125erCrazy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 30, 2023 9:21 am
Capitano wrote: ↑Sun Jul 30, 2023 9:00 am
For a major ferry port it's woefully starved of investment in the correct areas.
DFDS have the contract for the next 10 years I recall & as the crossing prices are so good my fellow travelers had come from Dorset & Barnsley as even with the fuel cost it was still cheaper than using their local ports.
I realise ferry traffic is transient but all of us spent money at local food outlets, garages & supermarkets
The ferry crossing has been great for over 2 decades now, and still thrives.
The outlying retail and industrial parks are well used and generally well run with a few exceptions.
The town centre is another kettle of fish entirely.
My favourite story from the ex Mayor's back catalogue came as a result of a group of the of the "blatantly f***ing useless," town councillors not wanting to call a new harbour-side housing development after the person who fought to get it built for personal reasons.
Instead the group's spokesperson attempted to filibuster the discussion by suggesting that the development be called after local wildlife. To this end, he waxed lyrical about the birds of the harbour, proposing that the development be called, "Cormorant Court."
Fortunately this allowed the Mayor to intervene with a correction.
"I must correct the honourable gentleman. The birds he refers to are not cormorants. They are actually Black Shags. He may now continue his justification for calling the development after local ornithology."