Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
Roger may be right, perhaps visitors will come flocking to Dover to admire 6,000 new houses built on Farthingloe and Western Heights. These houses could be a tourist attraction!
New houses usually are a great tourist attraction, people come from far and wide to see them, and this goes on for years on end. You see the tourists taking photos of new houses, standing in large crowds in front of the gates.
They then go into town and do the shopping, and take the heavy bags laden with the weekly shop to their cars (after paying a parking fee) and drive back home.
Guest 750- Registered: 12 Apr 2012
- Posts: 72
Alexander - you coming tonight?
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
Yes, Lara.
Don't take the above post at its face value, just a way of reflecting the logic in the Evening Standard's article of 2010, a pretty dismal logic.
I've just received a gardening contract, hopefully the garden will still be there and Roger hasn't meanwhile earmarked it for building.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
you're on form today alex with all these satirical posts, all we need now is for mark's plan to concrete over pencester gardens to come to fruition.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
120 documents will take some time to read/digest, but shows there is a lot of time effort and money behind the plans....
Been nice knowing you :)
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
While Lara will give an update on the meeting, meanwhile, it proved to be fruitful, as we are determined to defend Western Heights and Farthingloe..
I was utterly shocked at the Farthingloe plan, which would see the area littered with urban roads.
The Western Heights plan would see Military Road inundated with traffic, and that is not even counting the proposed WW memorial.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
Alexander - at one point in the not too distant past "Folkestone Road" was all fields, they were developed and the world has moved on, can I campaign to demolish your house and return it to nature ??
PS found your letter to Israel Bank yet ?
Been nice knowing you :)
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
Paul, we are talking of green areas protected by law under various denominations.
Farthingloe is protected as an area of outstanding beauty, Western Heights is under various denominations, including a schedule that does not allow for any kind of new construction.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
Fortunately I am open minded and I am in the process of downloading all of the 120 documents on the DDC planning site
There is a huge amount to digest, but the only way someone can build an unbiased opinion is by reading through the available information.
As I have said I may support CGI, there may be things I am against, I may not like something that DDC want or I may need to fight English Heritage to do something that i think is right. There is a lot of work before I know what I want.......
Been nice knowing you :)
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
At the meeting, I found that numerous participants from Braddon had no idea of the Western Heights Preservation Society, nor what it stood for.
When I explained that WHPS is backing the DDC and CGI plans to build on W.H. and Farthingloe, people asked why they were not standing up for preserving these areas instead.
As far as I could discern, there was total disagreement on the part of the participants with the CGI representative.
Lara will no doubt give an official update with any specifications.
Meanwhile, a number of us have assigned ourselves the duty to gather support in opposing the development plans.
The discussion centred on the planned houses on Western Heights and Farthingloe, and a planned hotel and a planned conference centre.
The WW memorial, as I could gather from my corner, was not discussed, unless Lara can confirm otherwise, as there were many people in different rooms.
As far as I could gather, the public consultation on these building projects has already passed. Some of us were quite taken aback at this news.
Again, Lara and Lorraine may specify with more precise details.
Another point raised by one member, was that DDC claimed that a survey showed that 63% of the Dover District population support the building project on Western Heights and Farthingloe. The basis being, that 100 people commented on a CGI website, of which 63% were in favour.
A member noted that he has complained to a press commission about this, as it is totally misleading and bias information.
I pointed out that, when searching for the survey on the CGI website after coming to knowledge on Dover Forum of the said survey, and after the local press had printed DDC's claim, I could not find the survey and therefore could not comment.
For now I won't give any information of a more confidential nature, but can assure you that things are moving ahead swiftly both on the part of DDC to ram this project through, and on our part to oppose it.
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
Having the Farthingloe plan in front of me, the project is to build a densely populated urban area with town houses, detached houses, terraced houses, flats and court houses, plus individual private gardens for these houses.
If this goes through, together with the Western Heights plan, it will be the end of Western Heights and Farthingloe as a green area.
And it would only be a matter of time before the remaining green patches of hillside still remaining on W.H. and Farthingloe receive planning extensions in the future for further houses.
If DDC can manage to do away with these protected areas, it will constitute a precedent in England and Wales for just about any green or protected area to be built upon. It would effectively sign the end of Green England.
Furthermore, DDC would have achieved it in such a way, as to make it look to the public at large that the majority of local residents agreed to it (63 favourable comments on a developers website presented as 63% of Dover's district population).
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
I was also informed by one member from Braddon, that the Prison had sold the land for little over £200.000 several years ago, the same land that now would be worth hundreds of millions once built upon. Not sure if this also includes Farthingloe, or only W.H.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
Paul - Scotchie can speak for himself of course, but he has never said he supports CGI and building on the Western Heights; he has said he is open minded and will look at what is on offer.
If you are telling people that he is, then your are being troublesome and mischevious.
If people who live on the WH don't know about the WHPS, then what does that tell you ? That it doesn't matter where they live, they are not interested in their surroundings ?
Without even considering what is on the table Alexander (and others), you are condemning the Western Heights to serious and prolonged deterioration. I don't believe you have the real authority to do such a thing, without serious consideration - a blanket NO, is wrong and does the Western Heights and their future, a serious disservice.
Roger
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
#590 - Alexander, if you continue to make statements like that I will put in official complaint to PaulB and get the posts removed !!!
As continually stated WHPS ARE NOT BACKING ANYONE - they want to see all the information from all parties and and come to a balanced conclusion!!!!!
As I keep saying, what I am posting here is my own personally views....
Please do not keep stating otherwise..... !!
Been nice knowing you :)
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
Roger and Paul
I am shocked that anybody living in the area does not know about WHPS and their aims, just shows they do not really care about the historical significance of the area, so their objections must be pure NIMBYism.
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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
Just to let you know that the article I posted about CGI and the development at the WH was sent to me by Lorraine Sencicle's husband Alan; the implication was that it was a recent article, not one that is two years old.
If this is indeed the case, then I apologise for muddying the waters, but the implication was that it was recent.
Roger
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
all very insular that a small village is not aware of what is happening on their own doorstep.
they must see signs for the open weekends when driving/walking into town and back.
how many were at the meeting alex.
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
I counted 20 people before the meeting started, but then more kept arriving, including Lara, Lorraine, the CGI fellows and some others. So it would seem somewhere towards 30.
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
The CGI representative said there were a few thousand pages on the project to be downloaded, for those interested. So it seems a very complex project for so many pages.
With so many pages, it might be worthwhile keeping an eye open for the small print, anything which might possibly refer to future developments.
But on this particular I can't specify until I've seen the print, and that is going to take weeks to get through.
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
It occurred to me now the CGI man said he's based at Manston.
I forgot to ask him if developments at Manston play any role in the Dover plans.