Altira

Sounds like a star, works like a black hole.

One point three million pounds... vanished.

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By the north-east Kent coast, in the fine town of Herne Bay,

nestling between the railway line and the A299,

lies the undersubscribed Altira Business Park.

It has a potential 46,450 m² of commercial space.

The contractual trigger for building a new Blacksole Bridge is having 17,000m² leased. They have leased some plots - Premier Inn, DSA, etc - totalling about 2,500m², but are still short of the required 17,000 m² . Otherwise we would have a new bridge.

Mind you, in their soft focus vision of the future when the business park looks full, there's no sign of a new bridge. An oversight, presumably.

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Visit www.SaveHillborough.info for more

Nothing to do with jollies...

Andrew is the patron saint of Greece, Prussia, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Ukraine, and sports-themed regional promotion. At the St Andrews Open (a golf thing) our plucky council workers will be promoting us for all they're worth, but it may be a waste of their time and our money.

Row over Council's £40,000 trip to golf Open

Later this month, staff from the city council will travel to St Andrews in Scotland while The Open Championship golf takes place in a trip costing Canterbury's taxpayers £40,000. The city council insists staff will be working hard to promote Canterbury in a way which it hopes will benefit the district many times over when Sandwich hosts The Open at Royal St George's this time next year. However, one prominent hotelier questions the need to promote the city when Canterbury's hotels and bed and breakfasts will be full when The Open comes to east Kent next year. David Sharma, the owner of Howfield Manor Hotel in Chartham, says promoting the city on what will be its busiest week of the year is a waste of public money.

FOR

Council spokesman Rob Davies said:

The city council has made a total contribution of £40,000, spread over two years, towards the cost of staging the Open golf in east Kent next year. This spending has nothing to do with jollies and hospitality, as some people were suggesting during our budget consultation last year; and everything to do with maximising what is a great opportunity to promote the area to a worldwide audience in much the same way as the Tour de France was.

The three staff from the city council will join people from Visit Kent and other east Kent councils at St Andrews. They will be working 16-hour days for 10 days, have no access to watch the golf and will be staying in a rented house 50 miles away from St Andrews to keep the costs down. The team will have a huge, east Kent-branded stand featuring a range of images of the area in order to promote it as a great place for golfing breaks and holidays, to make sure we get the best possible legacy from the Open golf coming to Sandwich.

We will also have the same presence at the 2012 Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes. In short, this trip will see our staff working their socks off for the benefit of the local economy and to get the maximum return for our £40,000 contribution.

AGAINST

David Sharma, who has run Howfield Manor since it reopened in autumn 2008, said:

There will be no accommodation available anywhere near Canterbury while the golf is on, so what is the point of going to St Andrews to promote accommodation? Even hotels in south London will be full during the tournament. This trip has all the hallmarks of a jolly for those people going. And given that there are going to be cutbacks in public services, going up to Scotland to watch the golf seems even more wasteful.

If the council was genuinely interested in promoting tourism in the district then it should look at trying to encourage people to come to Canterbury during the week when things are much quieter - not during the busiest week of the whole year. We don't need them promoting us when we get the business, we need it during down times. I'm going to be fully booked during the golf. I'm just bewildered about this on two counts. First, as an accommodation provider I question the need for it and secondly, as a council taxpayer I'm angry public money is being used for it.

HB Gazette 8th July 2010

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As I have mentioned elsewhere, one of my many hideous personality defects is that I just don't 'get' golf. This leaves me doubly perplexed when trying to assess the commercial logic of sending people to the other end of the country to work stupid hours for a fortnight. I'm assuming that the £40k is simply to buy our exhibitor's pass - feeding and housing our ambassadors at the other end of the country is extra. Thrilled as I am that Council employees are prepared to work 16 hour days promoting Canterbury (District, not just the City, I hope), they don't have to go to Scotland to do it.

The Open will be coming to Sandwich, regardless of the Council's presence and efforts at St Andrews. Hardened golf fans will already have decided whether to come to the Sandwich Open. Of those who are undecided and persuadable, I'm guessing only a minority will be at St Andrews. It seems like a lot of time, money and effort to catch those few waverers - a half-way decent ad campaign in the golfing press would probably do the trick.

If Mr Sharma is correct, the whole area will be fully booked during the Sandwich Open anyway, so people would end up in the bridal suite, or an over-priced broom cupboard, or in the middle of nowhere - hardly the most attractive way to be a visitor.

Key concept: "return on investment". Is anyone at our Council measuring this? Does anyone have any figures for previous years?

Heron I heart

Modern take on ancient objects

Artists from the CT6 contemporary art group have taken their inspiration from objects in Herne Bay museum for their latest exhibition. Their display, which runs until Saturday September 11 2010, is linked to the BBC/British Museum A History of the World project and features the work of 12 town artists.

Among those is Mandy Troughton, one of the co-organisers, who is exhibiting her model white heron. The exhibition has been called Art from Artefacts and has been inspired by the objects normally on show in the museum. Visitors will be encouraged to have a look at the original piece which inspired each art creation. The exhibition is free and may be seen Monday to Saturday, 10am-4pm and from 1pm~4pm on Sundays.

Tying in with the exhibition is Canterbury museum service’s Relic Trail which lasts until the end of the year and covers the district’s three museums. This is also free and was inspired by the BBC children's Relic programme.

HB Gazette 8th July 2010

Empty promises: just rinse and recycle

Kitewood, the creators of Altira Tumbleweed Park, want to recycle their unused "Blacksole Bridge commitment" as a lever for winning another planning consent, thus reducing their average costs to half-an-imaginary-bridge per consent.

The photo accompanying the Gazette article shows the outline of the area covered by the planning consent Kitewood want. It's huge.

The tilted angle gives a foreshortened view, which doesn't really do credit to Kitewood's territorial ambitions.

click it to big it

In refusing to build the new bridge at Blacksole, Kitewood are entirely and exactly within the letter of their contract with CCC. The bridge-building is triggered by  a certain level of occupancy, and to my mind CCC were completely daft to allow this clause anywhere near the contract. (Apart from anything else, it's open to abuse. In some Mediterranean countries, construction tax is levied only when the building is complete: result - a lot of 98% complete, but fully functional, buildings.) The new bridge was (rightly) viewed as a necessity to ensure our safety in the face of increased traffic. The level of traffic started increasing from Day One of Altira's development, so it would have made sense to build the new bridge right at the beginning.

What boggles me (and I only learned it from this Gazette article) is that Kitewood have already trousered a £1.3m up-front subsidy! Despite their best efforts, they've not met their occupancy targets, and that presumably hurts them in the wallet. But they're under no contractual obligation whatsoever to build the bridge. Yet. They've got their (our?) £1.3m, and nobody has mentioned giving it back. They're laughing! They must have thought our negotiators were idiots. I do.

And now Kitewood are offering to enter into a legally binding agreement (just as they already have for the Altira development) committing them to building a new bridge IF (and only if) they are given planning consent for a very large development. In Kitewood's shoes, I would be falling over myself to strike deals with Canterbury - win a million quid and do sweet F.A. is a great start! It's very easy to paint Kitewood as being the bad guys in this long and sorry tale, but they are actually just playing by the rules that CCC set and signed up to.

I'm afraid the villains of the piece appear to be those officers/members in CCC who drew up, and signed off, the dismally flawed S106 agreement. They really screwed up.

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Safety fears over delay for planned pedestrian bridge

Developers have been accused of "holding a gun" to the heads of city councillors in a row about a pedestrian footbridge in Broomfield. At a special meeting on 7th July, Kitewood - which owns the Altira Business Park in Margate Road - said it would build a new bridge over the nearby railway crossing within a year, but only if it was given consent for a 700-home development in Hillborough. Kitewood director Michael Dolan called for councillors and planning officers to support the proposal, describing it as a "trade-off".

The unofficial meeting, which dismissed the idea of traffic lights on the current Blacksole Bridge, was called by Bay councillor Peter Vickery-Jones following years of concerns over safety. Due to a condition agreed by the city council, Kitewood - which negotiated £l.3 million off the purchase of the land to pay for the bridge - is not obliged to build it until 17,000 square metres of the site is occupied. Mr Dolan told the meeting this could take as long as four or five years. He said:

"There is not the money in the pot to build the bridge now but it’s not for want of trying. There has to be the generation of wealth first. And for that there will need to be planning consent for further developments. I can promise we will enter into a legally bound commitment to press forward with this bridge if we receive support for the housing scheme at Hillborough. The uplift in the value of the land will provide funds to build a new bridge within a year. And you can have any lawyers you want draft that commitment up and we will sign it."

Bay MP Roger Gale slammed the situation, saying:

"A harsh man would say Altira have already had their money as £1.3 million was knocked off the asking price for the land. The reality is someone at the city council put this ludicrous condition into the plans which says you will have your bridge when 17,000 square metres is occupied. But that could be in four to five years, in which time one or two people could be killed. And if that happens the county council, city council and, most importantly the developers should be held accountable. You could say it looks like they’re holding a gun to our heads. They are saying 'we will give you our undertaking to build the bridge if we get consent' - and there’s the gun."

Kitewood confirmed it is committed to building the bridge when the 17,000 square metre limit is passed. City councillor Peter Vickery-Jones said he was disappointed with the Kitewood proposal, but understood the reasons for it:

"There has to be an opportunity for the developers, and I'm all for getting the situation resolved as early as possible. I would hate to think something would happen on that bridge and I hadn't done my utmost to address the problems. But this proposal is undeliverable. Every planning application has to be judged on its own merit. It's a shame we've found ourselves in somewhat of a hostage situation."

HB Gazette 8th July 2010

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Visit www.SaveHillborough.info for more

Unthinking so-and-so's

The seafront of our seaside town has been blighted with a sprouting of parking meters. A bad move, for bad reasons, with unintended consequences and a hidden fact. Canterbury City Council installed 13 parking machines along the seafront and switched them on June 28. They will operate between 8.30am to 6pm every day from April 1 to September 30 with no overnight charge. The machines are solar powered and can be paid for by cash, council parking cards or mobile phone. Council spokesman Rob Davies said:

"The council has introduced these measures to improve traffic management. The aim is to put long stay parkers into off-street car parks elsewhere in the town and encourage regular turnover of spaces on the seafront. These days, it is usual to pay for parking in seaside towns. It happens everywhere else around east Kent - all the Thanet towns and Sandwich and Deal for example - and this move to introduce charging in Herne Bay brings the town in line with others."

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So having a constant turnover of 17 and 70 year olds slewing their cars to a halt by the meters and then lurching back out into the road within a couple of hours is going to "improve traffic management". How exactly?

So Herne Bay was a little bit different from the other nearby coastal towns, and in a good way - everyone likes free parking. CCC decided that this small but distinctive advantage must be eliminated. Have a look at the vox pop piece to see some reactions - unsurprisingly, some people find it makes Herne Bay a less attractive place to visit. Thank you, CCC, for nailing the lid down.

So where are the signs pointing our visitors to the long-stay off-street car parks? No sign of them anywhere near the Marine Parade parking meters, which is where you would expect them to be, given Mr Davies' argument.

So while the users of all the other sports centres in the district get their parking charges refunded by the sports center they are visiting, the good people of Herne Bay who park on the seafront to use the Pier and gym won't. Part of the reason is that the sparkling new machines don't produce two-part tickets with counterfoils, so the gym bunnies will have a 10 minute, 650 metre trudge to and from the WIlliam Street car park, come rain or shine. Congratulations, CCC, for once again giving HB the short end of the stick.

So here's the rub: the parking fees from the Marine Parade parking meters don't even go to our beloved Canterbury City Council - the fees go to Kent County Council. Marvellous!

HB Gazette 8th July 2010

Vox pop: parking on Marine Parade

New parking machines have been installed along Herne Bay seafront. Residents have welcomed their introduction, hoping that it will reduce the number of cars in the area. But they have also prompted fears that they may have a negative impact on tourism in the town. Until just over a week ago it had been free to park cars along Marine Parade but the council has introduced a series of pay machines along the waterfront. It now costs 60p an hour to park along Marine Parade and parking is limited to two hours. However, visitors to the seaside town were less than happy with the new parking arrangements.

Mrs Mason, 89, said:
"There are advantages to this because I have neighbours who have year-long parking permits and they sometimes can't find spaces. Now, they don't have that problem."

Daniela O'Brien, 23, agreed:
"I live in Beacon Hill and I don't like the idea of people coming down and just parking here all day. At least this way they have to pay and there's a limit to the amount of time they can stay."

Gerald Davies, 69, from Medway said:
"The information about how to use the machines wasn't very clear. We have got used to coming to Herne Bay and not having to pay. Now we are restricted to two hours."

Derek Fisk, 73 from Dartford, said:
"I feel like I have wasted my time. I drove here for a day out and two hours parking is not enough. I think people will either ignore these parking meters or they'll be put off from visiting the town."

Frank Hunt, 74, from Gravesend, feels the same:
"I'm confused. The instructions are not very clear at all, not to mention that last time I visited Herne Bay parking was free so this is an extra inconvenience. You can't make a day of visiting here any more so there's no point in having a day trip out. I just use the parking spaces for nipping to shops now"

HB Gazette 8th July 2010

Hobby politicians

Well, here's a thought - "Councillors are transient amateurs whose chosen hobby is to play at local politics" - and as a result, it is the councillors (not the rest of us) who should foot the bill.

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Gesture wanted from councillors

Once again the Canterbury Times has highlighted that old chestnut of the allowances and expenses paid to Canterbury City Councillors ("Councillors pocket £386k", June 17). Former Royal Marine Commando and war veteran Albert Parris, from Herne, is not the only local council taxpayer to be dismayed and infuriated by these amounts, which total more than £386,000 and individually range from almost £32,000 down to the much more modest basic allowance of just £4,710.

At a time when local council taxpayers are set to experience cutbacks in services, and local authority staff face redundancies, it would be a welcome token gesture if all 50 local councillors refrained from claiming their allowances/ expenses, thus substantially increasing the amount of money available in the council’s coffers to maintain local services and jobs.

Councillor McMahan is very quick to defend the allowances claimed by his colleague Peter Vickery-Jones but scores an own-goal when he states: "We pay council officials more than councillors claim." In saying this, Mr McMahan entirely misses the point - the fundamental distinction between officials and councillors. Officials receive a wage or salary for carrying out a given task in accordance with a written contract of employment. They are the permanent paid employees of the local authority.

Councillors, on the other hand, are transient amateurs whose chosen hobby is to play at local politics. It is not their livelihood. Everyone is entitled to a recreational sport, hobby or pastime but for most people, whether they choose to play golf or to collect stamps, this costs them money. Is it fair then that council tax payers should foot the bill for some 50 "elected representatives" to indulge in their preferred passion for local politics?

To all those councillors who are so quick to defend the allowances/ expenses claimed, backed up with heart-rending statistics concerning the number of hours of "work" they put in each week on council business, I would repeat the following words, attributed to former US president Harry S Truman: "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

John A Fishpool, Dering Road, Herne Bay

HB Times letters 8th July 2010

Pipe dreams

Hastening our roads' decline into little more than cattle tracks sprinkled with asphalt clods, South East Water will spend 41 weeks replacing 5km of cruddy cast iron water main pipes with shiny blue plastic tubes - that's 0.00045 mph in old money. It'll be great when it's over.

Here's what they have to say about it on their website:

Water pipes which were first laid in Herne Bay more than 80 years ago during King George V’s reign are to be replaced as they reach the end of their working life. South East Water is to carry out a £1 million programme of work to replace 22 of the cast iron water mains at various locations across the town.

The pipes have served the town well during their long life time but now needs replacing to bring an end to the interruption to drinking water supplies and traffic disruption the sudden bursts are causing. In total the water company is to renew 5km of water main in Herne Bay over the next year. The new water main is made from modern plastic material which is less prone to bursts. Many of the pipes were made of cast iron, which although a strong material, can corrode over time, especially if they are laid in clay soil like that in Herne Bay.

Access for residents will be maintained throughout the work. The company aims to start construction on the 14th June 2010 and the main laying work is expected to complete by March 2011. The table below gives details of the current proposed construction timetable. This is subject to change and the website will be updated if it does so.

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I'm not sure if this table from SE Water's website is supposed to be in any particular order, but I've turned it into (more helpful?) pictures...

Click the thumbnail below for what's happening where (and in what order):

click it to big it

And click this one for a different look at the rollout:

click it to big it

High maintenance councillors pocket £386k

Expenses, expenses - dontcha just love them? No suggestion here of unseemly duck houses or whatnot, I believe this is all above-board, as-per-normal stuff. It all mounts up pretty quickly, far exceeding the projected savings from museum closures, for example. But it's the salaries that bug me. And Mr Parris has a point.

The price of democracy at Canterbury City Council is a third of a million pounds. Last year the 50 councillors cost us all £386,511 in allowances. Top of the pile was Tory council leader John Gilbey (Blean Forest) with £31,833, which included special responsibility money of £21,138, another £2,129 for his car and £431 in mobile phone charges.

Herne and Broomfield's Peter Vickery-Jones was the second-highest paid councillor with £13,576, including £5,883 for special responsibility £1,596 for his car and £437 for his mobile phone. Wincheap's Alex Perkins, leader of the Liberal Democrats, claimed £13,056, including £269 for his mobile phone and £675 for travel. Whitstable's Julia Seath, the Labour group leader, claimed £6,234.

The best value councillor was Tankerton's Martin Fisher; with just his basic allowance of £4,710. He is currently on bail facing child sex offence charges. Next cheapest was Herne Bay's Vince McMahan, with £4,802.92, including a £92.92 bill for his car. Seven councillors only claimed £4,890 (their basic allowance, plus £180 PC allowance): Mike Berridge; Robert Bright; Paul Carnell; Roger Matthews (recently cleared on corruption charges); Mike Steed; Heather Taylor and Martin Vye.

News of the allowances infuriated war veteran Albert Parris, 73, of Herne. The former Royal Marines Commando fumed:

"Our councillor Peter Vickery-Jones received £13,576, which is more than some of our soldiers get on the front line. It is outrageous. How can he justify that sort of money when we have injured soldiers denied proper artificial limbs? He even gets an allowance from the parish council."

Mr Parris was so incensed he has written to both Whitstable and Canterbury MP Julian Brazier, and the Prime Minister David Cameron. He said:

"It makes my blood boil when I have to beg, steal and borrow £370 to hire a coach to take our guys to Gable Cross police station to salute dead Marines coming back from the frontline. Councillors are making a laughing stock out of us with our money especially when everyone is having to make cuts."

Mr Vickery-Jones was not available for comment, but he is a member of the council's executive with responsibility for property and engineering, planning and regeneration, housing, community safety environmental services, community development and outdoor leisure, including beach huts. He also serves on the Herne Bay area members panel, and the housing appeals and benefits committee. He is a magistrate and member of the Canterbury and Herne Bay Volunteers Centre and Canterbury Mediation Service. The former Merchant Navy marine engineer lives in Herne Bay with his wife and their daughter; and is a governor of Herne Junior School. He has since re-trained as a plumber.

HB Times 17th June 2010

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It's a vexing question, whether the Elected should be paid, and if so - what for, and how much? Nobody's forcing them to be there, after all - they volunteered for a spell of selfless sacrifice for the common good. The Car, Travel, Mobile and PC categories are what I would regard as expenses. The fixed Basic allowance, plus the grand total of the various "Special Responsibilities" tariffs the councillor has chosen to take on, look to me like a salary by-any-other-name.

The Council probably has a small swarm of officers devoted to drawing up contracts. I would like to see them produce a contract that describes what the councillors must do for the Electorate before they can claim their salaries, let alone their expenses. One of our councillors moved to Surrey not so recently, his attendance dropped from 90-ish% to 20%, but his salary is an undiminished 100% - bonkers.

No expenses spared

The nitty-gritty in all its unadorned nitty-grittiness. Here are our councillors' expenses for 2009 - find out who's chatty, who's got wanderlust, and who's just very, very special. I've corrected a couple of errors in the table as it appeared in the HB Times, and re-jigged it as an Excel spreadsheet. There's a link at the bottom of the article for you to download it. Click the table below to see a bigger version.

click it to big it

Download the spreadsheet

Museum Friends in the press

Crash, bang, wallop! A massive multi-media extravaganza accompanied the public launch of the the Friends of Herne Bay Museum - people, dogs, cameras, sunshine, words on sticks, you name it - total sensory saturation, Herne Bay style.

Save our museum for sake of town

A campaign group which wants to save Herne Bay Museum from closure has been formed. The Friends of Herne Bay are battling to keep the museum in William Street open after the city council announced plans to change it to an education centre for schools and advanced bookings as part of an effort to cut its budget by £35 million over two years. Nearly 2,000 people signed a petition to try to stop museum closing David Cross, the Friends’ secretary, said:

“Herne Bay museum is different from the rest of the museums in the council’s remit. The larger part of the collection is owned by the Historical Records Society who hold it in trust for the town. Unlike Whitstable and Canterbury there was no supporting interest group representing the users of the museum and the residents of the town.

After an encouraging campaign there was a strong feeling that the body of opinion revealed in the petition and the letters, needed permanent representation. This especially at a time when the council is talking to interested parties and stakeholders. The Friends of Herne Bay Museum representing the interests of the users and supporters of the Museum in Herne Bay now needs people to join and help to secure the future of one of the town’s important attractions.”

HB Gazette 17th Jun 2010

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Friends wanted to help preserve the museum

Supporters of Herne Bay Museum are being encouraged to join a Friends group to help keep it open. Council bosses announced last year that they planned to close the museum in William Street and replace it with an education centre for schools and groups which would have to book in advance and pay a fee. After massive public opposition and a petition of almost 2,000 signatures, officials decided to keep the museum open for a year while they discuss options for its future. Now campaigners have formed a support group to make sure the town’s views are heard. Spokesman David Cross said:

“The council received many letters and e-mails in support of the museum, and although the total museum budget has now been cut, the museum remains open while the council engages in a consultation exercise.

Herne Bay Museum is different from the rest of the museums in the council’s remit. The larger part of the collection is owned by the Historical Records Society which holds it in trust for the town. Unlike Whitstable and Canterbury there was no supporting interest group representing the users of the museum and the residents. After an encouraging campaign there was a strong feeling that the body of opinion revealed in the petition and the letters needed permanent representation.”

HB Times 24th Jun 2010

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The group is now encouraging as many people as possible to join up and help play their part in securing the museum’s future. Membership costs £5 per year for individuals, £8 for families and £50 for a life membership. For more information e-mail museumfriends@hernebaymatters.com or write to Membership Secretary, The Friends of Herne Bay Museum, 56 Beacon Hill, Herne Bay CT6 6JN.

2004: a vintage year for reports

The not-so-dusty Pier report from 2004 has been the cause of much pulse-quickening, gander-upping and even name-calling. My insatiable curiousity compelled me to send my spies to the four corners of the earth to learn more, and here's some of what I have gleaned...

The report itself is made of unobtainium and is scarcer than unicorn poo - it appears that very few people have actually held a copy in their hands. It is not available on the Canterbury City Council website. It is not available anywhere online, as far as I know, but it will be available here shortly. One of my operatives based in the North Africa bureau traced a fragment of the elusive document through an antiquarian booksellers in Marrakech. By a great stroke of good fortune, it's the executive summary of the 2004 report, and is well worth a couple of glances.

• It turns out that people have been peering at the Pier on and off for decades: Feb 1974, Dec 1996, Jun 1998 and the now contentious 2004 report. In the meantime, of course, the Pier itself has been falling to bits.
• At the beginning of 2004, CCC chose PMP Consultants (from a shortlist of three) to produce a feasibility study into "a new pier at Herne Bay" in PMP's words, or "the rebuilding of Herne Bay pier" in Canterbury's words.
• The study was jointly funded by Canterbury City Council, Kent County Council and Tourism South East (now called Visit South East England), and was seen as being the first phase of the project: investigating the options for the new pier and assessing the economic viability of the project.
• In March 2004, CCC had the good manners to ask the people of Herne Bay about "the kind of facilities a new pier should provide". I'll see if I can track down what, if anything, they were told.
• In May 2004, PMP delivered their report on the future of Herne Bay Pier - here's the summary.
• In June 2004, CCC announced that PMP had delivered the report, and gave their own summary of PMP's findings - do feel free to compare the two and play spot-the-difference.

Two-thirds Canterbury City

Grab a handful of your favourite blood pressure medicine and have a good hard stare at this. Times are hard and getting harder, attractions are closed and closing. In Canterbury, however, there's over £1 million ear-marked for Westgate Gardens...

Canoeing pontoons, fishing platforms and an outdoor gym are all part of Canterbury council's plans to revamp the Westgate Gardens. The idea is to spend £1,136,000 on the green space, including Toddlers' Cove, to bring it up to date.

Executive member for the environment, Cllr Rosemary Doyle, said:

"This has been in the pipeline for quite a long time. It does need doing. Every now and again you have to revise and see how gardens are being used and whether they are being used for their best effect. The idea is to make it usable for more people. Certainly the canoeing and the fishing are things we have had requests for as people are interested in it. There are canoeing groups that use bits of the Stour at the moment, and we want to make it easier for them to use the river. This will benefit all sorts of groups.

The aim is for it to have universal appeal with improved play areas for children, to improve things for young people such as the canoeing and the fishing, and to make it comfortable for people to walk there and have picnics and admire the trees and the flowers. We want to bring more of the river in to use as well; that is one of the garden's great strengths. It is a huge asset to Canterbury."

The park will benefit from a new play area for children, new bridges, an extended area for events near the Westgate Towers, a better picnic area and improvements to the war memorial area. In Toddlers' Cove, the area of the park further out of town, there are plans to make the area under the Rheims Way bridge safer with CCTV, better lighting and fences and make it easier for people to enjoy the river and its wildlife.

In particular the council wants to open up Bingley Island, a semi-natural site covered in scrubland and trees, so people can better enjoy it. And near where the children's play area is there could be canoeing and fishing areas. Riverside Meadow, which is directly over the river from the picnic area, space will be opened up for older children to play ball games. And the council wants to emphasize the heritage and cultural aspects of the gardens with educational activities, archaeology etc. There will also be new toilets and paths, seating and lighting throughout.

The council already has £377,500 for the project, much of which is from developers who are required to give some money for community projects when they build houses and flats. And the rest is to come from the Heritage Lottery Fund, if a bid the council is to put in during August is successful.

The plans are out for public consultation, so to find out more and have your say go to: www.canterbury.gov.uk/westgategardens or visit the Information Centre in Sun Street. Those who fill in the council's questionnaire by Friday, July 9 have the chance to win £100 of vouchers valid in many high street shops.

yourcanterbury.co.uk 9th June 2010

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If ever you need a handy reminder of what's wrong with Canterbury City Council, the clue's in the name:

It's two-thirds Canterbury City and one-third Council.

In terms of population and tax revenue, the district is fairly evenly split into four: the Villages, Canterbury, Herne Bay, and Whitstable. In terms of spend, Canterbury seems to be getting the lion's share: the Beaney is an £11.6 million project; the New Marlowe is a £25.5 million project; the Westgate Gardens revamp is a £1.1 million project. More locally, the Herne Bay Pier Trust has received £5,000 in start-up funding - a reflection of CCC's priorities, I suppose.

When CCC was explaining the budget cuts earlier this year, they went out of their way to pre-empt the oft-repeated complaint that Herne Bay is the "poor relation":

... ongoing regeneration work shows that the council is putting plenty of resources into Herne Bay, so the suggestion it is the poor relation is simply a myth.

Bollocks.

Pier Board: Who's Who

The Herne Bay Pier Trust was set up in 2008.  This is your handy, at-a-glance Who's Who and Who does What guide.

Julian Jennings - Chairman

Julian is married to Angela with three children and has lived in Herne Bay since 1989. Julian has 30 years experience in financial services, including as Sales Director within a financial services division of Lloyds Bank.  He now has diverse business interests as a landlord and Compliance Consultant to a small portfolio of financial services firms.  He is also Managing Director of two private limited companies, Guardian Estate Nominees Ltd and Estate Shield Ltd.

Andy Newell - Membership Secretary

Andy has fought publicly for many years for the restoration of Herne Bay's pier. He has many memories of the old pier and passionately believes it should be restored to its former glory as a benefit not only to the people of Herne Bay but also for the rest of the country. Andy is married to Jackie and has two daughters: Nicola 19 and Frances 17; and a son Todd 21. He works in the construction industry.

Michael Khoury

Michael has lived in Herne Bay for 23 years where his business interests include amusement arcades, catering and retail. He is a founder member of Town Partners and active in Herne Bay's Chamber of Commerce, for which he is currently President. He started life in a refugee camp and as a young man he worked on oil rigs in the Arabian Gulf. He was Employee Relations Representative for an American company for 4 years before being head hunted for the Ministry of Petroleum. After 5 years he moved to the UK, where he met his wife June.

Sue Austen - Website Administrator

Sue was born and brought up in Kent, and has lived in Herne Bay for almost 10 years with her husband, two teenage children, and two dogs. She has worked for over 25 years as an independent film and television producer and has made programmes for the BBC, ITV and Channel Four. Her first feature film was selected for the prestigious Director's Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival and she has received two BAFTA nominations for her work.

Jason Hollingsworth - Treasurer

Jason is a Chartered Accountant with over 17 years of commercial experience.  He has worked extensively for blue chip organisations, including as Manager of Price Waterhouse and an Associate Director of Deutsche Bank.  In the past decade his focus has been on the Third Sector where he has fulfilled roles including Finance Director of a multi-million pound public arts project in London (www.alunatime.org).  He has also co-founded a number of not-for-profit enterprises including etheco.com.  Jason lives in Herne Bay with his wife and two children.

Andrea Leach

Andrea, 44, is married to Kim and has 2 sons Alex and Max.  Born in Canterbury he has lived all his life locally and moved to Herne Bay over 3 years ago.  Andrea is passionate about improving and developing the town.  He is bilingual Italian and has extensive business contacts both locally and in London. Andrea has over 20 years extensive European B2B experience with a number of leading global FMCG companies, including the sports apparel and leisure sector. As Capital Appeals Manager for a local children's charity he helped to raise £6.5m to build and open South London's first residential children's hospice.  He has worked with Britain's oldest brewer Shepherd Neamne as an Export Consultant for over five years.

Ian Priston

Ian is a communications manager responsible for relationships with the media and a wide variety of public bodies for the Courts Service in London. He is experienced in new public building project management, consultation, advising government and explaining proposals to wide audiences. Ian moved to Herne Bay with his wife Jane and their three young children last year and believes passionately that the town deserves a pier it can be proud of and which will appeal to future generations.

Peter Lee

Is a Conservative Councillor representing the Herne Bay ward West Bay on Canterbury City Council.. Peter has lived in Herne Bay for 50 years and has been involved in many local voluntary organisations during that time.  He runs his own IT Consultancy based in the town.

Margaret Flaherty

Is a Liberal Democrat Councillor representing Greenhill and Eddington Wards. Margaret lives in Herne Bay and is a teacher and mother of four grown up children.?

Portfolios for 2010/11

In this year's round of CCC parlour games, the music has stopped, everyone is sitting comfortably, and all the boys and girls have excitedly unwrapped whatever package they are holding to see what the year ahead holds for them. See who's got what...

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JOHN GILBEY

Policy and Improvement:

Corporate Policy

Scrutiny

Performance

Corporate Projects

Consultation

Planning and Regeneration:

Planning Policy

Conservation and Countryside, including Arboriculture

Housing Strategic Policy & Enabling

Culture and Enterprise:

Marlowe Theatre (+ Darren Ellis)

Economic Development

Markets

Town Centre Management

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JEAN LAW

Culture and Enterprise:

International

Communications:

Press

Marketing

Internal Communications

Customer Services Client

Web and Intranet Development Client

Civic Team

Sponsorship

Advertising

Community Development and Outdoor Leisure:

Community Development

Neighbourhood Development

Community Services

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TONY AUSTIN

Housing, Community Safety & Environmental Services:

Housing Landlord

Supported Housing

Housing Options & Interventions

Asset Management (Housing)

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ROSEMARY DOYLE

Housing, Community Safety & Environmental Services:

Environmental Protection

Commercial Health

Street Scene

Community Development and Outdoor Leisure:

Outdoor Leisure

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DARREN ELLIS

Culture and Enterprise:

Museums

Sports Development

Active Life

Cultural Policy

Marlowe Theatre (+ John Gilbey)

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PETER LEE

ICT and Customer Services:

ICT

Customer Services Operation

Procurement

HR Client

Finance:

Finance

Legal and Democratic:

Democratic Services

Legal

Elections and ERO

Revenues and Benefits:

Benefits

Local Taxation

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MIKE PATTERSON

Culture and Enterprise:

Tourism

Planning and Regeneration:

Transport & Parking Strategy

Property and Engineering:

Whitstable Harbour

Engineers

Facilities Management

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ANN TAYLOR

Culture and Enterprise:

Arts & Events

Community Development and Outdoor Leisure:

Community Assets (Westgate, Kings, Horsebridge, Whitstable Castle)

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PETER VICKERY-JONES

Housing, Community Safety & Environmental Services:

Community Safety

Parking Enforcement

Licensing

Community Development and Outdoor Leisure:

Foreshore

Beach Huts

Planning and Regeneration:

Development Control

Building Control

Planning Enforcement

Land Charges

Property and Engineering:

Estates and Valuation

Building Maintenance

Architects’ Projects

Newbies at the Pier

Here's the potted biographies-cum-pitches from the three Trustees confirmed at the AGM, one staying, two new. Michael Khoury has what I find to be a disarmingly honest and direct approach: if the Pier succeeds, the town will succeed, and his assorted business interests in the town will prosper - clear-cut and straightforward. Ian Priston looks promising as our new communications wizard, and will need to put in some spell-binding performances if we're to pull any rabbits out of this particular hat. Andrea Leach has a solid background in the nitty-gritty world of fund-raising, and willingly walked straight into this challenge, for which I applaud him. I'm pleased with all three.

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TRUSTEES FOR RE-ELECTION

MICHAEL KHOURY
Michael has lived in Herne Bay for 23 years where his business interests include amusement arcades, catering and retail. He is a founder member of Town Partners and active in Herne Bay's Chamber of Commerce, for which he is currently President. He started life in a refugee camp and as a young man he worked on oil rigs in the Arabian Gulf. He was Employee Relations Representative for an American company for 4 years before being head hunted for the Ministry of Petroleum. After 5 years he moved to the UK, where he met his wife June.

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NOMINATIONS FOR ELECTION AS TRUSTEE

IAN PRISTON
Herne Bay deserves a pier it can be proud of and I am committed to doing all I can to achieving that goal, particularly by helping build the trust's profile. Quite new to Herne Bay, my wife and I moved to the area to obtain a better life for our 3 young children. We chose well! By profession I am a communications manager responsible for relationships with the media and a wide variety of public bodies for the Courts Service in London. I am experienced in new public building project management, consultation, advising government and explaining proposals to wide audiences.

ANDREA LEACH
Andrea, 44 is happily married to Kim and has 2 sons Alex (16) and Max (12). Born in Canterbury he has lived all his life locally and moved to Herne Bay over 3 years ago and is passionate about improving and developing the Town! Andrea has over 20 years extensive European B2B experience with a number of leading global FMCG companies, including the Sports Apparel and Leisure sector. As Capital Appeals Manager for a Local Children's Charity he helped to raise £6.5m to build and open South London's First Residential Children's Hospice in South London. He is bilingual Italian and has extensive business contacts both locally and in London. He has worked with Britain's Oldest Brewer Shepherd Neame as an Export Consultant for over 5 years. Andrea would like to use his Business Contacts and experience as a Trustee and seeks your proactive support to help him make a difference!

Get blooming

Competition time is growing nearer. Entry forms are now available for this year's Herne Bay in Bloom competition. The gardening contest is open to people in all areas of Herne Bay, with prizes of gardening vouchers for a range of categories.

Forms can be collected from the library or council office in William Street or by calling 07540 392916. The closing date is Thursday, June 10 and judges will visit on Tuesday, July 6. Anyone who can help with the competition or sponsor a prize should e-mail herne_bayinbloom@live.co.uk or call secretary Colleen Ashwin-Kean on 07540 392916.

It's time to "Grow for gold!" as Cllr Rosemary Doyle said at the recent launch by Herne Bay in Bloom. Another term in the punitentiary for the appropriately named Rosemary, methinks.

Homeless, begging, and saving lives

The Council sold the Coastwatch building for £54,000 - I have no idea where they spent that windfall. The Coastwatch now need to raise £60,000 for a new building. The words "insult" and "injury" spring to mind.

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Plea to save coastwatch's "eyes and ears" service

Lookouts at Herne Bay's only coastwatch tower have set up a fundraising scheme to stop it going under. The Friends of NCI (National Coastwatch Institution) Herne Bay initiative hope to provide financial support to the building on the Esplanade, which faces closure after its lease expires in October 2010*. It would mean the town losing the eyes and ears of 24 trained lookouts who keep a watch on the coast every weekend. The new scheme, costing members £3 a month or £60 for a life-time membership, will support the tower's bid to raise £60,000 for a new building just 200 yards away.

Other fundraisers this month - a collection at Sainsbury's in Westwood Cross and a quiz night in Beltinge - helped add £800 to the cause. Watchkeeper Bob Eslea, 70, said:

“It is essential Herne Bay has a watch station. The coastguard can't spot a child on a dinghy being swept out to sea, or a swimmer in trouble in strong tides. They can't watch over small fishing boats, jet-bikes and yachts without radar reflectors, and they can't see the paragliders who launch from the cliffs off Reculver. There's also a chance they could miss mayday calls made on the wrong radio frequency - calls we may pick up when monitoring the channels.”

Friends of the new scheme will receive a welcome pack and quarterly newsletter about the progress and developments at the watch station. For more details about joining the scheme email ncihernebay@talktalk.net or visit www.baywatch-hernebay.blogspot.com

HB Gazette 27th May 2010

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* The new landlords have generously agreed to extend the lease for another year so the Coastwatch now have until October 2011 to establish themselves in new premises.

Monkshill Farm getting a café and shop

Monkshill Farm is just made of goodness - good people doing good things for the right reasons, and making great food into the bargain. Go and have a look round, and treat yourself to some of their food.

Ground broken for farm's café and shop

A hoped-for royal visitor cried off - but dignitaries turned out in force for a ground-breaking ceremony at a children’s farm on Tuesday. Mayor of Swale Adrian Crowther and the deputy Lieutenant of Kent Frank Martin were among guests to see the turning of the first turf of what will be a new shop and cafe at the farm in Monkshill Road, Waterham, near Faversham.

The honour would have gone to Sophie, Countess of Wessex, who is patron of the Royal School for Deaf Children in Margate with which the farm is linked, but she cancelled the trip due to illness. Instead the task fell to the Right Honourable Viscountess Lady Monckton of Brenchley a long-time supporter of the John Townsend Trust which runs both the school and farm and associated projects for young people with hearing problems and other disabilities.

The 300-acre farm is run as a commercial operation, selling fresh meat and eggs to restaurants such as the Sportsman at Seasalter. It is also an educational establishment. Youngsters visit regularly to help care for the animals, which include chickens, calves, sheep and alpacas. The skills they learn there help them to live independent lives. The new shop will eventually incorporate the farm’s butchery and meat-packing department.

Much of the £100,000 needed for the first phase of building work has still to be raised, but it is hoped it will be found in time for the shop to open in 2011.

HB Times 20th May 2010

Blood from a stone

My favourite "whinger" sheds some light on how she earned the title from a local councillor. It seems to me that her question is pretty straightforward and reasonable, and I'm disappointed (but not that surprised) that Kim's run into the all too familiar wall of silence.

No pier answer

I am disappointed the Pier Trust has become embroiled in my communications with the city council about plans to rebuild the pier (Storm brewing for pier trust). I feel the matter has flared out of proportion and would like to put events into perspective. The pier has long been used as a vote-catcher at election times by various political parties. I think it is perfectly reasonable for me to ask the owners - Canterbury City Council - what efforts they have made to rebuild it following the Herne Bay Pier Report of 2004.

It was commissioned by the city and county councils and a tourism body. I have asked all three parties the same question: "What action was taken following the report to progress the rebuild of the pier?" I want to know how the city council feels justified in simply stating there are no funds. I have also contacted the city council and Herne Bay MP Roger Gale. I have received various evasive responses but not one factual answer.

As an individual I believe I am entitled to contact my council(s) on issues that matter to me, equally with elected councillors and my MP.

I am a life member of the Pier Trust, give my total support to the cause and hold Trust members in the highest of esteem. They have a thankless task ahead and work tirelessly. Two new members joined at the annual meeting. I believe there are exciting times ahead.

Kim Hennelly

HB Times letters 20th May 2010