Local Plan: Golf course might not get Tesco

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The developer behind plans for a new housing estate and sports centre at the former Herne Bay golf club has vowed it will go ahead - with or without a Tesco store.

Mark Quinn, of Quinn Estates, told members of Herne Bay Town Partners last week the scheme had been delayed as negotiations continued with the retail giant. An application was due to be submitted this summer for the supermarket. as well as a sports hub that would provide a home for four town clubs.

The store would provide income to allow the sports hub to go ahead as a gift to the town. But Mr Quinn said the scheme would now be dealt with as a whole rather than in two stages, with 400 houses and commercial units as well. He said:

"I told the group we would go for it with the whole scheme. whether Tesco were a part of it or not. It means a delay of four or five months but it guarantees certainty and that is not a bad thing. It means we create a solution for the whole scheme rather than just a part of it."

Both he and Tesco bosses insisted negotiations were continuing and a spokesman for Tesco said it remained committed to the scheme. Mr Quinn added:

"What is important for me is that we don't let down the sports clubs and that I deliver what I said I would. We are certain that it will happen and it will take place. Whether Tesco are in the mix or not, it will go ahead. I have spoken to all the chairmen of the sports groups and we are really confident with what is going on."

The hub would bring together Herne Bay's youth football team. cricket club, tennis club and hockey club on one site. A planning application should be submitted by the end of this year. and work could start by the middle of next year. It is expected to take 18 months to complete.

HB Times 27th Jun 2013

New organisers for classic car shows

The city council has announced that Herne Bay Town Partners will organise this year’s Classic Car and Bike Shows in Herne Bay and Whitstable.

The events take place on Saturday 8 June in Whitstable and Sunday 18 August in Herne Bay and continue the tradition of creating great family days out that support the local economy and encourage visitors to the town.

All previous participants have already been contacted to advise them of the new organisers’ details.

For more information, or to get involved in this year’s shows, contact Herne Bay Town Partners on 07841 598 076 or email hernebaytp@gmail.com

CCC 6th May 2013

Herne Bay volunteers given £10k for lights

Herne Bay's most recent Christmas tree (photo by Alan Porter)

A  group of volunteers hailed as "stars" will make the town shine next Christmas thanks to a grant from a Bay county councillor. Jean Law, who represents the town on Kent County Council, is gifting the remainder of her member's fund to four community groups in a bid to make Christmas 2013 the best ever.

She hopes the £10,000 will help Herne Bay Town Partners, Herne Bay in Bloom, Beach Creative and the BayPromoTeam attract more cash in match funding to pay for a spectacular lights display. Mrs Law said:

"These are all groups I have worked with in the past and they work brilliantly together. They are all stars and I know that working together they can make up for this year and all the negative publicity. I have lots of ideas and I would like it to be like Herne Bay in Bloom, where the whole town comes together to make it great."

This year's tree was slammed as the "worst in the country" by national newspapers, and its replacement was also panned by critics. There were complaints about the lack of lights in the High Street and that crossover lights used in previous years were missing. Mrs Law said:

"I was desperately disappointed with this year's display and there was a lot of negative feeling about it. It was supposed to be so magical and it didn't quite work like that. But I know next Christmas will be better than ever, and I want to see really inventive displays, not just common or garden lights."

Among the ideas being considered are trees for over shops, projected images of moving snowflakes on buildings, and a mini forest of Christmas trees, donated from different sources. Mrs Law said:

"We also need shopkeepers to get involved and do their bit in brightening up the town and that's where Beach Creative can get involved. It is a long-term project. We don't need bling, we just need it to be magical for the children and it is a real privilege to be involved in it. I hope that this year we can invite all those who criticised us to come back and see what Herne Bay can really do."

Former town trader Geoff Wimble has also set up a Christmas lights group made up of residents and shopkeepers, and they are planning fundraising events.

Supermarket plan causes friction and ructions

Traders fall out over plans for supermarket outside Herne Bay

A group of Bay business people is backing plans for a giant supermarket outside the town. Herne Bay Town Partners has agreed to support Sainsbury's bid for a store on the new Altira Business Park at Beltinge, despite council bosses trying to attract a supermarket to the town centre as part of regeneration plans.

Sainsbury's has a pre-let agreement with developers Terrace Hill for a 95,000 sq ft superstore and petrol station on the business park, near the driving test centre. Minutes seen by the Times state:

"The business group have recently met and discussed the proposed plans that Sainsbury's have to open a major retail unit on the outskirts of Herne Bay. It has been indicated that Sainsbury's will apply for planning permission before the end of the year. The group suggested we should endorse Sainsbury's proposal and, when the time is right, arrange to meet their development team to encourage them to support the town."

Dylan Hampshire

But a row between mattress shop boss Dylan Hampshire, who opposed the decision, and former director of the group Geoff Wimble led to Mr Wimble quitting in disgust. Former pawn shop boss Mr Wimble said:

"Sainsbury's should tell the council to get back in its little box and shut up. The council messed up the chance to get a supermarket in the bus station because it said the area was a flood risk. We want to support the town and now Dylan Hampshire is running around like a child with a smacked bottom complaining that an out-of-town supermarket would kill the traders. There's no proof."

Mr Hampshire, who runs Cockett's Mattresses in the High Street, said:

"I know Geoff is passionate about the town and has done a lot for it. But I think the Town Partners were too quick in supporting Sainsbury's at Altira without any corresponding pressure to promote the central development. There needs to be redoubling of effort to encourage a supermarket to Herne Bay."

Herne Bay councillor Peter Lee, who is in charge of the regeneration plans, said the city council's preferred option was still a major store for the town centre – a plan which received almost unanimous approval. He added:

"The council is confident that it can withstand any out-of-town development on the strength of public support for the plan. Herne Bay Town Partners are, of course, entitled to their view, but I don't believe that it will have much public support. Most people don't want to see Herne Bay Town Centre decline in the way that so many others have when faced with out-of-town competition."

thisiskent 14th Aug 2012

Town says it with flowers

Blooming bollards have brought a sea of colour to Herne Bay - thanks to its In Bloom committee. They installed flower baskets of red and white geraniums over the town’s bollards in the High Street, with help from city council contractors Serco and money from the county council, just in time for the South and South East England judges to call on Tuesday.

Wooden and three-tier planters were provided by Town Centre Partners. The city council provided plants and compost for the permanent town brick planters. Newhouse Nurseries at Dunkirk prepared the containers. In Bloom spokesman Pam Hobbs said:

“Everyone on the committee worked so hard. Shops and businesses have been excellent, too, as they have had to water the flowers.”

Judges started their inspection at the Appleseed Landscapes project at the entrance to Kent Enterprise House. They were then taken to Herne to see the village’s 700th anniversary flower bed; Herne Junior School; Beacon Hill; Sea View Road to the Downs; the Girl Guide centenary garden near the Kings Hall and then to Hampton via the High Street. Judges met foreshore manager Tom Hawkins at the pier then walked the seafront to meet town coordinator Chris West at the Beach Walk dry garden. He took them to see the basket tree in William Street donated by Denne Construction & Coplan, who also provided a water bowser, which is kept by Peter Goodwin, of Wilbees estate agents. The judges also visited Memorial Park before finishing at Richmond Court.

It was a race against time to get the garden at the entrance to Kent Enterprise House ready for the judges. Bosses only received permission from Kent Highways to use the area next to The Links roundabout on Thursday - giving them less than five days to finish the project.

Workers from the Appleseed Landscapes charity pulled out all the stops to complete their entry for Herne Bay In Bloom. Gardeners went straight to work digging and removed turf for the spiral design. Compost from Viridot; made from green waste from the district, arrived on Friday. By Monday it was all dug in, just as the plants arrived from council contractors Serco. By the end of Monday all were planted according to the design.

All that was left on Tuesday was for the edges to be completed and conservation features to be installed. Insect boxes were made by the Hambrook Marshes team and nailed to wooden posts around the flower bed. Homes for stag beetles were built using wood from Hambrook Marshes.

The Town Partners

Herne Bay Town Partners is a voluntary, non-profit making organisation formed in 2006. They are developing an effective partnership between the public, private and voluntary sectors, so together we can achieve a safe and vibrant place in which to work, live and visit.

The Town Partners market, promote and are actively involved in enhancing the activities and amenities within the town of Herne Bay. They are leading and being instrumental in the development of promotions, events and activities within the town. This will benefit the townspeople, the business community and its visitors. Herne Bay is actively meeting the challenge of competing with other towns. They are planning to enhance the whole of the town; it’s activities and attractions to make every visit to the town a worthwhile experience. Herne Bay has been designated a regeneration area, Town Partners will contribute to and assist with the process.

See more on their website.

Celebrities to launch Herne Bay culture trail

Celebrities and sports stars with Herne Bay connections will be in town this Saturday, November 15 for the unveiling of a special mural. Stars including TV presenter Nicki Chapman, Herne funnyman Dave Lee and EastEnders actor John "Nasty Nick Cotton" Altman have been invited to the unveiling of the Famous Faces Mural on Cains amusement arcade in Central Parade at 11.15am on Saturday.

The painting is by mural artist Penny Bearman, from Deal, who has been commissioned to produce three large artworks as part of the Herne Bay Cultural Trail. Other local legends in the mural include former Great Britain hockey player Sean Kerly and roller hockey veteran Phil McVey. English-born American comedian and actor Bob Hope is also featured in the mural because he fell from the pier when he visited Herne Bay as a child.

Herne Bay Town Partners also plan historically-themed murals for the side wall of Spearings Stationers in Mortimer Street and on rear wall of the Herne Bay district council office in William Street.

On the same day, a statue of Sir Barnes Wallis, the man who invented the bouncing bomb, will also be unveiled in Herne Bay. The bronze statue was commissioned by Herne Bay Town Partners after they were awarded £78,000 of lottery funding last year. It will go on show to the public at the Downs, Beacon Hill close to the Kings Hall at 12pm on Saturday (November 15).

Although a number of residents, including Sean Kerly, objected to the positioning of the statue, planning permission was granted in October. Engineer Sir Barnes Wallis tested the bouncing bomb, which helped the Allies to win the Second World War, off the coast between Herne Bay and Reculver in 1946. It will become the centrepiece of 18 historical and interesting locations around the town which will form the Herne Bay Cultural Trail. The statue's sculptor Tom White is also due to fly over from Bethel in Maine, USA to attend the unveiling.

A website for the trail has been launched at www.hernebayculturaltrail.co.uk

This is Kent 12th Nov 2008