Guest 671- Registered: 4 May 2008
- Posts: 2,095
#1
I am sure this is going to upset some people but I feel it needs to be pointed out.
I had to go to Ashford today and I remembered the last time I went there and wondered if anything had changed.
Sadly it has got worse.
From the Jubilee roundabout to Samphire Hoe and back, is a disgrace.
Weeds and bushes, withered and black from the snow, are abundant all the way along the paths, central reservations and roundabouts.
Damaged barriers, damaged brickwork, damaged signs and notice boards, road work and warning signs where no road works are being made, dead seagulls, sand bags and enough litter to fill the docks with.
I don't want to criticise or be negative about Dover but this should not have been allowed to get this bad.
All these things are easily and quickly fixable and I believe would make a massive difference to Dover. The people of Dover do not deserve to be treated like this.
This is not about apportioning blame or political point scoring, that is just as wasteful as the problem itself.
I think if encouraged to do so, working together with DDC,DTC and the Harbour Board, this could be dealt with swiftly and kept in check for the future and would help to start attracting visitors.
Thousands of people travel that route, day in and day out and when that is the first thing that potential visitors see, what chance have you got of getting them to stay or encourage them to come back and visit.
When travelling around the country and you pass through a town or village for the first time, you can tell whether or not you want to stop and visit or go back and visit later, simply by how pleasant it is to drive through it.
I put myself in the potential visitor's seat this morning and on seeing this mess, I don't believe anyone would want to stop and visit.
I don't believe for one minute that this is the answer or the only problem Dover has but surely it should be a starting point?
"My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum"
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
#2
All mostly the responsibility of KCC ??
Been nice knowing you :)
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#3
try the footpath from samphire hoe in the direction of town gary, choked with litter.
i notice you did not mention the lay bys on that stretch, on second thought best not to say about what is dumped there.
Guest 671- Registered: 4 May 2008
- Posts: 2,095
#4
Paul.
So do you wait for them to sort it or do you put that fact behind you and get on with it for the good of Dover. Action is needed now.
Howard.
You are right, there is actually more I could have mentioned but I did not want to go over the top.
"My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum"
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
#5
Not saying nothing should be done, but it is KCC that should be bombarded with complaints to make them do something
I drive that road every day and the A20/M20 - quite often you see the verges being cleared but no sooner is it cleared then it is all back again
Been nice knowing you :)
Guest 725- Registered: 7 Oct 2011
- Posts: 1,418
#6
One can only thank God that Dover has virtually nothing of any note to do with the Olympics. That would be extremely embarrassing and I suspect that if indeed the town were featured locals would be viewing the television through the fingers of their hands covering their eyes in utter embarrassment.
I agree the town is a disgrace. Mind you if you think things are bad now just wait another ten years or so and it might well look like a scene from the film the war game which, ironically, was partly filmed in the area.
If nothing was ever done in what some perceive to be the good times it will certainly never, ever be done in the times we live through now.
Face up to it Dover is dying and there is no hope for the town. Not in this life or the next.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
#7
I have now written to Kent Highways, using Gary's posting as a basis.
Here it is:
Good Evening Kent Highways
I have received a number of complaints about the bad state of the verges and highway edges through Dover and would ask you to schedule a clean-up along this route.
This is the latest complaint - very valid and needs attention.
"From the Jubilee roundabout to Samphire Hoe and back (both sides), is a disgrace.
Weeds and bushes, withered and black from the snow, are abundant all the way along the paths, central reservations and roundabouts.
Damaged barriers, damaged brickwork, damaged signs and notice boards, road works and warning signs where no road works are being made, dead seagulls, sand-bags and enough litter to fill the docks with.
I don't want to criticise or be negative about Dover, but this should not have been allowed to get this bad.
All these things are easily and quickly fixable and I believe would make a massive difference to Dover.
The people of Dover do not deserve to be treated like this.
This is not about apportioning blame or political point scoring, that is just as wasteful as the problem itself.
It must be kept in check for the future and may help to start attracting visitors.
Thousands of people travel that route, day in and day out and when that is the first thing that potential visitors see, what chance have you got of getting them to stay or encourage them to come back and visit.
I put myself in the potential visitor's seat this morning and on seeing this mess, I don't believe anyone would want to stop and visit."
I appreciate tourism is not the responsibility of Kent Highways, but the weeding, cleanliness and general tidyness, surely is.
Could I also ask you to advise me when it is to be done.
Kind Regards
Roger Walkden
Dover District Councillor
Let's hope it doesn't take too long.
Roger
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#8
great stuff roger.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
#9
Thanks Howard.
Philip - I couldn't disagree more with you. The Town is not disgraceful at all, there are some buildings that needs smartening up I agree.
The Town is certainly not dying, far from it. The National chain shops that have closed recently, or are closing shortly, is not the fault of Dover, but of the head-offices.
The Town (and District) need better marketing it is true and to this end I have written a Tourism Strategy that will be completed soon and ready for consultation (or will it be insultation) ?
I have started a Plan of Action for Dover Town and hope to have that finished shortly.
Neither document has any link or connection to the Town or District Council, nor anything to do with me being a Councillor.
Roger
Guest 725- Registered: 7 Oct 2011
- Posts: 1,418
#10
Not trying to pick a fight here I promise but what GaryC highlighted in this thread has been obvious to everyone living in the area for years. It shouldn't take a complaint on this forum for the bleeding obvious to be pointed out. It's a state of affairs that should have been high on the list of things to do years ago and should be something that should have been amongst the priorities of local government.
Civic pride is something that is easy to lose once it deteriorates and boy has it deteriorated!
Ask most people in the town or surrounding areas and they have a very low opinion of Dover for obvious reasons.
To suggest that some buildings need "smartening up" is to hide one's head in the sand and is part of the reason why this town of ours is in the dire state of disrepair that it is indeed in.
For example, that horrible gap between two buildings linked by rusting scaffolding near the market square is just one of many embarrassments and has been standing there for 25 years.
Smartening up eh? Hmmmnnnnnnnn.
#11
Well, I will pick the fight then. Dover has many many shabby and necrotic bits to it, but which one of us doesn't?! I have been as vocal as anyone in condemning the outrageous disappointment that has constituted our local Government in recent years and will continue to do so, not as a gripe, but as a positive means of highlighting the issues with the intention of getting something done about them by the people paid or elected to do so.
Dover has many many assets as well, some beautiful buildings, scenery, architecture and historical sites. It has some dedicated and talented people working to improve it. It has potential, genuine investment-worthy potential.
If it was going to "die" it would have done so by now with everything it has had thrown at it and the apathy that has blighted it. But it hasn't and it won't - it will by hook or by crook experience regeneration, and that won't be found in the dirge like death-knell whinges of people mired in negativity.
Guest 725- Registered: 7 Oct 2011
- Posts: 1,418
#12
Erm, so how exactly, apart from a splash of paint, do you suggest the town can be magically transformed since there is no money? As I suggested earlier the opportunity for anything that might amount to a transformation has been lost forever. There is no money.
Try not to take your anger with the situation as it stands by describing those who know the town is a dump by describing them in the way you did. It won't get us anywhere. The people you should aim your ire at are successive administrations who have chosen to neglect the town. Don't blame the messenger who merely reflects what most people feel about the town.
#13
No magic, and could you remind me where I suggested it would be a magic transformation? You may notice that the anger I have is indeed appropriately directed at the local reps. But talking the place down in such a casual and unpleasant way is part of the problem. You contribute nothing by simply criticising. There is plenty to criticise, the reps, the landlords who neglect their buildings, the roughnecks who can inhabit the public areas, the apathy of locals - and the chronic negativity expressed by some that simply compounds the problems.
Nothing good ever dropped out of simple negativity.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#14
I am with Bern on this subject of running the town down. The town is not a "dump" SOME places are run down and tatty the same as every town or area I have ever visited.
This forum is read by many and the continual running down does Dover's image no good at all.
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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
#15
Thank you Bern and Jan.
I agree there is no need or case for complacency; the trouble with the run-down buildings in Dover are that they are privately-owned and in a number of instances, the owners live abroard and are difficult to contact and even more so to get a reply or action from them.
The building (or rather non-existant building) that Philip refers to was the old crypt where a fire killed 7 or so people back in the middle 70s.
Why that (and the surrounding area) has been left to deteriorate as it has I have no idea. I know that landlords/developers were reluctant to talk to DDC and the planners some years ago because they were always coming up against a brick wall. Now the attitude has changed and there is a planning application in for that.
Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning 1990 should have been invoked years ago and I don't know why it wasn't - other than lack of resources (human and financial) and there's even less of both now.
The trouble is that this particular area, as Philip has pointed out ,is very visible, visible to thousands of people passing through Dover and sadly, I'm sure that is exactly what they do and only come to Dover for a ferry or a cruise.
Chasing up the developers to determine if there are any unnecessary delays to their application(s).
There is so much more to say, but that's enough for this post.
Roger
#16
Thank you Roger.
Guest 736- Registered: 5 Jan 2012
- Posts: 118
#17
Some times you need to stop looking through tinted glasses and see that what has been said actually is right . There seems to be a lot of "we don't know why",or "I agree that there is some things that need to be sorted", or "SOME places are run down and tatty but". There are so many BUTS its starting to sound like a motorbike
Mind you if you walk from the market square and continue looking towards the castle without actually turning your head around to look up the town I can see where you are coming from and just how lovely the town is. Full of hussle and bussle of a busy town centre thriving on a Saturday. Businesses heaving with people coming in from neighboring towns and villages to spend there money here. " Lets pop into Dover!" I hear these people say!!! .....FOR ARGOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It bugs the hell out of me when so many people say how WONDERFUL the town CENTER is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARE THESE PEOPLE BLIND!!!!
If you want a business of any kind to work it is all down to common sense. Surroundings that businesses can bounce off with each other.
I" can get this from here and I know that a shop up from this one and can get those".
Would anyone feel safe that a town like Dover is secure enough to open a business. I totally admire anyone starting up a business at this time. But to open it in Dover would be suicide without seriously looking into.
Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
#18
Dover is seriously in need of a huge amount of TLC and is crying out to be embraced by those with the power to do so. An Historic town like Dover should never have been neglected to this extent, now its beauty is hidden behind this shroud of negligence. Residents can see this beauty but whenever I'm asked where I live and I say Dover I am met with a gasp of horror
We live in Hope . . . . . . . . .
#19
I remember the same response over a dozen years ago when we told people we were looking at houses in Dover! But we fell in love with the house and then Dover. Colette, you are of course right - and if I am honest so is Philip to an extent - but his completely negative postings achieve nothing. Dover needs TLC, no doubt, but it does have many assets which we fail to talk up, in fact we talk them down. When that changes, and when we get some reps who have grown a pair, we will get somewhere.
Guest 699- Registered: 3 Jun 2010
- Posts: 292
#20
same the a2 towards lydden
i reckon all drunk drivers or speedsters instead of doing a course to be good boy or girl
should be put on the side of the roads litter picking