EWS RELEASE
Royal Sands site moves forward with cliff work commencing
Thanet District Council and Cardy have been working together to establish a programme of work. The council has awarded a contract to undertake repairs to the adjacent cliff façade, which will last an estimated 12 weeks.
The council is responsible for cliffs in Thanet and has identified works that need to be carried out before the wider development of the site. During the work scaffolding will go up on the cliffs and Herras fencing will be placed on the upper promenade. This is a temporary measure whilst the work is underway and will be removed on completion, estimated to be in October. By doing a substantial amount of repairs now this will reduce works needed in the future. The council is funding the cliff works through part of the significant capital sum it has received from the sale of the site.
Both the council and Cardy recognise the importance of tourism to the local area and Cardy have planned not to commence their development activity before the summer season is over to keep disruption to a minimum.
The council is committed to supporting the regeneration of Ramsgate and this development will stimulate economic activity in the area.
The Royal Sands scheme will include a 60 bed hotel, 107 residential apartments, leisure facilities, cafes, shops and even a playground within the Ramsgate seafront site. It is expected to employ up to 200 people while under development and once completed, it will provide further jobs in the hotel trade, commercial units and in the servicing of the residential common parts.
The council has estimated that once occupied the estate will contribute significantly towards business rates and council taxes, based upon current rates this is estimated at £1.6 million per year.
Cabinet Member for Estates Cllr John Townend said, “"The commencement of cliff works next week marks the beginning of a new era for this project. Cardy have shown sensitivity and consideration by deciding not to commence work before the summer season to keep local disruption to a minimum. I look forward to them starting development work later in the year and watching the scheme begin to take shape.”
For more information on the scheme or to discuss any potential local impact please e-mail: estates@thanet.gov.uk
No mention as to whether the full buy out of SFP Ventures (UK) Ltd has taken place from Shaun Patrick Keegan who was the only shareholder
ReplyDeleteThe site may produce £1.6 millions in business rates and council tax but TDC's share will be minimal and probable eaten up in outgoings. KCC takes the lions share of the council tax and business rates go to central government.
ReplyDeleteIts not clear who has the contract to repair the cliff and whether it will cost a large part of the capiatl sum obtained from the sale of he site but in time all will be revealed when the contract appears in the list of contract over £75k which the council has to publish.
Provided that the dwellings are built before the scheme is scrapped by the government, TDC should benefit to the tune of 5 years council tax from the governemnt's new build grant
The last time the whole cliff face was done in 2008 it cost £900K however from the survey Michael has the whole of it doesn't need to be done. When one panel needed replacing in early 2010 the cost was circa £70K. The receipt from Cardy is circa £3.5M however for this the leases (3) will be handed back in exchange for the freehold. This will leave TDC responsible for the cliff face for the life of the development circa 100 years. Good luck with the ongoing costs :)
ReplyDeleteThinking about from the perspective of a local taxpayer who wants to ensure that he doesn't leave a toxic legacy for his children, if the council is going to be responsible for maintaining the façade, would it make sense for the council to have considered this when considering the plans for the new development? I'm assuming that maintaining the cliff-face involves using heavy machinery and scaffolding, and that it has to be possible to get these things into the space between the new development and the cliff-face. Has the council left the width of a two-lane road between the building and the cliff-face? If not, how will they maintain it.
ReplyDeleteThe council would have and will be responsible for the cliff face as the were before the development. TDC are responsible and if they had any doubts about the ability to maintain them I am sure they would have said so. All of this ifing and buting is OK. but I am sure TDC has a maintenance budget which covers both this and any future works. For once can we be pleased that somebody is doing something positive rather than keep nit picking ????
ReplyDeleteDon during the Godden years the leaseholder was responsible this changed during Ezekiel's tenure. This has confused many people.
ReplyDeleteThe gap will be 13 feet right round the back of the building
It must be nice to live in a world where you can be confident that TDC hasn't made any errors of judgement which could end up costing the taxpayer money. Sadly, I live in the real world where council cock-ups have cost us millions in recent years. So I don't trust the council to have planned how they would maintain the cliff-wall and I don't trust the council to have conducted an adequate risk assessment. The flood risk assessment has been done, but have they done a risk assessment to assess what could happen in the event that a section of the cliff were to collapse? If the cliff collapses, it brings down facing wall with it. Do you think a 13 ft. gap is sufficient to prevent it damaging the new building? As for TDC having a maintenance budget, I haven't laughed so much in years. TDC is facing a massive compensation bill for Dreamland. The notion that they are putting money aside for a rainy day is laughable.
ReplyDeleteArjun what FRA? None was done and TDC have said No
ReplyDeleteWhen I say they've done a flood risk assessment it goes something like this:
ReplyDeleteCouncil officer: "Where is the building going to be?"
Architect: "It's going to be on the beach, but up the top by the cliffs, not down by the water."
Council officer: "So the waves don't come up that far?"
Architect: Well, on average there should be a storm once every 50 years which will inundate that area."
Council officer: "Really? I've never heard of that. When was the last one?"
Architect: "It was about 60 years ago.
Council officer: "Well that's great news. I've only got 4 years until I retire, so it's not likely to happen before then. I say we give the risk assessment a miss and spend the money on ice-cream."
Architect: "I live miles away. Could you make mine a double with strawberry topping and one of those flake things."