Guest 675- Registered: 30 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,610
I would take exception to the statement that all, or even most of, the objectors to the TV screen live outside Dover, the petition and most of the objections are from people who live in the square and thus will be most directly affected by it.
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.
Richard Armour
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
Brian
On Gordon Cowan, he is on the estate every week running one boy and one girls 5 a side team hes b een doing that now for over 2 years
hes also active in the Town and pier activities c;ub and trhe monthly bingo.
So even though you live on the estate and iv invited you to these events before today on here and in person, you have NEVER attended
so you won't see him if you dont attend things that happen within your own area!
This club has kept a number of kids off the street every friday who may well cause anti social behaviour if we diodnt.
Also every month we have lots of varied age groups yoiung sand not so youing at bingo an enjoyable monthly evening first tuesday of every month.
As I say Brian on your estate but never seen you at any of these events.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
chatted to gordon now and again in town, he always spots me first and comes up to chat.
a lot of county council work is at daytime meetings in maidstone, hence he is not as visible as a district councillor can be.
will be interesting to see gordon and nigel competing for a seat at county level.
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
Have to say expected Nigel to do a lot better against Gordon last time round we were all surprized Nigel didn't do better
But I know Gordon is on the doorstep every day and will be till 10pm at close of polls (woops did someone mention theres an election looming?)
)
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
kieth,i have no intrest in bingo,secondly where on this estate dose this so sports work,and thirdly we down at the ropewalk end of the estate see him,never dose a estae walk down my end if at all.
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
BRIAN
As I say if you don't look around events in your area you won't see him, he operates in all of town and pier not just Ropewalk.
You missed point we take off estate to enjoy football, sadly the District council stopped us moving forward on the recreation ground not allowing the portacabin.
It has so much potential but after many letters and lobbying and site meetings sadly the planning dept would not budge so we had to cut back on the plans for the recreation ground.
Sadly in the past through apathy we had to cut back on plans to take over the church hall.
So we continue to run two kids teams from approx sept/oct to may and monthly bingo.
Of course all this takes volunteers which we lack, so we have to prune back so as not to disappoint anyone.
So Gordon commitsd himself to running these 2 youth football teams in registered KCFA leagues one boy and one girls
And I'v committed myself to being the bingo caller.
We will do other things if we find the volunteers and adequate training.
(fancy volunteering rather than moaning?)
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
if i can harken back to bygone times, i seem to remember that aycliffe had a lot of problems with youngsters running amok, when the football started under the auspices of gordon and keith, there was a drastic cut in misbehaviour.
my fading memory says that this was the case.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
As we see in Terrys thread in the other section, vandalism is still rife here in Dover, with lots of youth getting up to no good. What further efforts can be made to try and eleviate the problem . Certainly youth workers Keith and Gordon accomplish a lot but as we see in Keiths post above they are limited by lack of cash, and/or obstacles placed in their way by the DDC. This seems a shame.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
why would ddc not give permission for a portakabin?
surely anything that helps keep kids off the street and away from the temptations that boredom brings, must be a bonus for the district.
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
HOWARD/PAULB
Please don't get me going on this recreation ground.
We took over the recreation ground, had weekly training sessions, and before we got to the ground they had druggies and pee artists up there, we moved in, we got goal nets, and goals put up on the ground.
We got the pitch marked out.
We offered to maintain the pitch, mark it out and cut grass.
We played one season in the East Kent Youth league and had to get changing rooms, we had site meetings plans, meetings, with the council who kept telling us the area was of outstanding natural beauty.
We even offered to site the portacabin anywhere within the area that they wanted, still no can do.
The council wanted us to submit plans which would have cost hundreds of pounds and when i asked if we had any chance of getting these plans through i was told
its unlikely.
I did point out to the council did they not find there own priorities strange when they can support a large lorry park ripping up land of outstanding natural beauty close by yet couldn't support a portacabin.
Sadly as the league wouldn't allow us to continue without changing room we had to withdraw from the league costing us hundreds of pounds and after a while we had to stop using this ground.
We would love to have seen this ground better used, with the kids we would have maintained it, all very sad, now i suspect it will go back as it was.
The only losers are the Town and pier activities club kids.
So by taking kids off the street every sunday/saturday we did have plans to run
6 teams from that ground under 11, 12,13,14,15,16
thats over 75 kids that would have been taken off streets each weekend, all lost,
So where one dept (planning) won't allow the recreation to be anything other than green grass, the councils recreation dept was all for us having the portacabin and realy behind us.
We even took 2 of the kids from the club to the councils own youth forum for them to tell the councils youth forum the desperate need for the portacabin, sadly although supportive, the planning dept never moved and they had the last say.
So sadly our scheme had to reduced through a backward looking council.
We made a promise to run football and still run 2 youth sides at the leisure centre every friday from around october to MAY
but now even that has been disrupted because the leisure centre is under strain and the walls have leaked when it rains and the fllor slippery thus the 5 a side league has lost approx 7 weeks play which means for these weeks usua;lly
approx 28 teams of 7 players plus managers/parents was lost revenue
which we have been told was a loss in the region of £1,500 per week. When you bear in mind the trust running the centre is already making losses this won't help.
So as a club we will continue, we will run as much as we can, we will need the support of local residents/volunteers, but more important the councils
without this it will be uphill for us.
But we do this for the kids,and won';t give up.
lets hope others that can help us, do so in the future.
Sorry didn't mean to go on so long, but you did ask!!!
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
that was rather an emotional post keith.
surely a reply from one of our leading councillors is called for.?
excuse my ignorance in municipal matters, but surely the planning dept would have had to submit a report to the elected councillors, then the planning committee would have made a decision on it?
One word - outrageous.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
Yes a great post there Keef and yes indeed outrageous that the effort is left struggling. Anybody working with youth has to be admired as its a difficult job as we can see by the reluctance of people to volunteer to do it. But you are doing sterling work and I hope in time your efforts will be recognised.
Sterling Work
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
HOWARD
I do feel realy strongly on this, sadly officers can stop this even reaching committee and as a very small club we could not afford to put in plans costing hundreds of pounds when they may well have been rejected.
our monies are hard earnt and spent on the club/kids
We had major plans in that area but gave up and slimmed down out of frustration.
Have to say Charles walker at the leisure section of DDC was behind us, but the planning dept thought more about the land being of outstanding natural beauty than what we were trying to do, and how the land could have helped to stem anti social behaviour sadly the planning dept decided it wasn't to be, so we have reorganised the club in a different direction.
I'm sure we can revisit this should there be a change of heart, but to date there are no signs of this happening,
But the club will continue to do its bit to help bring the community together
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
I only just lost again at River last week I was 2nd
But will stand again at River and town etc again on my own.
Vic M
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
you know my view VIC
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
yep left wing spin with a touch of seam.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
i never knew that you were a cricket fan brian.
this is a new facet to your character on here.
did you follow tonights game in guyana when both teams left the field thinking that they had won?
it is comforting to know that the world body of cricket is as dysfunctional as some of dovers leaders.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
howard,how true.im a man of many talents and master of none.no missed the cricket busy prepearing for tomorrows rugby internatioals.
MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm...rugby!! What a great day we are in for!!
