Plymouth's Ocean City brand 'must be more than words'

“Where's the Ocean ????

English Channel aint it?”

“What is there to see nowadays when you want a quiet walk around the Barbican and Hoe sea front? Just row upon row of posh yachts bobbing about on water that seems to be exclusively marked out for those with cash to burn. As for MOunt Wise - well!!! There's a constant struggle by the council to spend money on providing more facilities for fewer people. We are supposed to believe that these fewer people will bring prosperity to the city. So the local council charge ahead in the vain hope that this will prove to be correct. But how can that be? Meanwhile the rest of us have to stand aside and watch the favoured few enjoying the best bits of our water front and city! This city could quite easily be named Tale Of Three Cities because that's what we have here. Three quite distinct categories of inhabitants...those with and those without and those stuck in the middle who are expected to finance silly schemes that have no substance in them whatsoever. I suppose, to be fair, that we can hardly expect Plymouth to be an economic beacon of hope in these dark days of recession and unemployment, but we should expect that they try to set higher standards of expectations for the local population by helping small firms and businesses to flourish so they can take on staff and help ease unemployment in the city. That's the biggest criteria. Everything stems from having a high number of people in employment so they have extra cash to spend in local shops. If the Chamber of Commerce and the local council got together to spend money on giving extra support to struggling businesses by way of reduced rents etc. for a period of say twelve months - which would give those firms a chance to get established, it would make far more sense that chucking money away on daft schemes. One small firm based on the northern edge of the city has to pay £1200 per month in rent. They are struggling to survive. They need to take on two people to help with stock management and general office work but cannot afford to employ anyone because the rent is so high, so two members of one family who run the business, are working like dogs to keep their heads above water. Now if that rent were reduced by half for twelve months two people could be employed and taken off the dole and that little company has a chance to get established and flourish putting back money into the local economy. Multiply that across many other small businesses and you will see a council that is trying to make a difference. I'm sure that if something like this were proposed we would all see the benefits. And by the way - if anyone from the council is reading this please get the area around the university entrance cleaned up. It's a disgrace - as are the so called students wandering around like street people. University City - Ocean City whatever next?”

“At the end of the day its all just words, and probably very expensive words at that if some PR firm have come up with them. I notice that the most glowing admiration for Mr Evans comes from a chartered architect. Not really surprising since it must be chartered architects with their great qualifications and vast experience of the needs and wishes of the people of Plymouth who have ripped the heart out of what was once OUR city centre, destroying the perfectly safe Royal Parade underpass and removing the three pedestrian crossings outside the Pannier Market, in the process turning both sites into deathtraps for those on foot, one waiting to happen, the other already tragically confirmed.
I think the most startling words in the Herald report came from Mr Evans himself: 'The city centre is far larger than needed for a population of this size' (or words to that effect) if that doesn't start alarm bells ringing then nothing will. I wonder if he also said 'An airport with two runways is far too large for a city this size' quickly followed by 'A city this size doesn't need an airport at all!'
Funny how everything my city doesn't need has a developer just dying to get hold of it!”

“There used to be a wonderful tiled mural depicting the history of Plymouth in the subway under Royal Parade. I wonder what happened to it? Oh yes. Tudor had it filled in didn't he so the pedestrians could mingle with the traffic.”

“I think that Tudor Evans and Plymouth City council should be applauded for their enlightened and collaborative approach to the future of Plymouth and the production of the Plymouth Plan.

The Plymouth Plan event held on Tuesday in the Council Chamber in partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects was an open free event that gave all and any interested parties the opportunity to come along and express their view and or ask questions and it was fantastic to see so many people in attendance.

The issues discussed were much more in-depth than just branding and the whole debate is available to watch on-line at : http://tinyurl.com/crdmbpp

http://tinyurl.com/chzwflk”

“There are old pics on the net of people strolling and picknicking on the Sound breakwater because pleasure ferries used to operate to and from it, it's a pity it's not been continued..”

“When all is said and done and all the arguments for and against have been put forward, all that is left is a very dowdy, grubby and messed up city that has been let run to seed by a succession of dozy council high flying plans that had never had very much relevance to what the local population really needs. It's all vanity and big sounding projects that earn money for private investors, who when their latest concrete palace has been created shove off back up to London and leave us all here wondering what the heck is coming next. Good, sound housekeeping is what is needed here. Once all the basic problems have been addressed and the city is looking cleaned up and fresh then you can start putting the cherries on top of the cake. At the moment we have cherries trying to be placed on mouldy old buns that were never baked very well in the first place. that's how all these daft ideas come across to me anyway... sorry if I tread on toes but I used to love this city - it felt as though it belonged to me and I was a part of it. Now I will not go into the City Centre, it feels awful to me so I stay away. If I want to go to the shops then I go to Bath for the day...we do that trip three of four times a year. The rest of our shopping is from out of town supermarkets or else we go along to Tavistock and get fresh produce from the market there. Someone on the City Council needs to get a reality check and start working from the bottom up to get things in order. We do not have a sea front as such here, we do not have a beach, we do not have any attractions to keep tourists in the city for hours at a time or for locals to enjoy. The Barbican has been totally ruined. It ought to be made into a special area to show off Plymouth's history - not to show off the local drunks and young lady binge drinkers who cackle and stagger through the street and then give us a showing of their underwear as they sprawl over the pavements dead drunk each week-end! Good Heavens!”

“Newplymouth...I respectfully take your point however, i do not feel i missed the point. Such a campaign strategic change would had to have been signed off by the leader. Metaphorically speaking...A captain of a ship takes full responsibility even when not on watch? If you devise a campaign or strategically change a strat line....there needs to be a correlation to the message your trying to promote. A clear example would be Plymouth- City of Naval Heritage? The message is clear. ( Note previous comment) Tudor (had) runs his own PR company for Labour? From what you say its clear that strategic thinking both locally, politically & nationally all have links to Tudor as he signed then all off so he therefore must take ultimate responsibility. The problem is simple he is trying to gain column inches in free press coverage taking his usual stance without thinking through the implications thereof.”

“Well, I still think all this smacks of Bay Watch - I do hope they manage to get 'The Hoff' to cut the ribbon when the project is finished. Which Ocean are we thinking of by the way?”

“@fiest1406
Can I respectfully suggest that you are missing the point?
It is not Tudor Evans who has designed this Brand strategy but a group of marketing professionals with much experience in this field. Moreover they are local people unlike the expensive London agency who came up with Positively Plymouth.”