Preston Steam Rally, the main local event this weekend.

This is one of the largest local events, just outside Thanet on the road to Wingham and is on tomorrow and Sunday.

Hare are the links to the pictures of last years event:

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/preston2010/

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/preston2010/id3.htm

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/preston2010/id4.htm

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/preston2010/id5.htm

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/preston2010/id7.htm

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/preston2010/id8.htm

http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/preston2010/id9.htm

here is their website:

http://www.prestonrally.co.uk/ you may note this site doesn’t work properly in Internet Explorer.

If you have looked at some of the pictures then I don’t suppose there is much I can do to explain the event further, certainly if you were thinking of camping this weekend it’s well worth considering doing so there and if you want a day out it’s a good one.

Preston Steam Services has a museum run by the same charitable trust that wants to run Ramsgate Maritime Museum http://www.thesteammuseum.org/

When it comes to the Maritime Museum that closed two years ago, it is very hard to see how the blame for its continued closure doesn’t mostly belong to Thanet District Council.

My understanding is that for several years now the steam trust, which is a charitable trust, wants to run the museum for the benefit of local people, has been negotiating with the council.

I think the stumbling point is that the building is one of Thanet District Councils iconic Ramsgate assets, others are or were, Albion House, The Royal Victoria Pavilion, Westcliff Hall, The Pleasurama Site, Nero’s, The Eagle Café and The marina Swimming Pool.

This is particularly ironic while the council is engaged in making a compulsory purchase of the Dreamland site in Margate, while these council owned assets in Ramsgate suffer their various fates at the hands of the council.

What is certain is that for the steam trust to run the museum they need grant funding and to obtain this they need security of tenure in terms of a reasonable lease from the council.

More irony here as at the same time as the council pulled out of the lease they had promised the trust on the grounds that long leases had to be seen as asset disposals and would therefore have to go through a long and probably expensive asset disposal process, they handed out a 199 year lease to the Pleasurama development developer without going to asset disposal.

Since then my understanding is that the trust said they would accept a shorter lease and this lease has been subject to a further couple of years prevarication by the council, now I think it likely that the trust may have given up the idea. Mostly on the grounds that the council are just to difficult to work with.

Whatever the ins and outs the museum remains closed and anyone seeing the obvious resources that the steam trust has to offer would be forgiven for wondering why the council are not welcoming them with open arms.

I would say that the main thing now in Ramsgate’s favour is that we really haven’t got much else in the way of council owned assets to lose, what remains at best is empty and at worse derelict, demolished or abandoned.

Update I have just heard from the council with an update on the situation that sounds encouraging:

“I am pleased to advise that latest iteration of the proposed lease  setting out 

the Council's preferred position as prospective Landlord, is  now with the Steam 

Museum Trust for consideration.

I hope that if there are still some issues to be resolved between the Council 

and the Trust, none of them will be too difficult to overcome.”

I will add to this one as I get time

Is Thanet District Council taking up piracy at sea? The sage of Ramsgate Maritime Museum update.

The museum’s artefacts and the vessels Cervia and Sundowner are owned by a charitable trust – The Preston Steam Trust - that already runs another museum.

For the museum to be able to function, obtain the grants necessary to fund it needs security of tenure for the council owned building that houses, “Ramsgate Clock House,” it and my understanding was that the museum wasn’t to open again until that security of tenure was granted by the council.

So I was very pleased when an Isle of Thanet Gazette reporter interviewed a council spokesperson about this and was told that the council were prepared to grant the museum a 25 year lease, this was published in the Gazette three weeks ago.

I was further pleased to hear that the Little Ship “Sundowner” was being prepared to take part in The Operation Dynamo commemorations see http://thanetpress.blogspot.com/2010/05/sundowner-gets-ready.html

Anyway wandering around Ramsgate with my camera I noticed that some of the people restoring The Steam Tug Cervia were onboard, so I mentioned to the how pleased I was to see things finally moving forward.

They were surprised at my comments and pointed out that all was not well, this is one of those only in Thanet stories that one would never have the imagination to make up.

What seems to have happened is that the council, not wishing to face embarrassing questions about why the museum was closed and the Sundowner not taking part in the commemorations, have started to engage in some unusual activities.

The most bizarre of which is taking over the Sundowner without the owner’s permission and preparing her for the commemoration voyage to Dunkirk.

They have also advertised that both the museum will be open over the Operation Dynamo weekend and that The Sundowner will be taking part in the voyage.

My understanding is that this is pretty much the last straw for The Preston Steam Trust and that they will pull out unless the council comes up with a reasonable and workable future for the museum.

This is a strange story and one that I have pieced together as best as I can, so any corrections would be appreciated.

Any of you who aren’t aware of the story so far may wish to read my previous posts about it by clicking on the links below.

http://thanetonline.blogspot.com/2009/09/ramsgate-maritime-museum-whats-gone.html

http://thanetonline.blogspot.com/2010/02/ramsgate-maritime-museum-closure-update.html

http://thanetonline.blogspot.com/2010/04/ramsgate-maritime-museum-will-probably.html

Ramsgate Maritime Museum will probably never open again.

Some of you will have noticed that Ramsgate Maritime Museum didn’t open over Easter as expected, after what we thought was a successful campaign to keep it open, Thanet District Council appear to have developed a Catch 22 strategy to finish of Ramsgate’s last remaining leisure facility.

This is a sorry tale put together after a week of on and off the record discussions with councillors and council officers, I think I have now got all of the information right but am open to any corrections.

The museums artefacts and the vessels Cervia and Sundowner are owned by a charitable trust – The Preston Steam Trust - that already runs another museum.

The previous trust (EKMT now disbanded) was funded by Thanet District Council and ran Ramsgate Maritime Museum and Margate Museum on a council grant of about £100,000 per year.

The previous trust (EKMT) failed to renew the lease on The Clock House, the building in Ramsgate Harbour that houses the museum.

The council now has virtually no money or staff to run any of the museums, apart from a small amount to keep Dickens House in Broadstairs running.

The Preston Steam Trust wants to run the museum, restore and maintain the vessels and dry dock, using outside grant funding at no cost to the council.

To obtain this grant funding they need security of tenure or a freehold interest in The Clock House and dry dock.

The council put The Clock House on the asset disposal list and asked for public consultation about future use of The Clock House.

Those who responded to the consultation said that they wished The Clock House to continue to be used as a museum.

The Preston Steam Trust then offered to buy the freehold of The Clock House with a covenant that The Clock House would be used as a museum in perpetuity.

The council then removed The Clock House and offered The Preston Steam Trust a long lease to which The Preston Steam Trust agreed to accept the lease .

The council then withdrew the offer of the long lease, which meant that The Preston Steam Trust couldn’t obtain grant funding to run the museum.

The council would like to see the museum open and would be prepared to let The Preston Steam Trust run it under licence, without any security of tenure with The Preston Steam Trust paying all of the operating expenses.

Of course The Preston Steam Trust can’t do this, as without security of tenure they can’t raise any funds to run the museum.

It would seem that the only option that the council has left The Preston Steam Trust, is to remove their artefacts and vessels from Ramsgate, with the current boom in UK leisure I would imagine there would be a great many towns that would welcome them.

Now at the moment Thanet District Council is run by a Conservative administration and I am being extolled upon to vote Conservative, the reasoning here would seem to be that they consider Conservatives run things better.

So here is an open question to the local Conservative politicians.

Either you think that the majority of local people don’t want the museum to remain open and you think that what is going on here is in the furtherance of local peoples wishes and interests.

Or you think that the majority of local people would like the museum to remain open but you think it is in best interest to close it.

Or you have lost control over the actions of council officers and it is they who are running the show and not you.

Or there is some other option that hasn’t occurred to me that in some way makes sense and you can explain

Well guys and gals which is it?