Derelict Methodist church in Herne Bay High Street is sold

A derelict Methodist church in Herne Bay High Street has been sold to be turned into flats after languishing on the market for the past two years. The historic landmark was opened in 1885 but the Methodists moved out ten years ago and the pigeons moved in.

The building, on the corner of the High Street and Beach Street, has planning permission for 11 flats on condition that the exterior remains untouched. Peter Goodwin, manager of estate agents Wilbee and Son, said all that was left was the facade.

The organ, which was first played in the church in 1896 was dismantled, catalogued and shipped to a European buyer. The pews were also sold off. Mr Goodwin said:

"It was in total disrepair. The pigeons had taken over and were living in the building rent-free. All we sold was the shell with planning permission. We gave it a clean-up and opened the windows, and the pigeons flew away. It is one of the longest sales we have had because of the planning issues. It is a huge development project and will cost about £1million."

The church was put on the market for £425,000 in 2010, but difficulties with potential buyers securing a mortgage on the property meant it had to be a cash buy. It was eventually sold last month to a London developer for around £300,000. The deal took months to complete while the new owners made sure all the paperwork was in place.

David Birch, chairman and trustee of Herne Bay Historical Records Society, remembers having lessons in the church during the Second World War. He said:

"From the air, schools could look like military bases, so we would register at the school in the morning and then take our lessons at various churches in the area. Eventually they built an air raid shelter around the corner from the school. I spent a lot of time sitting on the biscuit tin that contained our emergency food rations. At that time churches were busy for one day a week, Sunday, morning, noon and night, but were empty during the week so they were perfect for lessons."

The church closed ten years ago because of dwindling attendance. The congregation joined with the United Church in Mortimer Street. Maintenance on the empty building was costing the Methodists thousands of pounds a year until it was sold to Whitstable developer Paul Langston. Mr Birch said:

"It closed because of sheer lack of numbers. We wondered what was going to happen for a long time. I'd still like to know what they are going to do with the 100-ft stone spire. I wouldn't like to own a flat and be responsible for the maintenance of that roof. There's also a plot of land alongside the church. It will be interesting to see what happens to that."

Mr Langston owned the building for the past four years with the intention of developing it into flats but never proceeded with the project. There have since been about four offers on the building and he sold off the fixtures and fittings before it changed hands.

Evelyn Bissett, city councillor for Herne and Broomfield, said:

"It has been a long time coming. People can do marvellous things with churches now. I think it will help the town considerably."

Herne Bay Times

Post mortem and the afterlife

May's election is done and dusted, the rosettes stored away, the leaflets recycled, and the manifesto promises are just fading memories.

What are we left with for the next four years, here in sunny Herne Bay? Well, we've got eight of the old guard (one re-badged) and five newbies - a decent rate of turnover, by the look of it. Twelve of them are Conservative, one Liberal Democrat. And this is where our problems start.

In Herne & Broomfield, there was no change: Bisset, Sonnex and Vickery-Jones sailed in. In the papers the next week, Sharron Sonnex wrote about continuing to "robustly represent" her constituents. I laughed till I stopped. After attending HBAMP meetings on and off for a couple of years, plus the occasional Council meeting, I had never heard Sharon Sonnex speak (or Evelyn Bisset, come to that). When the Herne & Broomfield blarney fairy was handing out the gift of the gab, I think Peter Vickery-Jones must have cornered the market.

Over in West Bay, old hand Peter Lee topped the poll, closely followed by Sebastien Byford. Who? Well, Sebastien is one of the new foundling councillors, magicked out of nowhere by Conservative High Command and dropped neatly into the gap left by Vince McMahan. As you can tell from the number of votes - nearly as many as the experienced financial wizard Peter Lee - he is clearly top-class councillor material.

In my home Ward of Reculver (where I was beaten into fourth place, but still ahead of Labour and LibDems), we hung on to Cllrs Reuby and Taylor, and acquired Jennie Edwards. Putting her glamorous past behind her, Jennie works in the local Conservative office in Birchington, where she was sprinkled with fairy dust and became - tadah! - another foundling councillor.

Heron Ward in central Herne Bay is home to our lone remaining LibDem, Ron Flaherty, and two more newbies - Andrew Cook (King of the Beach Huts) and Joe Howes, about whom I know nothing, other than Andrew apparently met him whilst out dog-walking.

Greenhill & Eddington was all surprises - Robert Bright (once a Conservative, then a LibDem, now a Conservative again) topped the poll, closely followed by David Hirst (already a busy Kent County Councillor for Herne Bay). Councillor Bright is said by his (current) leader John Gilbey to have "ratted and re-ratted" - and there the similarity with Winston Churchill ends, completely. He had not been reselected by the LibDems due to his poor performance as a constituency councillor. For me, his election lends the lie to the idea that the Conservative party has a formidable election machine - you can pin a blue rosette on a rat and it will get votes.

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So, what are we to make of all this, and what's going to happen next?

Dear Reader, I must confess I'm worried for our town. All of the retorgrade steps in recent years have, by definition, happened under and because of the Conservative majority in Canterbury. We now have an overwhelming Conservative majority in Herne Bay - anything and everything that is suggested or ordered by Canterbury High Command will go through on the nod. I forecast poor attendance, and worse debate, at HBAMP (the meeting of our local councillors) as the unchallengable majority become increasingly lazy and arrogant.

Our local democracy is already in poor shape - the Central Development Plan gets a mixed reaction from 119 people, and goes ahead; the village green application gets solid support from ten times as many (1,181) and is fiercely opposed by the Council. Over the last couple of decades, we have seen blue and red landslide victories in national politics, and both have turned sour. I fear this local landslide will follow the same pattern.

And what of HBAMP itself?

We're at the stage in the game of political musical chairs when everyone changes place. The chairmanship alternates annually between Kent County Council and Canterbury City Council, as does the vice-chairmanship. Last year we had David Hirst (chair, KCC) and Vince McMahan (vice-chair, CCC), so this year we must have a CCC Chair, and a KCC vice-chair.

The vice-chairmanship is easy enough to forecast - there are two possible candidates, David Hirst and Jean Law. As David has just had a year of chairing, it will fall to Jean Law to be vice-chair. The chairmanship is a little trickier.

Traditionally, members of the Executive are ruled out - they don't want to give the impression that the Executive runs everything. Perish the thought! So that rules out Lee, Taylor and Vickery-Jones. The newbies are out of the running for a whole host of good reasons, not least inexperience - so that rules out Cook, Howes, Edwards and Byford. Cllr Reuby was chair recently, and there is not a chance in hell that LoneDem Ron Flaherty would be made chair.

Which leave us with the Silent Sisters Sonnex and Bisset, and Blue Rat Bright. Tough call! The word on the street is that Bright wins by a whisker, much to the annoyance of local Tories, some of whom refused to stand in the same Ward as Bright, and even threatened to resign rather than be too close to him. Bright managed to rile people, councillors and public alike, sitting as a councillor on HBAMP. As chair, he promises to be insufferable. He may turn out to be the only significant problem the Herne Bay Conservatives have.

Evelyn Bissett

HBM

Derelict Methodist church in Herne Bay High Street is sold

about 12 years ago

Post mortem and the afterlife

about 13 years ago

Evelyn Bissett

about 13 years ago

Shame

about 15 years ago

Shame

Here's another kick in the teeth for local democracy: local Councillors who can't be bothered to reply to an email from one of their constituents about a constituency matter.

My fine and beloved woman emailed the Councillors for Reculver Ward.
One out of the three replied.
Congratulations Gillian Reuby.
Shame on you Ann Taylor and Gabrielle Davis.

She also emailed the Herne Bay Area Members Panel.
Three out of the thirteen replied.
Congratulations Gillian Reuby, Peter Vickery-Jones and Ron Flaherty.
Shame on you Ann Taylor, Gabrielle Davis, Evelyn Bisset, Sharon Sonnex, Peter Lee, Vince McMahan, Margaret Flaherty, Roger Matthews, Ken Hando and Robert Bright.

If any of the "shy" Councillors have a convincing explanation for not replying, do please let me know. Otherwise, you keep your place in the Hall of Shame.