Pssst... wanna run a festival?

Hmmm... our beloved Council is looking for someone to run the HB Festival. You'll have to hurry though - the closing date for applications is 16th January 2013. Don't these people ever plan ahead? Do they really think they'll get the best possible applicants by leaving it until a few days before Christmas to publish the invitation to tender? Unless, of course, they've already got someone in mind...

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Council seeks coastal festivals delivery partners

The city council is looking for organisations or individuals who think they have what it takes to build on the successes of the Whitstable Oyster Festival and Herne Bay Festival in 2013.

The successful delivery partners will take the established festival brands and develop an exciting programme of events and activities to take them to the next level.

Managing and delivering these popular events that regularly attract up to 15,000 people each year, the successful organisations will actively work within the local communities to shape, and help put their mark on, these annual community celebration events.

The council is keen to ensure that events and activities that are important to the local community, economy and visitors, such as the coastal festivals, are led by those that have the experience, specialisms and networks to ensure their future growth and success.

The council will be looking to contract new delivery partners for both festivals in early 2013. Expressions of interest from organisations or individuals are being sought through the south east business portal at www.businessportal.southeastiep.gov.uk , where the opportunities and individual requirements for each festival are set out. The closing date for expressions of interest is Wednesday 16 January 2013.

The council’s Head of Culture and Enterprise, Janice McGuinness, said: “The coastal festivals are an excellent example of how culture, tourism and our local economy can enhance our communities by promoting and celebrating what’s great about where we live.

“Ensuring our festivals are rooted within our local communities is key to their future development and growth, and the council looks forward to working with the new delivery partners.”

CCC 21 December 2012

Old tree, new tree

If you're one of the people who think that plants have feelings, and have been worrying about THAT Christmas tree that came in for so much stick, you can rest easy. After being needled in the press for days, it has been rather neatly recycled by Herne Bay in Bloom and Beach Creative in their Christmas grotto in the bandstand. All its branches have been (gently) snipped off and artfully arranged on the seasonal backdrop to the Christmas Fair.

The Christmas Fair is running this weekend - click HERE for details.

And what of the new tree? Well, at first it too was on the receiving end of a communal raspberry. I'm delighted to say that some of our townsfolk didn't just shuffle away grumbling, but got together and pulled together (Blitzmas spirit?) to primp and prettify it into something very definitely Christmassy.

Photo by Alan Porter

Christmas message from the Pier Trust

Good News for the future of the Pier

Three trustees of the HB Pier Trust attended the executive meeting of Canterbury City Council last Thursday and although they arrived smarting from the negative vibes in the press about an ultimatum to "shape up or ship out", they were pleasantly surprised by the positive attitude of the councillors at the meeting. Anyone wanting to hear what actually happened and what was said can listen to the recording of the executive meeting on the CCC website.

Repairs to the Existing Pier

The first item on the agenda relating to the pier was what actions should be taken about the poor condition of the wood in the substructure - not the planks you see when you walk on the pier but the wooden joists underneath them. The Pier Trust and CCC had already discussed this problem and it was mutually agreed that the Trust is not in a position financially to tackle repairs on this scale. This was a major reason for the Pier Trust preferring the management of the pier to remain at present with the council. Until it has established the hut village as a regular source of income, it knows it is not ready to take on management of the pier.

The 4 options to fund the urgently needed repairs ranged from a 2 year patch-up to a major overhaul and the good news for Herne Bay and the Pier Trust is that the executive unanimously voted for the best option which will cost in the region of £200,000. It will be carried out in stages with minimal disruption to the short term plans to progress activities on the pier.

That Report!

Dawn Hudd, the Culture Officer’s report was the next item about the future of the pier and it also contained 4 options: close the pier, hand over management to the Pier Trust, CCC to retain management, or a combination of the latter two options. Both the CCC and Pier Trust favoured this recommended option 4 – that the CCC retain control including maintenance costs until the Pier Trust is in a sufficiently strong financial position to take over management. This, especially in the light of this year’s huge maintenance bill, is seen as the only realistic option for us this year.

The executive councillors expressed very supportive comments about the current Pier Trust. They wished us well with the plans we are submitting for a beach hut village up the leg of the pier. The executive viewed the pier as an integral part of the regeneration plans for Herne Bay. Mr John Gilbey, Leader of CCC, said he had attended our AGM and assured us that CCC did not want to stand in the way of any sustainable ideas and only wanted what was right for Herne Bay and the Pier. We three trustees thought the comments at the meeting fair and positive.

The Adventure Golf on the Platform

Last week, we met with Mr Cain to discuss his plans for a crowd-pulling tourist attraction on the tarmac of the platform. The Trust is happy to work together with Mr Cain and the beach hut village and the Smugglers’ Adventure Golf will be mutually beneficial this year both bringing in tourists and locals. There will still be full access for walkers to enjoy the walks on the pier. Mr Cain will be investing a large amount in the pier and hopes to attract over 5000 visitors to the pier in August. Maybe next winter we shall see the pier lit up with lights and a Christmas Market complete with Santa on the pier.

Looking forward to 2013

Thank you for all your support this year. Don’t believe all you read in the press – we have come to realise that a good story built on a few disconnected comments is often a priority for journalists – we are learning, with difficulty, to take it as modern media speak.

A special thank you goes to our volunteers who have been standing in the cold this month outside supermarkets meeting members, collecting subs, manning the office and the Santa’s grotto in the bandstand and doing so much to keep us going. Their help is much appreciated by us. Thank you.

The Office in the Pier Gallery on Central Parade is now up and running and we are in the process of sorting out the administrative problems that we have suffered in the last year. Hopefully 2013 will be a good year all round for the Trust.

We are moving the Wine and Wisdom date from the 4th of January to a later date as general opinion indicates that was too near Christmas. We shall email you the new date as soon as possible. The bands event specifically aimed at the younger audience will take place at the King’s Hall on Feb 9th and tickets will be available at £5 each in the New Year – we shall email you with details then.

If any Member wishes to stand themselves or wishes to nominate another Member to stand for the role of trustee next year we are looking specifically for members with expertise in the following areas : legal experience, promotional expertise, financial and fund-raising (big fund-raising!) expertise.

Lastly but by no means least come down to the Bandstand at the weekend and find out more about the 2013 on the Pier. We together with other community organisations will be there between 11:00am and 4:00pm. Santa will also be there so bring the kids or grandkids and they will receive a free gift. All we ask is that you bring a few tins of food as a donation to the parcels that will be given to the less fortunate at Christmas.

Happy Christmas

Doreen Stone & Joe Howes - Joint Chairmen

Fury at plan to cap leases of beach hut

Here we go again - the vexed and thorny issue of beach huts: private pleasure on public land. It would be so much simpler if all beach huts on public land were Council-owned and Council-managed, and rented for a maximum of a year at a time with shorter term and seasonal lets available. If demand outstrips supply, the Council should gradually increase the charges until demand matches supply - a commercially sensible approach to its public responsibility to maximise the revenue from its assets.

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City councillors are threatening to limit beach hut owners to a 30-year lease. Owners say the proposals would knock down prices and stop them from passing the huts on to their children. Some have stayed in families for more than 50 years. One Tankerton owner and barrister has waived her normal fees to help block the proposals.

The news leaked out during a meeting of the Tankerton Bay Beach Hut Owners Association annual meeting. It is estimated it could affect 300 hut owners in Whitstable and Herne Bay.

The city council wants to force beach hut owners to move out after a maximum of 30 years. At the moment, leases can he renewed every year. Under new proposals the lease would be renewed every six years for a maximum of 30 years. After that, owners would have to remove their huts from the beach or sell them.

The council also wants to levy a £1,300 fee if the huts are sold and charge owners £1,260 if owners let out their huts in the summer. Huts in Tankerton fetch about £20,000. Six huts currently listed for sale on website beach-huts.com range from £17,000 to £25,000.

Pensioner John Richardson, 77, from Saddleton Road, Whitstable, said:

"I think the proposals are unlawful. We already have a lease. That can't be overwritten. These proposals would mean that for the last ten years of the lease owners won't bother looking after their huts. Tankerton will end up with lots of derelict huts. It will lose its charm. Individual hut owners look after their huts and give them characteristics that add to Whitstable's charm."

Marilyn Richards, secretary of the Tankerton Bay Beach Hut Owners Association, remained tight-lipped:

"I can only say at this point that we are in ongoing discussions with Canterbury City Council about our hut ownership."

But Alan Ratford, chairman of Herne Bay Beach Hut Owners Association, said opposition was unanimous:

"At the moment I can sell my hut without restriction. If there is a 30-year cap, then the value of the hut will decrease. It's not a problem today but It will be tomorrow. We co-operate very well with the council but this is a major stumbling block."

Deborah Hickman, who runs Tiddly Pomme in Brogdale Market Place, Faversham, sold their beach hut three years ago for £20,000. She said:

"We are happy we sold when we did. The huts are a real money-spinner for Canterbury City Council. But it keeps wanting to add more. This proposal seems really greedy. For the people who have bought in the past ten years when prices shot up, it is horrendously unfair. It is a privilege to have a beach hut but it cost us £1,000 a year to keep ours. You can't just sit on it to make a fortune."

City council spokesman Steve James said:

"The council is engaging in confidential conversations with beach hut owners. The finite lease is merely speculation. No conclusions have been reached."

Whitstable Times 13th Dec 2012

Next Christmas will be dazzling

Geoff Wimble

Traders and the community have teamed up in a bid to ensure Herne Bay does not once again become a national laughing stock for its Christmas lights. The town made national headlines after stars from the Marlowe pantomime in Canterbury flicked the switch of a poorly lit tree - and rather than cheers, got jeered by the crowd. As a result, Herne Bay’s lights were dubbed the worst in the UK.

Now, however, a group has been set up to organise next year’s illuminations. At its inaugural meeting, organiser Geoff Wimble said businesses and supporters had already pledged more than £2,000 with donations from the chamber of commerce and individuals. The total was boosted further by a cheque presented by Jean Herwin, a member of the group and secretary of the Hotel Business and Leisure Group.

More than 50 businesses have signed up to be involved, and five schools from across the town are also poised to offer their support. Mr Wimble said the group aimed to provide lights for the whole town, including Sea Street. He said:

“Our intention is to ensure we never get slated again. We want lights around the town and our intention is to make other decorations too, as they do on the continent. We want to buy enough trees so every shop can have a tree above or outside it, and we want to make sure we get a reasonable tree for the town centre too.”

kentnews.co.uk 18th Dec 2012

Parking Consultation

It's good to know that people are taking the trouble to respond to the Council's Parking Consultation.... here's a good one:

First of all WE (Herne Bay) are not Canterbury, so why match our tariffs? Sooner you realise this the better it will be for Herne Bay.

1 - We don’t have the same facilities as Canterbury

2 - We don’t have the same variety of shops as Canterbury

3 - We don’t have the same footfall as Canterbury

4 - We don’t have the same customers as Canterbury

5 - We don’t have the same transport facilities as Canterbury

And most importantly

6 – The council don’t spend as much on Herne Bay as Canterbury for the redevelopments and shopping experiences, such as the Christmas lights! Out of the supposed £53,000 what did Herne Bay get? I know for a fact that it wasn’t an equal share, so why should we equal the price of Canterbury for anything!  (Business Rates, Parking or anything else!)

It was only 2012 when you raised the price to park for the day in Herne Bay from £1.10 to £2.50! That’s a MASSIVE 145% rise, and now you want to raise it further 20% on top!!!!!!!

As a business owner in Herne Bay we have seen a fall in trade since the rise in parking charges, as people bypass us and head to Westwood cross.

Are you actively trying to kill the town?!? People and traders would say you are!

This raise in parking will make trade even harder than it already is. It’s time for the council to stop being greedy and help the towns or we will all end up like Margate town centre, and then you won’t get any money for parking as no one will come to Herne Bay. It the same example as doubling prices you take double the money! This is NOT the case, if we all raised our prices by 145% at the beginning of 2012, and then put another 20% on top now we would be out of business, not rolling in the money! Why can’t you people work that out with the parking!!!!!

However, these emails are probably ignored and you do as you wish anyway, but if the parking prices are put up to be in line with Canterbury then we should have everything as equal. ALL, and I mean ALL budgets for everything should be shared 33% each to Herne Bay, Whitstable and Canterbury. Now if you think the parking is a fair increase due to the Canterbury prices, then it’s only fair we get 33% of all money available.

I would like a response to this email, to make sure that our point has been heard!

Regards

Daniel Peters and John Potts (The Studio, Mortimer Street)

Dad sells best of British food aboard to ex-pats

Bay businessman Michael Cook has set up a way to get British goods abroad at the click of a mouse. Mr Cook, 34, said:

"When my brother-in-law moved to New York three years ago he really missed British food, especially chocolate. He would often say American chocolate was just not the same. So we sent him tuck boxes with all his favourite British food in."

That idea has now grown to an internet firm called British Tuckbox. Mr Cook said:

"After years of commuting to London I wanted to become my own boss and saw a gap in the market. It is for people who crave the comforts of home while away."

He can ship out emergency supplies of favourite British breakfast cereals, sauces and even toiletries for babies to wherever you are in the world from his office in Westbrook Industrial Park, Sea Street. He said:

"I saw a gap in the market and think I have found a long-term solution by offering an efficient service."

The father-of-three has a list of more than 1,000 products and is being helped by his wife Clare. He has already been featured by the BBC and is hoping for a mention in this weekend's Mail On Sunday. For more details visit www.britishtuckbox.co.uk

Herne Bay Times 13th Dec 2012

'Mail chaos' after sorting office shut

Customers who miss delivery of their Christmas parcels are facing "chaos and confusion" thanks to the closure of the town's sorting office, campaigners claim. The office in Eddington Lane shut as part of plans by Royal Mail to modernise the service and postal workers are now based in the Canterbury office.

But protestors who are still battling to save the Whitstable delivery office say the move has been a disaster. Campaigner Julie Wassmer is urging people to write to Royal Mail bosses to keep up the pressure. She said:

"Following the Herne Bay delivery office move there is operational pandemonium in the Canterbury delivery office. Canterbury cannot cope with the mail from Herne Bay. We must fight this absurd proposal for which Royal Mail failed to give due consultation, so please write your views in an e-mail to Moya Greene, CEO of Royal Mail. Customers talk of chaos and confusion in the Canterbury office, of ringing up for hours or even days on end and not being able to get through. Even if they manage to speak to a real person in the office, it will be several days before redelivery can take place."

A petition opposing the move has attracted 5,000 signatures and a similar campaign in Nottingham successfully stopped a delivery office being moved. They collected 300 signatures.

Campaigners fear shutting the coastal centres will put up to 100 vehicles on to the road each working day as postal workers drive to and from Canterbury to pick up and deliver mail, causing congestion and environmental damage.

Whitstable staff were yesterday expected to ballot for strike action and have 28 days after the result to stage a walk out. This means the threatened postal strike will not happen before Christmas. Member of the Communication Workers Union, Chris Stone, said:

"I think a lot of us would have been uncomfortable putting our customers' Christmas mail at risk."

Royal Mail spokeswoman Sally Hopkins said postal workers had been consulted in 2010. The closure of the Whitstable delivery office and relocating work to Canterbury was the second phase of the changes. The first phase saw all sorting facilities moved under one roof to a super sorting office in Medway.

thisiskent 13th Dec 2012

Volunteers step in to rescue THAT Christmas tree

Volunteers have stepped in to spruce up Herne Bay’s infamous Christmas tree after it was ridiculed for being the worst in Britain. They got together to give the fir some much-needed sparkle with tinsel and decorations following outcry over its "disgusting" appearance.

People were left fuming and even booed when the original tree was unveiled last month in front of a 1,000-strong crowd. But locals were left even more furious when the council decided to replace the tree with another that "looks even worse".

Workers putting new lights on Herne Bay’s original Christmas tree (left) – before it was replaced with a tree that "looked even worse"

The revamp group was led by dad and local firefighter Steve Enwright, who said the town had suffered as a result of the negative publicity. He said:

"I was a bit disappointed with the stick Herne Bay got so decided to try and do something about it."

In just five days, he managed to recruit a team of supporters and the help of local businesses and Serco staff to transform the 17ft tree. He said:

"Homebase, the Co-op and Canterbury Garden Centre all provided decorations and I have to say the two guys from Serco who arrived with all the equipment to make sure it was safe were brilliant. I've got kids and really enjoy getting into the Christmas spirit and just decided to see if it could be improved.

I got help from another local resident, Kim Walker, who did a lot of chasing around, and a couple of friends as well as the coastal towns manager Chris West who helped get Serco on board.It looks a lot better now and we even had a singer come along to help celebrate on Sunday morning.

We don’t want to be in this position next Christmas so I am organising a meeting at the angling club to try and plan ahead for next year."

kentonline 13th Dec 2012

Charging for Parking a Boat

Our beloved Council does seem hell-bent on wringing every last penny out of everything in sight. One of their current wheezes is to charge boat-owners £100 + VAT to have their boats on the beach. As far as I can tell, the Council hasn't yet explained what the boat-owners might be getting in exchange for their hard-earned cash...

A reader writes...

I note with interest that boats parked on the beach at Herne Bay have a letter attached to them, this is for consultation regarding the Council's plans to charge these boat owners £100 per year for the privilege of leaving their boats on the beach.

The consultation response from boat owners is to be returned by 21st December, many boat owners will not have been to the beach during December so will not be aware of this consultation. It is a shame that the Council never publicised this matter more fully therefore allowing a full response from the boat owners.

One would assume that the Council are doing this to generate more money, are there any other reasons? Will the owners of boats benefit any way? How will it be monitored?

I would hate to see boats removed from the beach because owners were not able to afford the yearly chargers. As far as I can see all the boats in the Hampton area are secured on the beach in a sensible manner. The hard working members of the Angling Club must be worried that members will no longer be able to afford to continue boat fishing and the club will close, which would be another local amenity lost in Herne Bay.

Christmas Fair at the Bandstand

Beach Creative, Herne Bay In Bloom, and Herne Bay Pier Trust have all got together to bring you a fantastic Xmas fair, starting this Saturday 15th December from 11am, at Herne Bay Bandstand.

It’s a chance for the residents and visitors of Herne Bay to do something positive this Christmas and enjoy the festive atmosphere too.

Bring the kids along to see Santa in his grotto and they’ll receive a FREE gift! All that is asked is a small donation of tinned/non perishable food that can be put towards making a number of small Xmas hampers for the less fortunate in the area.