Bitterly cold here first thing this morning, I am afraid I capitulated on the health and environment front taking the children to school by car instead of walking, so the picture above is taken with a Mickey Mouse camera.After years of prevarication and the recent two men working on the site, something that looked like another delay, it realy does look as though work is really starting on the Pleasurama site in Ramsgate.
For good or ill something is happening there at last, nothing much I can do about it so I intend to make the best of it.
Later at lunch time I got out with the camera and took some pictures, here is the link to them http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/111/id3.htm thoughts about them below, starting with the top of the page of pictures and working down.
A chap from London has bought the old Carpet Sale Centre shop opposite us, as far as I can tell he paid about £160,000 for the whole caboodle and thought he had got a real bargain until he spent a few days here clearing the rubbish out. I think his contingency plan if he can’t sell it on, will be to split it into three shops and rent them out for about £100 per week each. Although what anyone could make a go of selling in this part of Ramsgate now is a tricky one.
Roadworks in Harbour Street, a new gas main I think, have produce two adjacent signs that are a bit only in Thanet.It is good to see two of the slipways in use, so my thanks to the leaseholder who is evidently permitting their continued use.
Something is happening with the Pleasurama cliff face, the bit that the council spent £1m of our money on painting and filling, lots of holes have been drilled and red circles that may be felling markers have appeared.
I gather the council are not involved in this work and haven’t funded it with our money.
I will ramble on if I get a chance, got to shut the bookshop now.
Looks like Royal Sands has really started this time, you don't do that amount of work unless you are serious.
ReplyDeleteNice Piccies Michael, what happened to the Postie? Seems like he was not the only one to have been captured by aliens whilst riding a bike.Has Ramsgate caught the Margate blight ? you seem to have a fair few empty shops as well. I hope the chap who has got the shop across from you can fill it soon. I must say the gas main work must help all of the struggling shop keepers. Huge barricades always entice shoppers dont they. I wondeer if the do those in atractive as well as the ugly ones they chose to use?
ReplyDeleteReadit I would say it looks like now or never, because of the penalty clauses in the development agreement.
ReplyDeleteI am assuming that detailed plans are being submitted and that this is the point where the building inspector looks at like things that have come since the initial planning consent, like the redesignation to high flood risk.
I have to admit that there are safety aspects of the design that I am not happy about, mostly that very narrow two way road between the back of the building and the cliff façade, but on the whole I have had enough of all these years of deserted rubbish tip.
Pity that Ramsgate has to have such a poor design though, ever since it didn’t fit in the space height wise, it has been clipped away like the ugly sisters foot and is just ugly from the front.
The failure to resolve the roof materials problems mean it will look awful from the top as well.
Don I wondered about the postie too, hence the picture.
Ramsgate doesn’t look too bad in the café culture area, despite the dreadful things the council have done, like evicting the historic vessels and prevaricating about the museum lease so it has been shut for so long.
The town centre now is beginning to look very bad, although this is always the worst time of year for the town and I would expect a few people to have a go in some of the empty shops.
We have been the victim of social engineering, the dumping of problem people in the town centre social housing, which I think is probably the worst of the problem.
Very difficult to trade in an artificially increased proportion of DHSS and dog, even the PSCOs seem surprised at importing a concentration of problem people from Millmead, Cliftonville and Newington.
Ironic really as there really is private investment going in but I think the council has a political agenda and the current administration don’t see any votes in Ramsgate.
What ever happened to all the money which was supposed to be for the pleasureama site?
ReplyDeleteThis building site has now been an eyesore for too long;