Dover District Council Town planning 2038

On Friday 12th October, the Y13 Geography class attended a meeting with the Dover District Council on what we wanted to happen to the district in the next twenty or so years. We were joined by four other schools; Dover Grammar school for boys, Dover College, Dover Grammar school for girls and Sandwich Technology school. 

Throughout the two hours, as a group, we planned out what we thought the issues were in the district, with Dover being our main focal point. The focus points we came up with were poverty, lack of entertainment and a shortage of jobs. Then we came up with suggestions that could help solve some of the issues such as regeneration of the town, adding more independent stores, which would help the locals find jobs and bring the community closer together. Consumers would get to know the people that worked in the stores, which would give Dover a better sense of place. It was deemed that there would be a better feel for Dover if more shops as a whole were added - just no more Costas! Other groups came up with ambitious ideas like adding a tram system around the town, and one group even suggested adding a cable cart system up to the castle which seems like a fabulous idea to make better user of the heritage and make people more likely to stop and take notice of Dover rather than just using it as a gateway to the rest of England.

Overall, the feelings across the board were that the Dover District is great and places like Deal and Sandwich need to maintain their current persona while Dover should be the focal point for regeneration. The event itself was very productive and it was interesting to see the contrast between the young and old participants.  For example, we all thought the plan for the district needed many improvements on the original plan developed by the older members. If the local authorities take our ideas into consideration, Dover should end up looking and feeling like a much nicer place to live.

By Rebecca White 13JW