The future for Thanet’s only working windmill in the care of KCC?

Draper’s Windmill or Old Mill is a Grade II Smock mill that was built in 1845. It is an important relic of local heritage that we need to preserve.

Frankly, it worries me to see valuable heritage sites in council control. I’ve lived long enough to see councils of all flavours hitting a budget crunch and then eyeing up valuable land and buildings for a quick sale to plug the deficit.

Case in point, Draper’s Mill has been in KCC’s hands for a while. Two years ago, KCC started looking at selling it along with seven other windmills.

KCC currently owns the freehold of eight historic windmills across the county. All the mills are designated (listed) buildings of high grade and were acquired by KCC as ‘owner of last resort’ between the late 1950s and the mid-1980s.

County council to discuss sale of eight windmills, including Drapers Mill in Margate, The Isle of Thanet News, 2023

I’m running for election in Margate division of Kent County Council as the Lib Dem candidate. If that’s your division, look for my name – Matthew Brown – on your ballot paper. I was born here, I grew up here, and I live here. Thanet is my home.

I remember being delighted as a child on a school trip to the windmill. I want current and future youngsters to have that same opportunity that I had. It would be a crying shame if we lost it now.

I’ve got my eye on our windmills to save them before they become a block of flats or something. Yes, I know they have listed status, but we seem to have a lot of “timely” fires. I worry about such things.

There are two things I would like to see KCC do with properties like this. They both amount to some joined-up thinking that puts our heritage sites back into the hands of the community.

Step one: Take the money that they were going to spend on the sites anyway and use it to spin up a trust, a community interest company, or a mutual society of some kind. Then transfer ownership to this arms-length agency.

If they stopped there, the project would sink like a stone. That is because the job is not finished. KCC needs to furnish the new community organisation with staff, training, and partners to help maintain the care of windmills and anything else the council can maybe not be trusted with.

This would include a single point of contact in a council fundraising advocate. A person whose job it is to help the fledgling community group connect with funding, grants, sponsorships, and everything else they need to function.

With that relatively simple two-step plan, KCC could be rid of the cost of caring for these properties. They would be free of the temptation to sell them off to raise cash for dinners and whatever else councillors spend out money on. Most importantly, something important to the area, both as a landmark and a tourist attraction, would be protected and funded under the care of local people who just want us to keep the few nice things we have left.

If elected, safeguarding Draper’s windmill will become part of my mission. There is a lot in Thanet that should be funded, protected, and nurtured. I hope to be the candidate who can offer you that.

Promoted by – Jeremy de Rose of 24 Gilbert Road, Ramsgate, CT11 7QR on behalf of Thanet Liberal Democrats.

Photo By Nigel Cox, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link