Party on the Pier

WHEN: Saturday 12 March 2011 from 10am – 10pm
WHERE: Pier Pavilion Herne Bay
WHY: To celebrate 100 years of roller skating
WHAT: Free events for everyone to enjoy
HOW: Just come along!
 
10:00 to 11:30    Family Skating Session
11:30 to 12:30    Artistic Skating Workshop
12:30 to 14:00    Roller Hockey Workshop
14:30 to 16:00    Family Skating Session
16:00 to 17:30    Roller Derby
17:30 to 19:00    Roller Hockey Match
19:00 to 21:00    Social Skate
21:00 to 22:00    Roller Disco

All events are free.

Exhibition of roller skating memorabilia in the Pier Cafe all day.

Herne Bay Pier Trust members may claim free skate hire for them and their family by quoting their membership number. Non-members will be charged for skate hire only.

The Herne Bay Pier Trust in association with Southern Water is proud to sponsor a day filled with fun and activities for all ages at the launch of British Tourism Week 2011. The National Piers Society invited every pier in the country to join in this celebration of our nation’s piers and seaside heritage, encouraging residents and tourists to visit and highlighting the importance of maintaining and restoring our piers.
 
Herne Bay’s pier was unique. It was the second longest in the country and the first to install a permanent roller skating rink. Our roller hockey teams compete at international level and have played at the pier since the beginning of the last century. This hundred year old history of skating on our pier will come to an end in 2011 when the current pier pavilion is demolished and a new rink opens at Greenhill. So we decided to make our Party on the Pier a very special celebration of this unique relationship.

Sponsored and supported by Herne Bay Pier Trust and Southern Water in association with British Tourism Week.

Windfarm extension: Vattenfall says...

Kentish Flats Extension

Vattenfall has started a discussion and consultation with the local community, local authorities and statutory consultees regarding the extension of Kentish Flats Offshore Wind Farm. It would like to extend the 30-turbine scheme by between 10 and 17 turbines and if 3 megawatt (MW) turbines are used this would give an additional installed total capacity of between 30 and 51MW.

If consented and built Vattenfall expects the extension to generate between 90,000 megawatt hours and just over 150,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of green electricity every year, which is equivalent to the total annual electricity needs of between 20,000 UK households and 35,000 UK households*.

If extended, Kentish Flats, with between 120 and 141MW total installed capacity would be expected to generate between 350,00MWh and just over 430,000MWh of green electricity every year, which is equivalent to the total annual electricity needs of between 82,000 UK households and 96,000 UK households.

Due to its size the proposal will be considered and consented by the Infrastructure Planning Commission following an extensive community consultation with the people of Kent. Discussions with the IPC have already taken place and if you would like to find out more about the consultation process please visit:
IPC- Kentish Flats extension - Pre-application (new window)
IPC - planning commission (new window)

The zone that Vattenfall is considering to develop the extension in is more than 7km from shore and covers nearly 8 sq km. More information will follow shortly about Vattenfall's plans, the community consultation and how the public can effectively engage with Vattenfall ahead of a planning application sometime in 2011.

In May this year Vattenfall was offered the opportunity to extend both Kentish Flats and Thanet Offshore Wind Farms by The Crown Estate, which leases the seabed on behalf of the UK Government to wind farm developers like Vattenfall. Vattenfall assessed the feasibility of both projects and has decided to seek consent from the IPC for an extension to Kentish Flats only.

The Crown Estate (new window)

The 90MW Kentish Flats has been generating green electricity since 2005. Find out more about this project by visiting:
Kentish Flats Offshore Wind Farm (www.vattenfall.com, new window)

*This is calculated in the following way:
Number of hours in the year: 8760
Installed capacity: 30 to 51MW
Average industry capacity factor for offshore wind: 35%
Average annual UK household electricity consumption: 4,478 kilowatt hours (kWh)
For example: (8760 x 30 x 35%) x 1000 = 91,980,000kWh divided by 4,478 = 20,540 homes.

Windfarm extension: your opinion

The Vattenfall roadshow came to town, well the King's Hall, to tell all-comers about the proposed extra turbines at the Kentish Flats windfarm, 5 miles off the Herne Bay coast.

They lease the seabed from the Crown Estate, and their lease is measured in megawatts (MW) of electricity output. The proposed extension permits 51MW of production. If they install turbines that are the same size as the current ones, they will need 17 new turbines. Their planning application would allow then to install bigger turbines, but there would have to be fewer of them, to stay within the 51MW limit.

The Vattenfall guy I spoke to said that Vattenfall were just keeping their options open as to what kind/size of turbine to install when they start construction - in 2014, according to the plan. I assume their eventual decision will be guided by profit.

See, print or download a copy of the Public Opinion Survey here. Or fill it in online at Vattenfall's website here.

Annual Projects and Business Exhibition

The exhibition aims to engage with the local residents and businesses of Herne Bay, providing information on the progress made on the live regeneration projects over the past twelve months and about future plans for the town. Project Officers attend the event to discuss and answer any questions on any of the projects featured.

Last year we attracted a record attendance with over five hundred people visiting the exhibition in a single afternoon. Topics included: the Central Development Area proposals, the relocation of the pier sports centre to Herne Bay High School, the Pier, Memorial Park improvements, Beach Street to Central Parade and the Herne Bay Festival.

You are invited to the Annual Herne Bay Projects Exhibition on Wednesday 9th March 2011 (2 - 7pm) at the King’s Hall. The event will display a series of information stands on many of the major regeneration, business and community projects happening in Herne Bay. It is an opportunity for you to catch up on the progress made over the last twelve months and to view the plans for the future. City councillors and project officers will be available to answer your questions and provide more information about any of the projects featured; some of those you can expect to see include:

• The Central Development Area Masterplan
• The Herons Leisure Centre Extension
• Herne Bay High School Sports Arena
• The Memorial Park Improvement Plan
• The Future Options for Herne Bay Pier
• The Reculver Country Park
• The Friends of Herne Bay Museum
• Bay Card: The loyalty card for Herne Bay
• Herne Bay Festival 2011
• The Oyster Coastal Cycle Route
• Play Provider Nework
• Age Concern
• Herne Bay in Bloom
• The Friends of the Downs

Please put this date in your diary, tell your family, friends and neighbours, everyone is welcome; your participation is important in shaping the future of Herne Bay.

We look forward to meeting you at the Exhibition!

Windfarm extension consultation

Vattenfall is in the process of putting together an application to add up to 17 wind turbines to the existing 30 turbines at the five-year old Kentish Flats wind farm.  It’s really important that the community and all those with an interest in our proposal to extend Kentish Flats get involved and tell us what they think.

From 31 January until 4 March 2011 Vattenfall is conducting a community consultation regarding the proposed extension which is located off the coast near Herne Bay and Whitstable.

There will be two public consultation events in February in Herne Bay and Whitstable and we encourage as many people as possible to come along:

Wednesday 23 February 2pm – 8pm, Kings Hall, Beacon Hill, Herne Bay
Thursday 24 February 2pm – 8pm, Whitstable Castle, Tower Hill, Whitstable

Recycling bags

The unutterable shambles drags on. Canterbury City Council's ham-fisted penny-pinching, masquerading as waste reduction and cost saving, has proved such a failure that even they have had to accept it. I expect they'll say 'you said, we listened'. They never say 'we screwed up, we're sorry'.

Once upon a time, we had adequate numbers of adequate recycling bags, and could get more from the Council offices if we ran out. The Council decided that some 40% of the bags being distributed for recycling were not being used for recycling. Their solution was to distribute fewer bags and make us register if we needed more. Coincidentally, and to worsen the situation, these bags provided under the new regime were of inferior quality - the initial batches were simply not fit for purpose.

Not surprisingly it all went wrong, in entirely predictable ways. The bags split, so people double-bagged their rubbish, and got through their small supply of bags at twice the rate. Registering for more bags was not a smooth or convenient process for many. People resorted to using carrier bags, or just putting their recycling rubbish in the landfill bins. The Council said we could BUY more recycling bags from the supermarkets. Bloody cheek.

The Council repeatedly told us what a great idea it was and how swimmingly well it was going, how the wrinkles would be ironed out, and it was all for the best in the long run. But now, at very long last, the penny seems to have dropped. The Executive meeting on Valentine's Day now has an extra, urgent item to consider regarding the provision of recycling bags. The preamble says "the service would benefit from an increase in sacks offered. This has followed customer feedback which has been critical of the number and quality offered" - a lot of under-statement in a small space, if you ask me.

Village Green at Westbrook

Congratulations to WASPS (Westbrook Against Selling Promenade Site) for getting the Westbrook Promenade at Westgate-on-Sea registered as a village green, thus preventing Thanet District Council from "disposing" of this locally valued asset for development.

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Village Green Hearing
At the Village Green Hearing on 8th February 2011 it was decided by the KCC Regulation Committee that the land adjacent to Barnes Car Park on Westbrook promenade be registered as a Town Green. WASPS are delighted with the result that protects this land from development and ensures the continued use by local people.
The site on Westbrook Promenade remained on the asset disposal register awaiting the outcome of the village green application and we assume it will now be removed.
You have probably seen the publicity about the fact that we have persuaded TDC that an ideal solution for this site would be to create a nature park. This could be achieved involving local people in planting shrubs on the site and managing the grass to encourage wildflowers and biodiversity. This would be part of a larger project run by the Kent Wildlife Trust to manage cliff tops and other sites around Thanet under the Thanet Wildlife Project. This site will form an important part of this project. It is good to have support from TDC, Natural England and the Thanet Coast Project.
A presentation was given at the January Westgate and Westbrook Resident’s Association meeting by Paul Pearce of the Kent Wildlife Trust who outlined the scheme which will be supported by local volunteers.

Volunteer Day
There will be a volunteer day on Sunday 20th February 2011 and and full details of the event are in the previous posting. Following the event we would like to set up a group, possibly called Friends of the Westbrook Undercliff Nature Park. This could consist of local volunteers to help Kent Wildlife Trust manage the site and determine its future.
The success of the village green application will give protection and allow local people to create something on this site for the benefit of the community and wildlife. This also strengthens the protection under European law as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI). This campaign has demonstrated to TDC the feelings of local people and the value of this site to the community. It has also made local politicians think carefully about other sites up for disposal.
I would like to thank all those people who have supported us and gave evidence. It has been a long road to reach where we are at present but it has been worth it.