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Our Letter to Ramsgate Town Council September 2009 LIST OF ACTIONS ERA WOULD LIKE TO SEE TAKEN 1.Ramsgate 7 Squares Project ERA fully supports this project. The Ramsgate squares are a very important part of the town’s architectural heritage and there is significant room to improve them. ERA hopes that the Town Council will give this project its full support. If there is anything ERA can do to help with the projects please let us know. 2. Seafront The general presentation of the East Cliff part of the seafront is very poor. In the main these problems are caused by the three building sites in that area – Royal Sands, The Marina Restaurant and the vacant land and arches under the road leading down to the seafront . Unfortunately no action was taken prior to the 2009 summer season to tidy up this area and ERA sees it as essential that action be completed before the 2010 season. Key actions include: · Ensuring that the part of the Royal Sands development that will not be included in the first phase is presented in an attractive manner. For example the portion of the land not being developed immediately could be laid to lawn and some suitable planting put in place. · The protective fence around the area that is currently being developed should be regularly repainted and maintained to a high aesthetic standard. · As soon as the Council gets control of the Marina site it should be tidied up to make it as visually attractive as possible – unless works to repair the building are to be completed before Easter 2010. · The extremely unattractive railings around the parking areas on the seafront should be removed. · Negotiations should be undertaken with the owner of the empty arches and land at the end of the old Marina theatre site to turn it in to a temporary park until the owner is ready to redevelop it. Again the land could be laid to lawn or suitable planting put in place. · Improve planting on the Victoria Parade – possibly including suitable palm trees/ cordylines. · There are some derelict houses behind the amusement arcade (numbers 1,2 and 3 Kent Terrace). Action should be taken to make these look presentable (again action to be completed before summer 2010). 3. Professional PR planning required The new high street speed trains, and hopefully, the new connection to Boulogne will give Ramsgate a unique opportunity to “make a splash” in the media. The ERA Committee have been less than impressed with the TDC’s efforts to promote Ramsgate so far and think this is a job the Town Council should put particular emphasis on. ERA would be very happy to discuss our thoughts in this area in more detail but we see the issues as: · Ensuring that maximum opportunity is taken to publicise the new high-speed link to Ramsgate – emphasizing that with its proximity to the sea, its delightful architecture, its grammar schools , cheap housing and general quality of life, Ramsgate is now an excellent alternative to living in London suburbs. · Maximum use should be made of television programmes such as Location Location and the various home improvement programmes, together with heritage programmes to get Ramsgate maximum media exposure (for example the Royal Victoria Pavilion would be a great property to promote in any future architectural heritage programmes). 4. One stop website needed to promote Ramsgate There are many holiday accommodation properties in Ramsgate but prospective tourists do not have one place they can go for a comprehensive breakdown of the attractions of Ramsgate. Some tweaking of the existing information on the TDC website could fill this need. Property owners could then include links to that site on their own websites. ERA would be happy to discuss this concept with you in more detail. In addition there should be a separate part of the website where people considering Ramsgate as a permanent location can get a “one stop” breakdown of what is available together with the attractions and practicalities of relocating to Ramsgate. Again ERA would be happy to discuss this concept with you in more detail. 5. Manston Airport/ Flight Path Issue If the proposed expansion of Manston is handled well it will be a real opportunity to increase employment in Ramsgate. However if it is handled badly it will kill any prospects the town might have for improvement – who would want to live or holiday under a busy flight path? There are many people and many groups working on this but there is a clear need for unbiased information to be made available as a starting point. We would like the Town Council to make this information available. The key issues are likely to be: · Are there examples of other towns that have been able to successfully coexist with a major airport on their doorstep? If so what lessons can be learned from those towns? · What is the minimum number of flights per hour which is currently considered necessary to make expansion of the airport viable? · What is the minimum flying hours ( ie 7am to 9 pm etc ) currently considered necessary to make expansion of the airport viable? · Where is the flight path now – i.e. what properties are significantly affected by the noise. · Is there any opportunity to rotate the flight paths so that one area doesn’t get all of the noise? · Are the jets that currently use the airport significantly nosier than jets that might use it in the future? If so quantify the effect and advise when the present “noisy” jets will be phased out/banned from flying. · What controls does the District Council exercise over the expansion? i.e. in what areas does TDC have an opportunity to make a real difference to the way the airport develops? 6. Victoria Pavilion No doubt the council will share ERA’s desire to see some action on this important building. At the very least TDC should exercise its right under what we understand to be a full repairing lease to have all outstanding maintenance competed before summer 2010. Longer term we hope that a viable commercial use can be found for the building but in the meantime a significant repairs are required urgently. 7. Albion House ERA supports council’s plans to get Albion House back into repair and, in the longer term, to have the property developed as a mixed residential and council/community use property. In the meantime it is essential that the outside of the building be repaired to stop further decay and to improve the image of Ramsgate. 8. Albion Square Gardens The community workers have done good work in clearing out the weeds and unwanted trees but they have left a desert behind them. It is essential that these gardens be replanted so that they are in their prime for the 2010 season. 9. Ramsgate Townscape Heritage Initiative – Grant Scheme ERA strongly supports this scheme and would like the Town Council to proactively promote this to qualifying property owners. 10. Blue Plaque Scheme ERA would like to see a Blue Plaque Scheme for Ramsgate to celebrate its interesting and historical connections. Amongst other people, Coleridge, Queen Victoria, The Duchess of Kent (Queen Victoria’s mother), The Duke of Wellington, the first King and Queen of Belgium and other luminaries have lived or visited Ramsgate in the past. ERA would be very interested in working with the Town Council to set up such a scheme. |