Sandgate is more than just a footnote

Local Lib Dem Gary Fuller believes that Sandgate needs much greater recognition when setting Shepway wide strategies and plans, especially with regards to tourism and economic development. Building on the excellent work by Sandgate Parish Council on the Village Design Statement, Gary wants to see a similar Economy and Tourism Development Plan for the Village that will feed into the wider strategy for the District.

Commenting, Gary said:

"Currently the A259, Saga, restaurants, and antique shops are what comes to mind at Shepway District Council when discussing Sandgate. The word Sandgate wasn't mentioned once in the documentation for the recent Places and Policies Local Plan: Issues and Options Consultation, perhaps because Shepway assumes nothing has changed in the Village.

Sandgate is barely mentioned as a footnote in the Tourism section of the Council's website, despite the Council helping to fund some great developments in the Village like the HG Wells exhibition. That needs to change, and part of that is recognising that Sandgate has its own distinctive voice. Sandgate is becoming a creative hub in its own right for example, something that Shepway seem unaware of.

If elected on Thursday, I want to see Sandgate get its own documented plan for how it will move forward in the next few year, one not based on false assumptions routed in the Sandgate of the last century."