Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
27 December 2009
08:5235671I know we have discussed this before, quite comprehensively, but I want (as Dover Business Support Manager) to push for action in 2010 to get the worst of our run-down and dilapidated commercial buidlings in Dover Town, smartened up.
Shortly before Christmas I walked the Town - High Street, Biggin Street, Cannon Street, Market Square, Bench Street and all roads off, making notes of what I thought were the worst ones.
I know people can argue that I could have gone as far as Hollis Motors along London Road, but a line has to be drawn somewhere, so I drew that line at Bridge Street; I know there are some bad ones along London Road and I will compare them against those in the Town Centre.
I want to concentrate on the Town - if this is as successful as it can be, we can spread it outwards afterwards.
If I can ask all of you to make a note of the scruffy, run-down buildings while you're out and about in Dover and email me, let me know the worst ones - it doesn't have to include a photo but if you wish to, please do; when I have a short list of the worst offenders, I will start the process.
You can email me at
lindenrog@aol.com or
rogerw@doverchamber.co.uk
Thanks for your help.
Roger
27 December 2009
09:4835672Good luck Roger - I will do this by the end of next week. I did it myself months ago and posted on here what I saw, from the perspective of a tourist or newcomer. A sorry sight! But to take it to the next step - nice one. I am sure you will have much support from us, here.
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
27 December 2009
11:3735701My batteries are fully charged Roger, and some Duracell`s as spares. If you read my damning message when I first came on here in October, you`ll see that I viewed it exactly as Bern says above, as a visitor or tourist would see it. I have calmed down a bit since then. Sure you will get much support.
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
27 December 2009
12:3135709Thanks Bern and Colin.
With support in many areas, 2010 can be a very good year for Dover.
Roger
Ross Miller
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,698
27 December 2009
15:3135718Roger this is exactly the sort of thing monies from the seaside regeneration grant should have been earmarked for; to provide grant assistance to property owners to repair/restore/improve their properties. Much greater benefit to the town than that folly of a cable car.
"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 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
27 December 2009
15:3735719I was looking round the seafront and town this morning, and to me, it`s all that appalling facia which coach loads of tourists see from the carriageway. For some, it`s probably their first impression of Dover and this country. And, as Ross says above, the cable car is a white elephant, much as I like cable cars.
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,023
27 December 2009
16:1035721I agree with all the comments ,however as I found it is very difficult to break the power block at Whitfield .I tried and tried .I agree thw Cable Car is a non starter .The same of the screen but some people donot like being proved wrong .With my new role i hope to achieve something
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
27 December 2009
16:2435724not sure how your obsession with the big screen helps the problem with dilapidated buildings susan.
try to get over losing on this issue, that is democracy, happens to everyone.
maybe it is time to look forward and assist roger in his venture?
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
27 December 2009
19:2235730So much more can be achieved working together in co-operation, rather than confrontation, so the more people on board, the greater chance of success.
I couldn't agree more Ross, we need to make the Town look brighter, cleaner and more inviting to residents and visitors alike.
If it means giving/granting landlords money to do up their (commercial) buildings, then so be it; there are multitude of reasons why buildings are left in a dilapidated state and in order to restore Dover's pride, or rather restore people's pride in their Town (Dover), money must be spent - whose money may be the next question.
Roger
Terry Nunn
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,304
28 December 2009
09:3035763I grew up in Dover in the 1940's. People ask me what it was like. I say "Just walk down the town!"
Terry
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,023
28 December 2009
11:1435772That was not democracy Howard .You were not there.I shall remain bitter forever .Four to one people who sent letters into the council were against it .How often does a Chief Excutive speak on an application .How often are the public banned from site meetings ????Yes we had our say at the Town Hall but having been on the planning committee for ten years previously and also Chairman I do know what is correct .Then for members of my own party to vote for my removal from the cabinet and the main players have only served on the council for three years or less .Yes you can say im bitter.
Roger will have an uphill battle I know how the system works .
It took years for the three cooks windows to be replaced and DDC are still working on 10 Kings Street .There have been achievements .You know where they are .
The wheeles of local government work slowly unless somethings needs to be rushed through eg De Bradeliere WharF
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,698
28 December 2009
14:3435795As well as encouraging property owners to repair their buildings (either through the use of maintenance orders or some sort of grant scheme) the council needs to do something about the overall street scene in the town centre. I would suggest that they make a start by replacing benches and bins, as well as working with the DTC to improve the town centre planters. Longer term the town centre needs improved signage, upgraded paving that unifies the different sections of the town centre, a well thought through lighting scheme that highlights the key buildings etc.
"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
28 December 2009
15:4635797Much as I love Dover and see all the great benefits of living here (I genuinely love it), I am horrified by the negligence of the local authorities when it comes to both promoting and maintaining the place. A unified and driven approach would reap benefits, but we get more of the same: in-fighting, political scrapping, disinterest and apathy. Not from Dovorians, but from the people paid to represent and support them. I have lived here for over 10 years and have seen little real, beneficial change: the dilapidation remains and festers, the rotten and run-down shops and houses fall into greater disrepair, the roads and pavements are abysmal, the little touches that make a difference to a town centre (as Ross says rightly, signage and bins, toilets and colour) are outrageously absent. Those paid to manage Dover should be ashamed.
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,023
28 December 2009
16:0735798Bern I quite agree with you .I know Paul and Nigel look into the forum so maybe they will rethink big time .I keep telling them but a lone voice .You have to swart at the grass roots .A shabby town does not encourage wealth .
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
28 December 2009
18:4535804I agree Ross that there is no single thing that will make Dover Town look great, that's why I'm trying to tackle it from an holistic approach - where all ideas are worked on.
You mentioned the black flower tubs - the planters; if the weather hadn't changed so much before Christmas, they would have been done by now. I contacted the Community pay-back team earlier in December, they're part of the Probation Service, to work on the black tubs - weeding, more compost put in them, dug and replanted.
Dover District Council are supplying the compost and the flowers and work was to be done the week before Christmas week; not sure when it will be done now.
Some of the benches need moving, as well as changing, or in the least having some work done on them - rubbing down and revarnishing; this could also be done by the Community Pay-Back team.
Some of the litter bins have ashtrays on the top, it would be good to have them all uniform; the finger signs should be in French and English, especially with encouraging the French to come over here.
As Dover Business Support Manager, I am happy to be the co-ordinator to get all the ideas and work sorted, but there also needs to be the support of the Dover Businesses, whatever their trade.
That support can be in membership of DBS and at £3.00 per week, I really don't think that's too expensive to get the Town changed - the price of one pint of lager a week.
I also want more, lots more email addresses of local people, so I can advise them of what's going on here: public information, up and coming events and local busienss news and offers.
All the emails I send out are "blind" so no one sees the emails, so no one can receive scam or spam emails from them; it is a cheap and very quick way of letting people know what's going on in and around Town.
Lots more to say and do, but that will do for one posting.
Roger
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
28 December 2009
20:3835808sue,try drinking larger shandys with a g and t chaser instead.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
28 December 2009
21:0535816the cabinet read these posts and decline to comment.
it would be nice to hear the other side of the story, too often grudges against the council are held because the only response people get is from street advertising hoardings and newsletters telling us all how they brilliant they are.
we get grand statements every so often about the DTIZ, usually turn out to be "pie in the sky", if someone in authority explained why something that was announced as "about to happen", do not happen, they would earn more respect.
Guest 664- Registered: 23 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,039
28 December 2009
22:1335820Go for it Roger.
A few of us nagged Wetherspoon's into doing something about their eyesore, with good results.
As for the others - give them hell. Empty shops are largely a result of economic forces; there is no excuse for letting buildings fall down however.
The powers that be in the Whitfield Rathaus need to be dragged into the town centre and held in stocks until they decide to sort out this wreck of a town.
In the meantime it's down to a Few Good Men (and Women) it seems.
I wish the rest of the people in this town would stop tolerating living in a dump, get off their fat, hopeless, lazy, sportswear-clad, defeated backsides and do something constructive about the place where they live.
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
29 December 2009
21:0435877Andrew some of us have been trying that now for alot of years,all we can do about it is keep on to the councils or vote them out,and get new faces.
31 December 2009
12:4835987Hi Roger
As already mentioned. The worst couple that need immediate action under section 215 are
1.The site of the old Crypt Restaurant that has been derelict since the fire in the early '70s. The owner is, I understand a Developer that has had similar derelict properties in Folkestone and other Thanet Towns.
2. The old Post Office (then labour Excahnge) off market Square.
There is a general need for owners to remove vegetation from buildings that are not only unsightly but cause the cement pointing to deteriorate. Even the Museum has vegetation on it so if the Council is serious about improving the town then they should set the example??
There is of course the main DTIZ development area that is really a bomb-site,and if as I understand, is the oldest WW2 bomb site in the UK. If the site is not developed or improved before the DTIZ scheme starts then perhaps Dover has another "Tourist Attraction" !!!
On the issue of cleanliness I have on several postings tried to use Lincoln as an example where zero tollerance re litter /cigarette ends/chewing gum/dog fouling exists. I have had lengthing correspondence with the City of Lincoln and they have two Enforcement Officers (also covers Dog Fouling) and have a good working arrangement with the police and CCTV monitoring.The area covers 12 square miles with a population of 88,000 including a University campus which used to be a major cause of chewing gum deposited in streets in Lincoln.
Before "Zero Tollerance" a full education programme was given including distributing free Chewing gum wraps and cigarette pouches. They ensured there were adequate bins (including cigartette stub bins) and that these are emptied on a regular basis all day/evening (they have a cafe culture for City Centre evenings). Any person offending is named and shamed in the local press.
As has already been said on this forum the police and CCTV activity seems not to be utilised in Dover and DTC/DDC need to get back to basics and ensure what we are paying for (10% of rates go to policing) we get.There is existing legislation that can be implemented if the Council and Police have a will to do so.