A company set up by the owner of Ramsgate’s West Cliff Hall filed to be struck off and dissolved last month.
The compulsory strike off action was discontinued the following day (January 11) for the company which has been dormant since it was created in 2019.
Westcliff Development Ltd is headed up by Dr Davinder Singh Jamus and Mohinder Singh Rajan, who bought West Cliff Hall for £225,000 in 2018 after Thanet council put it to auction.
No planning applications have been submitted to the council since the purchase.
The hall, at The Paragon, has been empty since 2005 when the Motor Museum left the site. Over the following almost two decades the property has remained empty and continued to deteriorate.
It opened in 1914 as a theatre, concert hall and promenade venue, adjacent to the Royal Paragon Baths.
It had been an Italian Garden with bandstand until the cliff was dug out to make space for the new hall. The first 40 metres of the existing promenade along Ramsgate’s West Cliff, are formed by the roof of the concert hall which previously hosted acts including the Rolling Stones in 1964.
Plans to rebuild and recreate the site were put in motion by youth charity Project MotorHouse in 2009.
The charity, which was headed by Ramsgate resident Janet Fielding before a decision to shut it down last year, wanted to create cinemas; theatres; bars; restaurants, offices and youth facilities.
The site had been on the council’s disposal list from 2005 to 2010 without any other interest being expressed.
In 2014 Thanet council and Project MotorHouse jointly commissioned a surveyor’s report which found that not only was the steel frame of the building severely corroded and needed replacing, but the outer walls were resting on wet masonry with no other support.
A structural survey, which was carried out by Holt and Wotton Ltd, said the toilet block of the hall “in part supports the adopted highway,” adding “some propping has been provided within the building.
“The propping in the two-storey section is due to serious deterioration of precast concrete roof beams and the section of the promenade over this area of the building has been fenced off to prevent public access.
“The propping in the stairwell is due to the heavily corroded condition of the steel beams within the stairwell.”
The report outlined corrosion and cracks throughout the hall and added: “There are many issues with this building.
“In simple terms the exposed steel work in the stairwell between the building and the toilet block and at the rear of the stairwell at low level are all severely corroded such that they would need replacement.”
The survey said the asphalt roof had reached the end of its life. In looking at options for the future of the building the report said retaining it would mean ‘significant repair,’ and a new build would be “easier to achieve long term solutions.”
A third option, to infill the site, was deemed too expensive. A suggestion was to demolish the main building and construct an embankment.
MotorHouse raised more than £300,000 which paid for lawyers, asbestos removal and propping, fixing the garden walls, vat specialists, surveys, a construction industry project manager and designs by architect Guy Hollaway.
But in 2017 Thanet council approved the sale of the West Cliff Hall, and the Western Undercliffe café and toilets, on the open market.
It was bought at auction the following year for £225,000. Since then no work has taken place at the site.
At the time of the sale concerns were raised over possible landbanking.
Thanet council says the building is privately owned with no planning applications showing as having been submitted in the last five years.
West Cliff Hall – a timeline
July 1914 – The West Cliff Hall and Gardens opens to the public as a concert hall on the site of the Italian Gardens. On a sunny day, the concerts were held outdoors in the sunken gardens.
1914 – 1918 – Despite repeated bombardment from Europe and the nearby placement of a Maxim gun, the West Cliff Hall survives.
1920s – The hall is a popular concert venue with townsfolk and visitors alike.
1930s – The building is extended thus widening the Promenade. A one storey extension is also added. It ruins the elegant Edwardian lines of the original building.
1940s – During the World War II, dances are held in the hall for the pilots based at Manston Airport.
1950s – The old Victorian baths next to the West Cliff collapsed down onto what is now the port. It was only the quick thinking of a local woman that there was no loss of life. She noticed the road cracking and stopped all traffic.
1964 – The number of local people who saw the Rolling Stones play at West Cliff Hall could fill the building many times over.
1970s – The original seafront terrace was extended to its current size which is approximately 600 square metres.
1980s – Two brothers from Essex take over the lease and turn it into a Motor Museum.
2005 – The Motor Museum closes.
May 2009 – Janet Fielding first approaches Thanet District Council (TDC), theowner of the building
August 2009 – Ramsgate Arts conducts Love, Hate, Hope: Ramsgate – a community consultation that attracts 900 people over three days and identifies derelict buildings plus a poor ‘cultural’ offering as significant problems.
February 2010 – The Theatres Trust, which is a statutory body, writes to TDC’s then Chief Executive stating that any planned development of the site building needs to include a theatre.
July 2010 – Following a year of consultation and research, Low Carbon Community Ramsgate (Later Project MotorHouse) presents its first draft business plan to Thanet District Council and it makes the case for the building being self-supporting. The local residents help reclaim the gardens.
November 2010 – Thanet District Council and Project MotorHouse set out a Heads of Agreement. The negotiations will drag on for three long years.
July 2011 – Project MotorHouse is incorporated as Low Carbon Community Ramsgate but changes its name a month later following work with a focus group of local youths.
August 2011 – Funded by Ramsgate Town Council and Kent County Council, Project MotorHouse conducts a community consultation during Ramsgate Arts’ Summer Squall Festival. PMH plans for the site get overwhelming endorsement.
September 2011 – TDC Cabinet agree the asset disposal to PMH using an option method proposed by Project MotorHouse.
October 2011 – Locality begin to provide specialist legal advice and negotiations with TDC on the detail of the Option and Transfer Deed.
March 2012 – Both Ramsgate Town Council and Kent County Councillors award PMH funds towards doing minor works including securing the site from intruders.
January 2013 – Dr Who Fund Raising event with David Tennant, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker and Paul McGann. Dr Who fans fly in from as far away as Melbourne just for the weekend. It raises £32K in one day
July 2013 – PMH begins its partnership with Ellington & Hereson School (now Royal Harbour Academy)
August 2013 – Project MotorHouse organises an update of the 2007 Structural Appraisal which was commissioned by TDC. The appraisal makes no connection between the corroded frame and its role in supporting both the West Cliff Promenade and the B2054, which is the main access road to the harbour.
September 2013 – Ellington and Hereson School students work begin working with local residents on improving the gardens and keeping them tidy.
November 2013 – TDC and PMH sign the Option and Transfer Deed
February 2014 – Project MotorHouse organises a structural appraisal by a new firm which confirms suspicion that the frame is now beyond repair. West Cliff Promenade is closed as the structure is dangerous in places.
April 2014 – The asbestos survey is done and the asbestos removed. More internal propping is done.
March 2014 – The building is propped internally. The ‘as built’ survey is done. Debris is cleared from the building.
May 2014 – MITIE which runs facilities at Ellington & Hereson School kindly donates materials and labour to help further improve the gardens. More internal propping is done by PMH.
May – July 2014 – Test holes are drilled in the walls and ceilings. The intrusive survey is done to determine the condition of the frame. It has reached the end of its design life and the frame is dangerous in places.
Jun-Aug 2014 – The Quantity Surveyor does a Cost Benefit Analysis on alternatives for the frame. His conclusion is that demolishing and rebuilding the frame to modern safety standards is the most cost effective and safest solution.
October 2014 – Students of Ellington & Hereson School (now Royal Harbour Academy) write, direct, choreograph and perform a musical called Bringing It Back as fund raiser for Project MotorHouse.
November 2014 – Project MotorHouse is awarded a grant from the Social Investment Business under the My Community Rights scheme which allows them to appoint an architect.
Nov-Dec 2014 – PMH conducts a competitive tender to select an architect. They choose Guy Hollaway Architects from a shortlist of five.
Jan-May 2015 – Further surveys are done such as utilities, drains and geographical.
April 2015 – Guy Hollaway’s team present their first version of the designs.
June 2015 – Historic England describe the public benefit of the MotorHouse scheme as, “considerable, not only because of the range of new entertainment and leisure facilities that would be provided, but also as a result of bringing active use and vitality back to this neglected part of the conservation area”.
August 2015 – PMH teams with Canterbury Christ Church University and Royal Harbour Academy to apply for a Heritage Lottery Fund Young Roots project grant for a photographic project based on the SEAS Archive called – Projection SEAS: a contemporary response to an historic archive.
Mar-Sept 2015 – PMH receives monies from Low Carbon Unit of Kent County Council as part of the European Regional Development Fund 2007-2013 towards the cost of consultancy on the design.
October 2015 – PMH receives a substantial HLF Young Roots grant to do Projection SEAS – a joint project with Canterbury Christ Church University, Royal Harbour Academy and artists such as Rachel Wilberforce-Andrews, Theresa Smith, Adamski and Big Jelly Studios.
November 2015 – Guy Hollaway’s team present their second version of the designs to the trustees and it is enthusiastically received. The scheme goes out to public consultation
November 2015 – Brenda Blethyn holds a fund raiser on behalf of Project MotorHouse.
November 2015 – Mouthin Off for MotorHouse Concert (starring Linda Lewis, Steve Ansell, Celloman, Sarah Head and students of Royal Harbour Academy) kick starts the crowd funding campaign
November 2016 – Celebrity art auction
April 2017 – Brenda Bleythn unveils Projection SEAS a book and artistic panels for the hoardings at the Pleasurama site on Ramsgate Mains Sands created through Project MotorHouse and Royal Harbour Academy
May 2017 – Crews called to several fires at the site
June 2017 – West Cliff Hall is earmarked for asset disposal (sale) by Thanet council
October2018 – West Cliff Hall is sold at auction
February 2023: The Hall remains in a derelict condition
Sadly although some old buildings looked nice, they were necessarily built well, it will be cheaper to rebuild than try to save.. the only bonus is that it isn’t listed as that would make anything happening totally cost ineffective 🙁
Looks a mess.Youd think the Council would at least weed and pick up litter.Ooops I was forgetting they dont do the sort of things other local authorities do.
Do council weed and litter pick everyone’s private property for them ?
To be fair, this is private property behind a locked gate. I don’t know any local authority who would break and enter in order to tidy up someone else’s land.
Sadly the Winter Gardens is most likely to end up in the same sorry state.
JJ, you took the words right out of my mouth. We must avoid a similar fate happening to the Winter Gardens at all costs. There is a schedule written now that does show intent but intent and action are two very different things. However, I can’t believe a company would purchase the Winter Gardens and leave it to decay. We will have to wait and see what the feasibility study shows.
Westgate on Sea Pavilion unfortunately will suffer the same fate.
TDC sold the pavilion to a private individual who stated that he purchased it for a community asset. Soon after purchasing it he went to TDC asking for a grant. This was refused since then nothing has happened to the building as far as residents can see.
The previous person /company had a lease with TDC that had not expired. Over their tenure they had carried our many improvements and held many events. For some unknown reason Kent Fire Brigade were called in to carry out an inspection they subsequently asked for improvements to conform to present day fire regulations and requirements. TDC instead gave the tenant notice to leave.
TDC subsequently sold the Pavilion to an individual for some unknown sum without offering to the general public or placing it in an auction.
Where are we now, still nothing has taken place. Did TDC carry out due diligence. NO
Regretfully the same is happening to the Pavilion in Westgate. This was purchased by an individual who stated he purchased it for a community asset. He then went to TDC asking for a grant. This was refused.
The person/company that previously ran the Pavilion and had carried out improvements, had a lease which had not expired. Unfortunately the fire brigade was called in and said it didn’t conform to present day fire requirements hence TDC gave notice to the tenant to quit without allowing the leaseholder time to carry out the fire brigades requirements.
Regretfully the Pavilion will just be forgotten.
Selling the freehold quietly at who knows what sum.
if something lives on the fact that a rubbish old rock band played there nearly 60 years i find that sad, we know full well its not coming back , just flatten it and be done with it, no one wants these old out of date derelict buildings anymore.
This is a disgrace to TDC and it’s MP’s, unforgivable allowing such assest to become in this state. No excuses just neglect to conduct one of the councils priorities, take care of the area and do not do anything which would be to the peoples detriment. Such a shame we have this utter inept, incompetent group decade after decade. Thanet council and its MOs should be disbanded and taken over by Canterbury and Dover councils once split into North and south. Bad decisions following bad decisions re, airport and other, its all facts which just need to be inquired into. Cannot wait until I retire and leave this beautiful but shamelessly run area.
When one looks at Thanet that’s all Thanet Council and certain individuals want to do close the theatres close the port close the airport close the shops close the farms.
You’ll find it is time and how people want to be entertained/travel differently !
Bill
I think you will find the airport went broke for obvious reasons in pvt hands. Tdc support the airport sadly.
Same with the port TDC back the port but operators prefer dover or Essex etc.
Now TDC are responsible for the winter gardens yes. But TDC prefer to use our taxes on dreamland a pvt company oddly.
Winter gardens and the like gave been allowed to fall to far into decline it’s not financially worth saving.
Sadly, that will be Margate Winter Gardens in a few years. TDC should hang their heads in shame.
I wonder how safe is the road that runs above.
Is there anything in thanet that’s not falling apart or shut down. The Turner gallery seems to have a blank cheque whilst the heritage is left to a point where its becomes to late to save. Give all these old buildings grade 11 status. They might just be saved.
Not likely Supachip. The Winter Gardens is Grade II listed but TDC are leaving it to rot.
OK yet if you or I let a grade 2 listed building fall apart .The council would probably take legal action against you.
Supachip
There are loads of listed builds falling apart and derelict.
If you tv programmes on restoration making a building listed cause so many problems. Buts the costs goes through the roof with silly things like you must use cast iron guttering when plastic looks the same and is 1000’s of pounds cheaper.
If the Victoria Pavilion could be restored to its former glory (after a fashion), then so can the WCH.
Not surprising and highly predictable. As the person who bought it never took the trouble to ascertain its condition, nor recognise all the work that Project Motor House did, they will lose all his/her money. Its probably part of some tax avoidance scheme, with the £250k written off against tax. I can think of better ways of doing it, but hey, it is what it is.
TDC and KCC might stick their fingers in their ears, but when the roof and the road comes crashing down, they will have to do something.
TDC acted irresponsibly, but then that is their mantra. They will do almost anything to save their own miserable skins.
One notices a very slow improvement in Ramsgate over the last year or so. It could be a decent time to invest, like with the Granville on the East Cliff.
Should have been sold to Project Motormouth from the start, it could have been renovated and operational by now and an asset to both Ramsgate and Thanet. Yet another really poor decision by TDC.
Why isn’t it a historical building and being fixed up with lottery money?why was it sold off in the first place,it seems that Thanet council spend a fortune on other less important sights maybe this should have been a compulsory purchase order. All to quick to sell off the heritage of the town , instead of paying for it’s upkeep,maybe if it’s postcode was nearer Margate they would have looked after it.shame on you TDC.
Excellent points.
I absolutely despair of TDC! Did TDC’s councillors or lawyers check at that time the background of companies who tendered for WCH? Obviously not! Why didn’t the council lawyers include a caveat that any plans be made public before tender and that planned work would be started within six months of acquisition. Failure to comply would mean that the new owners lose any monies paid and TDC could repurchase the WCH for £1.00. TDC’s selling off of valuable assets at any cost has resulted in another venue rotting away with no future! Ramsgate’s only viable asset for public entertainment now rests with the new owners of The Granville and I wish them every success. So, what will happen to the WCH now, will the council compulsory buy it back for a nominal and minuscule fee or will it just rot away? At one time Ramsgate had the Merrie England Ballroom and The Pavilion was a theatre. The WCH was also a much used venue by local schools for Awards evenings plus dances and concerts. What has Ramsgate sunk to?