  (PDF)

Draft Northdown Road Character Appraisal Part 2  (PDF)

Draft Cliftonville Clifftop Character Appraisal  (PDF)

Draft Ethelbert Road and Athelstan Road Character Appraisal  (PDF)

Draft Norfolk Road and Surrey Road Character Appraisal  (PDF)

CABE Urban Panel Advice - do not pour money into the roundabout

Remember way back in June 2009 when we posted the CABE Margate Urban Panel Review Document from their March 2009 visit?

http://margatearchitecture.blogspot.com/2009/06/margate-urban-panel-review-2009.html

Here is the whole Word document for download and to print off:

Link to download the PDF file on CABE's site here.

Having a further peruse of the detail of the review, now reveals advice that is extremely pertinent to the public realm consultation along the seafront, roundabout and Arlington House, and adds weight to the argument that limited resources could be better applied to other areas within the town.

In particular we note:

3.2 The Georgian town built on the hill fields beyond the High Street put Margate at the forefront ofEnglish seaside development for a while and, had Cecil Square and the Assembly Rooms survived intact, the image of the town might well be different today. What is left is poignant proof that good intentions can lead to disappointing outcomes. Staff were keen to point out that Cecil Square remains a viable municipal centre with many of the facilities the town needs still available there. This is true and important, but a high price has been paid to achieve it. Within the governance and local politics ofThanet, it is great for Margate that the civic offices are located in Cecil Square along with the library, Post Office and so on. However, the building that houses them is so out of scale and overbearing as to drive the image of the rest of the square from the mind. What is more, the square has suffered as badly as almost any from the non-negotiable demands of the highway engineer. The Panel’s comments on this can be found at (7.1) below, but it will be no surprise that the repair of thepublic realm here is strongly recommended. Hawley Square, with a good green space and the elegant Theatre Royal, along with Trinity Square with its sadly much expanded but still well managed green space, are examples of the value which Georgian planning brings to today’s town and Cecil Square should rejoin them.

7.1 One area where the Panel saw the opportunity for trimming the sails was in the public realm proposals. While the Panel is a strong proponent of the quality of the public realm generally, it was concerned that the enormous areas potentially involved could resulteither in loss of focus, or in huge costs which would not deliver sufficient returns. So for, example, the Panel much admired the benefit which has been derived from the relatively small and affordable areas of public realmwork in and around the Old Town – particularly the new piazza facing the harbour. It did not believe that the same effect could be achieved by pouring large sums of money into the roundabout by the station or into some hundred yards of the front. Rather members felt that there-creation of Cecil Square as a pedestrian dominated space of quality would offer a far better return for residents and visitors alike. Engineer led schemes of the sort defacing the square are often up for renewal for engineering reasons and now would be the time to ensure that the preparation work has all been done, the vision of another Georgian square of quality being returned to the public has been promulgated and political drive is behind a great transformation.

8.0 Another aspect of management of the public realm is connectivity. It was suggested to the Panel that the development history of Margate combined with its topography had somehow made a place which wasdifficult to comprehend and navigate and where there were critical disconnections which had to be overcome. The Panel did not accept the analysis and thought that the emphasis on connectivity in the masterplan was overdone. In many ways Margate is easier to understandthan other seaside towns. Few others, if any, can boast a view of the sands from the main entrance of an attractivestation Once the short walk which that view inspires has been undertaken (and the Panel accepted the case for some improvement of the pedestrian route past Buenos Ayres) then the Harbour, the Droit House and the emerging Turner Contemporary will be obvious. The Panel thought there was strong case for the Droit House to contain orientation displays and probably for some investment in modern, map carrying fingerposts. Both ofthese should then direct visitors to the attractive small inter-connecting routes which are one of the pleasures of the town, which should be more widely shared.

10.2 Servicing such an economy could have a number of very positive outcomes. Boarding houses could once more function for their original purpose, providing opportunities for self-employed operators and entrepreneurs to establish high quality businesses and provide local employment. Modern guests expect high quality local cooking and the Isle of Thanet is a great place for local sourcing. The very significant skills required to achieve such an aim could be the focus of new further education provision in the town (such as a catering college linked to a training hotel), and the new‘5 star’ boarding houses could both help build the market for and complement new high grade hotels (much better to wait for this moment than fall for a budget hotel in the short term).

Residents say "No! to Tesco!"

Campaigners against a proposed new Tesco store in Margate packed a meeting at a local church hall on Monday evening (28th June 2010).

The gathering was hosted by Arlington House Residents Association who are unhappy about redevelopment plans which will see them losing their car park and flat owners having to foot a bill of £17.000 each. The multi-million pound scheme would see the demolition of a derelict public car park and shops on the controversial Arlington site on Margate seafront.

Association Chairman, Ron Greene, told the assembled crowd that neither property developers Freshwater nor Tesco had provided answers to questions raised during public consultations three months ago. He added, “Research has shown that surrounding property prices go down when a Tesco store is built in a residential area”.

Ward Councillor Iris Johnston and Council planning officer Doug Brown fielded a barrage of questions from local residents and businesses. Arlington House residents also questioned the Councils right to agree to the demolition of the existing residents car park.

Concerned locals also heard from Ron Greene that plans to redevelop the whole of the site had been shelved. “Freshwater are only going for full planning permission for Tesco to go on the car park site”, he said, “The proposed shops, hotel and doctors surgery will only be subjected to outline planning permission as there are no takers for those units. This means that the seaside frontage could remain boarded up for years to come”,

Councillor Iris Johnson called for a show of hands to indicate those in favour of a new Tesco and those against. The vote was unanimously against the Tesco development. After the meeting Ron Green said, “It is clear that the people of Margate do not want another Tesco superstore. I was initially in favour a scheme that would see the derelict site regenerated and the exterior of Arlington House improved. However, I now believe that a store of the proposed size will be detrimental for local residents and existing businesses in Margate. Kent County Council statistics reveal that 20,000 cars a day pass along the seafront at present. That number will obviously increase with the opening of the Turner Centre and Dreamland Heritage Park. The further addition of a 24 hour Tesco superstore will likely cause traffic gridlock at the Station Roundabout due to customer traffic and delivery lorries. If the Council does give the go-ahead for Tesco, I am asking that planning conditions be imposed to restrict the hours for opening and deliveries and that adequate sound insulation be provided to Arlington House at the expense of the developer”.

Please contact Residents Association Ron Greene on 07754 588193 for further comments, interview or photo opportunities.

Margate and Cliftonville Housing Renewal Strategy 2009

Another housing strategy document is up for consultation until Feb 19th. Email comments about the Margate and Cliftonville Housing Renewal Strategy 2009 to Ashley.Stacey@thanet.gov.uk.

Again, hardly any mention of tourism and the reverting the use of ex-guest accommodation to guest accommodation from HMOs. Which is quite odd, given this would solve the lack of quality guest beds in the area and be a solution for what to do with houses that are empty and or badly used because they were built for that purpose.

I've posted the 1MB PDF file of the 28 page document for download here.

The Margate Renewal Partnership Framework and Implementation 2009-2011 document is available on their website here and as an archive here.