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Thursday, December 02, 2010
NEW SUBJECT
If you want to raise a new topic, post your comment here — just click first on Comments below, then type in post a comment (top right of the next window). Can you choose a title for your post, please? Sometimes it's hard to work out what a comment is about and what the subject is. A new heading will soon be set up, allowing others to see and add their own comments. It seems it's sometimes easier to click on 'Post anonymously' than to open an account in your name - you can always add your name to your message. We try to keep posts civilized. And any posts that become too provocative, insulting, threatening or otherwise unpleasant will be deleted.
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12 comments:
Swanage Bay View and the Town Council -
Business Not Completed.
...................................
Swanage Bay View Holiday Park and Swanage Town Council have not concluded their business over the former's disposal, and this may cost Swanage a lot of money when it is finished.
Darwin plc, the investment company behind SBV, are in dispute with a majority of caravan owners over site fee increases which, the owners maintain, is not in accordance with the terms of their license. (Darwin has just published a further large increase for 2011, and admits both years' figures are 'in dispute').
How does this affect Swanage? Why care about the 'muni'? Isn't that business done and dusted, you may ask?
The owners and Swanage Town Council made an agreement about two years ago that the fees would be adjusted according to a set of factors which are too lengthy to list here. That agreement was overseen by the Office of Fair Trading and the District Auditor. Darwin maintains that this agreement is not relevant to them; that they do not have to honour any such agreement made by the previous owner (STC). This will go before an independent arbitrator soon.
(continued...)
Apologies for the second post - ignore it!
(...continued from first post)
This may affect Swanage because among many other such provisions, Darwin has included in the purchase contract a covenant holding STC liable for any losses it incurs due to any conditions or detrimental actions done by the vendor, Swanage Town Council.
If arbitration decides the caravan owners are correct, then Darwin will have to forego the fee increases, which will cause it to lose a large sum of money. If arbitration favours Darwin, it can still claim a large sum of compensation for nearly two years of running the business with its income stream 'in dispute', leaving it unable to invest in improving the business until such time as it knows what its income will be. In either case, STC may have to refund substantial portions of the sale proceeds, as well as legal costs, etc.
This is all due to the acceptance of the previous Town Clerk and STC to make an agreement with the caravan owners; I believe this was done to facilitate disputes that were holding up the disposition of the park to Darwin. Whether it was poor judgment, or a case of being caught between a rock and a hard place, STC made a mistake that has yet to be resolved.
Your money is being used to pay for this error by STC. You have not been told because this matter, and many others, are excluded from public scrutiny at council meetings and other means, such as full and complete minutes of portions of meetings held 'in camera'. There is also the ongoing sub judice discussions about the land south of the park, which Swanage rate payers are not told about. Perhaps it is time for STC to tell the people of Swanage what is going on - and stop hiding behind rules to exclude members of the public from certain aspect of business!!
Perhaps the Gazette would like to ask a few questions about this, in the interests of the rate payers of Swanage? If the Council disagrees with any of this, perhaps it would like to address this issue and correct it?
Can someone explain why the roads to the north of Swanage are being dug up? Is it new gas lines, or what? It is taking a long time.
Dates of postings
It is probably me being thick, but why is it that, although I can see the time that replies are posted on this forum, I don't seem to be able to see the date other than that of the original posting. Am I missing something, or is there a reason for this?
SLOW-WORMS FOUND AT THE OLD GUIDE HUT
Apparently slow-worms have been found on the site of the old guide hut on Victoria Avenue. Construction work has started recently. It's winter and the slow-worms are in hibernation. Shouldn't work be halted? Who is dealing with the mitigation and/or the translocation of these protected reptiles?
Are non monetry systems alive and kicking in Purbeck ?
LETS-Local Exchange Trading Systems
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Exchange_Trading_Systems
Local economies-ie Totnes/Lewes Pound
http://www.thelewespound.org/
Barter Systems
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barter
Tokens: ie babysitting (1 token= 1 hour of babysitting) - worked well in Swanage in the 80's - 90's
Title: Grit on the roadss.
Message: Does anyone know if swanage council have been supplied with any grit for the roads to help with the ice and snow? None of the side roads in the town are being cleared !
Echo readers will know that Nick Storer is about to submit revised plans for his kiosks by the quay. http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/districts/purbeck/8751815.New_plans_lined_up_for_Swanage_bar_Gee_Whites/
I have not seen them yet but I wonder if he has contemplated anything as radical as The East Beach Cafe, Littlehampton. Take a look at http://www.eastbeachcafe.co.uk/html/picturegallery.html and you will be either amazed or horrified. I wonder how something like this would go down with the locals, to say nothing of PDC. It would certainly beat the off-season mess we have at the moment.
Let's not forget
A NEW SPORTS HALL FOR SWANAGE???
From PLANNING PURBECK'S FUTURE:
From the 19th January PDC report on Council Core Strategy - Key Issues Item 2.9:
In Swanage there is opportunity to investigate how a new sports hall could be provided for the benefit of residents.'
-----------------------------------
What do Swanageview's bloggers feel about the need for this, in light of all of the other priorities for the town? What facilities would you want to see it have?
8:14 PM
Anonymous said...
Same as the schools situation really, it would be good to have one local.
Eeeeeechhh
1:38 AM
Anonymous said...
PDC have plans to give us one - a Sports Centre that is!
Now show your knowledge, show that you have engaged with the outside world and tell me how I know it - it's available to the public - if you can be bothered to find it.
It would be only polite to give us the link. Thank you.
1:40 AM
Anonymous said...
Funding-It seems that there is pots of money available if it fits a certain criterior. So let find a pot that fits education and a sports centre. There is lottery funding available, similar to the Keystone Project funding.
The Purbeck Heritage Committee and community partners are pleased to have been awarded £1.4 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to promote and celebrate the nature and culture of Purbeck's landscapes.
We want the programme to be as flexible as possible, and would therefore welcome applications either to modernise or enhance sporting facilities, or provide revenue funding for any aspect of sports development, or a combination of the two.
The total funding available is £10 million of National Lottery money.
Sport England.
The overall aim of this investment programme is to develop projects that encourage people living in rural communities to participate and / or sustain their participation in sport, and help those with talent fulfil their potential.
We can do this !
1:47 AM
Anonymous said...
We so need this. But is has been discussed for 30 years. Remember the exhibition at the TIC about 5 years ago. The sites were identified and the builders seemed ready to start. What happened?
8:41 AM
All this talk about a Sports Centre for Swanage then a year on at the last STC meeting it seemed to have been forgotten about again. Thanks Mike for bringing it to the attention of the planning officer (Steve Dring).
So a secondary school and a new sports hub, it would be good to achieve some progress with both in 2011 !
Institute Road Bollards
Bless my soul, the bollards that were to have been erected in Institute Road seem to have turned up on ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Stone-Penis-30cm-High-Hand-Carved-/110590873802?pt=UK_HomeGarden_Garden_GardenOrnaments_JN&hash=item19bfbad0ca
Chamber of Commerce
Does Swanage still have one? The link on here doesn't work.
I need to contact someone about contributing to an article.
Tried Googling it without success.
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