General Discussion
You can't ask our town council to come up with schemes like that. They are only interested in- Don't I look beautiful in my large brimmed hat or spending outrageous sums on white elephants that drain the purse in the belief that we will all say,"didn't they do well". I have never heard that phrase said about DTC in my life about anything.
How many Hotels did we once have in Dawlish? I live in what was one of them. Saturday nights (dance night) was alive with music.
And all our councillors can come up with is a playpark on the lawn, simply copying Paignton and Teignmouth! Not one of them has a creative thought or bone in their bodies!
Proposals for a harbour have been put forward the idea was to extend the sea wall at boat cove and have summer moorings folk with boats have money was the thinking the idea never got past the drawing board.
Is there anywhere in Devon where there is a marina the size of, and with the facilities of (ie shops, restaurants, cinemas) along the lines of Port Solent and Brighton Marina?
Okay so..........here's a thought (and I have no idea how it would fit in, if at all, with the Local Plan and/or whether or not it would be financially viable from a business point of view) but...........
Someone pointed out to me yesterday that there is no pub for some distance from the town going along the main road in an Exeter direction. Yes, I know that the holiday parks have their own facilities but there is no pub or pub/restaurant aimed at the resident population as well as the holiday one.
Now then. We have a lot of new houses the Secmaton/Gatehouse side of town and more is planned. We also have the Redrow development.
So.........could the industrial estate (or part of it) be redeveloped as a Premier Inn Hotel (plus parking) along with a Brewer's Fayre or Beefeater or something similar?
Would I be right in thinking that there is a large sum of money that has to be spent on new facilities on the Lawn, by a fast-approaching date, else that money is lost forever?
A new multi-purpose bandstand has been put to bed forever, and a single function bandstand would be for the few not the many. Meanwhile the imaginatively designed play park would be used by far more people year round than the patch of grass currently caters for. That's my belief anyway.
Ah! So!
It was money and the fast approaching deadline for it to be spent wot wrote the questions!
So here's one of mine (questions that is).
I am sure it was known by some, sometime back, that monies that had been forthcoming from the developers to be used on improving the lawn/town centre area had to be spent by a certain time otherwise the money would be forfeited.
So........why did those who knew about this deadline not make that information public and earlier? Looks like the amount in question is £200,000. See my post below.
And - if the money has come from the Sainsbury's supermarket development then it has been available to be spent for some few years now. When did Sainsbury's open? 2011/2012?
Just over a year ago and on the original playpark thread I posted this:
"on 13TH Aug. on another thread which had wandered onto the subject of the playpark Gary Taylor posted
this (but my emphasis in red bold):
http://www.dawlishcommunitytrust.org.uk/masterplan/downloads/dawlishmasterplan.pdf
And below a couple of extracts from the DTC Town Centre Masterplan document:
Para 1.1 Background:
"The plan contains a long list of proposed projects, including priority action to:
. improve the Lawn, Manor Gardens and other public and open spaces
. increase turnover, footfall and employment by making the Strand safer and more attractive to visitors..."
Para 10.5 The Lawn:
"The Lawn will return to its original character as a generously proportioned, tranquil and elegant green space in the heart of Dawlish. By removing visual clutter these proposals will reinforce the simple, formal character of the Lawn, and restore the integrity of the spatial set-piece formed by the Strand, Brunswick Place and gardens..."
So my question is: if the aim is to return the lawn to being a tranquil and elegant green space by removing visual clutter how
will having a playpark sited there achieve that? "
Why would a single function bandstand be for the few not the many? I disagree! A beautifully constructed bandstand would be an attractive addition to the lawn area and one that could be used by all.
Lynne there are plenty of great marinas west of us Brixham, Dartmouth, plenty around Plymouth but nothing here. The Exe has plenty of moorings but can be very dangerous at certain times of the tide and is not simple to navigate, Teignmouth again very fast tides but no Marina. The advantage of a good marina in Dawlish would be the amount of money it would generate boat owners have disposable income, require services for repairs, food etc. In the past it has been put forward to build a marina but as per usual the powers that be disagreed and it died a death
I might have got this wrong but, I thought the plan was to extend the jetty at boat Cove so the small ferries from Brixham, Paignton and Torquay could visit here. They ply an amazing amount of trade between the three towns mentioned and if they could visit here it would bring in a lot more tourists. I understand the sticking block is that the jetty is owned by Network Rail, that is what I was told but whether it is true or not I don't know.
I remember there was a plan to do that as well Margaret but from what i remember there was some negativity from the powers that be as there was with the proposed road train from the Warren. There was at some point a plan from someone in the marina business to extend the sea wall/breakwater at boat cove and dredge it to provide summer moorings on pontoons again lots of negativity. Now my philosophy is any idea is a good idea until proven otherwise but hey give these ideas/proposals a chance dont just dismiss these ideas out of hand.
For once I agree Leatash! The vast majority of the long standing town councillors seem to be against any innovative ideas for improving the town, including a road train and an improved mooring for the ferries. We need fresh bright councillors brave enough to implement good ideas!
There were indeed many plans for Dawlish during the years, a new bandstand - in 2000 and again a few years ago. Sculptors along the sea front, pontoons, a resturant along the breakwater, landscaped gardens at the manor, a land train, dredging of the whole brook.....along many more.....but the council has lost all those willing to push new ideas, because those who werent called the shots, and had hands in too many hats and land.