Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,023
He he
Judith Roberts- Registered: 15 May 2012
- Posts: 637
What do you think should have been done with the site Bob? Demolition and removal of Burlington House, multistorey etc would on its own be very costly.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,832
Brian Dixon wrote:allways look on the bright side you two, think of all that fresh air and exersize you are getting,
Not much exercise used on my mobility scooter but plenty of electricity with wasted battery power, by not going down there I am doing my bit to save the planet.
Brian Dixon and Paul M like this
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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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Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
Guest 2478- Registered: 6 Feb 2018
- Posts: 11
I love it down there and spend quite a bit of money there. It's easy parking and not full of rubbish or uneven pavements and no beggars.
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,023
Yes ok if you have a car .
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
sue, jan think of it as this. lol
Captain Haddock
- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,992
Lady Stewart wrote:I love it down there and spend quite a bit of money there. It's easy parking and not full of rubbish or uneven pavements and no beggars.
It is indeed beggerless. This is because the whole development is private space owned by a private company and they can exclude whomsoever they wish. Anyone trying to beg is soon removed by 'security', told never to return and heads back up the High Street. THIS I am all in favour of.
Jan Higgins likes this
"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
I hope that's deal high street bob. lol
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,992
Landsec property values slide as UK retail crisis bites.
The company, whose holdings include a stake in the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent, said its assets declined in value by £557m to £13.8bn, led by a 15.5 per cent drop in the value of its retail parks and an 11.7 per cent fall for its shopping centres. The value of the group’s assets had slid by £91m in the previous year.
https://www.ft.com/content/fb4eed50-7611-11e9-be7d-6d846537acab"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,992
"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson
Ross Miller
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,699
Hardly surprising news - this is just the latest in a line of formulaic mid market eateries that have grown to the point that they lost their agility and discovered smaller chains doing to them what a few years previously they had done to others.
Not really a death spiral is it Bob.
Having said that L&G need to look at their rent levels if they ever want to fill the remaining voids as their target market for tenants needs to be independents and small local chains, not the regional and national zombies that are currently occupying our nations high streets.
Jan Higgins likes this
"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
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,992
Ross Miller wrote:
Not really a death spiral is it Bob.
How about on rather expensive life support and in a persistent vegetative state then?
BTW I was speaking to someone who was at the Stembrook Lane Shopping Arcade (heavily subsidised by YOU & I through Lottery Funding and DDC) 'family fun day'.
They confirmed my view that it is crap.
"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,699
How about some positivity Bob, maybe engage your allegedly big brain and offer up some ideas of how to improve things?
Or just carry on knocking everyone elses efforts whilst enjoying your retirement.
"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
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,992
Ross, I spent eight years on DDC wasting my time trying to get an explanation of what was being done (the farce of millions of pounds of public money being wasted on St James/Dover Rapid Bus Transport etc) and laughing at drawings on the back of envelopes of cable cars and land-bridges as the superannuated lunatics look at what is successful elsewhere and think transplanting it to Dover with totally different demographics, physical geography and location will be the magic sauce for Dover, and trying to point them in what I thought was the right direction.
Dover has more potential than almost any town I can think of in the UK and the solution lies in three words - history, history and history.
THAT is Dover's USP.
Bath has the Romans, York the Vikings, Battle has 1066, and other packed tourist destinations are thronged on the back of a snapshot of a short period of time.
Dover has thousands of years of continuous history you trip over on every corner from the little visited Bronze Aged Boat, little visited Roman Painted House, little visited Maison Dieu to the little visited Drop Redoubt to name but a few.
Meanwhile at TripAdvisor's No1 Kent attraction Dover Castle there are over 1/3 million visitors a year who have never heard of any of this and only ever visit Dover itself if they take a wrong turn on the SatNav.
The way forward is for National Trust, English Heritage, Dover Museum, Painted House, Transport Museum and all of the others to get together and start marketing Dover's history as an entity, a place to immerse oneself in the nation's history, far too much to do in one day.
(BTW I'm NOT knocking anyone or anything BUT if you honestly think I'm going to join the rest of the muppets admiring the emperor's new clothes when we all know in our hearts that he is stark-bollock naked - forget it)
Guest 2478, Paul M, Reginald Barrington and
1 more like this
Guest 2478, Paul M, Reginald Barrington and Dover Pilot like this
"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson
Dover Pilot- Registered: 28 Jul 2018
- Posts: 345
Spot on! All this money that has been spent on Dover St James, Stembrook Desperation Lane and things like the crazy fountain idea have done absolutley nothing to attract visitors to Dover. Why aren't we utilising our rich town history.
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,699
I agree that Dover's USP is indeed its history and that with the right organisation and co-operation there should be a second to none proposition that ought to have visitors flocking here, fuelling a service economy geared around providing a great experience for visitors. This service economy (entertainment, leisure activities & hospitality) would provide employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for locals as well as ample provision for locals. Sadly too many people want to reminisce about perceived former glories, or protect their little empires, which holds us all back.
I too share your view that far too often your fellow councillors and some of the officers have demonstrated little imagination and absolutely no sense of place when they have cobbled together hair brained schemes for not only the town but the district too. The fact that none of these have escaped beyond the napkin they were crayoned on is something to be eternally grateful for.
Meanwhile others attempt to do something but end up being constrained by their lack of vision/knowledge/experience and the lack of self belief/confidence/vision/trust of the towns people; the latter being often the hardest hurdle to overcome. Having said that it doesnt mean one should give up or be ungracious about peoples efforts to create a better future, even if those efforts end up being more of the same rather than game changing. Helping the community attain the necessary competencies and skills it requires to have the confidence to make a difference takes time and effort and perseverance and is often a case of one step forward - two backwards; though it will ultimately lead to a much more engaged community that is less inclined to swallow the cool-aid served up from Whitfield and Maidstone.
"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
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,699
Dover Pilot - Whilst DDC purchased the old Co-op building, the development of it into Co-Innovation/Stembrook Lane was funded by Dover Big Local.
I understand that it now covers its running costs from the rental income from the businesses there and has a waiting list of businesses wanting to take space.
Many feel this was a reasonable use of DBL monies especially as it has helped 23 businesses start/develop/grow as well as offer other opportunities including an indoor market.
Jan Higgins likes this
"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
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,023
Bob I tried to get the various organisations to get together ,but each wanted to build their own little empires.For years our museum was the Cinderella when budgets drawn up.i was so keen to get the painted house to change its entrance so you could walk straight to the museum.Transport links not the rapid bus system linking the attractions .
Why can’t they see the bigger picture not the here today gone tomorrow.Never trust people who do the talk and blind people with their mad schemes.
