Guest 711- Registered: 1 Mar 2011
- Posts: 194
#1
They've started planting today.
Norwegian flag has been completed and borders have been started.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#2
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#3
Yes indeed they have Sue. Four of the planting guys are standing around the Norwegian Flag right now, one hosing it down...theyve done a good job but a long way to go. We will get pictures in due course.
ADDED BIT : gosh well done Howard...just as i was saying we will get pix in due course up they pop! lol!
Guest 711- Registered: 1 Mar 2011
- Posts: 194
#4
Thanks Howard!
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,025
#5
I told you June
Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
#6
Howard, you're like greased lightning with those photos, very impressed
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#7
pure coincidence colette, i was going past this morning when they were planting.
when i logged on this afternoon sue had started a thread, ll fitted in well.
susan
you did say june, most of us were not sure which june though.
Guest 683- Registered: 11 Feb 2009
- Posts: 1,052
#8
Sue
was June the date that had been decided initially? If so what was the thinking in not having the planting done for the Easter or May holidays? It seems that an opportunity has been missed - an all too familiar story for Dover.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#9
Does that mean the weed filled planters around the town have been done?
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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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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#10
not as of this afternoon they will be busy for some time working on mr boland's plantation.
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#11
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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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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#12
it doesn't get any better jan, after they finish at the gateway they then move on to posh barry's gaff to provide floral display for his and colette's sumer house and also the terrace by the olympic sized swimming poll.
we shall just have learn to appreciate the thistles in the town centre plant troughs and the dandelions growing out of the neglected pavements.
still, could be worse.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
#13
Not the gardener that was outside my work in Ashford then.....
10am he was out there (about a 30x20m plot) mowing the grass that was too short to be mowed.
Came back from a meeting at about 12:30 and he was out there strimming the edges of not much grass
2pm I saw him with a set of edge trimmer and was doing the edge of the flowerbeds
4pm he finally finished with the leaf-blower, blowing some dust around !!!
Looked no different to when he started
Been nice knowing you :)
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#14
While I do not begrudge those areas you mentioned their flowers Howard............
Why is the centre of town where most visitors and locals congregate starting with the Market Square and working towards Pencester not done first. I thought we were trying to boost tourism not give the image of an uninviting and unkempt area.
Maybe next year DDC will remember the town is just as important as the posh seafront.
Paul, it was on his jobsheet as an all day job so that is how long it took.
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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 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
#15
The Town council have the funding to help out in making the town centre looking better then it is.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#16
i don't doubt your words vic, but we all know that the town and district councils have their own agendas.
all us proles want to know is when we will we get the flowers beds filled, toilets open and the digusting state of the river addressed.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
#17
You'd think that was easy to answer wouldn't you Howard ? But it aint.
Roger
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#18
thanks for the honest post roger, i feel sure that you realise the frustrations that us peasants feel.
the truth is that most of the general public don't know which council is responsible for what.
they just know that they pay their council tax bill and expect some sort of return on it.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
#19
Yes I do, but I'm in that peasant mix too, Howard.
This is an email I sent to the Horticulture Manager at the back end of May:
"Good Morning Darren - hope you are well.
There is much consternation amongst the Townsfolk - businesses and residents, about the disgraceful state of the black flower-tubs in Dover Town.
I appreciate there may be a lack of money at DDC, but is something to be done about them ?
There are different flowers that bloom all year round, so the Town could look lovely all year round.
I know that early last year I was talking to Martin (who, as you know has now left) and the Community Pay-Back Team and then DDC supplied the flowers and the Community Pay-Back Team supplied the labour; I appreciate that they were/are not professional gardeners and there was some concern as to how well they worked and planted, but the Town did look good for a few weeks - until they needed dead-heading and/or weeding and because no one attended to them, they began to look awful, like they do now.
I appreciate you are the professional Darren as regards horticulture, but are you waiting for something to happen, or someone to give direction ? Forgive me if that sounds disrespectful, it's not meant to, but something needs to be done and done urgently, the Town is a disgrace - as regards this subject.
Is it perhaps that you (DDC) are waiting for some agreement from the Town Council ?
Kind Regards Darren
Roger Walkden"
I will reproduce parts of his reply:
"DDC met with the Chairman and the Mayor of Dover some time ago and discussed the renovation and replanting of the town centre planters. At the meeting it was agreed that DDC would proceed with a rolling programme of renovation to the planters, with a £2000 contribution from the Town Council."
From previous experience, the planting suffered from vandalism or theft shortly after being installed so I recommended we planted and stored the containers in the security of the Council's depot until the planting had successfully established before transferring them to site. Unfortunately the planting still suffered from these misfortunes but not to the previous extent.
DDC proceeded by removing 10 planters into Connaught depot and replanting with permanent, mostly evergreen plants to improve and promote sustainability of planting as opposed to costly annual bedding over the past..
Following the return of the established planters to site, another 10 planters were removed to replant as part of the ongoing programme, however the programme relied on the financial contribution from the Town Council.
The Town Council has not contributed any funds to the project to date, and with the tight budgets at DDC has stalled the project.
I recently had a meeting with the new Town Clerk of Dover and this matter was raised. With the recent elections I hope momentum can build to progress this scheme with the support of the Town Council.
I note your comments regarding the weeds in the planters. There has been some confusion over the maintenance responsibility of the planters but I will raise appropriate works to rectify in the interim.
I appreciate your comments and that you must be frustrated with the lack of visible action but please be assured we are trying to resolve the matter with the limited resource we have"
I hope I am not giving away confidences, but as you will have read above, DTC (as at the 23/05) had not contributed their agreed amount of £2,000 - whether the elections got in the way, or whether there was a political reason, I have no idea. Of course, they may have paid their pledged contribution by now, so it can move on.
Roger
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
#20
Again we see the D.D.C. and the Town council not working with each other"WHY" well that is a easy one, one is red and one is blue.
But this time I will side with the D.D.C. The Town council do have alot of funding to use up over £600.000 ayear, and more in the bank to back it up.So come on Town council lets see you helping out with funding for the town centre more.
