Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
23 September 2008
21:446504Vic - you have a lot of hot air
That is true
Been nice knowing you :)
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
23 September 2008
22:066507im in agrement with you there paul aka scotchie,i would like to have front row seats on that one,i belive the royal engineers have the contract and the gurka band will be giving a concert while its all going on.
24 September 2008
08:206511Good job some of us think positively about developing this excellent town we have that is full of prospects - maybe instead of being negative others should be listening to the local radio news, etc. seeing how many outside agencies are getting involved in developing Dover.
Negativity on a public forum, often by the same old few, can ruin some of the constructive work that a number of us are doing - recent editorial in the Dover Mercury. There could be a motive here as if things don't move forward, the Negys, could say they were right all along and Dover will be left as the same old place that I grew up in and will still not have some of the facilities that others enjoy and our community in general richly deserves. Anyone who wants to be a Dover Negy, can be one, but it won't stop the rest of us who want to see Dover develop carrying on with the work.
I won't go into how much our efforts are personally costing a few of us as you would think we are bonkers to be putting our own money into it - or are we the ones who really care about our area and giving our youngsters a good future with good local job prospects (Don't get hung up on supermarket jobs). There are new diploma courses available, with more to come. Curicula are in the process of being set up to enable young people to obtain qualificationsfor jobs in Dover now and for those that will be available as the extensive regeneration moves ahead that will provide overall some 5,000 new jobs
The bigger picture needs to be looked at - latest in the list of positive document I have seen is the new Dover Town Council Corporate Plan.
So being positive further:
Just yesterday, English Heritage announced £5 millions investment at Dover Castle - unquestionably the main tourist attraction in Dover - this all falls in with DDC, Dover Pride, KCC and others involved in the regeneration work.
Fact: Dover Castle approx 350,000 visitors a year (They are hoping to double that) all coming by coach mainly driving in from the Guston roundabot and going out the same way - we need to encourage them into town and this is the overall aim - don't get hung up on one development - it was always said that DTIZ was just the start.
Fact: De Bradelli Wharf approx 850,000 visitors a year - we need to get these people into the centre of the town too.
New Marina and dockside development to compliment the Terminal 2 introduction linked by a Landbridge onto the other side of Townwall Street near to the Bench Street underpass.
Some eager eyed passers by, following the photo at the bus garage (That should be down by 3rd November), may have seen me standing outside the now closed Britannia in Townwall Street on Monday afternoon with two DDC Officers and others - DDC has just completed the purchase of this building in partnership with English Partnerships as part of the extended development to compliment the DTIZ 'Starter for ten' - all moving forward slowly but surely.
Historic towns such as Dover are not easy to develop as every time you dig a hole there is a 'dig' looking for ancient items - all part of our valued history and needs to be 'unearthed' but it does add to development costs and delays in constuction.
There are some untrue statements made above as a number of parties are in discussions to move the DTIZ forward - I can't say more on that for legal and confidentiality reasons.
DDC already own both Centurian House and Dophin House in the area too.
As Sue has indicated above, one project I am working on with DDC Officers is a Street Scene Project that will be presented as part of the consultation at the next Dover Town Neighbourhood Forum meeting at the Town Council offices on Monday 13th October commencing at 6pm for 6.30pm.
Yes, in Dover, the iconic part will be when the demolition crew move in on Burlington House and the buildings beneath it - it has always been accepted that this will take some time and we are likely to see movement on the Woolcomber Street/Townwall Street corner first or maybe some other part of this extensive development. I assume that you still want your mobile phones to work so would like the numerous antennea moved from the roof of Burlingtin House before it is dropped.
Of course, we are also working on a number of other small projects throughout the District - some are completed, some have contractors on site, some are being designed and tendered for, and others are in the consideration and feasibility box - there are too many to list.
Finally, there is some scaremongering going on that residents are being moved out of the Godwyne Close flats backing onto Maison Dieu Road as part of a development - this is entirely unfounded and needs quashing immediately as there are a nunber of elderly people living there who could unnecessarily experience emotional difficulties through this.
Maybe when I get time, I'll list everything I am working on and let you know.
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,983
24 September 2008
08:546517Well done Nigel.Perhaps a few people who post on here with a negative attitude will get the message.I know you and I work every day to make life better for people.My role now has lost its centre stage look and has passed to CllrJulie Rook but neverless Im left with a demanding role .
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
24 September 2008
09:216518nigel,sue it seems strange that you are giving this so much spin a fast bowller would be proud of,can we have less negative spin and a more posative timetable for this thread.please stop treating us like mushrooms and start treating us with a bit of respect.ps backslapping is bad for your health.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
24 September 2008
09:526521Well done Nigel a nice positive posting !!!!!
Notice no comments on a cable car though
English Heritage are now starting in the process of clearing the Keep at the Castle for the major works for the next 6 months or so. A new visitor centre. Archaeological digs (Time Team?)
Been nice knowing you :)
24 September 2008
10:026522Good posting Nigel. Lot of sense in what you say. Plenty is happening.
I still have the busiest portfolio ever.
D
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
24 September 2008
10:086523Great post Nigel, good to see you back, we have missed you on here.
24 September 2008
10:096524Hear, hear, Brian. We are all adults, who want the best for Dover, and are quite capable, well-rounded and intelligent enough to work out the difference between 'good news' and real action, press releases from party lines, negativity from hard-hitting opinions, proper debate from fudge, spin from false dawns.
Appreciate there are a lot of people trying to do the right thing for the town in difficult circumstances, but us mere cap-doffing proles can do without the preachy tone trotted out in our direction by some of our betters from Fort Whitfield, thanks very much.
And nope, we're not going to shuffle off quietly and get back in our box, thanks for asking.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
24 September 2008
10:546527Andrew, Brian, remember it is easy for you and I to talk the talk, talking is cheap.
Nigel is tasked with getting something done and that is a lot harder. Only when you have been in that situation can you appreciate the complexities and limitations that there are on your actions. Local Government is so restricted in what it can do by central Government and the agencies and authorities they have to deal with.
You also find, whoever you are, whatever you do, that others will always know better than you.
Nigel deserves a bit more respect and recognition than you have given him for all that he is doing.
Guest 675- Registered: 30 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,610
24 September 2008
12:116533Excellent posting, as always Nigel, and you know that I do fully appreciate all the hard work you put in. However, and you knew this was coming, another fact to add to this list, Surveys done by Coastal Kent show that Dover's image as percieved by potential visitors is Dover Castle and the vast majority see it as a day trip, there and back with no stop off anywhere else. You are quite right to say that work needs to be done to bring visitors into the town but if their destination is the castle and the direct route into town is down past the traffic problems around a big supermarket, right on the main route and the seafront, then as many more will be put off as encouraged. I could not agree more with plans to better incorporate the town with the seafront as that is a very positive first step towards improving the towns desirability. Large schemes are all very well, although harder and costlier to deliver, but they also have the potential to irreversably damage further potential. It is of great concern that smaller projects to improve other sites of visitor potential are being left in the cold while chasing supposed showcase development. I am thinking here of such sites as The Grand Shaft, revamped and then only open for a couple of hours in the afternoon and overcharged. I could not count the number of times I have seen potential tourists peering through the gates wondering what it would be like to visit. The Roman Painted House is another example of a great potential that is vastly under exploited. Everyone knows that the Western Heights hold a huge treasure trove of our history that should be properly developed, before the Chamber of Commerce decide to bury it all under a 'big scheme' hotel. Nobody is trying to be negative on here by pointing out concerns and very genuine worries about the direction, and pace, of new developments they are only expressing a love of the town and what it could be in the future. Knock on effects of large developments must be taken into consideration and part of that has to be the sort of jobs that will be created and how that will effect our children. For too long Dover has suffered from a lack of career type employment, of the sort that will encourage our youngsters to stay in the town while being able to afford to live here. This does not mean part time and seasonal work, which can only ever be a short term fix to the towns wider problems. Without the career jobs new diplomma courses will just train our young for work elsewhere.
I am glad you can reassure us about the housing behind Maison Dieu Road but that does rather revive the concerns about parking around the new polyclinic (I refuse to give it the credability of calling it a hospital). Still, thank you for an informative posting and I would love to hear more about the ideas for the 'street scene'.
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.
Richard Armour
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
24 September 2008
12:176537We are trying best we can with the Heights and small steps as they say (hotel has gone quiet!) but when the big money comes to down Dover and ends up as a load of ironwork corroding in the salt air, I don't know what chance we stand........ unless I get the £100m on the lottery on Friday :)
Been nice knowing you :)
24 September 2008
13:206544I appreciate all the hard work people like Nigel put in too. Sorry if I come across a little terse sometimes. It's just the burning desire to see progress for Dover getting the better of me, I suppose.
Regards all,
Andy
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
24 September 2008
13:466546Try working for a council and then realise how slow everything happens !!!!
Been nice knowing you :)
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
24 September 2008
15:196547Handsomely said Andrew.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
24 September 2008
16:276548barry w,nigel and sue it would be nice to have clear,concise spinless information on a regular bases rather than waffle every so often.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
24 September 2008
18:296552Brian - I am not a councillor and have not been for 13 years now (time passes!). Neither do I have any official Conservative position any more. I speak only from my experience and point of view backed by an insight into what our elected representatives are up against.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
24 September 2008
19:226558i know wot you mean barry,ok i put my hands up in saying that nigels post resonbley helpfull but heres the crux of my point we the people would like to be better informed without spin and more often.nigel says that there are negative posts on this thread and he wonders why,the reason being that not enough information forth coming from whitfield,when there is its full of spin.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
24 September 2008
19:266559it would have been better if nigel had not left the forum in the first place.
his posts are usually free from doctrinaire rubbish.
keep us informed nigel.
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
24 September 2008
20:336561As I said Burlington house six years or more before it comes down
and as I said before that is fact. I have lived IN this town all my life that is over 67years and never has it been like it is today did you know that the Parker pen is 150 years old this year as seen on the T.V. this week, they were in Dovor in the 1950s and the council then told them to get out.
What about M.F.I.again it was the council who got rid of them they would have still been here today if it had not been for the council.
I have said this before it has been and still is the planning committee of the D.D.C. holding back our town not the cllrs but some of their officers and that has been going on for years
all this is fact.
And now it is Pfzers turn 800jobs to go in the new year an I have found out they plan to close the gates within 5years that will been up to 5000 jobs could go but lets hope that can be saved.
We have been told year after year it is all going to happen in the town I just hope it does, time will tell if what I say is just hot air or not.
I remain yours faithfully
Vic Matcham