Earlier this week I got the press release saying that new edition of Thanet District Council’s magazine Thanet Matters was available online, I couldn’t find it on the council’s website, so I let them know there had been some sore of glitch.This sort of thing quite often happens and I suppose in instances like this the council see me as irritating but useful, anyway I got the response that it was going up on the internet, which it eventually did.
Once they finally managed to publish it and I was going to put up on the Thanet press release blog as I do, however when I looked at the online edition I noticed that the pictures were all blurry see http://www.thanet.gov.uk/pdf/TDC_Thanet_Matters_Issue47_web.pdf I informed the council that it hadn’t published properly about 24 hours ago, well I still haven’t had a response about this and the pictures are still all blurry.
I know that this sort of thing may not seem that important, but publications like this cost us the council taxpayers a tidy sum and to do the final web publish badly really isn’t necessary.
I think much of the problem here is the way the council doesn’t use the internet as well as it should do, to put the magazine up as a pdf file, something that is difficult for older computers manage.
Now if this was a commercial magazine it would probably be published as a series of interactive web pages, something like all the local papers do now.
Another thing here is that when the council first failed to put it up they did put the press release about it on the council’s website, now because the part of the website where they put press releases has feeds this means that probably a great many people would have gone to look for this non existent magazine.
One really bizarre aspect of this edition of Thanet Matters is that the blurry picture of Ramsgate Sands shows the Royal Sands Development (Pleasurama) completed, there is no mention in the magazine that work hasn’t even started on it yet. I do wonder if council even know anymore that this 12 year deserted building site in Ramsgate’s most prominent leisure area even exists.
Anyway enough of moaning about the council, I will end on a positive note, a usually reliable source from within the council told me today that they have managed to get The Rank Organisation to promise to repair the structure and the outside of The Royal Victoria Pavilion. My understanding is that it isn’t part of the agreement that they will refurbish and redecorate the inside, but I think it fair to say that this will be enough to get this iconic building back into use.
My only reservation is that the pavilion has an inadequate sea defence and that resolving this issue should be an important part of any refurbishment work done there.
Sorry about the lack of punctuation and other errors this is a mobile post made on my day off.
