Despite being a relatively recent Ramsgatonian (eat your heart out Wossie), even I can remember the days when these premises were a dingy drinking dive, before our Terry came along and turned it into a place for millionaires to invest in the Thanet property boom. But with a number of local developments now seemingly at a standstill, can we now assume the boom has turned to bust?Even more worrying is that TP is i/c flogging the Pleasurama development (aka Royal Sands, aka Titanic), should it ever be built. At a meeting of the Eastcliff Residents Association only last September, he said there was 'lots of interest' and that one hotel chain was on the point of signing up for the site. Upping sticks and buggering off doesn't really do much to confirm that, does it?
23 comments:
I notice that their website still shows them as having a Ramsgate office, which suggests they were somewhat taken by surprise. It certainly doesn’t show that they have got much confidence in Ramsgate. One of the problems with Pleasurama is that because the people behind it are an unaccountable offshore company they can run away from the whole thing at any time. All that work down there and I gather TDC has spent around £500,000 of our money, given away our main leisure car park for free, when will we get some proper consultation with the people of Ramsgate about the whole sorry mess.
Indeed Michael a whole lot of our money.
Surely this is a resigning issue for some members of staff/Cllrs at TDC?
inyourface
Perhaps you have frightened them Michael ?
TP spokesperson: "We would like to say rumours that we wish to distance ourselves from the Pleasurama Project began with no foundation."
I notice also that Spicer McColl have shut down their office to . All the windows are painted out and no sign showing a forwarding address. Either too stupid to think it needs one or have they done a runner to?
If all the estate agents shut ,and you take charity shops out of the equation , what is left on the high streets of Thanet?
Dyslexic Mayor: "I have a cunning plan Got a note here Sandy. What we need is another Ann Summers Party down the harbour. "
Sandy B "Let me see yer f-cking notebook for meself dis time mmmmm Derek Dildoing Arab do ?"
Good news though the Turner Centre is operational for TDC councillors and staff to visit strictly by appointment
Turner Centre open for Councillor appointments
And here is T Painter Esq
Terry-borrows-to-make-Pleasurama-a-caravan-park
If there is any chance that the Royal Sands Development will not be built I think we should invite fat Boy Slim down for a beach party - perhaps at last there is a chance we'll get the swimming pool after all?? Why not combine it with the Turner Centre and have the art as slide shows on giant screens we can watch while we swim.I lived in Switzerland in the 1970s and they built a swimming pool, art gallery and shopping mall on the shores of lake Zurich as one complex with views of the mountains through huge plate glass windows - lovely
Superb idea. Underwater vewable art gallery.
It may come to fruition in an iterative fashion though.
First the Turner Centre is built at Margate.
Second the weather takes a hand.
Anon 6.15pm - well done for remembering the fake sheik affair involving Cllr Derek Dolding 26 years ago now, I think.
He got a friend to dress up as an Arab to look interested in buying up Ramsgate Harbour, or similar idea, to shock the ferry operators, Sally Line, into staying at Ramsgate.
It;'s a strange story but curiously one that had the desired effect - for a few years at least! Made national headlines too but Cllr Dolding had to resign over it.
Nick, Whits
Has anyone notified Tdc that the agents in Ramsgate for the Plesurama development have shut down. Seems Ramsgate is heading the same as Margate, empty promises, empty shops, etc. What next empty commercial premises in Manston?
Public consultation seems to be just part of the process, and the public are given a short window to give views.These days public opinion has diminished and does not influence final decisions. Councils are influencing our lives at an even greater rate, from planning to fines, survelance, revenue raisers from any source ie profilation of beach huts, community policing...Maybe it's time they were curtailed and made much more answerable for their actions.
Thanks Nick. I had to strain the dyslexic magisterial mayor angle to squeeze out the dildo (!) from Dolding.
More ancient Thanet history here
Margaret Mortlock sues BBC who settle out of court 1976
I understood that Margaret was maybe writing a book. Arlington House etc and who might have been on the make and the planning malarkey back then ? What a bombshell that would be ?
We saw the estate-agents expand in the late 80s and then close down when the doom and gloom and reposessions began in the early 90s. I remember Ward & Partners selling their 'chain' and it then being bought back a few years later at a lower price than it was originally sold for. The first sign of really serious problems in the housing game is work ceasing by developers (Paigle at Sea-bathing and Winwood at St. Augustines). The second indicator is the closure of estate-agents offices on the high street. Times are going to be tough for some time and sadly Dreamland will sit empty for a few more years yet unless compulsory purchased.
Nick
I wonder if you recall when IoT Gazette published a letter from the cartoonist Robert Edwards I think describing Cllr Iris Johnston as "True pornography"
The history before this appears to have been that Labour lady councillors opened their meeting briefing notes only to find their confidential TDC mail circulation had been compromised and that someone had inserted porno cartoons.
The sort of situation the dyslexic mayor might shorthand as a big cocky doodle do ?
Leader of the tory group (Mrs Mortlock) apprently took a dim view of this and cautioned Cllr George Maison in front of the then Chief Executive (who appears to have been shortly afterwards searching the situations vacant columns to get outa Thanet)
Only for George to allegedly admit to the laddish prank adding that helpful TDC employees operated a mail intercept for him.
The IoT Gazette seemed to lean towards publishing the letters of points of view of extremist right wing like League of Saint George
did Sandy have cause to get his hair off after all with such pleasant fellows in Thanet
Bearing in mind that Cllr Hayton (sacked Head of Planning) gave evidence for cartoon afficianado and pseudo military cadet force leader Cllr Maison in the High Court in 98 ?
I sent Lord Greville Janner a witness statement to holocaust denial lecture activity (to pseudo military cadets) at the 1999 War and Peace Show.
If Nick you think IoT Gazette have done a p-ss poor job for years, I would agree.
Long live Havana's!!! What a cracking late drink that used to be!!!
So what if an estate agent has closed an office - have you ever thought it may be a smart response to a changing climate to protect his existing business? A clearly visible move like that would not have been an easy decision to take. Estate agents are no-one's favourite people but clearly you've got to give the bloke some credit for being on the ball? What is the point in harping on about what someone said last September? The fact that things have changed since then is hardly his fault!
ECR - have you considered that maybe these places are closing because you have done such a good job of publicising the training flights over the town that nobody wants to buy here anymore?
They have probably closed that office because they still have a bloody great big one in Queen Street.
Doh !
No sign of TP adverts in either of today’s papers, I don’t know if that’s unusual, with Pleasurama nothing would surprise me, but because this project puts so much blight on the town I feel I have to keep an eye on anything that may effect it.
It is hard to imagine how we have got into a situation where the developer for this huge project can’t be contacted and has no website showing us how things are progressing.
Again has the council done due diligence reports on the company's that it seems happy to get into bed with. If it has not done these investigations then something is wrong.
There seems to be very little information available about the developers. Their registered office appears to be in Billericay according to Companies House. Let's hope they're not tricky Dickys!
The high streets all over the country are blighted by rows of Estate Agents. One less, or two or three less, can only be a good thing. We might even get a shop instead! Good riddance. May many more follow.
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