General Discussion
Flo you can pay cheques into most of the main banks at the Post Office. Ironically Nat West is one of the ones you can't (and the Post Office Card Account!) http://www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-banking-services#withdrawals_&_deposits
So the branch is closing in September? Maybe Paddy Power could take it on and book end with Bet Fred.
Well if it does get the go ahead I'm looking forward to the overhanging roof along the side making a handy shelter for illicit smoking, drinking and urinating. That'll be my evenings sorted.
I'd have liked a wider pavement but definitely not at the cost of losing the trees. If the parallel parking was Lawn-side then pedestrians and outdoor cafe users would have traffic passing them shop-side without the barrier of parked cars, which might not be everyone's cup of tea either. As Michael pointed out, the Lawn side path is good to get out of the way of shoppers and when I was down ...
If the Lawn is to be given over to something else (basketball area) how about developing the brook, widening it, landscaping it etc to make it even more of a focal point. Or that miniature boating lake that people have talked about previously. What about a thatched roof for the pavilion, expensive maybe, but marrying a local tradition with an otherwise modern building.
Voting buttons and something like surveymonkey.com would be a good way of soliciting the views of internet users. I like Allems' idea of directional speakers, it must be difficult for those living around the Lawn who can't escape the noise.
Margaret - can you do a mock up of the plan in the library/Co-op/Sainsburys and leaflet/poster other shops too? If only 500 people care to offer an opinion then so be it, per capita that's a pretty healthy response rate by advertising standards.
So, the message is, there's no need for anyone to get their knickers in a twist because there is still an opportunity for consultation. If anyone feels strongly they should submit their opinions to TDC, and if they don't they shouldn't grumble at the outcome. Can't say fairer than that.
You make a good point. I first started coming to Dawlish shortly before the fire at Dawlish Warren. I don't doubt they were 'rundown shacks' but I remember being struck by how anodyne and characterless the replacement shop was and still is. There's an art to not throwing the baby out with the bath water and getting it wrong could be a disaster.
Leatash- yes, about as many as there are other folk drinking cans of lager, so where are the plans to build them a beer garden? Sadly I think a skate park would be more popular than a basketball court, but I don't think either are appropriate for the Lawn.
