Wilko Over And Out?

Lumme! Local social media is buzzing with the rumour that Wilkinson, the homeware and hardware store, is about to vacate Ramsgate and head off to Westworld Cross!

I must say, when I popped in for a gold-plated sink plug at the weekend the place did look remarkably bereft of stock. Not only that, but on a trip to Shed City a few hours later, the old BHS store seemed to be in the process of being totally gutted. So perhaps they're moving there?

If the rumour's true it'll be a shame as Wilko, along with Waitrose, is definitely one of the reasons to visit the Millionaires' Playground. I have to admit that just setting foot in the place used to make me physically ill, as it has a Poundland/Aldi quality which assaulted my Fortnum and Mason sensibilities. But d'you know what, dear reader? After nearly ten years in Thanet, I've pretty much got used to slumming it!

Worse still, the T word (Tesco) has been mentioned as a potential replacement. As if we need another one of those. I've got a good mind to tweet our Police Commissioner and ask her to put a stop to it!

Scaffolding News

Reader Barry has sent me this snap of our clapped out Royal Pavilion here in the Millionaires' Playground getting a bit of an old facelift.

If you recall, Rank hopped it with their G Casino to Westwood Angry two years ago, leaving the Pav in a parlous state. Quite why the Cecil Square junta hadn't enforced the repairing terms of their lease over the previous 40 years, lord knows. Still, I suppose it deserves a half-hearted cheer to see they're at last doing it now.

According to the press release from our beloved Duffers, the work will include 'redecoration and work to the roof' which will 'be the start of a process that will eventually lead to further regeneration of the seafront and reoccupation of the building.' I see Rank have also applied for listed building consent to remove three metal screens from the first floor roof deck.

I guess we must be grateful that the place hasn't been Goddenised before now. It would be nice to think someone will come along with lots of dosh and an imaginative plan for the place - anyone for a swimming pool with glass walls? You'd be able to splash about on Ramsgate Sands in the middle of winter! It would have to be better than the monstrous lump that looks like an airport ramp which is being planned for the slipways!

Rank Hypocrisy

Yet more evidence of the marvellous, reinvigorating effect that Westwood Cross is having on the economy of our local towns!

As you know, leisure group Rank has upped sticks from our splendid, listed Royal Pavilion here in the Millionaires' Playground to re-install its casino in a shed up Westwood Chaos, leaving the Pav in a right old state by all accounts. The building was leased to Rank by the the predecessor of our beloved council eons ago, when even Brucie was in short trousers. Reader 'Walter of Ramsgate' has done a Freedom of Information search at the council asking how they intend to go about getting the place ship shape and Bristol fashion, and they've replied thus:

A lease was granted by Ramsgate Borough in 1969 for a term of 75 years on a fully repairing and insuring basis. The lease is covered by the various Landlord and Tenant Acts. The Council, as landlord, is aware of current disrepair and a full schedule of dilapidations has been prepared. The Council is looking to the tenant to address these in accordance with the terms of the lease and provisions of the relevant Acts. Costs associated with remedying the disrepair should be borne by the tenant either in directly undertaking the works or via the judicial system.

Meanwhile Rank have been treating City types to tours of their new Westworld Cross casino-cum-shed, according to Guardian Unlimited, in an attempt to prove they've got a full house of people wanting a, er, full house. GU's Market Forces Live reports:

Take up of good quality electronic bingo offer appeared to be high. The casino used the G Casino format we have seen elsewhere, designed to appeal to a mass-market audience. We saw no radical new departures last night but we did see a business with ideas for the eventual improvement of its product.

Overall there was a good atmosphere in a club with a pleasant design and it was easy to see why admissions were running above budget, particularly after a brief look at the centre of Margate where what was not run-down was boarded up.

Seems like one of those self-propelling prophecies to me!

Click here to see Rank report in Guardian Unlimited
Click here to see photos from City analyst visit to Westwood casino

Open F-All Hours

Presumably some joker has erected this 'Businesses Open As Usual' sign during the ongoing, er, improvements to Margate's Lower High Street. Probably the same joker who's put a stuffed dodo in the window of the defunct M&S, now rebranded the Turnip Contemporary Project Space, along with what look like a few nostalgic pairs of undies, tastefully tarted up with neon lights.

Actually, this shot is very similar to one that appeared in last week's Gazunder under the headline 'Traders Fight To Save Town Centre Shops', about a petition to completely pedestrianise the street, which you will have read about here first (natch). The story also reveals how Margate Renewal Partnership has set up a new website aimed at getting developers to invest in the town.

A quick eyeball of the new site reveals that Margate is 'about to boom', and that the Old Town is 'becoming hip and fashionable'. The Turner Contemporary will, according to the fantasists at MRP, be 'an international art gallery of world class design celebrating the life and work of one of Britain’s best loved artists, JMW Turner'. No mention of stuffed dodos or illuminated pants. Or the fact that none of JMW Turner's works are likely to get within 100 miles to the place.

Of course, here in the Millionaires' Playground we're reduced to our now inevitable, council-inspired role as a port/landing strip/lorry park. The website crows: 'Major investment to radar and lighting at Kent International Airport by new owners Infratil to improve the longest and widest runway outside London, — one of the few capable of landing Jumbo 777's' (sic) — says we are ready for take-off.' It's enough to make you airsick!

Click here to go to This Is Margate website