Mary Portas and Margate: Facing reality, not reality TV

(CREDIT: JOHN LAWRENCE)

The moment of truth was when the ceiling at John O’Neil’s boxing club fell down.

Perched at the top floor of the old Masonic Building at the end of Margate’s High Street, John’s boxing gym is a local gem: in the afternoons, dozens of children of all ages gather to put on some gloves. For most of them, this is the only alternative to aimless wandering in the streets. Many can’t afford the small membership fees, but no one’s ever been turned away. In the evening, a dedicated group of adults shows up. Like the youngsters, many of them found a haven at a tough time in their lives. They knew that John would never disappoint, even if they didn’t have a few quid to put in the kitty.

But that’s exactly what happened when the ceiling collapsed and the gym was closed three weeks ago. With nowhere to train, the kids were sent to hang out in the streets during the summer break.

It was a classic moment when communities come together. When resources are found and people pitch in. Only several months ago, when a few of us first came up with a plan to regenerate Margate’s High Street, this was the moment we imagined. This was what we were there for. And when the announcement came that Margate was among the 12 towns that won £100,000 as part of the Portas Pilot scheme – TV retail expert Mary Portas’ regeneration initiative – we thought we would also have the resources to make good things happen.

How naïve we were. We thought regeneration was about our community. We imagined regeneration as a sustainable boost for shopkeepers on the High Street. We thought about planning for the future without giving up the rich heritage of our magnificent seaside town. We thought about the often challenging realities we encounter. The realities that John O’Neil sees in his gym every day.

Other people were thinking about reality TV instead.

The first ominous signs came during the now-infamous public meeting at the old Woolies when Ms Portas first announced: “The downside for some of you is that I’ve got cameras doing this with me. They show warts and all. This ain’t going to be smooth.”

Oh, how right she was. Reality TV is not about the hard work of bringing a community together. It has no interest in the long hours it takes to assess individual needs and collective strengths. It lacks any sensitivity or empathy for individuals and communities who have been dismissed and disappointed for years.

Reality TV is not about reality; it’s about entertainment. It needs a simplistic plot that can be chopped up into easily digestible bites. In TV terms, we were merely small-town stooges. We were supposed to bicker and fight and fail, only to be rescued by the benevolent Ms Portas.

Most of us saw it coming. We believed we had won the bid because we had a vision and we had the potential. We knew we didn’t need Channel 4 primetime to make a difference. On the contrary. But neither were we invited to take part in the documentary by programme makers Optomen TV. We were never given contracts, the TV company saying they preferred to make their programme with traders in the town unknown to Margate Town Team, of which I was the secretary.

A few thought otherwise. Disagreements are natural, and we had our fair share. We forgot that reality TV thrives on divisions and conflict and underestimated the determination of those who sought TV fame and self-serving interests. In classic divide-and-conquer manner, small meetings were arranged with team members, shop owners and councillors. The cameras were rolling behind the backs of the Team and tensions rose.

It’s too easy to snipe back at the audacity of Peter Cross, a spokesman for Mary Portas, who used the resignation of several Town Team members to declare, “This Town Team has failed. It’s not for us to get into the politics.” It’s easy to note that since the Town Team won the bid, Ms Portas has still to date never spoken with me, or never visited Margate in her Government advisory role.

But our High Street needs solutions, not additional problems. And when John O’Neill got a cold shoulder from some members of the Town Team when he needed them most, I knew something was deeply wrong.

Sadly, Margate doesn’t lack empty properties. With the right vision, these empty spaces are our greatest assets. They give us an opportunity to dream about creative solutions. An empty shop may be an eyesore to some, but we see it as a rare opportunity for a young local entrepreneur to get started without going bust over extortionate rental prices. It could have been a chance for John’s kids to have a place to train during the summer.

Without knowing, Mr Cross was right about one thing when he said: “Margate will succeed. It will succeed with a different Town Team.” Today we launch Streets Ahead Margate,  a broad initiative that will shake off the bad habits that plagued our town for too long and replace it with fresh vision and determination to succeed.

When the cameras go back to London, we’re going to still be here. This is our reality and we intend to own it. John O’Neill’s situation is still continuing; the roof is leaking into the gym again and a solution needs to be found.

www.streetsaheadmargate.org.uk

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• VicTheBrit

  Like many towns at the unfashionable east end of Kent, Margate has been struggling for years. I lived in Ramsgate for a couple of years back in 1989 and was glad for the opportunity to get out of the place. What these towns need is work! Not a place to shunt problem families London (and fashionable west Kent) doesn’t want. Manston airport is on it’s doorstep and making that London’s third airport would do wonders for the area. Ashford is a scant 45km away and for a little cash, the railway could be linked to the Eurostar line and roads improved.

• http://www.facebook.com/tony.reay.50 Tony Reay

  apparently you missed the point that the poster was making… he didn’t turn to Amazon for a cheaper deal, but rather for customer service..
  “community, human interaction, rummaging, banter and supporting local businesses” matter not one jot if you’ve driven 30 miles to patronise a shop that went ahead and closed anyway, even knowing that you were coming to buy something…

  five other things that Amazon doesn’t give you…
  salespeople surgically attached to mobile phones
  rude and ignorant customer service departments
  premium phone numbers to call if you have a problem – amazon’s is Freephone 0800 496 1081
  a much smaller profit margin (generally) because of the competition among sellers.
  the ability to shop in your underwear.

• thesonofmyrahindley

  It’s a tired old cliché to blame Tesco for the demise of the British High Street as we know it. Tesco provides a value for money service to people all under one roof, across a wide range of hours in a clean and hygenic environment.

  Close to where I work, there’s a large erection in the form of a new Tesco. “local residents” (always a NIMBYfied term) vociferously opposed construction of this new store, complaining that it would effect “local businesses” – which in this area are a gaggle of filthy double-price corner shops which sell stale loaves of break for £2 and individial cigarettes to children.

  Interestingly, most of these “local residents” were nothing of the kind, and were Jocastas and Tabithas who reside in a much more well heeled suburb actually located in another borough.

  Does a pensioner living on state pension have the luxury of buying organic meat? Does a young working mother have time to traipse between seven shops for surly service?

  People are quick to point out Tesco is a “corporate monolith” and other hysterical terms – who do they think that these “local businessmen” are? Missionaries of charity? Profiteers would be a better term to describe them.

  The High Street rested on its laurels and had a captive consumer base for too long; with more people working different hours, the high street hasn’t moved with the times.

  Also, for those so against online shopping, spare a thought for the transvestite and transexual community who finally have the freedom to purchase womens clothes without ridicule.

• Linocutboy

  Whatever turns you on!

• http://www.jamesdclarke.com/ James Clarke

  Some interesting comments here. I live in Wolverhampton, another ‘winner’ of Portas Pilot money…so far as I can see nothing has even happened so far! Out ‘town team’ equivalent (City Centre Management Team AKA ‘WV One’) have blogged a total of 3 times since the bid was successful. Their latest Tweet informs me that they’re going to Liverpool to talk about Portas Pilots – well at least the folk in Merseyside will know what’s going on in Wolverhampton, because we sure as hell don’t!

  The 100K was never going to be a life-changing amount or even ’save’ our high street (we have the 4th highest amount of empty shops in the UK), but it did bring some hope that ideas might reinvigorate the place. At the moment, the residents of the city have seen no progress or outcomes of the Portas Pilot at all….but I suppose that’s better than what the residents of Margate have seen? Hopefully we won’t get the TV cameras here.

  Looking at the wider picture, people here are quick to complain about empty shops, but they continue to shop at out of town retail parks (who offer what is apparently the holy grail – free parking!), as well as Amazon, eBay etc.

  It’s my opinion that high streets as we know them are going to have to shrink in the next 5-10 years and what we see in our town and city centres will change. High Streets are simply too big. The amount of retail businesses can’t be sustained and we’re going to have to work out what else we fill our centres with.

  Bigger cities (such as neighbouring Birmingham) have a much larger proportion of offices and dwellings within the centre. They also have a lot more to offer in the way of entertainment and this is the only way I can see the high streets in smaller towns and cities surviving; relying less on retail as the main draw.

  I have family in Christchurch, New Zealand (which has a similar sized population to Wolverhampton)….they are recovering from a devastating Earthquake in Feb 2011 which decimated their ‘CBD’ (central business district – city centre). Over 80% of the buildings there were either destroyed or damaged so badly that they must be rebuilt.

  The City Council has recently announced details of the rebuilding plan; they are shrinking the overall size of the city centre, making it more compact in an attempt to make it more vibrant (they face the same issues as we do), they are also creating even more green spaces in and around the CBD and are creating ‘quarters’ (not a new idea) so that retail, entertainment, and other industries have their own compact areas.

  This makes a lot of sense to me and it will give people more of a reason to visit a city centre, other than just to go shopping, because let’s face it – consumer’s shopping habits are changing and our towns and cities need to adapt to this in order to survive.