Japanese invasion strikes Herne Bay

An invasive sea creature known as “marine vomit” is threatening to engulf the Herne Bay coast. Carpet seasquirt – which spreads rapidly and aggressively - has been discovered growing on boulders and reefs in waters surrounding the town.

It is the first time the unsightly species has been seen in the UK outside of harbours and marinas. The seasquirt – believed to be native to Japan – reproduces rapidly and can threaten other marine life, including oysters and mussels.

The news has sparked fears the spongy creature will cover huge parts of the Herne Bay coastline, with the Environment Agency saying there’s no way of stopping it. Environmental officer Ian Humpheryes said:

“It spreads so rapidly and aggressively. We can’t even look for its natural predators because we don’t know what its home environment is. It should be living offshore, so the fact it’s made its way to our beaches doesn’t bode well. Within two weeks it can spread from something the size of a fingernail to a foot across. We’ve had invasive species before, but they don’t grow as fast as this stuff. The sad thing is we have no idea what we can do about it.”

The species – which spreads on dirty boat hulls, fishing equipment and even floating seaweed – can destroy shellfish like oysters and mussels. But marine biologist Dr John Hayes, of Reculver-based Seasalter Shellfish, says the company is playing a waiting game. He said:

“It’s certainly cause for concern, but we’ll need to wait and see what happens. If it proves to have no enemies then it’s going to be a big problem, but hopefully something might come along and eat it all up. All these sea squirts are a pain in the backside.”

HB Gazette 8th Dec 2011 joewalker@thekmgroup.co.uk

Message in a Bottle at Reculver

Local litter action group 'Shore' is a load of Rubbish! is still going strong, and their project for 2011 is Message in a Bottle.

With the help of two local schools (Westmeads Whitstable and St Stephens Canterbury) they are constructing a full-sized beach hut from recycled materials, including 2 litre plastic bottles filled with beachcombed litter and facts about marine litter. Message in a Bottle is now on at:

Reculver Visitor Centre open Thursday-Monday 11am-5pm till 29th August, on display are:

• a Bottle Beach Hut, made of 2 litre bottles filled with beach litter,
• a bottle top deckchair made up of 560 bottle tops threaded onto 40 metres of cord, and
• a Mermaid made from crisp packets, balloon litter and recycled items!
• More details below.

Click it to big it.

‘Message in a Bottle’ Dates 2011

Herne Bay Band Stand/Sea Front
August, location TBC

Reculver Visitor Centre
1st-29th August
11-5 Thursday-Monday

Horsebridge Centre Whitstable
8th-18th September
9-6 Monday-Saturday 10-6 Sunday

For more information, and great pictures of work in progress and previous exhibits, visit

shoreisaloadofrubbish.blogspot.com

Message in a Bottle

Local litter action group 'Shore' is a load of Rubbish! is still going strong.

Their project for 2011 is Message in a Bottle.

With the help of two local schools (Westmeads Whitstable and St Stephens Canterbury) they are constructing a full-sized beach hut from recycled materials, including 2 litre plastic bottles filled with beachcombed litter and facts about marine litter.

More details below.

‘Message in a Bottle’ Dates 2011

Exhibition at Herne Bay Library
28th June-22nd July
9-6 Monday-Fridays 9-5 Saturdays

Herne Bay Band Stand/Sea Front
August, location TBC

Reculver Visitor Centre
1st-29th August
11-5 Thursday-Monday

Horsebridge Centre Whitstable
8th-18th September
9-6 Monday-Saturday 10-6 Sunday

For more information, and great pictures of work in progress and previous exhibits, visit

shoreisaloadofrubbish.blogspot.com

Pollution at car park is "unlikely to pose a risk"

A key redevelopment site in the town is contaminated, but the pollution is unlikely to pose a "significant" threat to human health. That's according to council officers who have overseen a series of environmental tests under the Kings Road car park since the beginning of the year.

The area, formerly a gasworks, has been earmarked for a new supermarket as part of the town's regeneration programme. Residents were concerned about possible contamination under the car park, so contractors drilled nine boreholes to test the soil. But council spokesman Rob Davies said test results returned by consultants Environmental Scientifics Group after the drilling had been reassuring. He said:

"The results revealed very few issues, with eight of the nine boreholes having no problems. The other one found elevated levels of hydrocarbon.  This contamination suggests that a leak or spill of hydrocarbons may have occurred in the past."

The group recommends more investigation to see if the substances need to be removed. Mr Davies added:

"Their report makes it clear that it is unlikely to pose a significant risk to human health. The fact that this development will be hard surfaced means that the elevated levels of hydrocarbons found may be able to remain in situ so long as they are contained and not mobile."

HB Times 30th Jun 2011

Gale's View: London Array

That contracts have been signed for the construction of the London Array windfarm in the Thames Estuary is good news. Whatever your view of global warming - and I subscribe to the view that even if some of the science is a bit dodgy it is much, much better to be safe than sorry - it is clear that unless we take action now to invest in and harness renewable energy then our children and our grandchildren are going to find the lights going out in their hospitals and their schools and their homes.

There may be enough coal in the hills of West Virginia to power the United States for the next two zillion years but that is hardly a responsible or an acceptable way forward if we are going to save what is becoming an increasingly fragile planet. There is likely to be no silver bullet, no one single source that will supply our energy needs for the future.  We shall require a new generation of nuclear power stations and we need to get on with the building of them.  We will need 100% carbon capture coal-fired power stations and we need to accelerate the development of that technology as well.

But we also need to use what God has given us in the form of the wind and the tides and that is just one reason why Laura Sandys under-reported Marine Energy Summit, held recently in East Kent, was so important.  These will be the technologies of the future and our County can and should be taking a lead in their development. London Array will, when complete, be the largest windfarm in the world.  It will generate enough energy from wind to power all of the homes in an area the size of one quarter of Greater London and in so doing it will displace the emission of 1.9 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide every year.

London Array will also create jobs. While too many of the large contracts have, because UK Ltd missed the boat, already been awarded to other European Countries, there will be other jobs in construction and long-term maintenance and servicing that can benefit the economy of East Kent and it is vital that Members of Parliament, the County Council and the City and District Councils continue to work together to ensure that the consortium awards those contracts locally.

And talking of wind energy I notice that some of the hot air that emerged from the Chancellor’s Pre-budget report promised tax concessions for those who generate energy domestically and supply the surplus to the grid. I have one constituent (living in Birchington) who has been waiting patiently for many months to install a wind generator.  He cannot do so because the same government that is offering incentives has still to issue the necessary planning regulations to cover the domestic installation of wind generators!  Perhaps, around that Cabinet table, they might start talking to each other!

Roger Gale M.P.  (December 23rd 2009)

Gale's View: Manston

You either believe in the development of Manston as a regional airport or you do not. I have been absolutely consistent in my own view during my entire time as the Member of Parliament for North Thanet. I do. I believe that Manston has a significant role to play in maintaining the United Kingdom's competitive place in the aviation industry and I believe in the capacity of Manston to contribute significantly through job creation to the local and national economies.

I do not share the opinions of the present Member of Parliament for Thanet South over very many issues but on this we have been, and so far as I am aware remain, united.

Where we part company is over our attitude to the proposal to build a Thanet Parkway rail station to carry passengers using the fast link and to serve the airport. Dr. Ladyman believes that our existing local stations and particularly Ramsgate are sufficient to serve the need. I believe that only the upgrading of the track and signalling between Ashford and Thanet, coupled with a new Parkway halt will adequately serve the needs of both commuters seeking to take advantage of genuinely (1-hour) high speed trains between Thanet and London and travellers from further airfield taking flights from Manston. That is a perfectly respectable and honourable difference of opinion.

What those who preach green travel and want to see rail used instead of road have to recognise, I think, is that without the development of the airport there will be little or no economic case for the extension of the fast rail link and that without that economic case the investment is unlikely to be made in the foreseeable future. We may be between a rock and a hard place but I made my decision long ago and I stand by it.

I have been slightly pedantically accused of inaccuracy in stating in the Commons that flights approaching and leaving Manston do so over the sea. Very largely, they do. Compared with the approaches to Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and so far as I am aware every other significant airfield in the UK (including locations such as Bournemouth and Southampton) the amount of overflying of land and property before landing and after takeoff is small.

That does not mean that I have no concern for the environmental effects of the development of the airport upon residents' lives. Again, I do. Those living in South Thanet and my own constituents living in the Thanet villages and Herne Bay on the flight paths have a right to due consideration and to the greatest achievable protection from noise and disturbance that is achievable and compatible with the lawful use of the airfield. That is why, for instance, I have again consistently opposed any extension of night flying at Manston and that is why I meet regularly with the Environment Agency and have, within only the last week, discussed with them the potential effects of airport development upon water supplies and sewage disposal.

I also recognise the wishes of those of my constituents living in Thanet and Herne Bay who have in the past enjoyed the ease and convenience (in some cases dating back to Silver City days) of flights to and from Manston. They were delighted with the service provided by EUJet, deeply saddened when that venture collapsed and are keen to see a restoration of package holiday travel from their local airport.

We have, now, as I said in the Commons, an opportunity. Given investment in the fast rail link and in perimeter security Manston is better placed that any other airfield to become "London's Olympic Airport" for the duration of the 2012 Games. We have the potential to provide a one-stop shop for the reception, processing and accreditation of worldwide athletes, officials and visitors and I believe that we should seize that opportunity in the interests of our local economy and of the UK. The legacy value of such investment, particularly in terms of the high speed rail link, would, of course, be dramatic.

Let me be clear before I am mischievously mis-represented: Heathrow is the World's number one hub airport. Gatwick, Stansted and Luton are not hub airports and never will be and neither will Manston. The development of Manston has the capability, however, to take some of the pressure off Gatwick and, in turn, release capacity at Heathrow and, taken with my party's plans to build high-speed rail throughout the Midlands and Northern England, help to obviate the need for a third runway at Heathrow.

I do not believe that 'Boris Island' is either desirable or politically achievable but unless we want to see UK jobs lost to Schiphol and Charles de Gaulle, with a cost to our economy and no benefit to the global environment, then to do nothing is not an option. Properly handled, the promotion of Manston as a regional airport is entirely compatible with a "Green Isle of Thanet" policy and it deserves support.

Roger Gale M.P. (February 4th 2009)