How can Herne Bay find its voice?

Will Scott's logo for Herne Bay

Town council or Herne Bay Society: what does the town need?

Does Herne Bay need its own council, or would a Herne Bay Society be better? Is it time to reclaim our Bay? That’s the question campaigners are asking this week after another Canterbury City Council council decision was met with fury in the town.

This time, it was the decision to block two-hour parking bays in the town, even though it was supported at a meeting of Bay town councillors and by business leaders. Members of the joint transportation board voted to go back to the drawing board, raising fears traders would suffer.

Nigel Hancock, from the Bay Independent Retail Group (BIRG), said:

“The fact is that we, as a town, are being stymied time and time again by Canterbury City Council. With every move made by us, and other community groups, to improve Herne Bay for its traders, residents and visitors, the current council seem to dish out another blow which knocks us back.

The policy-makers in Military Road seem to think that one size fits all and policies made for the city of Canterbury will somehow work in Herne Bay. They are deluded.”

Mr Hancock questioned whether it was time to reconsider the idea of setting up a Herne Bay Town Council, to give the town more effective representation and control.

But long-time campaigner Phil Rose, who is part of the Campaign for Democracy in Canterbury District seeking to change the way the city council is run, believes said there may be better options. He said:

“When people talk of a Herne Bay Town Council they are often thinking of the old Herne Bay Urban District Council but it would not be anything like that. It would be a layer underneath Canterbury City Council, that would decide how to set it up and what powers it has. The solution for local people who are unhappy with things as they are is to get involved but at the moment there is no vehicle for them to easily do that.”

He suggested a town-wide community group could be set up, with representatives from existing clubs and organisations. It would be non-political and could reach hundreds of people under the same umbrella organisation. Mr Rose, who runs the Herne Bay Matters website, said:

“A Herne Bay Society would be a good move, representing all the existing groups, as the people of the town, without a political axe to grind. We have the BayPromoTeam who do fantastic work but they are more about arranging events and promoting the town. I think there is a need for a group to represent people’s views and provide a platform for serious, formal debate with the council.”

The group would be similar to the Whitstable Society and Canterbury Society and council spokesman Rob Davies said those groups worked well. He said:

“They work effectively to represent their towns and we would be interested if Herne Bay were to create a similar society. We would work with them in exactly the same way we work with the two existing societies.”

Herne Bay Times 6th Mar 2014

Congestion & Traffic

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"In contrast to Whitstable, Herne Bay does not suffer from high levels of congestion. Here the challenge is to revitalise the town centre and reduce the need for residents to leave the town for services, leisure or retail opportunities by making the centre a pleasant and attractive environment for shoppers and visitors." [Draft Local Plan 5.8]

This fails to take into account the Council's plan to add thousands of homes around Herne Bay. If we did all came to shop in the town centre instead of going to Canterbury and elsewhere, congestion would be massive and there would be a gross under-provision of parking.

Herne relief road will be through Strode Farm and an improved Bullockstone Road. [Draft Local Plan 5.52]

We do not believe that Bullockstone Road can cope with this as well as the addition of 190 new homes.

"New development sites allocated in Herne Bay, Sturry, Broad Oak and Hersden will be required to fund a Sturry by-pass that avoids the level crossing by providing a new road bridge including a bus lane over the railway line. New development sites allocated in Herne Bay, Sturry, Broad Oak and Hersden will be required to fund a Sturry by-pass that avoids the level crossing by providing a new road bridge including a bus lane over the railway line." [Draft Local Plan 5.53]

So, we need housing here in Herne Bay to fund the Sturry crossing. There is no mention of the need to deal with our existing transport problems. There are no plans for improved rail for Herne Bay; no plans for a better bus service; and no mention of a change in parking policy to encourage people to shop in Herne Bay.

Town Centre Manager's report: 21st May 2013

1. Introduction

This report is for information.

2. Trading in Herne Bay

The first four months of the year have been difficult for traders, mainly due to the inclement weather and a national dip in retail sales. The May bank holiday weekend was the start of the tourist season, with lots of visitors to the town and seafront. The retail offer in the town is changing and we have seen two large retail units become vacant, Stead & Simpson’s in Mortimer Street and Odyssey in William Street. There has been a lot of interest in the units, but it appears that high rents are putting off interested parties.

Two new micro pubs have recently opened The Firkin Frog in Station Road and the Bouncing Barrel in Bank Street.

Beano’s in Mortimer Street has acquired Fusions Hair, the next door premises and will be extending the café.

Pizza Direct in Central Parade, have acquired Shore Play next door and will be opening a pizza restaurant.

Mushy Peas Fish & Chip Shop and Restaurant opened in Central Parade; Dolcies have re-located to new premises in William Street and the former Jade Garden Chinese Restaurant is under new management.

3. Independent Business

Nigel Handcock from Grass Media has formed the Herne Bay Independent Retailers Group to actively promote independent businesses in the town. The TCM is working with the group to offer support and to advise and assist in creating events for the National Independent Traders week in July.

4. Free Car Parking Trial

Throughout April the city council trialled free parking in the Kings Road Car Park for cars parked up to 11am, Monday to Friday. This offer attracted more people to the car park, with a 66% increase in cars parked at these times in April compared to March. (1048 cars parked in the car park until 11am for the month of April, averaging 35 cars per day).

5. Christmas Lights 2013

Herne Bay Community Group Projects Ltd are taking over management of the existing Christmas Lights. They are currently fund raising and hope to create an outstanding display in Herne Bay next Christmas. Depending on the success of their funding drive they hope to increase the displays in the town to include Mortimer Street, William Street and High Street. Other community groups including: Herne Bay Town Partners, Herne Bay in Bloom, Bay Promo Team and Beach Creative are supporting this work.

6. Events

• Sci-Fi by the Sea: 16 June 2013 organised by the Bay Promo Team.
• Kings Hall Centenary Celebrations: throughout July 2013
• Herne Bay Carnival 10th August 2013
• Herne Bay Festival: 17th – 25 August 2013, organised by Same Sky. Forty people attended the recent meeting called by Same Sky, the organisers of this year’s Herne Bay Festival. The majority of the attendees were from local community groups.
• Herne Bay Motor Show Sunday 18 August 2013, organised by Herne Bay Town Partners.

Contact Officer: Chris West Telephone: 01227 868515

Free parking - is it worth the money?

It's hard to tell whether this scheme is gibberish or not.​The money to pay for this free parking experiment is coming from the "Opportunity Fund" - £10k set aside by CCC for the Herne Bay councillors to spend on local projects.

I had fondly imagined that this would cover stuff that wouldn't easily be funded from any other part of the Council structure - the Christmas grotto at the Bandstand, a grant for the Umbrella Centre, that sort of thing.​

It appears, however, that it can be used for things that I would have thought came under the Highways budget (the new barrier in Mortimer Street) or CCC's traffic budget (this proposal). It looks and feels to me like the Council simply recycling the same money - CCC gives Herne Bay money which is then returned to CCC to cover the revenue that CCC loses through Herne Bay’s free parking experiment.​

Andrew Cook gave us a breakdown of where the money will be spent: £400 for advertising, £250 for recalibrating the machines, leaving £800 for the parking. I think his maths is a little out - £750 would be left to cover the cost of lost parking revenue.

One of the councillors, I think it was Peter Lee, revealed that the horrid little parking meters scattered across town are cleverer than I ever expected. They are linked in to some evil central parking brain, and chatter away all day long, boasting about how much money they’re taking.

Surely this takes all the guesswork out of estimating how much parking is making the Council, and how much free parking would cost them. Nonetheless, Andrew Cook says in the press article that it will give them "a clear idea of what it costs to do free parking". Peter Lee says the money being asked for is "a fair estimate of the income lost". CCC already know what the experiment is likely to cost - the parking meters have told them.

What they haven’t explained is how they will know if the experiment has succeeded, or what their criteria for success might be.

How is this going to be assessed? If someone arrives at 9:15am and leaves at 10:30am, how will anyone (or the parking meters) know they were ever there? Will there be a Council officer standing there every April morning, counting the cars in and counting them out again?

Peter Lee refers to the possibility of free parking being “self-funding” - what on earth does that mean? Presumably, he thinks that the £800 of lost parking revenue might pop up somewhere, somehow.

So what’s actually happening here - is our Council simply using some rather unsubtle money-shuffling to give the appearance of trying to help our town?

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Free parking trial for Herne Bay town centre approved by councillors

Shoppers will be offered free parking on weekday mornings next month in a bid to tempt them into Herne Bay. Councillors agreed to spend £1,400 on a trial of free parking between 9am and 11am, Monday to Friday, in the Kings Road car park where the market is held on Saturdays.

The money comes from Herne Bay Area Member Panel’s opportunities fund - a pot of £10,000 a year for community projects that benefit the town. It will pay for advertising, changes to parking meters and for any lost revenue from car parking charges.

Dylan Hampshire, of Cockett’s Mattresses, suggested changing the time and copying other town’s ‘free after 3pm’ schemes. Andrew Lawrence, who runs the Speciality Food Store in Mortimer Street, said both mornings and afternoons were difficult for traders:

“From 9-11am is a dead zone, as is the last part of the day. After 2.30pm, Herne Bay is dead. We are suffering then. We could probably open from 11am to 2.30pm and then close our shops and go home because we have so few customers.”

He said local people refused to pay anything for parking, and seafront charges also put holidaymakers off.

But West Bay councillor Peter Lee said parking was free for most of the year in Central Parade. Heron councillor Andrew Cook added:

“This is an excellent project that both residents and businesses have been pushing for. It will give us an accurate idea of what it actually costs to do free parking.”

Critics argued that the money was effectively going back into the council’s pockets, to replace the income lost from parking charges during the trial. But Cllr Lee, who is responsible for finance on the council, said it was important to be able to tell how much revenue was lost. He added:

“We can repeat it in the future if we can prove it can be self-funding. This is a fair estimate of the income lost.”

Officials also vowed to investigate another suggestion of extending the free parking in town centre streets from one hour to two. The Kings Road car park scheme will start in April.

thisiskent 12th Mar 2013

Town Councillors

On Tues 15th, our councillors will PUBLICLY discuss issues that matter to our town. This happens rarely, so don't miss it - the Salvation Army Hall in Richmond Street, starting at 6:30pm.

They only do this half a dozen times a year, so it's almost a special occasion. If you're quick about it, you can put your own questions to the councillors about issues that you think matter to our town - details are here, in the "Public Question and Answer" section.

On the Agenda:

• the increase in parking charges in Herne Bay and across the district
• turning Herne Bay Library into a "gateway"
• the traffic problems around the new Tesco in Sea Street
  
• KCC's Flood and Drainage strategy
  
• funding for a barrier across Mortimer Street, and for the Umbrella Centre
• the Town Centre Manager's report on the state of the town

Their next meeting will be on 12th March.

Parking Consultation - another brilliant response

Mr Hudson spells out what the Department of Transport says "controlled parking" is for, and compares it with CCC's approach.

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7th December 2012

Ref:- Canterbury City Council (Off-Street Parking Places) 0rder 20l3

Dear Mr. Carmichael,

I wish to OBJECT to the above Order concerning proposed raising of car parking charges. I believe that Canterbury City Council (CCC) made a profit of around £2.5 million in the last financial year from an overall turnover of approximately £7 million in car parking charges.

I would like to quote you a few passages from the Department of Transport Operational Guidance manual on parking and have enclosed a copy of the front page for identification.

From page 14:

"But raising revenue should not be an objective of CPE (Controlled Parking Enforcement) nor should authorities set targets for revenue or the number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) they issue."

Also:

"The judgement in R v LB Camden (ex parte Cran) made clear that the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 is not a revenue raising Act".

Also:

"The objective of CPE should be for 100 per cent compliance, with no penalty charges"

As you are aware CCC issued 25,275 PCNs in 2009/10 and this obviously accounts for considerable income.

From page 24, when talking about parking objectives it states:

"keep traffic moving, rather than raising revenue".

Page 112, once again it repeats:

"Authorities should never use parking charges just to raise revenue or as a local tax"

and goes on to state what should happen with any surplus income:

"In such cases local authorities must ensure that any on-street revenue not used for enforcement is used for legitimate purposes only and its main use is to improve, by whatever means, transport provision in the area so that road users benefit".

Page 135, it repeats again when talking about surpluses

"They can use any surplus to improve off-street, or, where this is unnecessary or undesirable, for certain other transport-related purpose and environmental schemes".

To sum up, Canterbury City Council is already making a hefty profit from its parking regime and any further increases seem to more of about general revenue raising, which this manual seems to clearly indicate is not the stated aim of parking regulations.

What benefits have drivers gained from previous years' profits?

I would like a written response to my objection letter concerning the issues raised.

Thanking you for your time.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Terry Hudson

Parking Consultation - brilliant response

Mr French thinks Council employees should pay for their parking, just like the rest of us. Marvellous idea!

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Sent: Thu Dec 13 15:37:29 2012

Subject: Parking Charges Consultation

You say that parking costs in Herne Bay have not been increased since 2010 (which is incorrect) & thrown in the cost of enforcement - a look at the balance sheet will show a profit not a loss arising from parking.

I think however that the greatest injustice here is the fact that all of this is justified by officials who park their cars for free at Military Road - a site that is on the Park Ride route & a few minutes’ walk from the centre of Canterbury. In days of "going green" how can this be justified?

Why don't your officials pay for on-street parking permits or pay for the use of the  Military Road Car Park? You can all have your change ready every morning for the ticket machine and have your nice uniformed ladies & gentlemen ticket offending vehicles.

Perhaps we should begin a campaign to make the officials pay like everyone else. I suggest that you firstly change the rules for your own parking and you pay the going rate before putting up parking charges any higher.

Some of you may be essential car vehicle users but then plenty of other people are as well.

I would appreciate your response justifying why you think you shouldn't have to pay but everyone else should - oh and pay more - yet again!

Chris French

Independent Financial Adviser, 139 High Street, Herne Bay, Kent, CT6 5NG

Park and ride fares to increase in Canterbury

Shoppers using Park and Ride buses to avoid congestion in Canterbury could soon have to pay £3 per car. Councillors are considering increasing the charge from £2.50 as part of a review of parking charges across the district.

Fees in the Kingsmead Leisure Centre car park would also increase to £3 from £1 in a bid to deter people who are not using the centre from parking there. Those who are can have the cost refunded.

Holman's Meadow car park would cost £1.30 per hour Sunday to Friday and £1.50 per hour on Saturdays, up from £1.10 all week, if proposals to list it as a "premium" car park are approved.

And the cost of permits for residents and businesses would also increase by about 10 per cent. Canterbury City Council's transportation manager Richard Jenkins said:

"The cost of parking at Park and Ride sites has not increased since 2008 and since this time significant increases in the cost of fuel have contributed to the increasing cost of running the bus service. The costs of maintenance of the car parks and equipment has also increased. The parking policy is to encourage all-day parking at Park and Ride sites rather than city centre car parks and even with this increase it is significantly cheaper to park all day at Park and Ride sites, particularly as Canterbury is one of the few authorities to charge per vehicle rather than per person."

In Whitstable, most car park charges would increase by 10p per hour. The maximum charge in the Gorrell Tank car park would be abolished and fees in the swimming pool car park would be unchanged. A 10p per hour increase is also proposed for most Herne Bay car parks.

But there was good news for shoppers in Faversham after Swale Borough Council's cabinet agreed to freeze the short-term parking charges at 80p for the first hour, £1.50 for up to two hours and £3 for up to four hours.

Councillor Duncan Dewar-Whalley, cabinet member for finance, said:

"Fees are bridging the gap between what the council wants to spend and what central government provides."

HB Times 7th Jan 2013

Parking Consultation

It's good to know that people are taking the trouble to respond to the Council's Parking Consultation.... here's a good one:

First of all WE (Herne Bay) are not Canterbury, so why match our tariffs? Sooner you realise this the better it will be for Herne Bay.

1 - We don’t have the same facilities as Canterbury

2 - We don’t have the same variety of shops as Canterbury

3 - We don’t have the same footfall as Canterbury

4 - We don’t have the same customers as Canterbury

5 - We don’t have the same transport facilities as Canterbury

And most importantly

6 – The council don’t spend as much on Herne Bay as Canterbury for the redevelopments and shopping experiences, such as the Christmas lights! Out of the supposed £53,000 what did Herne Bay get? I know for a fact that it wasn’t an equal share, so why should we equal the price of Canterbury for anything!  (Business Rates, Parking or anything else!)

It was only 2012 when you raised the price to park for the day in Herne Bay from £1.10 to £2.50! That’s a MASSIVE 145% rise, and now you want to raise it further 20% on top!!!!!!!

As a business owner in Herne Bay we have seen a fall in trade since the rise in parking charges, as people bypass us and head to Westwood cross.

Are you actively trying to kill the town?!? People and traders would say you are!

This raise in parking will make trade even harder than it already is. It’s time for the council to stop being greedy and help the towns or we will all end up like Margate town centre, and then you won’t get any money for parking as no one will come to Herne Bay. It the same example as doubling prices you take double the money! This is NOT the case, if we all raised our prices by 145% at the beginning of 2012, and then put another 20% on top now we would be out of business, not rolling in the money! Why can’t you people work that out with the parking!!!!!

However, these emails are probably ignored and you do as you wish anyway, but if the parking prices are put up to be in line with Canterbury then we should have everything as equal. ALL, and I mean ALL budgets for everything should be shared 33% each to Herne Bay, Whitstable and Canterbury. Now if you think the parking is a fair increase due to the Canterbury prices, then it’s only fair we get 33% of all money available.

I would like a response to this email, to make sure that our point has been heard!

Regards

Daniel Peters and John Potts (The Studio, Mortimer Street)

The city council has lost the plot

I have been following the debate, kicked off by Dylan Hampshire of Cockett’s Mattresses, about the need for a town council for Herne Bay ("Call for town council to end 'democratic deficit'", Times, June 21). I certainly believe Canterbury City Council has lost the plot and we should return to more local control of our affairs.

Canterbury is just not doing the job and causing a lot of problems.

My wife and I settled in Studd Hill in August 1986. One of the benefits was being able to stroll to the seafront for a swim using the ramp opposite Standard Avenue. Ten years ago Canterbury City Council allowed jet skis to use the front without any reference to residents. While we would not deny the few jet—skiers the use of the seafront, a new ramp was provided for them at great expense next to the boat house. The jet-skiers then started using the area reserved for swimmers but our city councillor was unable to help.

Now our roads in Studd Hill are being badly damaged by lorries well over the 13-ton weight limit. In Wolseley Avenue the bungalows are very attractive but city planners have allowed a two- storey semi-detached house to be built on a single plot. This type of building will turn the area into a slum, doubling the number of cars and people. Would members of the committee who approved this application like to live in the same conditions? I invite them to come and see the damage they are responsible for.

All building work should be stopped until repairs have been carried out to the roads. Part of the cost should be met by the council because of its planning decision. Builders should not be allowed to double up on single plots. A bond equal to ten per cent of the value of any new building should be paid before any work is started. This will ensure roads are correctly restored.

Under the new boundary suggestions, neighbouring areas will be included in Herne Bay which will boost its population to 78,000. This is why we need to consider restoring our own Town Hall. One idea would be the burned out ruins of the former Bun Penny pub, which is due for restoration. Rooms could be rented out to pay for the running costs.

It would appear the city council is also using parking fines in Herne Bay as a cash box to the detriment of shops and traders. A traffic warden has been handing out fines to cars parked at the bottom of William Street between Mortimer Street and the Bun Penny. I am meeting the person in charge shortly and will point out that the town is also plagued by an abundance of parking meters.

To save money on council tax I also suggest reducing the number of city councillors to one per ward.

Harold Lloyd, Wolseley Avenue, Studd Hill

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Bay councillor Peter Lee said:

Mortimer Street between Greensteads and Iceland is closed to all traffic on Saturdays between 10.30am and 4.30pm except commercial vehicles loading and unloading between the same times on Monday to Friday. Any car in this area, moving or parked between these times, is subject to a penalty. A blue disabled badge does not exempt the vehicle. 

People often say parking charges should be abolished or reduced but never come up with any suggestions how the council can replace the lost revenue, or which services should be cut to reflect the lower income. If you have any suggestions, please let me know and I will feed them into the budget discussions I will be having with officers this month.

HB Times 13th Sep 2012

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Incidentally, this is the same Peter Lee who told us in August that the Council had saved £465,000 thus boosting its cash reserves to £3.8 million, meaning "we will be able to do what we want in the next few years".

Plea for a free parking

He is the "mattress king" with a commitment to a traditional town centre. She's the "queen of shops" trying to revive the country's high streets. Now Herne Bay's Dylan Hampshire says town bosses need to take the words of Mary Portas to heart and make parking free across central shopping areas.

The Cockett's Beds owner spoke out as councillors were set to debate sweeping changes to parking costs in the town; introducing a "linear" system like Canterbury, with set fees per hour. But campaigner Mr Hampshire said it was urgent that councillors and officers took Mary Portas's recommendations seriously – not least introducing free parking. The retail guru recommends abolishing charges in all towns as part of an independent review into the nation's high streets. He said:

"If we do this in Herne Bay all other towns across Kent will be watching to see how well it works. It will give us a real advantage. If you go to big out of town shopping centres you don't have to pay for your parking. Almost all shopkeepers will tell you they've lost count of the amount of times people have come into their stores – then had to rush out again as their parking ticket ran out. If a trial scheme could be put in place by the summer the town would have a real head-start."

But West Bay councillor and Canterbury City Council finance boss Peter Lee said free parking was not an option. He said:

"If we didn't have the revenue from parking we would have to make increases in prices or cuts in services somewhere else. Herne Bay probably has more free on-street car parking than most other towns – remember that the seafront is free October to April."

thisiskent 6th Jan 2012

"Free" parking for Herne Bay

A free parking scheme could be launched in Herne Bay to compete with out-of-town shopping centres like Westwood Cross. Town boss Chris West wants businesses to refund parking tickets to people who spend £10 or more in their shops.

He hopes to convince at least 20 traders to sign up to the proposal, which he says could be introduced by the spring. He said:

“It would work by having the parking meters modified so they produced two tickets. One would be displayed in the car and the other would be redeemed at a participating retailer. I am going to try and get businesses to support this by asking them to refund up to two hours parking providing a customer spends £10 or more in their shop. A sign will be displayed on the meters with a list of participating businesses and each shop will have a window sticker. To make it work I estimate I’ll need around 20 businesses to participate.”

A letter will be sent to all businesses in the town this week asking them to support the scheme, the brainwave of Roger’s Menswear owner Tony Symonds. He said:

“I had this idea a few years ago. One of the biggest concerns people shopping in the town have is paying for parking. This scheme would put us on a level playing field with the out-of-town shopping centres. Businesses can set their own limits on how much customers have to spend and put it down as a business expense, so it becomes tax-deductible. We make money, the council makes money and the shoppers save money. It would also put Herne Bay in the unique position of being the first town in the area to offer a free parking scheme like this.

Council spokesman Steve James said:

“There would be cost implications because we would have to update the software in our meters and put new tickets in them. We would want as little cost as possible to be passed on to the council tax payer. Theoretically it should be  fine – we are just looking into it.”

kentonline 5th Jan 2012

Seafront Parking Petition

The new parking meters are a mixed blessing, but it appears to be a mixture of bad and very bad...

Anyone who feels the that CCC have short-changed the people of Herne Bay and its vistors, I have a Petition in my shop at 91 Mortimer Street. Please come and sign it.

Kind regards,

Andrew Lawrence, Speciality Foods.

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By the end of July, CCC had collected about £18,000 in fines from the evil robots. I think it's safe to assume that locals will be irritated, and visitors may be discouraged, by the diligent meter-watching and enthusiastic fining. It's important to remember that the money collected from the meters is "ring-fenced" and can only be spent on parking-related stuff - more meters for instance.

Local shop-keepers have a pretty shrewd idea of the footfall they could have expected over the last few months. Some are finding that it just hasn't happened, and are blaming the ill-considered parking restrictions for leaving them seriously out of pocket.

We need more information on this. We need to know from CCC whether this scheme is working as they planned and expected. We need to know from local shop-keepers, restaurateurs, publicans, B&Bs, etc whether business is up or down. Then we can weigh up the costs and benefits, and decide whether the scheme is worth keeping.

Seafront Parking

HB Gazette 9th September 2010

Unthinking so-and-so's

The seafront of our seaside town has been blighted with a sprouting of parking meters. A bad move, for bad reasons, with unintended consequences and a hidden fact. Canterbury City Council installed 13 parking machines along the seafront and switched them on June 28. They will operate between 8.30am to 6pm every day from April 1 to September 30 with no overnight charge. The machines are solar powered and can be paid for by cash, council parking cards or mobile phone. Council spokesman Rob Davies said:

"The council has introduced these measures to improve traffic management. The aim is to put long stay parkers into off-street car parks elsewhere in the town and encourage regular turnover of spaces on the seafront. These days, it is usual to pay for parking in seaside towns. It happens everywhere else around east Kent - all the Thanet towns and Sandwich and Deal for example - and this move to introduce charging in Herne Bay brings the town in line with others."

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So having a constant turnover of 17 and 70 year olds slewing their cars to a halt by the meters and then lurching back out into the road within a couple of hours is going to "improve traffic management". How exactly?

So Herne Bay was a little bit different from the other nearby coastal towns, and in a good way - everyone likes free parking. CCC decided that this small but distinctive advantage must be eliminated. Have a look at the vox pop piece to see some reactions - unsurprisingly, some people find it makes Herne Bay a less attractive place to visit. Thank you, CCC, for nailing the lid down.

So where are the signs pointing our visitors to the long-stay off-street car parks? No sign of them anywhere near the Marine Parade parking meters, which is where you would expect them to be, given Mr Davies' argument.

So while the users of all the other sports centres in the district get their parking charges refunded by the sports center they are visiting, the good people of Herne Bay who park on the seafront to use the Pier and gym won't. Part of the reason is that the sparkling new machines don't produce two-part tickets with counterfoils, so the gym bunnies will have a 10 minute, 650 metre trudge to and from the WIlliam Street car park, come rain or shine. Congratulations, CCC, for once again giving HB the short end of the stick.

So here's the rub: the parking fees from the Marine Parade parking meters don't even go to our beloved Canterbury City Council - the fees go to Kent County Council. Marvellous!

HB Gazette 8th July 2010

Vox pop: parking on Marine Parade

New parking machines have been installed along Herne Bay seafront. Residents have welcomed their introduction, hoping that it will reduce the number of cars in the area. But they have also prompted fears that they may have a negative impact on tourism in the town. Until just over a week ago it had been free to park cars along Marine Parade but the council has introduced a series of pay machines along the waterfront. It now costs 60p an hour to park along Marine Parade and parking is limited to two hours. However, visitors to the seaside town were less than happy with the new parking arrangements.

Mrs Mason, 89, said:
"There are advantages to this because I have neighbours who have year-long parking permits and they sometimes can't find spaces. Now, they don't have that problem."

Daniela O'Brien, 23, agreed:
"I live in Beacon Hill and I don't like the idea of people coming down and just parking here all day. At least this way they have to pay and there's a limit to the amount of time they can stay."

Gerald Davies, 69, from Medway said:
"The information about how to use the machines wasn't very clear. We have got used to coming to Herne Bay and not having to pay. Now we are restricted to two hours."

Derek Fisk, 73 from Dartford, said:
"I feel like I have wasted my time. I drove here for a day out and two hours parking is not enough. I think people will either ignore these parking meters or they'll be put off from visiting the town."

Frank Hunt, 74, from Gravesend, feels the same:
"I'm confused. The instructions are not very clear at all, not to mention that last time I visited Herne Bay parking was free so this is an extra inconvenience. You can't make a day of visiting here any more so there's no point in having a day trip out. I just use the parking spaces for nipping to shops now"

HB Gazette 8th July 2010