howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
this caught my eye as ramsgate has much the same problems as dover.
this year is so important for the image of many towns up and down the country.
http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Campaign-launched-clean-Ramsgate-Jubilee-year/story-15028354-detail/story.htmlGuest 663- Registered: 20 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,136
You are so right Howard but in all honesty, it shouldn't just be for this year it should be all the time.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
i agree jan but this year the t.v. cameras will be here in force and the right impression has to be made.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
It should be Howard, but will it ?
Dover Town Council have organised a business and community meeting tomorrow -Thursday 26th. at lunchtime, hoping business people and concerned residents will offer advice as to what should be done to move Dover forward.
I would have liked to attend, but can't because of a training day at DDC; hope some good ideas are given and if good enough, taken on board.
Roger
Ross Miller
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
LRCF will be attending in the guise of Jeanette and myself - it will be interesting to share ideas with other community groups and local businesses
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
Will you let us know what happens Ross ? - please.
Roger
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
I will post up a report later on
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
Ok here goes (how to condense 6 pages of notes into a couple of paragraphs)
The meeting was chaired by Ronnie Philpott and the discussions etc lead by Cllr Sue Jones and had a good attendance with a mix of representatives from businesses and community organisations. The Mayor opened it by saying the objective was to bring the community together to assist with taking on the Olympic Torch and Jubilee celebrations for the whole of Dover and creating a legacy for the future, this leads on from the DTC "2012 & Beyond" working group and its outputs. Cllr Jones then took over and started by saying that there have been numerous opportunities in the past where the DTC have sought feedback from the community and now was the time to kick start delivering these things. The working group had produced a list of project proposals, but these will require partners from the community to deliver them; DTC are keen to work with everyone and ensure that we get the "feel good" factor out into the wards, creating a body of enthusiasm we can build on in future years.
Cllr Jones then briefly ran through the Project Proposals:
Improving the A2 roundabouts - DHB have donated items of old port and ship equipment and the Sea Scouts have agreed to refurbish/paint these. These will then be installed on two of the roundabouts.
Travel in the Town - DTC are seeking partnership with one or more local travel providers to open up access to all the sites of interest in the town.
Co-ordinated Promotion - here DTC are seeking to work with event organisers to create a web portal allowing access for visitors and townsfolk alike to all the events running in the town from a single location.
Ward Events & Projects - DTC have put aside small sums of money to sponsor ward based events and projects; they are looking to Community Associations & Forums to put proposals to them that they can (part) fund and also work with other agencies to provide benefit in kind - e.g. resources, assistance in planning, interfaces with other organisations etc.
Business Promotion - DTC recognise there is a need to co-ordinate the promotion of businesses outside of the main LOCOG Olympic Torch route and are seeking partners from the business community to help with this.
Town Planting - DTC have taken over responsibility for the town centre hanging baskets. They have also available grants of up to £100 for community groups or businesses to plant/clear/tidy up green spaces in the town, they are asking all to come forward with identified spaces in their areas that could benefit from this.
Safety - Whilst DDC have a statutory responsibility for community safety DTC are looking at ways they can assist with this and are seeking ideas and volunteers to increase the visible presence in the town. An example of which is the Dover Greeters.
Other Items - Both The Princes Trust and South Foreland Rotary have offered labour/assistance for these proposals and the latter is about to start on some work cleaning and repainting the town centre seating and bollards. DTC is also looking to co-ordinate with Art Groups etc to help put up things like murals, art on hoardings etc.
Cllr Jones then opened the meeting to the floor these are some of the items raised:
Dover CoC advised that the first part of the Pfizer site had been sold and a formal announcement would be made tomorrow, they also stressed their support for these initiatives and were looking forward to working with DTC etc
what plans are there to use the DTC web site as a comms tool/portal for these projects so all could feedback and see progress - the Councillors agreed to take this back to their officers and ask that this was done
The meeting was advised that WHPS are prepared to ensure volunteers are available to meet buses at the Western Heights when the travel initiative is delivered.
There was a lot of discussion of what symbols and colours could be used for planters etc. The meeting was advised that great care has to be taken with the Olympic symbols and colours due to commerciality, however the Diamond Jubilee colours of Red, White and Blue or Purple and Silver can be freely used along with the Royal crown. DDC & DTC have agreed to use the Red, White and Blue colour scheme for their planters.
Regarding meeters and greeters for visitors there was concern that too few people in the town know enough about the place they live (directions, pubs, restaurants, sites of interest) - the meeting was asked to consider ways this could be improved.
Olympic Torch - the dressing of the town will commence 1st May though teh route cannot be disclosed because of security concerns. DADS advised that they will be putting up their knitted bunting and are working on smartening up the underpass at Bench Street.
A number of points were made around Cruise calls and were we ready and whether we could be more receptive to special holidays for visitors - mention being made of Bastille Day (14th July) and the lack of any visible evidence of this in the town last year when the town had many French visitors. This is something that needs to be co-ordinated by businesses themselves to make as much advantage as they can.
The perennial subjects of Toilets, Litter and Dog Fouling were raised - the DTC are working closely with DDC & DHB to resolve the issue of toilets and there are a number of ideas in the planning stage. It was also noted that there is money available for partnerships seeking to r-use existing facilities. The other two items are a broader societal issue and require co-ordination with neighbourhood forums, though re-instatement of rubbish bins would certainly assist with litter.
Finally the issue of Cultural Events was raised and DTc advised they are looking to maximise use of the pavilion in Pencester and the Town Centre, by not only local bands, but also theatre groups, artists etc.
Overall it was a successful start - the important thing is not to build on this for the future not only for this year (which is an incredibly full and busy one for the town) but more importantly for future years.
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
A good list of stuff
WHPS will do what they can with consideration that most of us work full time jobs and it is quite a stretch already to do everything
14th July could work well as that is our open weekend at the Heights
Been nice knowing you :)
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
excellent post ross, will have to digest it all and make comments later.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
Thank you Ross.
Except on the recycling collection day litter around my area of the town seems to have dropped
considerably since the introduction of wheelie bins.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
Thanks Ross - very interesting.
Glad to hear it got off to a good start, hope it keeps up the momentum.
I didn't read anything about smartening up the buildings that need work doing to them - with all the (good) work that is intending to be done, the Town will still look in need of TLC if they don't.
Tourism is another big issue; turning Dover from a to-it-and-through-it Town to a tourism destination.
The Community Pay-Back teams can be utilised to do work in many public areas - rubbing-down and revarnishing the seating in the Town for example.
Dover needs and deserves a full-time "Manager" (for want of a better word); I believe that a full time volunteer cannot work successfully, they need to be paid - you can't tell a volunteer what to do, but if it is a paid job with proper support body behind it, it will be much more successful.
Roger
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
It all sounds very good. Things seem to be off to a great start.
[Ross, could you edit out the first instance of 'not' in the penultimate line of your text?]
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 725- Registered: 7 Oct 2011
- Posts: 1,418
I'm sorry but this is ridiculous. Another bank holiday. What a waste of time and money. You would never believe the crisis this country faces going by the hype surrounding all this.
It's nothing more than an excuse for people to take the day off, get drunk and watch daytime telly.
Give me strength.
Someone mentioned television cameras. Well let them see how this town has been royally messed up over the years. Why pretend that all in the garden is rosy?
A tourist destination? No way Pedro. It's not going to happen any time this century.
Noble ideas and all that but in the end pointless.
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
Thanks for the plaudits and brickbats
Roger - tourism was touched on in much of the discussion as it lies behind many of the initiatives and we must always remember that on average a tourist will spend £55 per day in our town - so yes we need to make it attractive for those who come to visit as well as for those who live here.
Of course it would be great if the town could afford to fund one or more full time positions to co-ordinate this, but that just inst feasible at this juncture so we will have to look to leverage off the good endeavours of the pool of volunteer talent and whatever we can squeeze out of council officers.
Philip - it may be just another bank holiday to you - I see it as a catalyst to energise the town around making Dover a better place for all, a way to encourage and promote pride in the place we live, work and play and a way to improve it. It is only pointless with the "cant do - wont do" attitude people like you so vocally display. I will continue to do my bit and encourage others to demonstrate a "can do" approach that ultimately will see this town turn itself around and become an even better place to live than it already is.
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
I wasn't suggesting that only the DTC pay for a "Manager" Ross, but that they, along with the District and Harbour Board, put in say £10,000 each and that will pay for his/her salary and other salary-related costs and still have money left over for other initiatives.
If this is a body of members/subscribers, then their membership fees will pay for other initiatives that will go towards the Town's improvements.
£10,000 from each of those 3 bodies and possibibly other stake-holders too, will mean less of a financial burden than if it was just one body paying for it.
It's not just that Dover (and the businesses and residents) needs this, they deserve it too. For far too long people and organisations have dithered and played with it, now it is the time for a real go at it.
I believe most if not all of the above initiatives you mentioned would/could be worked on and co-ordinated by a central manager - answerable to a small board of directors.
It's tinkering round the edges too if the buildings are not improved - there's 6 months to go before the torch arrives, but even if the torch wasn't coming here, there is still an urgency on moving Dover forward.
Roger
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
Whilst the state of buildings was not discussed at the meeting, I am aware that this is a topic of ongoing discussion between Town and District, as it is the latter who have the statutory enforcement powers to make a difference
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
last i heard the town council were pressuring the district council about sprucing up the run down properties in town.
Guest 683- Registered: 11 Feb 2009
- Posts: 1,052
I want to be positive, I want to believe...........................
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
The District Council were pressured when I was with the Chamber of Commerce a couple of years or so ago, Howard.
The District Council can't just spruce them up of course, they would get refurbed/redec'd under section 215 of theTown and Country Planning Act 1990.
There are moves a foot.
Roger