Guest 2476- Registered: 2 Feb 2018
- Posts: 33
Lots of criticism about the four-hour limit on stays at St James. Not long enough to watch a long movie and have a meal. Needs to be raised to five hours methinks.
Any news on when the first unit opens? Keeps being put back and little news of a firm date for opening the whole complex.
Guest 1792- Registered: 2 Jul 2016
- Posts: 111
Arrogance is breathtaking, DDC totally ignored the ppl of Dover s wishes ,seems such a pity when elections are justbround the corner !!!
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Parking at St James is nothing to do with DDC.
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Guest 2476- Registered: 2 Feb 2018
- Posts: 33
What's the latest on its opening?
Captain Haddock
- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,067
Droid wrote:What's the latest on its opening?
Held up as shop-fitters can't afford to park there?
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"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
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Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,067
Yup. After year's of planning they have realised a proper electrical connection is necessary. The local H&S inspector was not impressed with all those wires leading off the lamp-post in Castle Street.
Apparently every time they turned on the digital projectors in the cinema all the lights in St Radigunds dimmed ..................
"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson
Reginald Barrington
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 17 Dec 2014
- Posts: 3,257
What idiot gave them electricity, they'll want to learn to read next!
Arte et Marte
Andy B
- Location: dover
- Registered: 10 Nov 2012
- Posts: 1,817
I can arrange a couple of fairground generator trucks to supply the electric till things get sorted if it helps.
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,067
Reginald Barrington wrote:What idiot gave them electricity, they'll want to learn to read next!
St Radigunds or St James'?
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"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson
Guest 2210- Registered: 16 Aug 2017
- Posts: 53
Comment no.3 states DDC has nothing to do with parking at St James. Is this factually correct? Why is St James just so happening to be charging the same hourly rate for parking as you do in council run car parks with the same 4 hour time limit?
http://www.investindover.co.uk/PDF/LG-invests-53m-into-St-James-Dover.pdf
Also in this article does Mr Watkins says DDC is looking forward to working together with L and G so yeah the council probably have everything to do with the parking in st james!
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,067
BenjiB wrote:Comment no.3 states DDC has nothing to do with parking at St James. Is this factually correct? Why is St James just so happening to be charging the same hourly rate for parking as you do in council run car parks with the same 4 hour time limit?
http://www.investindover.co.uk/PDF/LG-invests-53m-into-St-James-Dover.pdf
Also in this article does Mr Watkins says DDC is looking forward to working together with L and G so yeah the council probably have everything to do with the parking in st james!
L&G have bought the whole of the St James development lock, stock and barrel. They are running their own car park and setting their own charges and (unlike for example Sainsburys in Deal) it will not be 'policed' by DDC employees. Fact.
"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson
Guest 2210- Registered: 16 Aug 2017
- Posts: 53
Sorry I'm a little confused, are DDC working with L+G on St James as stated by Mr Watkins or not?
It was DDC's baby so I couldn't imagine they would let it pass over to L+G's hands without having a say in setting the parking charges due to the risk of being under cut and losing revenue from their own car parks? In fact it's easy to assume DDC has worked with L+G to get to the position where they see it fit to introduce Sunday charges to DDC car parks? Is that a fair conclusion?
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Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,067
DDC have 'worked' with L&G only in as much as they 'work' with any other business in Dover.
e.g. With tourism DDC are 'working' with English Heritage.
DDC had no say in the charging scheme in the L&G site. Were L&G to have seriously undercut DDC prices it would be a dumb move by them as they would have the site filled up with people who might be visiting, for example, the Museum and had no interest in shopping in St James.
Exactly the opposite would, I suggest, occur if DDC kept Sunday Parking by the swimming pool free as it would be full of Travel Lodge guests and other users of St James.
It's basic economics that two parties supplying a like service located close to each other will tend towards charging similar prices.
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"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson
Guest 2210- Registered: 16 Aug 2017
- Posts: 53
Ok thank you for explaining the situation.
Guest 2418- Registered: 14 Dec 2017
- Posts: 37
Captain Haddock wrote:L&G have bought the whole of the St James development lock, stock and barrel. They are running their own car park and setting their own charges and (unlike for example Sainsburys in Deal) it will not be 'policed' by DDC employees. Fact.
So after decades of waiting we finally acquired the DTIZ site in its entirety as per Paul Watkins! and then just sell it lock stock and barrel with no control over the land to an invest fund run by L&G to do what they please. Perhaps if it fails they will knock it down and build a big office block and call it Burlington Plaza.
Genius!
Reginald Barrington- Location: Dover
- Registered: 17 Dec 2014
- Posts: 3,257
PaulineQuick wrote:So after decades of waiting we finally acquired the DTIZ site in its entirety as per Paul Watkins! and then just sell it lock stock and barrel with no control over the land to an invest fund run by L&G to do what they please. Perhaps if it fails they will knock it down and build a big office block and call it Burlington Plaza.
Genius!
Personally wouldn't want to see my council tax to go up £1300 to pay for it, but that's just me, maybe the other 40000 dover residents would?
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Arte et Marte
Guest 2418- Registered: 14 Dec 2017
- Posts: 37
Reginald Barrington wrote:Personally wouldn't want to see my council tax to go up £1300 to pay for it, but that's just me, maybe the other 40000 dover residents would?
But you didn't mind them using your council tax to acquire the land and then relinquish all control of parking charging policy so dover residents could be shafted for eternity.
Guest 1997- Registered: 3 Mar 2017
- Posts: 148
I speak as a complete ignoramus here. Hopefully some one can explain. What were the commercial heads of agreement regarding the sale of the land to Legal and General? Did it mean relinquishing all control over the land usage ? Was DDC the sole vendor?
Given what has come to light over Farthingloe, it just makes me wonder.
Reginald Barrington- Location: Dover
- Registered: 17 Dec 2014
- Posts: 3,257
PaulineQuick wrote:But you didn't mind them using your council tax to acquire the land and then relinquish all control of parking charging policy so dover residents could be shafted for eternity.
Not at all, the area was a badly neglected part of Dover that contained a derelict car park, one of the countries worst eyesores, a prime flytipping site and traveller campsite, I would have happily paid more council tax to enable the regeneration of it and thankfully our council had the sense not to lumber us with the liability.
Arte et Marte