There are times when I simply want to sit down and weep! It’s that feeling of being the proverbial voice crying in the wilderness when things seem to blindingly obvious. Let me give you a few examples.
We spend so much time talking about regeneration in Torbay and energising the flagging high street shopping experience with assorted schemes. But unless we address parking cost little is going to change. Our mayor is now talking about forming a committee to look at parking but to me it seems that unless you make the first hour free then little will change. Does that need a committee? Who on earth wants to spend pounds on parking whilst nipping into local shops for a low value purchase? Not me for one as I drive around at a cost of £1.40 a litre looking for a free parking place! We live in the age of the car and whilst short term parking is financially painful then folk will simply not shop locally. It really is as simple as that!
He moves swiftly on! I am, as you have probably worked out, a firm believer in community cohesion and in these troubled times there is a real and increasing danger of the social divide widening. Some weeks ago I found myself at an event with some affluent folk and happened to hear the observation that there were really no poor people in Torbay . Shortly after that I attended a presentation for young people from difficult backgrounds who were being awarded certificates for social engagement and the contrast, to me, was shocking. There but for the grace of god go all of us. We share this journey through life together and looking out for your neighbours must be automatic. That is yet another reason for getting people into the town and sharing community experience.
Part of the sharing process, I rather hoped, would be my suggested monthly mayoral public meetings with the added bonus of some positive community action afterwards. But as I write I see no evidence that this socially cohesive event is any nearer. Once again the proverbial voice crying in the wilderness echoes across Torbay . The cathartic experience of standing, unsuccessfully, as a councillor some years ago demonstrated to me how insular communities can be. Certainly our virtual world in cyberspace gives the illusion of community action although the reality is that it is contained within the home whilst staring endlessly into a flickering screen.
Oh well, we battle on and battling seems to be what is happening with tourism just now. The front page of the paper recently had Laurence Murrell of the TLH hotel group banging on about the confusion resulting from the mayor’s strategic gymnastic in suggesting merging tourist and conference folk. It reminded me of what has gone before with the various interest groups slugging it out over the future of our flagging seaside resort. To me the main focus should be on celebrating what we already have and stuffing what we might want on a realistic wish list. We do need a fresh look at what we do because as dear old Albert Einstein said doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome really is insanity.
Insanity. Hmm. One of my much loved areas of Torbay is Paignton Green and when the silly concrete posts connected by a spiky chain arrived some years ago, solving a problem that we didn’t have, a single tear ran down my cheeks. I loved that open space and found myself over the years engaging in many community events that have been traditionally held there. Hot summer days, when we had them, had the whole grass area covered by sun bathers and cheerful picnicking families. So how green is my Green today? Well less than it is now when another chunk is sacrificed to the building of a play park later this year which will reduce the usable area. I can see the attraction of this new Geo play park but am saddened by the loss of this destination green space and the worry that at pub chucking out time it will become a hot spot of a very different kind as inebriated idiots demonstrate their invincibility balancing on various play park climbing frames! Not the sort of destination tourism that I had in mind…….
No comments:
Post a Comment