Why this campaign is vital

[DaveD]

The key here is that this country is slowly turning into a place where we all live in the same shaped house, drive the same shaped car, shop at Tesco's, gulp down a coffee from Starbucks on the way to the office and have a Friday night out at Wetherspoons. This is what the Government wants; it's very easy to keep everything and everyone under control in a world like that.

This campaign isn't just making a stand against the unnecessary destruction of a much-loved theme park, it's about protecting another piece of the country from the Mindless Developer's Wrecking Ball and to stop Margate from developing into yet another "Clone Town".

The Independent Businessperson has suffered greatly as a result of big conglomerate, corporate companies ploughing their way through decent people who are doing nothing more than try to make a reasonable living but people are gradually beginning to get fed up with this and are beginning to make the effort to travel further afield for something different, which is why smaller businesses and towns offering something else will have their time again, of that I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever. In the past couple of years, I have made every effort to put my hard earned into the back pocket of a local businessperson where you are welcomed and appreciated, as opposed to the scowl of a spotty teenage girl in a tabard at Woolworths & being just another statistic on their profit and loss account. At my work in Chatham, there are several ladies who travel once a month all the way to a little gift shop in Rye and chirp excitedly to each other nearer the time. Why? Because the lady who runs the shop is an extremely nice person by all accounts who takes the time to talk to them and treat them well, as every owner should.

People will travel greater distances in greater numbers in years to come as people are starting to now, just for something different. Dreamland has something different to offer people who travel to the area but take that away and people will divide up and spread themselves across Whitstable, Herne Bay, Westgate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate, as they have started to do for several years now. It's not that people have generally "stopped going to the seaside", a large amount of people still do but they now have much more choice.

Write this down dear reader, put it in an envelope and mark on the front "Do not open until 2016". Take Dreamland away and this is exactly what will happen to Margate; the businesses that are currently in the town will continue to suffer and most will go out of business at an even faster rate than what they are at the minute. Whatever proposals there are for the future of the Dreamland site, they will not bring more people into the area, causing a downturn in the larger businesses fortunes, most of whom will relocate to these soulless out of town Shopping Centres without a thought for the area and people left behind. People will not see the need to make the journey if it offers them nothing different in leisure terms from their local town and Margate will be little more than a fondly remembered afterthought for people traveling to Thanet.

Thanet Council will argue that new Developments will bring employment into the area - yes it will but not quality employment. There are an abundance of minimum wage Retail Employment all over the UK but very little in the way of Management or Skilled Opportunities within these major employers. A successful Theme Park will heighten the status of Margate as a town which will automatically bring high quality businesses into the area purely on the name of the town alone. Companies currently see Margate as a town going backwards and do not want to be dragged into it so they are much more likely to look elsewhere - building Supermarkets, Housing, Gyms and the like will not help; it'll only provide limited assistance to the residents who quite frankly, do not see the town's primary focus to be retail anyway.


Dave D

[Neil]

Well you summed it up so nicely there is little I can say Dave, except that I fully agree (well actually I'll waffle on a little bit longer just to let you know I'm feeling al right).

Clearly retail can't be a towns purpose at what will happen is most money goes in circles (people spend money in the shops and make their money working in shops) but gradually money is removed to provide the companies with massive profits. They need something that will bring money into the area (unless they can become a commuter town which still does essentially).

I'm feel that as one of the World's richest Nations it is rather sad when all our institutions that are designed to provide fun and laughter are replaced by more workaday things like Supermarkets that people use because they have to, not for pleasure.

Most worriying of all is that the development company has well paid jobs for Proper Gandists/advertisers/PR (whatever you want to call them) and I sincerely hope they don't convince too many people. We aren't neccearily experts in development (although this is all debateable as several members are including Nick, and the shinanigans over Fences/a Fency...suggest the developers aren't such experts), however we know what we want and even if we aren't famous or millionaires we have a right to be listened to.

[James]

People are more likely to visit Margate if it is like every other town than if it is something different. If Margate is an individual people won't visit incase they get lost. If you can get Margate like every other town it will be a massive success because everyone will know their way around.. Trust me.

[porf]

James,

I'm far more likely to trust someone who can form a coherent argument.

I'm also far more likely to trust someone who doesn't feel the need to bounce via a US based anonymizing service for all their postings on here !

[vince69619]

Paul,

I agree with you.

Someone who claims to be living in Margate using a USA proxy? Has bogus written all over it.

Which way do you want it James...
a) Lives in the USA and not Margate = forum user lying.
b) Lives in Margate and using a proxy to hide because he's likely to be making bogus statements.
Either way, you loose.

Or are you going to try to tell us you like the double atlantic delay?

This guy just can't be trusted.

Vince.

[Nick]

People are more likely to visit Margate if it is like every other town than if it is something different. If Margate is an individual people won't visit incase they get lost. If you can get Margate like every other town it will be a massive success because everyone will know their way around.. Trust me.

I have had to take the step of banning James as his posts are obviously just wind-ups and, whilst some of them (such as the one giving us all the much-needed reassurance that Waterbridge build houses that are bigger than shoeboxes) are actually quite funny, it is still an attempt to disrupt the forum. Therefore it does not comply with our forum rules. Sorry to do that, but I don't want the forum to get out of control as it did a couple of weeks ago.

[David Ellis]

Well done Nick!

David.

[Jim Douglas Jr.]

As for the above comments, that's basicly what I submitted to the Thanet Council.

As for the "james" comments...
Well, they don't even warrant a response.
I've said several times James and Bob are only here to stir trouble and probably do so on several unrelated message boards. They are the sit-at-home-all-day-and-night internet losers.
Good riddance.