The ongoing row over whether Wetherspoons should get planning permission to turn some old church/cinema in a back alley here in the Millionaires' Playground into a pub aptly demonstrates the lack of joined up thinking in these parts when it comes to planning for a sustainable, seaside future.In a prime pozzy on the seafront we have an edifice that would make an excellent hostelry - the Royal Pavilion, which has been empty all season since those Rankers upped sticks and relocated their casino to a shed at Westwood Chaos. Trouble is it's in a parlous state, as the council never saw fit to enforce the repairing terms of Rank's lease over the last 40 years. Which makes it a distinctly unattractive proposition for even an imaginative outfit like Wetherspoons, who recently opened a pub in Oxford called The Four Candles in honour of a former nearby resident, the late, great, dearly departed Ronnie Barker.
So now we have a rapidly deteriorating eyesore which will probably go the way of all our heritage bricks and mortar (West Cliff Hall, Marina Restaurant, Kent Terrace, the list goes on). If Wetherspoons do open an establishment in Ramsgate, perhaps they should name it the We'll Run This Place Into The Ground 'Cos The Council Don't Give A Toss And Then Bugger Off To Westwood At Which Point It'll Burn Down Or Be Accidentally Demolished and be done with it!
Click here to read about the Pavilion and Rank hypocrisy
Click here to read about Wetherspoons on Cllr Green's blog
9 comments:
The whole thing makes me so terribly sad- what an opportunity for TDC - to restore this iconic seaside building as part of their plan to entice British holiday makers back again next year. If all the airlines go bust people won't be able to fly anywhere anyway so we need to encourage them to spend a week here instead. If Bexhill can do it why can't we?
Why do we want a tourist economy?
Proper jobs with real money are the answer, they last all year, and pay a reasonable wage. The experiences I have had tell me that hoteliers and holiday based juobs are badly paid, have no pension schemes, and the bosses are best described by rearranging these letters 'parc'
7:29, have to agree. We should look elsewhere for business and employment opportunities and not rely on slot machine emporiums and cheap-tat shops as a backbone of business. If, as and when the owners leave Manston the whole airport should be given over as an industrial park. I served at Manston at the end of the 1980s and said then it would never do as a passenger airport. Its fine as a freight airport and the major UK airports just are not interested in freight, they'd rather use the space it takes for passenger terminals and accompanying retail space. The current owners at Manston should be trying to snatch all the freight business they can as they will make more with that than with passengers in this particular area due to its position and lack of catchment area.
I moved to Thanet recently and got two hospitality jobs in the private sector. I had to get two as they are not that well paid but at least they are jobs and I earn enough to get by, pay my rent, not be on benefits and contribute to the local economy, shops, etc.
It strikes me that you guys who want 'proper jobs' are just making excuses for not getting off your lazy butts and doing some hard work. I work hard to make a living you should try it too. The jobs I got had very few applicants who did not even possess the minimum of qualifications. What is a proper job? 37 hours a week with sickness, benefits, holidays? The Chinese would laugh at your decadence!
Also I am constantly moaned at by the locals about 'immigrants' taking their jobs until I point out I am an immigrant too at which point they start back tracking and saying things like 'well we don't mean you'. The reason immigrants are getting work is because they are prepared to work bloody hard. People around here are just using racism as an excuse for their bone idleness.
So more tourism jobs would be welcome in my view but they won't go to Thanet people as they are all too lazy to wean themselves off the public tit.
Kiwi girl you make a good point, 'proper jobs' require you to move where they are not expect them to come to you, plenty up the line.
I wonder what happened to that repairs notice, which was served on the Victoria Pavillion leaseholders in March?
Perhaps TDC ought to pop down there somemtime to check how the repair work on the pavillion is getting on.
While they were down on the seafront, they could also check on the progress with the rebuilding the Marina Restaurant - and perhaps replace the missing plastic sheeting which was previously attached to the scafolding and protecting the remains of the building.
Work in Thanet resorts was always seasonal. During the Edwardian era many hotels employed Swiss and German waiters and chefs but of course these had to leave when war broke out.
I guess if it was Frank Thorley trying to turn it into a bier keller all the objections would be brushed aside.
I was told some time ago that when Pizza Express tried to get a drinks license there legal team could not believe the amount of objections they got unlike other areas where it would be a walkover.
I think Uncle Frank is not keen on anyone else opening in his manor
Yes, cos what will save Thanet is turning a mouldy old building into another place when the masses can go and stulify themselves even more, while their neglected kids roam the streets drinking cans of beer.
I've thought about this long and hard and it's really unlikely that anything so crude is going to breathe life back into thanet. The area managed to remain bleak, depressed, drab and empty even in a boom, it's hardly going thrive in a recession.
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