Bidding for UK Town of Culture, Deal has a tremendous amount to offer. We know it, and we're certainly not afraid to sing all about it. With a rich history, steeped in coastal defence and livelihood, to an artistic and creative scene that continues to get better and better, Deal is definitely one to keep an eye on. While some might long for the commercial success and footfall of Whitstable, others are quite content keeping this little coastal gem quiet.
Liberal Democrats across the country are working hard to try and ensure that local people shape their own town's legacy and that they get the investment they need. Local Liberal Democrats are no different. Our councillor for Walmer, Rick Blackwell, is putting his time and effort into ensuring we get the best representation possible.
Our stance in Deal, John Gosling (chair)
1. We are particularly strong supporters of the Victoria Hospital, which gives an essential service to the the area.
We wish it to be always an N.H.S. Hospital with an ever expanding service, particularly as the transport links to the major hospitals is very poor.
2. We campaign for better seawater quality. In Deal, particularly, we have had a very poor history of water quality and support the many groups who monitor the situation.
3. Over development with poor planning and thought as to impact on essential services such as healthcare, education, traffic management, and all the utility infrastructure, is something that causes chaos in our area. We want thorough and transparent planning oversight before construction starts and meaningful consultation with the community.
4. Like other parts of our area, we are suffering from outrageous increases in parking charges at sites controlled by the council. Before, they seemed to be reasonably priced to allow for maintenance. However, the price hike is so obviously a fund-raising tax that will actually inhibit visitors and shoppers from coming to the town. As if life isn’t tough enough for the high street!!
Walmer Report by Councillor Richard Blackwell
Here in Walmer we are seeing a lot of proposed and actual development. The current and new site at Cross Road ( actually in Deal rather than Walmer) is expected to deliver 240 new homes when completed. As well as the associated strain on local resources and infrastructure, the elephant in the room seems to be traffic. Yes these sites are easily within walking distance of Walmer Train station but we need to see proper paths and safe walking routes to encourage this. Also, as far as I can see, there are no plans to include further public transport links. This means that these sites will be largely car reliant, with many of them filtering up Station Road and trying to get onto the Dover road at the already overworked junction. Millers Retreat on Station Road has added a further 220 or so homes. Again this development is in walking distance of Walmer Station, this time with good footpaths and there are bus stops on Station Road. There are also, however, a large number of cars which are again competing to get out onto the Dover Road in the morning. We also now see the proposal for 75 houses, this site is likely to be even more car reliant and again there seems to be no plans to link it in with other local public transport. Also, the poor details of any safe walking routes are, to say the least, poor. This means all the cars from this development will be pulling onto the single track country lane that is Liverpool road/Glen Road. If they take the shortest route to Dover road they need to go through all the pinch points on Gramms Road. Then they will join in trying to access the Dover road from the other side of that busy junction. There is some question as to whether the rest of the local infrastructure can cope. I would point out that Whitstable recently ran out of water.
We are also seeing changes to local parking. This doesn't currently affect Walmer but they do keep eyeing up Borrow Pit Car Park. They tried parking charges there before and decided it wasn't worth it. In my view charging for this car park is a terrible idea. The car park is largely used by people for leisure activities such as dog walking, fishing, general hiking or walking, as well as those hardy few who like to park on the outskirts of town and walk in. When they charged before, nobody parked there, people instead parked in the surrounding streets making local peoples life a misery. DDC say they can control that through parking permits - again, local people who I have spoken to do not want this. It is also worth bearing in mind that the Walmer Castle car park, which is run by English Heritage, charge something like £3.00 per day, so why would anyone wish to pay £2.80 per hour down the road? We also saw cars parking along Kingsdown road around the blind bend at the castle, making the road more dangerous. I note that they also wish to explore the idea of dedicated camper parking, presumably this would involve charging points, and plumbing in facilities to empty the loos and so on. I suspect that you would also get people abusing the system and actually camping there. I shall be keeping a close eye on this.
