Herne Bay Museum to be run by Herne Bay!

It's time for rejoicing, congratulations and a bit of planning. The Council have given The Herne Bay Museum Trust the green light to run our own Museum, which is a very good reason for a lot of rejoicing and congratulations.

We've already done a lot planning for "if"... now it's time to move on to planning for "when". We take over the running of the Museum on 1st April (I'm not joking!) and we'll be opening the doors on 23rd May. Between now and then, we've still got a lot to sort out.

We've got a lot of volunteers (thank you all), and we need more. We've got plenty of ideas for how to reinvigorate our Museum, and we would like to know what you think of them, and to hear your ideas.

Do please come along to our open meeting and bring your friends.

It's at 7pm on Friday 27th March at The Retreat (which was the British Legion Hall) just along Central Parade from the Bun Penny.

We look forward to seeing you all there.

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2015 03 Newsletter by HerneBayMatters

Celebrations set for completion of restoration project at Herne Bay clock tower

The restoration work at Herne Bay clock tower is set to be completed in mid-February. After months of work, Canterbury City Council will be hosting a celebratory evening at the clock tower on Saturday, February 14th from 6pm, which will include a firework display and a light show.

A grant of £250,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, plus £100,000 from CCC, has funded the restoration project. Cracked stones have been replaced, whilst others were restored with a fresh covering for the columns, and the clock itself has been gilded with gold leaf. A CCC spokesman said there will be a small amount of cosmetic work to be completed after the event, but the main works will be finished.

The landmark's history dates back to October 2 1837, when Herne Bay’s benefactor Ann Thwaytes celebrated her birthday by handing over a clock tower to the town. There were military bands, circus acts and fireworks, and 500 children were also given a free meal as part of the event. Mrs Thwaytes used £4,000 from her inheritance from her tea merchant husband, about £175,000 in today’s terms, to pay for the structure to be built.

HB Times 14th Jan 2014

What does the future hold for the pier?

A public meeting has been called to discuss of Herne Bay's iconic pier.

Ed Targett, the prospective Green Party MP for Herne Bay, has called a meeting (7pm Sunday, 23rd November at the King's Hall) in order to discuss how the pier could be extended or rebuilt. He claims the short term plans of the Pier Trust, which runs the pier are "profoundly lacking in ambition" and accused them of standing in the way of proposals to rebuild the pier as a £70 million marina.

But Doreen Stone said the timing of the meeting was just a day before the trust is due to take part in ITV's People's Millions programme. She said:

"It is very short notice for the meeting as this is the day before the People's Millions and we will be working on that. I have been working my socks off with the trust for our plans for the pier and we presented this to the Herne Bay members panel (last week). We have no objection to the marina plan. If someone came forward with £70million we would support it. Ultimately, I want to do what is best for Herne Bay because I love the town.We are just trying to provide something fun for people in Herne Bay."

Ed Targett says the public meeting date was chosen to accommodate a group member coming from Spain and said he hopes the pier trust is in its People Millions bid. He added:

"This meeting is a great opportunity for the Pier Trust to present its short term and long term plans and face some robust questioning about them. I've invited them and I really hope they'll turn up. We’ll be revisiting the mothballed Pier Marina plans and three Pier reports for the sake of frank discussion."

Asked what he was hoping for from the meeting, Ed Targett said:

"We can have a robust discussion about should be a vital town asset, perhaps finding some common ground for the future between people who are too frequently at loggerheads, and hopefully we can clarify some apparent confusion about the various plans and reports out there.

No personal attacks, throwing of rotten vegetables, or shouting please... It’s an emotive topic but I'm sure people can 'play nice'. Please do come along and invite friends and family."

The public meeting is at 7pm Sunday, 23rd November at the King's Hall.

HB Times 16th Nov 2014

Free money for the Pier! Well, sort of free...

Vote for £50,000 for your pier.

Herne Bay pier is in the finals on ITV Meridian on Monday November 24th. Please phone up to 10 times per landline and mobile. You can vote 10 times on landline at 11p a time. You can vote 10 times on mobile at 15p a time.

The number will be available on the day on ITV Meridian news and in the Daily Mirror and on the Herne Bay Pier Trust website and Facebook.

Peoples Millions voting ends at 10pm on Monday.

Thank you.

Windfarm extension work starts next week

Vattenfall is poised to start work on a £165m extension to the Kentish Flats offshore wind farm, which will see 15 new turbines installed off the Kent coast by the end of next year. The Swedish utility today confirmed it would start offshore construction work next week on the latest phase of the development, preparing the seabed to lay 30 kilometres of cables from the wind farm to the shore in Herne Bay.

Once complete, the project is expected to increase the current capacity of the 90MW Kentish Flats offshore wind farm by more than 50 per cent to a total of 139.5MW. Matthew Green, Vattenfall project director for the construction of Kentish Flats Extension said:

"Kentish Flats Extension was consented in spring 2013 and since then we have been planning, organising and contracting. We're now ready to go and by this time next year we plan to be generating low carbon power from all 15 wind turbines. Building an offshore wind farm is no easy task; that is why it is one of the most exciting engineering challenges around today."

The company plans to start installing foundations in spring 2015, and will then install each of the Vestas 3.3MW wind turbines by the end of July.

The announcement represents a boost to an offshore wind industry that has been hit in recent weeks by warnings that a number of proposed projects are "grinding to a halt" amid concerns over the transition from the government's current subsidy regime to its new support mechanism.

Business Green 15th Oct 2014

A town full of art and artists

It's that time of year when our local talent flaunt their wares. East Kent is liberally sprinkled with artists, and the finest have gravitated to Herne Bay, of course.

This coming weekend they're opening up their homes for you to gaze, goggle-eyed at the marvels they have wrought. If you can't make this weekend, don't fret - they'll be doing it again 25th/26th October and 1st/2nd November.

EKOH 2014 Booklet by HerneBayMatters

Vote Herne Bay! Vote Duchamp!!

Vote for the Duchamp Festival in the Canterbury 4 Culture awards

Marcel Duchamp

Herne Bay arts and culture lovers are being urged to vote for the town in the Canterbury 4 Culture awards. The Marcel Duchamp Festival has been nominated for four of the top accolades, and the public has their chance to vote in the category of People's Award.

Last summer it commemorated the 100 anniversary of the artist famously writing on a postcard: "I'm not dead... I'm in Herne Bay." The festival ran for three weeks and was embraced by the whole town, as well as hitting the headlines in national media too.

It has been nominated in three other categories including the best cultural experience in East Kent, offering the best project to engage the wider community and being the best event to promote the area nationally and internationally. They will be up against projects including the Turner Contemporary in Margate, and arts groups in Canterbury.

Duchamp organiser Sue Austen said:

"To be up there with arts organisations like the Turner Contemporary shows that sometimes a bunch of amateurs can be as serious and as professional as the professionals. It was a fantastic effort to put on so many events and exhibitions in such a short time. It brought the whole community together, and showed if everyone does a little, we can all achieve a lot. The nominations show we are a cultured town, so we're looking for lots of support from people in Herne Bay."erbury 4 Culture awards on Thursday, June 12

Fellow organiser Steve Coombes is spearheading the campaign to win the People's Award. He said:

"This was huge news for Herne Bay last year. This is the first time Herne Bay has had so many nominations, no town has ever got as many as this. It's really a feather in the town's cap."

You can vote in the People's Award by visiting www.thecultureawards.org

kentonline 2nd June 2014

Bun Penny: progress at last

Bun Penny pub sold for development

The burnt out Bun Penny could soon rise from the ashes after it was sold for redevelopment. The derelict building - one of the town’s most complained about eyesores since it was gutted by fire in September 2011 - was under offer last month and the sale has now been formally completed.

Estate agent Peter Goodwin, from Wilbee and Son, handled the deal and said it was the start of a new era for the building. He said:

“The new owners are local but they do not want to be named for the moment. But they are very pleased it is now completed and they are hoping it will not be too long before work can start.”

New hoardings are due to go up on the site, on the corner of William Street and Central Parade, on Wednesday and a planning application has been prepared. The proposed scheme would see the former pub demolished and a new building in its place, with luxury flats on the upper floors. Mr Goodwin said:

“The idea is to have commercial on the ground floor, ideally a family restaurant. That is what the new owners will be targeting and I think it is something that Herne Bay needs. The council have been very supportive and everyone is now hoping they will be able to rubber stamp the application so it can go through quickly.”

The site has attracted complaints since it was first burnt out, and councillors have insisted since July 2012 that it was “a priority”. Business leader Nigel Hancock, of the Bay Independent Retail Group, set up a petition calling on Canterbury City Council to tidy up the site and officials were discussing taking action to force the owners to act. Mr Goodwin said:

“The owners have been very helpful in making sure the sale goes through smoothly and they pleased it is all finalised now. It has taken a lot of work and a lot of negotiations and I want to formally thank the old owners and the council for their help and support. Everyone is keen for the site to be brought back into use and we are all now hoping the council will feel able to continue to support this so work can start soon.”

HB Times 6th June 2014

Anyone for tennis? A councillor wants you to pay first...

Tennis courts at Herne Bay’s main park are to be given a facelift – but players could be forced to pay to help recoup the cash, a leading councillor said.

West Bay councillor Peter Lee, who is responsible for Canterbury City Council’s finances, said officials should try to recover some of the £3,000 investment by charging people to use the courts in the Memorial Park. The funding is from £15,000 given to the town last year by developers as part of the conditions of their planning permission. Cllr Lee said:

“If we are going to spend so much money we should look at getting some money back. I am floating the idea that we should perhaps be looking at having keys for these courts and charging for them. If we are going to improve them by putting money into them we should be trying to recoup that money in some way.”

But panel chairman Cllr Jennie Edwards, who represents Reculver, said introducing charges could actually add to the cost. She said:

“We could make it a concession but if you have to pay someone to open it up and look after it, it negates the point. I would be happy to see Herne Bay having no payment to use the courts because that is how it has been done for very many years.”

Up to £10,000 is also to be spent improving the play area at Burton Fields and the rest on the new QEII coastal park, funded as part of the town’s People’s Millions lottery bid.

HB Times 31st May 2014

The Oradour 70 Exhibition

Oradour Poetry Evening Saturday 7 June 7.30pm

As part of the Oradour 70 exhibition at Beach Creative Galleries, Beach House, Beach Street, Herne Bay, CT6 5PT (June 4-17) there will be an evening of poetry, music, humour and drama.

The event is free (limited seating) and will last approximately 2 hours, with an interval, starting at 7.30pm.

The emphasis will be on war related poetry and will look at many aspects of war from different viewpoints and different poets - some famous, some not. Among the poems being read will be some by Ian Sabey, an Australian born in England, he served in the allied forces in World War II. He wrote his poems while a prisoner in Austria and they give a rich and moving account of that experience. His daughter, Christina Carr will be In the audience on June 7.

Oradour 70 is a collection of photographs, by Alan Porter, of the French village Oradour-sur-Glane, the scene of a massacre on 10th June 1944 that left 642 villagers dead. The ruins of the village now stand with poignant dignity and a strange beauty as a permanent memorial. The exhibition explores what we can learn from such war crimes.

Alan's photographs are accompanied by poems by John Grant and artwork and an installation by Mandy Troughton.

June 4 - 17 2014

Open every day from 10am - 4pm

Fun day to open Herne Bay market

The new Herne Bay market will be officially opened this Saturday (7 June) by the Lord Mayor of Canterbury, Cllr Ann Taylor, as part of a fun day.

The city council-run market in William Street and Mortimer Street is open from 8am, with live music from 10am and the opening ceremony at 11am. There will also be face painting, special offers on every stall, a prize draw and family entertainment.

In addition, there is a free find a monkey game (go to the museum in William Street to enter) and the first 100 visitors to the market will receive a free reusable shopping bag.

The market moved to its new home in William Street and Mortimer Street on 3 May following many years at the King’s Road car park. Some minor tweaks to the layout of the stalls and the position of others have been made and it has now settled into its new location well.

Executive member for markets, Cllr Andrew Cook, said:

“We’ve had excellent feedback from the traders since the move was made and many people are saying how great the atmosphere now is in the town centre on Saturdays. Everyone involved is looking forward to the fun day and official opening this weekend and we hope to welcome lots of new customers too.”

Herne Bay market has 32 stalls selling a variety of fresh and local produce and gifts from eye-catching green and white gazebos and is open every Saturday between 8am and 4pm.

The move aimed to increase footfall to the market and town centre and give it a more professional and uniform layout. It also frees up the market’s former home in the King’s Road car park for redevelopment.

CCC website 02 June 2014

Final consultation for draft Local Plan

Six weeks of public consultation on the final draft version of the city council’s Local Plan gets underway on Thursday 5 June.

This is the version of the plan that will be the basis for a public examination carried out by an independent inspector later this year. Full details and all the documents will be on the council’s website at www.canterbury.gov.uk/localplan.

Last summer, the council held 10 weeks of consultation on the preferred option plan. Nearly 7,000 comments were submitted, which covered a range of issues across the whole plan.

There was support for large parts of the draft plan, particularly policies relating to landscape, heritage, tourism and open space. The main objections related to the overall strategy and the development proposals, including the growth strategy for the district, amount and location of development, specific site allocations, capacity of local services and the ability to deliver the necessary infrastructure, and environmental issues.

As a result, the council has made some changes to the draft plan, partly to reflect additional information and comments that were received, and partly to ensure that the draft plan is consistent with national guidance (such as the National Planning Policy Framework) and evidence collected by the council over the last few years.

In the consultation starting this week, people will be able to comment on any aspect of the draft plan. But at the public examination, if anyone wants to object to parts of the plan, it will help the inspector if they can identify in their comments why they think the plan is not ‘sound’. Advice on how to go about making a comment is available on the council’s website.

Consultation is also taking place at the same time on the draft District Transport Strategy and Open Space Strategy. These are integral parts of the Local Plan and back up the whole plan process. Council Leader Cllr John Gilbey said:

“We have reached this point following several years of hard work and consultation, producing a Local Plan that we believe provides development in the most sustainable locations. And I am particularly pleased that we are proposing that several areas of the district should have Local Green Space protection.

This is now the final period of consultation before the public examination when the plan receives rigorous independent scrutiny, so I would urge people to make their views known over the next six weeks.”

The consultation will close on Friday 18 July. Copies of the plans will be available to view at the council’s offices in Canterbury and Herne Bay, in libraries across the district and at Whitstable Museum from 5 June.

A number of public information evenings are being held during the consultation period for people to learn more about the plans. They will take place starting at 7pm at:

• Monday 16 June – Herne Bay High School
• Wednesday 18 June – Spires Academy, Sturry
• Wednesday 2 July – Kent County Cricket Ground

CCC website 03 June 2014

Glass by the Sea

GLASS BY THE SEA

Bay Art Gallery welcomes for the first time Ruth Rice, who is showing an eclectic exhibition of fused glass and driftwood art, paintings and jewellery made from sea glass, and fused glass, all of which  have been inspired by our beautiful North Kent Coast.

Monday 12- Sunday 18 May 2014. 10am to 4pm

Bay Art Gallery, 47a William Street, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 5NR

ruthric0.wix.com/coastal-treasure-1

www.bayartgallery.co.uk

Herne Bay business group

Herne Bay has an on-line business group with 807 local members. The group promotes jobs, shows, events, promotions etc. within our area. The group is free and is growing very quickly.

Here is a link to the group - http://lnkd.in/bCb3zc4

Would you be kind enough to let people know that this is free for all in our area.

Cheers, Ian Blanthorn

Herne & Broomfield need your help to fight the Local Plan

Herne & Broomfield Parish Council is launching a fighting fund in a bid to stop farmland in Herne being developed as a housing estate. The plan by Hollamby Estates is to build 800 houses.

The Parish Council could have to pay thousands of pounds as part of their battle to block the plans to develop Strode Farm as part of Canterbury City Council’s development plan.

The parish council has already employed a highways consultant, jointly funded with the charity CPRE Protect Kent, and is hoping to employ a planning consultant who would represent it at the official hearing.

At the last parish council meeting, councillors agreed to launch the fund to appeal to local residents to help fight the development, which will have a huge impact on Herne Village, and the local roads including Herne Street and Bullockstone Road. Many children within the parish would be unable to choose Herne Bay High School as they will be pushed out of the catchment area.

People able to help with the cost should send a cheque made payable to Herne & Broomfield Parish Council in an envelope marked Strode Farm, or pop into the parish council office at The Parish Office, Herne Mill, Mill Lane, Herne, Kent CT6 7DR.

For more information phone the parish office 01227 742700.

No need to go to Eton - Eton's coming here

I do hope nobody is over-awed by the fact that Eton College is the driving force behind the JCBs in this proposed development.

I'm not sure how this fits in to the Local Plan, but Cllr John Gilbey has said that "the Bends should always be protected as a valuable green gap and open space". This is the other side of the Old Thanet Way from the Bends, but it's still part of the green gap that keeps the Bay and the Bubble apart. As one of the online commentators has said:

Residents are invited along to be completely ignored as the decision will already have been made that Eton can buy this land and bank it undeveloped for years and years to come with a never-never promise of health centres and care homes, which will all fall by the wayside to become thousands of rabbit hutch houses.

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The development is unlikely to look anything like Eton College

Eton College has today revealed it wants to build a 300-home estate next to the Old Thanet Way between Whitstable and Herne Bay.

The private school - which educated Princes Harry and William - has alerted residents to the plans, which also include 300 homes, a care home, hotel, restaurant, health centre and gym on on land next to Bodkin Farm near Chestfield.

Letters have been posted through the doors of people living nearby, inviting them to exhibitions which will showcase the proposal later this month. Chestfield parish chairman Steve Bailey says he and his colleagues had been aware of the plans for two months before they became public. He said:

"We're concerned a development as big as this will change the demographic of the village. It would increase the population of Chestfield by about 2,500. When does a village become a town? We can't really comment at the moment, but we will be looking to oppose this. I'm going to go to both exhibitions and we will be keeping a very close watching brief on this. With a thing of this scale, we'd probably look at calling an extraordinary meeting at a later date."

Mr Bailey also questioned whether the proposed health centre would take the place of the existing one in Chestfield. He said:

"We just don't know. The existing centre has an application to extend as well. And the care home? Well, that's usually just a bolt-on to any proposal now."

The first exhibition will take place at Whitstable Rugby Club in Reeves Way on Friday 16th May from 4pm to 8pm, with a second at Chestfield Hall on Saturday 17th May from 11am to 3pm. Eton says it will give residents the chance to have their say on the proposals before a planning application is submitted to Canterbury City Council.

kentonline 11th May 2014

Aldi: Down to earth with a bump?

Pottering about in Herne Bay this morning, I happened upon an odd contraption in the King's Road car park. This is the site of the future Aldi supermarket, which is described as being Phase 1 of the long-stalled regeneration plan for Herne Bay known as the "Central Development Area".

My insatiable curiosity got the better of me, and I had a chat to one of the men peering at the machine - a soil sampler which drives hollow tubes into the ground to find out what it's made of.

He turned out to be the recently appointed Development and Build Manager (something like that) for the Aldi construction project. He told me that this kind of building is usually built on concrete foundations (simple and quick), or is perched on top of piles driven into the ground (more expensive).

Apparently using driven piles would be more expensive than Aldi wants to pay, so he was looking into the feasibility of concrete foundations. This explains why Aldi hasn't yet submitted a planning application. Aldi wants to make sure the building is buildable at an affordable cost before going through the time and expense of the planning process.

While I was there, they finished drilling the first of the 15 or 20 holes they were planning to make across the car park. They had gone down 5 metres before hitting a concrete slab, which he assumed was probably something to do with the old gas works that used to be on the site.

The man said that other parts of the car park may have "only" 2 metres of sloppy clay covering the required "sound ground" - there's no telling without drilling. But as he pointed out, the deeper the holes are, the more soil has to be removed, and the more concrete has to be poured.

If it's 5 metres all over, that would be what he described as "a very big hole" - I love jargon. And, crucially, it would be as expensive (or more so) than driven piles. Which Aldi regards as too expensive. The Build Manager told me that the outcome of the drilling would decide whether the build happens at all.

So after all these years of waiting, it's still not certain that Phase 1 will go ahead. If the nature of the ground means that building anything the size of a supermarket is prohibitively expensive, then that will apply equally to any brand of supermarket, and any building of that scale.

I hope the Herne Bay Regeneration Team has a Plan B. They've had long enough to think of one, surely.

View fullsize

View fullsize

WEA Summer program

An excellent line-up for the summer - perfect for the Garden of England!

Hurry to book your places - contact details below.

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LITERATURE

Poetry of Seasons and Gardens

Tutor: Ron Dodge - 10-week course

Green thoughts in green shades or seasons of mist and mellow fruitfulness. We have these and other less well known but fine poetry in this course.

Thursdays 10 am – 12 noon from 24.04.2014, fee £79.00

Meeting in North Room, Christ Church, William St. Herne Bay, CT6 5NR.

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LOCAL HISTORY

Kentish Men and Men of Kent

Tutor: Deborah Cole - 5-week course

We will look at archaeology, place names, literature, places and connections, administrative areas and new research in linguistics and genetics. Does a pattern emerge of cultural regions, and what about their origins?

Tuesdays 2.00 - 4.00 pm, from 22.04.2014, fee £39.50

Meeting in Beach House, Beach Street, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 5PT

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GARDENS

The Story of the English Garden

Tutor: Sally Berkeley - 5-week course    

The English Garden has evolved over two millennia. What did various invaders – Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Normans – bring to our gardens?

Thursdays – 2.00 to 4.00 pm, from 24.04.2014, fee £39.50

Meeting in Beach House, Beach Street, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 5PT

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For further information or to book a place on a course please contact:

Graham Woolnough - 01843 822971 - HerneBayWEA@gmail.com

John Gilbey's blueprint for Herne Bay

The Leader of our Council has produced a blueprint for debate. As he says:

Cllr John Gilbey

As a member of the City Council for 11 years and as Portfolio Holder for Regeneration for 9 years, I have had a unique insight into many issues across the District and the County.

I don’t have all the answers to questions that are asked and would never make such a claim, but I would like to use my years of accumulated knowledge to present my ideas for the future of the Canterbury District.

This is not a plan, or a proposal, these are merely my own personal thoughts, a blueprint to encourage meaningful debate on these issues. This is a document to encourage you to write to me with your views and opinions, to stimulate positive ideas on the ways forward for all of us.

After a little chat about how in love with the Local Plan he is, and how we will all be living in "garden towns", basking in the glow of "sustainable urban design", Cllr Gilbey goes on to focus on specific areas.

Here's what he has to say about Herne Bay [with my comments] - do feel free to add your own comments below.

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Herne Bay

The council will complete the town centre upgrade [after how many years, while you were portfolio holder for regeneration?] including moving the market and preserving some of the buildings currently in a state of decay [examples?]. There is a need to re-open some disused buildings and homes [examples?], and tax second homes appropriately [why, how, and how much?].

A proposal to open up Beach Street and rejuvenate that environment will also be completed [completed? has planning been approved?] as part of the upgrading of the town and in that context the sea front itself should be the subject of renewal/upgrading with analysis and decisions to be taken in the light of local views and aspirations [NO! it should be DRIVEN by local views and aspirations] on the future purpose of such an attractive location. We should widen the appeal and facilities of Herne Bay even further to encourage both tourism and business to provide local jobs.

We will have a solid foundation for a greater marketable attraction with all these planned developments. I strongly believe we should also support the Pier head activities [I think you mean the Pier stub - your Council has long since admitted it has no intention of rebuilding to the Pier head], satisfactorily resolve the future of the Museum [after YOUR Council cut its opening hours, following YEARS of neglect] and continue protection for the Downs [your Council is the ONLY objector to the village green application - village green status is the greatest possible protection under English law]. King's Hall needs to be fully supported in its endeavours to become a self supporting venue for events while providing community facilities. The replacement of the Beach Huts at the base of the Downs should also be part of the package [NEVER!].

The Roman fort remains at Reculver need to be enhanced and protected. The general environment of the coast at Reculver needs firm and direct action to provide an environment worthy of the history, nature, culture and attraction of this unique area [yes, it could be a great place for a caravan site...]. Overall Herne Bay should strive to be a modern vibrant town that provides attractions and facilities for residents and tourists, both taking advantage of the seaside location. The Bends should always be protected as a valuable green gap and open space.

This council has, over the last 9 years made huge progress in Herne Bay and this is often forgotten about. We have renovated the clock tower (with the recent announcement there is much more renovation to come) [so how good was your first renovation?] and sea front flood defences [er, no - this was Environment Agency funded], we have enhanced the whole concept and environment of Memorial Park, designated large Queen Elizabeth II Fields which permanently protects green open spaces from development [it affords no such protection - QEII land can be developed on, if a matching area nearby is provided as a replacement - in contrast, a village green can NOT be developed, which is why the Council is objecting], upgraded the Leisure Centre facilities and cleared the pier head [knocked down a building which had become unsafe through Council neglect, and put down a poor tarmac surface]. We have built a sports centre at Herne Bay High School incorporating a roller hockey rink while also encouraging and supporting local involvement throughout. We have prepared an Area Action Plan for the Town Centre and work is now underway. With residents there is much to be done still to preserve and enhance the ambiance and economic well being of the Town but we are well on our way.

Look everyone - it's that Ed Targett again!

Greens unveil Ed Targett as election candidate

The latest contender to challenge for North Thanet and Herne Bay MP Sir Roger Gale’s seat at the next election has been revealed.

Former Herne Bay Times reporter Ed Targett is the Green Party’s first candidate in the seat since 1992 after helping establish a new Thanet group in 2012.

Father-of-two Mr Targett, 31, grew up in Herne Bay and now works as a energy writer and wants to raise awareness on a number of issues including changes to at Margate’s Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital and Queen Victoria Hospital in Herne Bay.

The Canterbury-born campaigner has welcomed party leader Natalie Bennett to East Kent on a fact-finding visit and wants to raise awareness of issues including the NHS, public transport and town centre regeneration.

He lives in Margate with his fiancée and is a member of the O’Neil’s Boxing Club. Mr Targett stood as a Green candidate at the 2013 county council elections in Margate and Cliftonville.

The Greens plan to stand several candidates in the council elections and Ian Driver is confirmed as the party’s candidate for South Thanet. The other confirmed candidate for the seat so far is retired nurse Frances Rehal for Labour as the main parties seek to shrink a 13,528 Conservative majority.

Canterbury Times 10th Mar 2014