Plans have been submitted to Thanet council for the demolition of a Ramsgate social club and replacement with a new five-storey build of flats and maisonettes.
The proposal is for 12 two-bed flats, two three-bed maisonettes and a function room with parking and access for the site that is currently home for The Elms Club in Elms Avenue.
The members’ social club is currently open.
In documents submitted by Adam Burgess Architect it lays out plans for the apartments to be built at 45 degrees to “minimise overlooking to and from the Job Centre and the school buildings.”
The architect says there will be private terraces, a secure place for children to play and apartments arranged so the roof of one provides a terrace for the apartment above.
Of the community use of the club the submission says: “The site’s current use as a community facility forms an important part of the brief for the new proposal. The existing members only club building makes no architectural contribution to the area. The low rise design of the existing building makes poor use of the site and in this regard is not in keeping with National Planning Policy.
“The building’s entrance provides no visual indication of the activities inside. The hard surfaced car park access around the building provides no significant or meaningful opportunities for landscaping.
“The proposals incorporates a flexible venue space at the front of the site mitigating the loss of the existing building. Its location will help create a better street presence than the existing building, incorporating large windows that act as an advertisement for the community facility. Its orientation (perpendicular to Elms Avenue) allows the creation of a landscaped courtyard that will better connect the public to the facility.
“The open courtyard can be used as an extension to the facility on good weather days, bringing life to the street.”
So far one objection, from a resident worried about overlooking and parking, has been lodged.
A decision is yet to be made on the proposal.
Find details on Thanet council’s planning page, reference F/TH/18/1038
It looks too much like turning a public facility into a residential site at the moment. I wonder if the meeting space will get lost in the building process. Densification of population, increased traffic and demand on public services with more people and a loss of a community facility. And I bet it’s not social housing that’s being proposed!
So are TDC going to supply members with another club???? I doubt it very much. Its all very well building more houses and flats and encouraging more people to live in Ramsgate but where are these people going to go if you keep taking our community away from us,This club is used by many local people including clubs for the older generation of Ramgate. Has anybody really though about what these people are now going to do?
This is what will happen and continue to happent when brownfield sites (Manston) are not used for housing.
Perhaps this is what happens when offers are made with assistance and lease back but high interest rates incurred then the deal is renegade upon.
Let them build on it, and while we are at it they should build on every park in the area too, because who needs leisure spaces when you could ram a load of tiny flats that will be over expensive for the local population in that space instead.
I’m a bit surprised to see that only one injection has been made?. Because as a member of the club I know that I signed a petition along with most of the other members for the council to Consider the members, before agreeing to the new build, as stated previously stated this social club is frequented by older people in the community, some of whom have been a member since it was opened as a working mans club