Merry Christmas!
I would like to wish all readers and contributors to the Dorking Blog a Merry Christmas!
Thank you for continuing to make this site so entertaining and informative with all of your contributions.
All the best, have a great one!
posted by The Cockerel @ 9:05 AM
16 Comments:
Merry Christmas Cockerel and all the very best for 2009! Please keep all your news and views coming in the forthcoming year. Kindest regards to all, Jo
Does that include 'Anonymous', Jo?!
OK,.. of course it does!
Greetings to You, Cockerel and all.
To the Cockerel and all the bloggers,
Best wishes for a wonderful Christmas and a very happy, healthy new year.
Regards, Cricketers' Chris
PS - Has anyone had the misfortune to buy this week's Dorking (sorry, Christmas) Advertiser. 40 pages (most of them filled with advertisements) at a cost of 60p. What a RIPOFF, why did they bother? Nice piece though about Woolies shutting its doors on Saturday!
And a prosperous and entertaining New Year to you and your acolytes!
Vodafone moving into Dorking.
Where is Vodaphone moving into Dorking? There is plenty of empty units and St. Martin's Walk is a complete and utter joke!!
Hope that everyone had a great Christmas and that they did not eat and drink too much!! Hear's to a happy, healthy and prosperous (yes prosperous!) New Year.
DORKING Dan
never understood how so many mobile phone shops can exist. Will this make four for Dorking?
Any news on clinton cards? Loads of rumours on the Internet that they may go down soon
Happy new year.
Dougie
Looks like the Bulls Head has returned to its previous vile form last night. Much excitement amongst the Constabulary (remember them?) 2 cars piled down the high street last night at about 7.30pm, , much shouting and carrying on from a somewhat (allegedly) inebriate citizen. This only quietened down with the arrival of a van and the slamming of its doors on the suspect. After the Constabulary had departed another 2 cars turned up who’d missed all the fun.
Why can’t we have this level of service at 2.30am when the Old House’s resident knobs are out having their usual riot, or are the Police far too busy keeping the peace, that’ll be somewhere peaceful like the station?
Found out where Vodafone are proposing to open up in Dorking from the planning applications in the Dorking Ad. It is in the former Steads/Lockeys unit at the top of St. Martin's Walk on the High Street.
Advertisement consent to display a replacement fascia sign, externally illuminated at 137 High Street, for Vodafone.
Also was dismayed to see that parking charges are going to soar by 70% in April 2009. Mole Valley District Council are going to make a decision by February 19.
1 hour - 50p to 60p
2 hours - 70p to £1.20
3 hours - £1.20 to £1.80
4 hours - £2 to £2.40
5 hours - £2.80 to £3
24 hours - £4 to £5
And, last be not least, there will be a fee of £1 to use the car parks in the evening.
This is nothing short of scandalous. The town is dying and all the Council can do is increase the parking fees when we are heading into a 'full blown' recession. Very smart. The proposed new parking fees will lead to more gridlock on the side streets and the High Street will become a real mess in the evenings as people will avoid paying the £1 to use the car parks. You could not make it up!! I will be throughly pissed if the Council goes ahead with these extortionate new parking charges and this could be the final nail in the coffin for Dorking town centre as we know it!
DORKING Dan
I thoroughly agree. Parking charges ought to be decreased to bring more people in. Can't say I think much of your maths though dan. Most of those increases seem to be around 20% to me.
Happy new year everyone.
Dougie
Dorking Dan makes an excellent point about the car parking charges (and the reference to 70% should have course been 'up to 70%' since this is the increase in the up to 2 hours slot - one of the most popular parking times.
Given the state of the high street with large numbers of vacant shops this is nothing short of lunacy: if the traders can't get together to fight this proposal I despair for them. They should ask the question (that many other people to the east of the town will be asking) "why bother to shop in Dorking? Reigate has more shops and up to three hours free (yes FREE) parking at Morrisons.
I can't believe the council want to charge £1 to park in the evening. What will happen to the sell out shows at the Dorking Halls?! The high street and Reigate road may be long, but not long enough for 800 people! People who have already paid to come to a show or film.... well the entertainment venues in Dorking will go downhill and all for a bit more money to waste.
If our councillors vote through the proposed car park fee increase they might just as well use the same meeting to vote on a motion to close Dorking as a retail centre.
There is a ready made source of revenue available to MVDC right on their doorstep if they're that desparate - start charging people who are using the town's biggest free car park, I refer of course to the huge car park reserved exclusively for their own staff.
Local government are no longer poorly paid (thank goodness) so there is no reason why, when everyone, or at least a large majority, of Dorking's workers have to pay for parking while they work, the MVDC employees should not be exempt in the current economic climate.
In that last post the final sentence should have read "there is no reason why MVDC employees should be exempt in the current climate". Sorry.
I don't know who you are previous poster but if you put yourself forward on that proposal alone I will vote for you. Why the hell should council workers be the only ones with free parking?
Dougie
Thank you Dougie, I don't think you will ever find me standing as a local councillor, I would be far to disruptive. I still have this hopelessly old fashioned notion that elected councillors should genuinely seek to represent the best interests of those who elected them - yes, I know that's stupid.
Thanks to Cockerel's bold initiative in starting this interesting blog perhaps I may, from time to time, offer some further thoughts on Dorking, a town that is facing an increasingly bleak future.
Far too many people believe that simply because Dorking is an attractive town, which it is, that is sufficient. It is not sufficient now and has not been for years.
Pepin
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