Joyland Books

Had to go to Brighton today by car, so I took wife and kids along. My wife has never been to Brighton.

I said "It'll show you what Margate could be like if we didn't have Thanet District Council running it".

We took one and a quarter hours to cover the last three miles into Brighton, so heavy was the traffic. When we got there, it seemed every car park was full, but we finally found an NCP car park, and managed to get in.

The parking charge was 70p per 15 minutes. We paid a tenner for less than 4 hours. I'm not complaining, you could see why they had set the charge at this amount.... when we left at 3pm the car park was full and cars were still queueing down the street.

On the pier, on the promenades, everywhere, it was absolutely heaving with people, all spending money. We bought £30 of tokens on the pier, they lasted 20 minutes.

Bear in mind that it is now October.

The place looked cared for. There was none of this malarkey where a local businessman buys the Benjamin Beale public house on the seafront then allows it to fall into dereliction, simply to remove competition from his other premises.

There were no parts of the seafront arcades missing to provide handy access roads to future supermarkets. No-one in their right mind would be tempted to kill the goose which laid the golden egg.

It made me smile to recall what "Bob" tells us about the unprofitability of seaside resorts, and to wonder just how much stupidity or blind loyalty can reside in one man.

Completly agree, Brighton is always heaving with a mass of people spending loads of cash. I always end up going in the worst time of year and its still buzzing with people. The whole area is well looked after and is a great day out whatever the weather.

There is so much to do and goes to show that places like Margate and Southport could be like this too. Especially as we are seeing the uprising of Adventure Island at Southend-on-Sea too. You can tell that the whole area is getting better due to the park. Its things like this that the Thanet council and that should look at instead of making silly mistakes.

Same with Hastings too yesterday - crowds everywhere, but even so, there isn't that much to do there, just the culture and pleasant location.

I assume you are aware of what is in store for Brighton?


http://www.brightonmarinafuture.co.uk/d ... esign.html

Many people are aghast.

The difference being with Brighton is that they are not removing their biggest tourist attraction to build a new development. I dont know all the details about the plans for this development so cant really comment further on this.

I forgot one other thing! Of course for obvious reasons to people who know me I would love for Margate to be more like Brighton!

Vince, Charlie and Sam wrote:Had to go to Brighton today by car, so I took wife and kids along. My wife has never been to Brighton.

I said "It'll show you what Margate could be like if we didn't have Thanet District Council running it".

We took one and a quarter hours to cover the last three miles into Brighton, so heavy was the traffic. When we got there, it seemed every car park was full, but we finally found an NCP car park, and managed to get in.

The parking charge was 70p per 15 minutes. We paid a tenner for less than 4 hours. I'm not complaining, you could see why they had set the charge at this amount.... when we left at 3pm the car park was full and cars were still queueing down the street.

On the pier, on the promenades, everywhere, it was absolutely heaving with people, all spending money. We bought £30 of tokens on the pier, they lasted 20 minutes.

Bear in mind that it is now October.

The place looked cared for. There was none of this malarkey where a local businessman buys the Benjamin Beale public house on the seafront then allows it to fall into dereliction, simply to remove competition from his other premises.

There were no parts of the seafront arcades missing to provide handy access roads to future supermarkets. No-one in their right mind would be tempted to kill the goose which laid the golden egg.

It made me smile to recall what "Bob" tells us about the unprofitability of seaside resorts, and to wonder just how much stupidity or blind loyalty can reside in one man.

You misunderstand Brighton. Its a major shopping Centre. It's also a very up market town. It relies also heavily on Conferences and is a major conference venue. Brighton has also not got an amusement park. The nearest thing to it being the pier. What Brighton does offer is a wealth of first rate facilities. It has good pubs, Restaurants and hotels. It also has a good few antique shops. It has masses of entertainment facilities. It's the total package that makes Brighton popular. It's also not run down and seedy.

Margate lacks all the things Brighton has. There is just no reason why anyone would want to go to Margate. Margate has a very serious image problem as well it looks a run down seedy town well it is a run down seedy town. Untill that problem is addressed people will not come to margate in any numbers

And soon Brighton will have its sea views blocked by a pretty ghastly new development, complete with tower block.

Unfortunately for Margate, there is a problem that is not going away - asylum seekers. On national news last week regarding 'The Exodus' it was reported how run down the seaside town was and hey presto! the Nayland Rock is featured together with it occupants outside. This is not good advertising for tourism. I appreciate we have an obligation to refugees, but to accommodate them in a hotel on a prime seafront site on the main entrance to the town is sheer madness.

I have heard tourists myself complaining how they would not be able to afford to stay in such a place, also they feel uncomfortable and unsafe. This needs sorting and a image overhaul for the town, or no chance. Rant over!

Bob wrote:Brighton has also not got an amusement park. The nearest thing to it being the pier.

Brighton Pier isn't the nearest thing to an amusement park. It is an amusement park. Run by the Noble Organisation, it has two roller coasters, a log flume and numerous other rides and attractions. It is one of the most visited amusement parks in the country, with over 1 million visitors per year.

As an aside, piers fall within the Government's definition of an amusement park in planning regulations (the GPDO 1995). Just thought I would point that out.

Of course, Nick is right, if Brighton Pier isn't an amusement park, then I don't know what is?

It has more rides than Dreamland had this year, and more I think than Ocean Beach, Rhyl.

It's amazing, how a park can operate in a seaside town where they develop the town alongside the amusement park. If you fix them both up together, then regeneration is easily possible.

Of course, it's often easier just to get money into the area by accepting immigrants and the unemployed/unemployable. That's a task for the local councils to look at though and decide if it's the way they want their town to develop. Unfortunately, money often talks louder than common sense...

There is a reason that Margate isn't like Brighton, and it's been missed so far.

Margate has a BOB.

vince69619 wrote:There is a reason that Margate isn't like Brighton, and it's been missed so far.

Margate has a BOB.

What Margate has to tackle and thats a job for the Local Council , is its image problem. Visitors see it as a seedy run down town populated by Unmarried mothers and immigrants. The entire town centre has a very run down and tired look about it. No commercial company is going to invest in a town that has such a seedy image. It does not neccessarily need manager money to tidy it up. A like of Paint. Some flowers, Some decrative lighting in the Seafront area. Get rid of the tired old Deckchairs and replace them with some bright new ones. Keep the place clean. All this inor things would considerably help. Getting rid of Nelson Mandeler House would help but I guess Margate is stuck with that. Thats one of the vist things visitors see and its not exactly attractive.

Bob wrote:No commercial company is going to invest in a town that has such a seedy image

What? Not even Waterbridge?

Thanet Council have two major issues to deal with in the regeneration of Margate. Both of which they seem reluctant to deal with for some reason. The first is to get Dreamland in the hands of an established amusement park operator and the second is Arlington House, Arlington Arcade and the NCP.

The Arlington Arcade has only really emptied out since Dreamland closed and visitor numbers to Margate have fallen sharply.

Once these 2 issues have been resolved then the town will have the 'on the up' feeling and the rest will fall into place.

dave771 wrote:I would love for Margate to be more like Brighton!

Ooooh yes please