Despite the rather depressing article about Margate by Jamie Doward in today's Observer (go to Michael over at Thanetonline to get links to read the article), how nice it was to be reading it in the afternoon spring sunshine on Pav's 'sun-deck' at St Mildred's Bay, Westgate and waiting for the tide to go out in order to exercise assorted dogs and children.You may note my stress on sunshine, because as the picture above shows, TDC allowed a developer to put his flat build so high, that from October to March, the sun does not poke over the top of this building and Pav's sun-deck and the promenade are in shade for a 5 full months of the year. It's this sort of thing that our own Council does that detracts from our natural assets as a sea-side destination.
If you have read the Observer article you will see that Simon Moores makes a sensible comment about seaside towns struggling on the fringes of the London centric economy whilst 'Our Leader' says about Margate " I wouldn't have wanted to walk aroud here 4 years ago"! What is he on about? Is he referring to the arty-farty quarter or the High Street? 4 years ago we still had a High Street in Margate. Is our leader on Planet Thanet or Planet Arcadia?
It was nice to read that a woman at the Turner Visitor Centre (which does not have a TC to visit yet but at least has a Director, curator and assorted artists on the payroll) was able to say "Fingers crossed that it (TC Mark 2) does for Margate what the Tate has done for St Ives". She clearly did not grasp that St.Ives already had a thriving grass-roots artistic community and a Council that ran St.Ives for its residents.
If you make a place 'good to be beside the seaside beside the sea' for its residents and its towns' businesses, then surprise, surprise, visitors will want to come and visit and stay. St Ives attracted visitors because of this. We are sadly saddled with a TDC that allows Pav's to be kept in the shade and is it any wonder that a long dark future now faces us?
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