Hut scramble

If you've ever wanted to have a shack by the sea, now's your chance.​ Our Council have just finished putting up some new sheds, and have opened the bidding.

However, in what is fast becoming their signature style, everything has been left to the last minute, leaving the rest of the world very little time.

The notice went up on the Council website on 15th April 2013, with viewings on 20th April, and a closing date of 3rd May 2013.

These little huts go for thousands of pounds a time - this is not the kind of buying decision that most people would want to rush, and not many people will have a few grand burning a hole in their pockets, just waiting for an impulse purchase to come along.

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Get your beach hut bids in now

A sealed bidding process for people who want to buy one of 10 new beach huts in Herne Bay and Whitstable has now begun.

The new beach huts – six at Spa Esplanade in Herne Bay and four at Marine Crescent in Whitstable – have just been completed.

Bids must be submitted to the council’s Foreshore Services by Friday 3 May. Successful bidders will be informed shortly afterwards and it is anticipated keys will be handed over in time for the bank holiday weekend at the end of May.

The council will be holding beach hut viewings on Saturday 20 April between 10am and midday in Herne Bay and between 1pm and 3pm in Whitstable. Viewings can be booked by calling Foreshore Services on 01227 266719.

Head of Community Development and Outdoor Leisure, Suzi Wakeham, said:

“We have had lots of interest from prospective buyers over the last few months and they have all now been sent copies of the brochure giving full details of the process involved. It’s a chance to own a brand new beach hut in a sought after location.”

For more information about the huts, call Foreshore Services on 01227 266719 or go to the Foreshore pages on the council's website .

​CCC 15th Apr 2013

Future of shelter to be decided

A long-running battle over where to place a Victorian shelter looked set to come to a head this week. Councillors were voting on where to put the historic Green Shelter as the Times went to press, after failing to come to a decision at a meeting in March. At the moment the shelter is in storage after having been taken down and repainted.

The three options for where to put it are back where it was, near Herne Bay pier; to move it to one side, on to the slopes of the Spa Esplanade – the option favoured by councillors – which would require the shelter to be supported by stilts; and to put it onto Herne Bay Pier itself. The head of Herne Bay Residents Association Dick Eburne said:

" I think it is highly likely the money will be used to put the Green Shelter on stilts on western slopes of the Spa Esplanade."

Councillors had asked officer Malcolm Burgess to hire someone to work out costs for placing the shelter back on the site where it was. That option had been rejected by council engineers as unsafe and expensive because of an underground drain. Mr Burgess said putting the shelter on the site councillors wanted would cost around £14,000. That's on top of the £8,000 facelift the shelter had after being taken down in February last year.

HB Times 17th Jun 2011