Dorking in trouble
Dorking does seem to be in severe trouble at the moment. Choked by an almost incomprehensible amount of roadworks and a heart which is temporarily dead, I am talking about the old WHSmiths and Halfords here.
The traffic at the moment is an absolute nightmare. Queueing from Deepdene Roundabout and in the opposite direction. Loads of traffic rat running round Rothes/Wathen Road. Next week Church Street will also be closed too which will add to the woes. The High Street is also closed at night as whoever has decided to dig up Pump Corner.
God I cannot wait for the depressing months of January and February to be over and hopefully we can look forward. Considering the extortionate house prices Dorking really does not seem to be a great place to live right now.
posted by The Cockerel @ 12:47 AM
5 Comments:
This may cheer you up. I signed up for the minutes for the Dorking Town Centre Forum and I have just received the last meeting which took place on 13 November 2006. Included is a report from Dorking Town Management Report.
A total of 15 empty premises in Dorking, 4 of which will remain closed for a period of time as part of redevelopment works, 8 are under offer or have been recently sold.
Vacant / On the market: 7 premises
- Robin G Renee, 300 High Street - Changed agents
- Co-op, 236 High Street - Remdedial work, some interest
- Cancer Research, 105 High Street, -WHSmith, 101-103 High Street, - Halfords, 111-113 High Street - Will remain closed as part of larger residential redevelopment
- Harmans, 19 West Street - closed for redevelopment, ready November 2007, some interest
- FW Mays, 105 South Street - interest from a national chain in negotiation
Vacant but under offer:
- Harley Davidison, 285-293 High Street - under offer
- Puccino's, 243 High Street - in legals, close to completing
- Contessa, 176-180 High Street - under offer, several offers made
- Love2Read, St Martins Walk - under offer (now opened as 'Scribbles' selling stationery and writing supplies).
- 12 St Martins Walk - under offer (now Ziboh Interiors)
- Dorking Oak & Pine, 39 West Street - under offer (now Planters, extension of adjacent large shop.
Next meeting is to be held on Monday 15 January at 6pm Pippbrook, Dorking. I am unable to make it, but when I get hold of the minutes, I will write them into the blog.
Since the last minutes, a few shops have disappeared or will be disappearing. An antique shop on West Street has gone, the pet shop also on West Street is also up for sale. Gallery 238 on the High Street is closing because their lease is up. The gallery is located next to the former Co-op funeral parlour and Puccino's. Also, noticed that Studio RT in St. Martins Walk is close to closing. Everything in the shop is 50% off!!
There have been shops opening up in town over the Christmas period, like The Lemon Tree (ex-Linen Shoppe) and Farber (ex-Music 4 U). Also The Vineyard is moving to larger premises on South Street.
So, it is not all doom and gloom. It is just the miserable weather, coupled with the ridiculous road works which has created a great deal of congestion getting into Dorking town centre. Plus most people are broke, at this time of year!!
Noticed a couple of articles in The Times (Friday January 12) which are relevant to Dorking and the people who live in the town:-
First article is titled "Town flap as rooster vanishes" (and it is sadly not a reference to the proposed Cockerel on the Deepdene Roundabout!)
GAINESVILLE: Authorities are seeking a 4ft statue of a caped crusading rooster that was ripped from his concrete base in the central square of Gainesville, Georgia.
The fibreglass Super Rooster, stolen over the weekend, was one of 14 sculptures in a countrywide outdoor art exhibit to raise money for local organisations.
Gainesville, known for its chicken processing plants, has been nicknamed the Poultry Capital of the World. (AP)
-- Anyone want to hedge any bets on long the Cockerel will remain on the roundabout??
Second is a letter from a Mr Ian Wood to The Times from Toronto, Ontario titled "Grey Britain".
It isn't the trains breaking down or the failings of the NHS that continue to dog Britain. It is the inherently British disease of moaning.
Lets try and be positive about living in Dorking. Yes....the road works are horrific, traffic congestion is shocking and the weather, at the moment is not very pleasant but lets be thankful, that Dorking has a good diverse bunch of restaurants, a huge array of pubs (no, so-called theme pubs, just yet!), a good mix of independent shops, is generally a safe place to live in, has 3 train stations which can take you to London, Guildford and Gatwick Airport and is surrounded by some of the most beautiful green belt in Surrey ie. Box Hill, Leith Hill as well as, being very close to some of the most beautiful villages in the South East ie. Brockham, Shere etc.
There are also road works which have closed down Harrow Road East. This time it's the Gas company re-laying pipes. The same road was out of use for weeks quite recently when the Water Company dug it all up. Why the hell can't they get their act together and co-ordinate their works. It's all made worse for the residents by moronic drunken yobs who persist in trashing all the warning signs and barriers every time they stagger past. The latest vandalism was last night around mid-night when 3 youths threw all the warning signs, road closed etc all over the road so any late night driver could not get past for accesss to their property. Last night, the police were called while it was all going on to the accompaniment of an appalling racket. Needless to say although promising to be there "as soon as we can", they never appeared.
There seems to be a real surge in pointless vandalism in Dorking at the moment. Numerous properties in Deepdene Vale, in and around the Meadowbank, Church Street, West Street have been tagged, had objects thrown at them from passing cars etc. Even tonight (Saturday), I simply had enough of the appalling thugs spouting out their obscene language in The Kings Arms. The poor girl behind the bar had to put up with their immature, sexist remarks. Sadly, it was not any better at The Old House.
I agree that the police are always promising to turn up to diffuse a situation but seldom do. I am sick and tired of our town slowly becoming a cesspit for drunken, moronic thugs. At one time, it was confined to The Malthouse but sadly, this is spreading across the whole of the town. I have noticed numerous signs ripped down, windows of shops etched and damaged by pellet guns. So, where are the police??? I did see one picking his nose at the Denbies roundabout!
Right if I understand this right..a great deal of people are fed up with the anti social behavior happening in Dorking. Simple solution..stand up to these scum bags...if you cant do it on your own, get help. There shouldnt be any worry about getting nicked because the police arn't never about. The landlords of the pubs should back this. If we all get together and sort this maybe on mass the sh*t bags may get the message.
I am not a vigilante but im fed up with these twats ruining our town.
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