NEW ROMNEY NEWS

MARTELLO TOWER 25 UPDATE - from Romney Marsh Herald Column by Jason Martin of Marsh Forward

I am delighted to be able to announce a major development in a project we have been working on with Dymchurch Parish Council, Shepway District Council and Dymchurch Parish Plan since September last year.

Some of you may have heard we had plans for Martello Tower 25. Well you are correct. Since September 2004 we have been discussing ways to develop a project that is focussed on Dymchurch's teenagers, young people and children, who unlike other parts of Romney Marsh have very limited opportunities in their own village.

With local teenager, Lauren Buckner, leading the way as the representative of Dymchurch's young people, we have begun developing a scheme that will create a Drop-In Centre for local young people, will create local jobs & training opportunities, will increase access to IT training & the internet and will rescue Martello Tower 25 from its gradual decline.

In simple terms we want to take over Tower 25 and turn it into a Drop-In Centre (or meeting place) for young people and a Cyber Cafe (with the Cyber Cafe running as a training scheme for young people).

At the moment we are preparing a Business Plan for the scheme, which we will be available in March once it’s completed. We are planning an event in April to find out what local people think of the idea.

We are extremely grateful to Shepway District Council for the support they have shown to our idea so far. At the moment Tower 25 is not up for sale and Shepway Council have confirmed that it will remain that way for a year, during which time we will be able to finalise our Business Plan and locate funding for the scheme.