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Herne Bay, England, CT6
United Kingdom
Community website for all things Herne Bay (Kent, UK). Covers: The Downs, Herne Bay Museum, Herne Bay Historical Records Society, Herne Bay Pier Trust, Herne Bay in Bloom, East Cliff Neighbourhood Panel, No Night Flights, Manston Airport, Save Hillborough, Kitewood, WEA, Local Plan and much, much more...
Filtering by Tag: Michael Khoury
Pier Trust bosses denied 2012 had been a "troubled" year and insisted next year was going to be fantastic. New chairman Doreen Stone told members at the annual meeting that trustees were feeling very positive about the future.
She said trustees were united in the view that the pier platform should be developed as a short-term project and that long-term the pier should be rebuilt.
Read MoreNow this is interesting. Firstly Mr McMahan doesn't say where his figure of £750,000 comes from - is this what CCC have actually paid the contractors? - but I really like his idea that money generated from the demolition could have been re-invested in the Pier.
Secondly, the Council spokesman (Wormtongue, as I think of him) seems to be having trouble with numbers when he says "... it was discovered that the amount of asbestos in the building was understated and its removal was more problematic than first envisaged. The council has incurred no extra cost ...".
In June of last year, the local press reported that the cost of demolition was £243k more than the budgeted £425k because of the asbestos revealed by a structural survey. As Cllr Vickery-Jones said at the time:
This is a huge increase but there is no alternative.
Hmmm... "no extra cost" or "a huge increase" - which do you think best describes £243,000?
So our Council got a fixed price deal and handed over the value of all the scrap to the contractors, at a time when most metal prices seemed to be rising steadily (apparently due to demand for raw materials in China pushing up prices globally).
Are any of CCC's bean-counters going to figure out how much we lost out as a result? I doubt it. They won't bother to find out how costly this mistake was, and as a result will probably repeat it.
Pulling down Herne Bay's Pier Pavilion has cost tax-payers £750,000 and left the town with nothing in return, claims former city councillor Vince McMahan. He says a clause in the demolition contract means contractors have been allowed to strip the pier of valuable scrap metal and pocket the cash. The dad of three stormed:
"It beggars belief. It is a slap in the face to the people of Herne Bay that firstly the cost shot up to £668,000 because the council didn't realise there was so much asbestos there. And then the deal means the company can keep the scrap.
The whole building was clad in aluminium, which is worth a lot of money now. With scrap metal prices soaring, the council should have insisted the money was recycled to, say, the Pier Trust or ring-fenced for the town's regeneration."
Council spokesman Rob Davies insisted:
"We held a competitive tender for the demolition contract to ensure we got the best possible price. The salvage and sale of recyclable materials such as metal, steel and timber are being carried out by the contractor but it is important to stress that any money made from this was included as savings to the council in the tender price.
It also makes sense on a practical level because, if the council had kept these materials, it would have incurred substantial transport and storage costs. The council let the contract on a maximum price basis, where the risk of any cost increase was transferred to the contractor.
This decision was a very good one as, when the building envelope was opened, it was discovered that the amount of asbestos in the building was understated and its removal was more problematic than first envisaged. The council has incurred no extra cost but has allowed the contractors extra time to deal with these difficult issues.
We are forecasting that the demolition works will be completed by mid-April and that the post-demolition works will be completed in time for the summer season."
The row erupted as the council was blasted by former Pier Trust bosses for failing to back the group. Former treasurer and accountant Jason Hollingsworth, 40, from Victoria Park, who stood down from the Trust three months ago, said in a joint letter with former chairman Graham Cooper:
"In our view, the trust has never been effectively or adequately supported by the council. Indeed, that is at the core of why so many trustees have stood down. Throughout 2011, the Herne Bay Pier Trust participated in a joint working group with Canterbury City Council but from our experience the key difficulty was getting clear and consistent answers from the council as to its plans, ideas and funding."
Former chairman of the trust's business group Michael Khoury said:
"We worked out that a pier platform reaching the old pier head would cost £11 million, not £60 million as some claimed. The council has spent more than half a million pounds just knocking the building down with nothing left. Where's the vision?"
Pier campaigner Kim Hennelly asked the city council's deputy head of culture and enterprise Dawn Hudd outright about the council's intentions and received this reply:
"The council does not have any current intention of rebuilding the pier itself. Our corporate plan pledges to improve the seafront and the current pier platform. The Herne Bay Pier Trust was set up so that a business plan could be developed by the trust working with the people of Herne Bay.
The council is supporting this process by helping the trust to develop its business plan during this year and deliver events and activities on the pier platform for the 2012 season. We expect the trust to pursue rebuilding or extending the pier if it considers that to be right."
thisikent 23rd Mar 2012
Tesco has shocked Bay traders by announcing plans for a third store in the town. The supermarket giant wants to open a Tesco Express in Sea Street, despite still facing furious opposition over its plans to convert a pub in Herne.
It already runs a store in Canterbury Road and there is a large Tesco Extra a few miles away, near Whitstable. The new shop would be located opposite the Ford showroom, and local independent traders are unhappy at the prospect.
Bhajan Singh, 53, who runs The Local convenience store in Sea Street, admitted he was "very worried" by the news. He said:
"I only started running this shop in March last year so it's not the news I would have hoped for. It's going to be a big, big problem for us. I haven't received any contact from Tesco about it and had hoped it was just a rumour, but this has confirmed my worst fears."
Town manager Chris West said:
"I am concerned about our independent businesses, which are one of the town's strengths. I know in some areas it can increase footfall and business for other traders. But it seems strange they are opening so many smaller stores when the council has been actively looking for a major supermarket as part of plans to redevelop the town centre. They seem to be homing in on the area, which in a way is a compliment as they probably scent an opportunity. But I'm not sure if a national retailer opening up stores all over the town is what we need."
Chamber of Commerce boss Michael Khoury said:
"They destroy small businesses. It's completely over the top how they just come in everywhere. I'm 100 per cent opposed to it."
But some shoppers welcomed the news, saying it would be convenient to have a supermarket nearby. A letter sent by Tesco's Carol Leslie to Sea Street businesses and residents said:
"As a future neighbour, I'm pleased to let you know that we propose to open a Tesco Express convenience store at the former car showroom at Sea Street, Herne Bay, Kent. Part of the site already has permission for retail use in the form of the existing bathroom showroom fronting Sea Street. However we will be submitting an application for change of use to the car showroom and other minor applications. The building works will be kept to a minimum and we will be able to confirm an exact date nearer the time."
thisiskent 27th Jan 2012
The Tescopoly Alliance was launched in June 2005 to highlight and challenge the negative impacts of Tesco's behaviour along its supply chains both in the UK and internationally, on small businesses, on communities and the environment. The campaign also advocates national and international legislation needed to curb the market power of all the major British supermarkets.
