Friday 13 June 2008

AT LAST, TDC SETS THE GOAL FOR DEVELOPERS

This picture (courtesy of another of our excellent free papers, The KM Extra) of 'Our Leader' , his Deputy Cllr Roger Latchford and Planning Officer, Doug Brown , signals for me a belated but nevertheless very encouraging moment. TDC Planning is setting the goal-posts for what it wants to see happen at the tatty Arlington Arcade and Arlington House area that is the first depressing site to greet visitors to Margate, whether arriving by train or by road.

The planning briefs will be out for public comment and even if TDC does not own the assets, it is stating a clear target of what it wants, on our behalf, for developers to follow. How encouraging to see one of our Planning Officers, that capable Doug Brown, stating "I would like to think this spot could be the right place for a sea-life centre...."

Why oh why, did it not set the same clear Planning Brief for the whole of that area in 2006 when advised by an Independent Planning Inspector to insist that the Dreamland site be earmarked for a major Visitor Centre and set the planning brief requirements on the Manston Business Park area, that is the site for Phase 1 of China Gateway? It could have stated 'mains foul sewerage'; dictated safe and detailed water run-off control requirements and insisted no construction or hardstanding on the aquifer SPZ 1. Now that would have been something!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pity it could not be arranged for that building to fall on those two on the right, and do us all a favour.

Anonymous said...

Why do Bill and Ben have to go around and do everything together?

Usually you have a Deputy Leader to represent the Leader when he is otherwise engaged! These two seem to be becoming some sort of double act. Why is this I wonder?

Anonymous said...

I wish people wouldn't keep being nasty about Bill'n'Ben. They have to be together one without the other would be as bad as bread without butter.
We wouldn't have anything to complain about if they went their seperate ways, or would we?