Sorry -these should have been posted properly before..
as alerted by recent comment:
"Can Peter Coopers very relevant comments comparing Bridport and Swanage be put on the main page to be discussed?"
At 10:10 PM, Peter John Cooper said...
7 or 8 years ago when we first launched a town regeneration project through Swanage Ahead we examined the state of other towns in Dorset. Bridport was a sad case. Premises boarded up, charity shops in the others, a large area of rubble behind the town centre. Yesterday, I visited Bridport again. It seems to be thriving. A general air of well being with lots of value-added shops, galleries and touristy places. The rubble field was filled with flats and houses. When I returned to Swanage I was immediately struck by how dowdy and run down it looks in comparison So what's happened in the intervening years? How come all our efforts at regeneration have come to nothing whilst towns like Bridport have steamed ahead? You can blame me if you like; I was chair of Swanage Ahead for two years. But I think there's more to it than that. Ideas?
At 7:37 PM, Anonymous said...
In reply to Peter John Cooper, I can only think that it stems from Swanage's running sore of lack of democracy in any meaningful form. Until we have a local council that represents all of its people and has some real vision we will be condemned to mediocre and worse solutions to the last century's problems. Until the trustees of the mowlem wake up and find the energy to resign we'll see no change for the better on the seafront. Until the great and good of Swanage realise that they are presiding over the destruction of a community there will be no revival here. Peverilpen
At 11:15 PM, Anonymous said...
Again in reply to Peter Cooper. Comparing the programming at the Mowlem with Bridport Arts Centre is a depressing experience. The latter shows what can be done. Bridport also has an excellent market which is visited by collectors from over a huge radius. Swanage Ahead wanted to establish a collectors market like this but the town council at that time was against it and the opportunity was lost. When we eventually got a market it offered the most uninspiring mixture of cheap plastic buckets and vegetables with the town councils seal of approval.
Is it just vision? We have the same political process as Bridport. How does it produce better results there? Is the political complexion different? Any ideas?
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5 comments:
I went to Christmas Market at Bridport. I was genuinely amazed at the volume of people, and the upmarket "county" feel to the place. We had to park at the brewery and walk back into the Town as there was just nowhere else to park. Quite a contrast to Swanage Christmas market. I quite from the website:
"Bridport is a historic, vibrant market town with a strong community spirit. Bridport and West Bay is recognised as a Gateway Town for the World Heritage Site of the Jurassic Coast and is also a Beacon Town promoting the high quality and variety of local food.
Bridport and West Bay has a good selection of activities and events taking place throughout the year for the benefit and interest of those in the local community and for those visiting the area."
Swanage could be so much better than Bridport but there is so little goodwill to foster changes for the better here. Try comparing the upbeat tone of the Bridport website to our own. Both links are below. The assets Swanage has in comparison just look so deliberately under marketed.
http://www.visionwebsites.co.uk/Contents/Text/Index.asp?SiteId=309&SiteExtra=15236072&TopNavId=667&NavSideId=3372
http://www.swanage.gov.uk/
Its difficult to know whether there is a single factor behind the revival of Bridport. They had a regeneration organisation like Swanage Ahead but theirs had a lot more resources given to it and had financial support from the town council from the beginning.
One of the things Swanage Ahead identified as a way of boosting the economy was local food products. Pretty obvious really in a farming area. We had several meetings with reps of the NFU but nobody was interested. Thinking back to childhood memories of Desperate Dan I suggested that what we needed was a cow pie factory/kitchen so seeing the market stall selling Bridport Pie Company's meat pies at Swanage Market is particularly irritating. It could have been Swanage Pie Company pies at Bridport Market.
Keith Roker
I'd like to see some really good mountain bike trails laid out, so people could come for a niche MBuking holiday. This would be all year around.
With regards to the idea of MTB trails, there are road rides available from the TIC but i aggree that some maintained trails for walkers, MTB's and horse riders would be a good addition to this area. (working gates on the current bridleways would be nice as well)
When you look at the amount of money being spent on the coast at Portland ready for the Olympics, at Lyme Regis (£22M) and Bridport (£17M.) I wonder if our beach regeneration will actually make much difference to tourism here. Will we miss out on the massive water based event, or could we for example put out a temporary pontoon to attract passing yachtsmen?
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