Herne Bay's growth threatened by Canterbury's greed

Herne Bay's future centres on tourism - it's a business model that is tried and trusted, it's well-understood and it's sustainable.

It makes sense to make the most of the most obvious quality Herne Bay has - the fact that it's a nice little town by the seaside.

Tourism is not isolated from the rest of the local economy, quite the reverse. Our vistors - whether coming for a day trip, a weekend, or longer - generate business and spread wealth at every turn. B&B room tabs, restaurant bills, pub rounds, shop tills, even parking meters.

Money, time and effort spent encouraging tourism in Herne Bay is not expenditure, it's investment.

But Canterbury City Council seems to think differently. Rather than investing in promoting Herne Bay's tourist offering, they insist on charging people who want to promote our town and encourage tourism.

Any B&B or hotel owner who wants to promote their business on Canterbury's tourism website has to pay £275, plus £10 per room, plus VAT to get the most basic entry - bare bones facts plus 25 words of text. Times are hard and margins are tight, so this is beyond the budget of most of these small businesses.

As a result, anyone looking at Canterbury's tourism site could be forgiven for thinking that Herne Bay has just 2 B&Bs - one on Western Esplanade, and one in Herne. A stroll along the seafront will take you past many excellent B&Bs that don't get a mention.

Canterbury seems to have forgotten that it is in everyone's best interests to encourage tourism and foster a thriving local economy, rather than to grasp every chance to take yet more money from the local Council tax payers. Instead of acting as an agent of promotion, our Council has cast itself in the role of advertising agency.

Canterbury's short-term greed could be the death of our town.

The finest public art

For your delectation, ladies and gentlemen, here's the loveliest piece of public art I've seen in a long time. In the middle of the Chicago, a long strip of land near the coast of Lake Michigan was reclaimed - it used to be railway sidings, but was converted into a Millennium Park. (It was finished four years late and over budget, but that's another story.)

Anyway, amongst the many attractions of this welcome green space in the City is this stunning piece of public art. Entitled "Cloud Gate" - but everyone calls it The Bean - it is made of highly polished stainless steel. And it is lovely. I want one in my town.

Oooh, look - we're on telly!

The BBC have been doing a video survey around Britain's coast, and arrived at Herne Bay:

Larger seaside resorts in the South East such as Hastings, Eastbourne and Margate have attracted significant investment with millions of pounds being spent on the Jerwood, the Towner and the Turner Contemporary galleries. How are smaller resorts such as Herne Bay holding their own and keeping tills ringing?

A pretty upbeat and optimistic piece - have a look and see for yourself.

Tourism in Herne Bay

I think it was a mistake to remove Herne Bay's dedicated Visitor Information Centre. Tourism caused our town to be built in the first place, and has been the mainstay of our micro-economy for decades. A thriving local tourism industry will be a more effective engine of regeneration than a new supermarket.

I was pottering around Canterbury in mid-May and popped into their Information Centre out of curiousity. This was when I found the solitary sheet of A4 promoting Herne Bay - click the little version on the left to see a more legible version. I was not impressed. When I got back to Herne Bay, I had a look at the tourist information locations, and wasn't encouraged. So I started harrumphing to the local rags...

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Dear Sir,

Many in Herne Bay fondly remember the days when we had a Visitor Information Centre, staffed by friendly, helpful and knowledgable people who spent each working day promoting our town and its attractions. When the Council closed the VIC, we were told that brochure stands, touchscreens and Canterbury City's own tourist centre would adequately fill the gap.

Now that we are at the beginning of summer, and the tourist season is starting, you might expect visitors to be able to find plenty of promotional material and information. Prepare to be disappointed - very disappointed!

The brochures in Makcari's mostly promote Canterbury.

Of the eighty or so brochures on display in the Council Offices, just three promote Herne Bay's attractions.

The touchscreens in Makcari's and inside the Council Offices take you to the Canterbury Tourist site - the only place you can click on the words "Herne Bay" is tucked away right at the bottom of the page, not even visible unless you scroll down.

The touchscreen outside the Council Offices is even worse. You click on a category, in the hope of finding something about Herne Bay...

Accommodation: 3 in Herne Bay, 6 in Whitstable, and 44 that aren't even in CCC's patch - they're in Thanet;

Attractions: 9 in Herne Bay, 8 in Whitstable, 36 in Canterbury, 45 in Thanet, 1 in Ashford and a couple in Faversham;

Food & Drink: on the first half a dozen screens, 9 in Herne Bay, 18 in Whitstable and 20 in Thanet;

and so it goes on.

In the Canterbury Tourist Information, they have wall after wall covered in stands of brochures, many of them promoting places that aren't even in the Council's area: Margate, Dover, Deal, Sandwich, Broadstairs, Romney, Hythe, Tonbridge, Medway, Tunbridge Wells, Tenterden, Faversham, Folkestone, Chatham. What do they have promoting Herne Bay? One piece of A4.

The tourist information in our town is directing people away from our town. After closing our VIC, all Canterbury has on show to encourage people to come to our town is one piece of paper.

Canterbury City Council's betrayal and neglect of our town is shameful and sickening.

Yours etc.

HB Times 16th June 2011

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Our attractions "being left off tourism trail"

The promotion of Herne Bay in Canterbury's tourism centre is covered by just ONE sheet of A4 paper, it has been claimed. Bay campaigner Phil Rose also says his detailed research has uncovered a measly three brochures advertising Herne Bay attractions in the town's own council offices - out of more than 80 on display.

The news has sparked a scathing attack on the council, which has been accused of neglecting the town in favour of Canterbury and even areas outside the district. Mr Rose, of Beacon Hill, Herne Bay, says promises made when the town's Visitor Information Centre (VIC) closed in 2008 have not been kept. He said:

"Many in the town fondly remember the days when we had a VIC, staffed by friendly, helpful and knowledgeable people who spent each working day promoting our town and its attractions. When the council closed the VIC, we were told that brochure stands, touch screens and Canterbury city's own tourist centre would adequately fill the gap. Now that we are at the beginning of summer, and the tourist season is starting, you might expect visitors to be able to find plenty of promotional material and information. But the tourist information in our town is directing people away from our town. After closing our VIC, all Canterbury has on show to encourage people to come to Herne Bay is one piece of paper. The council's betrayal and neglect of our town is shameful and sickening."

Mr Rose said his research revealed the majority of brochures at Makcari's - the site of the old VIC - promote Canterbury. He also claims a touch screen outside the council offices pro motes just nine attractions in Herne Bay, but 36 in Canterbury and 45 in Thanet.

HB Gazette 16th June 2011 Joe Walker joewalker@thekmqroup.co.uk

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Leaflet racks are replenished reqularly and should include guides to each town

Council spokesman Rob Davies described the promotion of Herne Bay as a visitor destination as a "priority". He said:

"Producing and displaying leaflets is just one of many ways in which we do this. Information is provided across a number of locations in Herne Bay and across the district. Leaflet racks are replenished regularly and should include guides for each town, including our coastal guide in which Herne Bay features prominently. Herne Bay is also actively promoted through the Visit Canterbury website, which is the main portal for visitors seeking information on the district and things to do when they are here. The touch screens do feature information about Thanet, but the screens in Thanet feature information about our district in return. We review our tourism information regularly to ensure we are providing the best service, but we will of course look at Mr Rose's comments to see if there are things we are missing."

Flower beds

Seaview Holiday Village expansion

HB Gazette 23rd Sep 2010

Secret Festival?

It appears that leaflets for our imminent and marvellous Festival were accidentally printed on thin sheets of Unobtainium. Our own dedicated Tourist Information Service seems to be rationing them. Presumably they've been cleaned out by people swarming to a quiet corner of the off-the-main-drag Council Offices.

To: customer.services@canterbury.gov.uk
Subject: HERNE BAY FESTIVAL NO LEAFLETS AVAILABLE
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:17:20 +0100

COMPLAINT

There are no brochures available in the Town for the Herne Bay Festival.

Having been to the HB Council Offices I could find nothing, not even a poster. I went to the Benefits Counter and had to ask for a brochure, given begrudgingly. No promotion of the Festival or Herne Bay just a hand over of the leaflet. Is this not OUR NEW VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE WE WERE PROMISED WOULD BE A VAST IMPROVEMENT ON OUR PREVIOUS VIBRANT AND INFORMATION DEDICATED VIC??

I went to the Library and the Museum who both advised they did not stock the Herne Bay Festival Brochure or had run out. They were not sure which was the case. They did however send the woman asking in front of me to the Council Offices saying "they should have some there" (well unless she had the foresight or premonition to go the benefits counter she will not have secured what must be considered the elusive and very limited editions of the festival Brochure).

I even went to the Canterbury VIC and guess what NO HERNE BAY FESTIVAL PROGRAMMES NOR A POSTER, NOT EVEN A HINT THAT CANTERBURY DISTRICT ARE CELEBRATING HERNE BAY. This is not the first time I have reported this problem It is the third year, possibly the fourth year I have reported the complete lack of effort of the Council. I believe that it is time you put Tourism for Herne Bay into the hands of a competent Tourism Agency.

I would ASK FOR YOUR WRITTEN REPLY WITHIN 14 DAYS

Kim Hennelly

A flattering picture

Unspoilt and unassuming, Herne Bay relishes its enviable location on the glorious north Kent coast. With its splendid seafront, beautifully restored bandstand, Victorian heritage, variety of local shops and glorious countryside, Herne Bay presents an unrivalled opportunity to sample the delights of an attractive seaside resort. Even the weather smiles on Herne Bay and it ranks high in national sunshine league tables.

It was a favourite with Victorians who founded the town and came to breathe in the health-giving air or bathe in its invigorating waters. With its miles of safe beaches, wide promenade, seafront gardens and restored bandstand, Herne Bay is enjoying a deserved renaissance. National awards given by the Environmental Campaigns Group (ENCAMS) reflect the high standards of the local beaches. Central Beach has been granted a Resort Beach Flag for the fifth year and Herne Bay West, Tankerton and Reculver have Rural Beach awards.

There is plenty to enjoy in Herne Bay – from listening to the band on a sunny Sunday afternoon to bargain hunting in the local shops; from a morning’s fishing to an exhilarating day’s sailing, from uncovering history to exploring the coast and countryside.

From: HBTP

The official story

Here's what the feudal overlords in Canterbury say:

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For those in search of traditional seaside magic, you will find it in Herne Bay. Two miles of splendid seafront offer seaside favourites in the shape of candyfloss, ice cream parlours, cafés, friendly pubs and fish and chip bars. Great beaches lined with brightly coloured beach huts reflect the great character of this seaside town.  Sporting enthusiasts including rowers, yachtsmen and jet ski riders pursue their passion in Herne Bay's waters adding a thrilling dimension to natural marine qualities.

To the east, the ancient sandstone cliffs of nearby Reculver and the imposing 12th century Reculver towers and Roman fort provide an imposing backdrop and the beaches here provide a haven for those looking for a peaceful hideaway.

The seafront has some interesting Victorian architecture and in the spring and summer months the town's beauty is enhanced by the seafront gardens, bringing floral colour to visitors who pass the clock tower and bandstand. In recent years, the bandstand has become a venue for those who enjoy café culture and it is also a focal point for summer concerts, other musical events and children's entertainment.

All seaside towns have events that celebrate their identity and Herne Bay is no exception. Classic car shows, Italian and Continental markets, carnivals and the Herne Bay Festival are just some of the variety of events that take place throughout the year.

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I hate to quibble, but I don't think I've ever seen candyfloss in Herne Bay. I should get out more, obviously.

Muse. Um.

Here's a very British gem: the Herne Bay Museum.

Fearless and fervent, my woman and I swarmed into the Museum to see what we could find out about The Downs of yesteryear. The place is a treasure trove! If you haven't been recently, pop in and saunter around. From fossil teeth to bouncing bombs, they've got all sorts of goodies on permanent display.

There are also temporary exhibitions - all the ones I've seen have been well worth a good peer. Currently it's 'Inventions', with a few kids' own ideas: "a friendly robot to bring me sweets".

Met up with Craig Bowen who looks after the tardis-full of stuff filed upstairs, like a collie looks after a flock of sheep. He's actually divided between several museums, with Canterbury getting the lion's share of him (hope we get the useful bits!). Enthusiastic and very helpful, as was the nice lady on the front desk.

There's an almost magical, other-worldly, time-slip quality about the archives, as seems to happen when the present is dedicated to the past, so it didn't seem out of place when a paternal Victorian figure stepped through the mist of time into our little tardis, brooding and reserved. He looked like someone's long-lost great-uncle Septimus, and muttered 'pas devant les enfants', so we took the hint and scarpered.

I like the Museum a lot. It's a delightful and poignant venture, burnished by the care and love invested in it, and handsomely repays the time you spend there. Long may it thrive and prosper. I would hate to see it fall prey to the unthinking short-term destructive greed that was directed at the Visitor Information Centre. For instance.

Gale's View: Visitor Information Centre (part 2)

Those that have sought to present interim arrangements as Canterbury Council's solution to tourist information in Herne Bay are at best disingenuous and at worst downright dishonest. To photograph the leaflet stand in the Council offices and to try to present this as the replacement for the bandstand shop is idiotic as even the meanest of intelligences must be fully aware that the Council has proposed that the new facilities will be rolled out in time for the start of the tourist season at Easter and will be further enhanced thereafter.

Had the critics taken the trouble, as I have myself, to speak to the Leader of the Council, John Gilbey, or the portfolio holder, Mike Patterson, then they would know that staff training is well advanced, that work is under way to re-model the Council Offices, to enhance the signage and to issue contracts for proven technology to provide the promised touch-screen 24-hour information machines not only at the Council offices and at the bandstand but at an increasing number of locations around the Town.

They would also know that the mandatory tender period for interest in providing an attractive use for the now vacant bandstand has now closed and bids are being properly considered as legally they must. Others may feel that the transition might have been seamless but it is not possible to award a contract for an occupied building and like it or not the Council has to act within the provisions of regulation and the law.

With the merger of the Council's Economic Development and Tourism briefs there is every reason to believe that the Canterbury intends to devote more, not less, energy and resource into developing our coastal tourist offer. That will require increased investment and cannot be regarded as a "cost cutting exercise" even though the council's budget is, as a result of government policy, under very considerable pressure.

Tourism is still one of the UK’s largest industries and employers and, with the recession biting, it is likely that still more families and individuals will opt for domestic seaside holidays and short breaks in the coming year. It is vital that towns like Herne Bay are enabled to take advantage of this opportunity and I am confident that the new officer team working on this project have the skill and the ability to deliver a tourism offer that is designed to meet the requirements not of the last century but of the present one and the future. They need and deserve encouragement not carping criticism.

Roger Gale M.P. (January 21st 2009)

Gale's View: Visitor Information Centre

I have not, in the interests of those that I represent, always seen eye to eye with City Hall. This was true under a Liberal administration that asked the Town which swimming pool design it preferred and then went ahead and built the least favourite one, that sought to claim credit for a seafront paid for by a Conservative government through sea-defence funding and that made a pre-election promise to re-build the pier and failed to deliver. It is equally true of an administration that wants to construct a sports hall at the back of the town with inadequate access and parking, that seeks to re-build the Marlow Theatre, at a cost of £20 million plus, in the centre of an already overcrowded city and that rejected plans for a new hotel in Beltinge.

I have long felt that the City Fathers have taken a metro-centric "within the City Walls" view of the District at the expense of the majority of the population that live not in the City centre but on the coastal strip. That said, I regard with some disdain the bandwagon that has been set rolling in an endeavour to preserve the Tourist Information Centre in its present form.

Do not misunderstand me: I like the TIC, I admire its hardworking, friendly and diligent staff and I think that the display of goods, chattels and services on offer is both colourful and attractive. I do not, though, think that this outlet can or should be set in aspic and preserved and I think that a suggestion that we should re-locate the Council offices in what is, at the end of the day, a glorified conservatory is barmy even by woolly-headed Liberal Democrat standards. Populist the idea may be but practical it is not. (This proposal, remember, comes from Councillors who, when they had the chance, failed to seize the opportunity to roof the bandstand and turn it into a twelve month of the year facility!)

The present administration led by John Gilbey wants to raise the tourism offer in both Whitstable and Herne Bay and, in order to do so, seeks to take advantage of modern technology to improve the information services not only at the popular bandstand and pier locations but at other sites throughout the Town.

There is also no question of abandoning the face-to-face information service solely in favour of push-button service points. With vacant space available for re-vamping within the Council offices in the centre of the Town in William Street there is no reason why a far more comprehensive service offering, perhaps, the sale of rail, coach and bus tickets as well as accommodation and entertainment bookings and traditional information should not be introduced. Such a unit will have to be staffed and I see no reason why those who currently do an excellent job and who do not wish to be otherwise deployed should not continue to man a new TIC.

Neither is there any intention to allow the bandstand site to remain vacant or to see it occupied by a second rate tenant. It is a valuable location in which there is already much interest and I would hope and expect that in tandem with the upgrading of the tourist offer we shall see this space put to good use in the interests of both visitors and residents.

We have, do we not, a choice. We either allow Herne Bay to sink further into genteel decline or we look to innovative and exciting changes in retail, hotel, restaurant and entertainment facilities that are compatible with the demands of 21st century tourists from home and overseas and that simultaneously improve the quality of life and opportunity for those living in the Town. We can argue the toss over what shape new developments should take and we can agree to disagree, if necessary, over the route forward. We cannot, though, any longer allow ourselves the luxury of standing still and I personally applaud the endeavours of an administration that at last appears to have discovered the Canterbury coastline and wants to make things happen in Herne Bay.

Roger Gale M.P. (July 9th 2008)

The bay's information services get a boost

Information services for Herne Bay's visitors and residents were improved last week when the town's two visitor information centres combined into one, at the Bandstand. By closing the William Street centre and concentrating its resources on one centre, at the Bandstand, the city council can provide a much higher standard of service.

The Bandstand centre will now be known as the Herne Bay Information Centre due to its popularity with local people as well as visitors. The Bandstand provides a bigger space for customers and there is now a specially designed desk to allow customers and staff to sit down when buying National Express coach tickets. This is a very popular service, as the centre is the only sales outlet in the town.

The information centres have always been busy with visitors in the summer and with the Bandstand situated on the seafront, it will offer them the best possible service. A new computer system – known as a Destination Management System – has also been installed at the Bandstand, which provides staff with quick and up-to-date information on attractions and accommodation. In addition, a public access terminal will be set up shortly, which will offer information 24 hours a day.

Other plans for the centre's future include updating the information panels, launching a new range of retail products, some redecoration and additional storage space to allow tourism brochures from other destinations to be displayed. City council joint executive member for policy and communications, Cllr Ron Pepper, said:

"The decision to combine the two information centres was taken following an in-depth review into the service we offered Herne Bay's visitors and residents. We felt that we could offer a higher quality service with the one centre and that it was best to have it on the seafront, one of the busiest areas of the town. The information centre has always been just as popular with local people as visitors. We've renamed it to reflect that popularity and hope that everyone will like the new look to information services in Herne Bay."

CCC website 1st July 2002