Margate sets out to restore its magic

A subcommittee of the Margate Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association held a meeting and were unanimous about one point: “Let’s fix Margate’s negatives!’, South Coast Herald reports

The inaugural meeting, spearheaded by estate agent George Enslin, was held to discuss the way forward for Margate.

He was joined by Surina Smuts from Robin Petterson’s office, Ray Basson from Anthony and Basson Development and a discussion ensued on the opportunities that exist to make Margate better and more tourist friendly.

One of the many ideas was working towards getting Margate voted as a Special Rating Area (SRA), which has been rolled out by Southbroom and subsequently Ramsgate.

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“We all know Margate’s problems, but enough of the negatives! We want to find and implement solutions to restore Margate,” said Enslin.

“We got close with the last Kwela ‘Dorp van die Jaar’ competition, but we will not lose out again. We need everyone’s input,” he added.

This was reiterated by Ms Smuts, who said South Coasters are lucky to live in paradise and everyone needs to be positive about Margate. She added that the municipality does an exceptional job of keeping the town spotless and they should be thanked for their hard work.

Mr Enslin said the tide was turning for Margate and explained that, in the last six months, Margate had gone from having 23 empty shops to – most recently – ONLY seven.

Mr Basson said that it was about time we stopped this negative talk and took action to turn Margate around.

An ‘action’ meeting will be held at RJ’s in Margate on July 6 at 8am. Officials from the Ray Nkonyeni Municipality and businessmen and women will be invited and members of the public who only have positive input on how to improve Margate are also invited to attend.

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– Caxton News Service