Kingsmead Field sell-off is 'simply illogical'

Campaigners are urging the city council to use its draft Local Plan consultation for a rethink of its plans to sell off a field.

The Save the Kingsmead Field Campaign is battling to prevent houses being built on it and wants the authority to consider other sites for the projected 15,600 new homes which are needed for the Canterbiuy district over the next 18 years.

The Local Plan is the blueprint for the future of the district and covers everything from homes, businesses, shops, leisure facilities and the countryside. Consultation on it lasts until August 30. Save Kingsmead chairman Sue Langsdown said:

"The council says it needs to find 178 hectares of open space for development. so why sell off the 1.9 hectares of the field? It is simply illogical.

The draft Local Plan commits the council to 'protect and improve open space in the district' and 'prevent the loss of existing open space within the urban boundaries'. Why not start by protecting Kingsmead Field?"

Some 100 homes could be built on the field. which sits on the corner of the Broad Oak and Kingsmead Roads. Campaigners are calling on the council to build on the neighbouring brownfield sites of the old coach park and the Serco depot.

The Save the Kingsmead Field Campaign submitted an application for the field to be registered as a village green and expects to hear in the autumn if its application is a success. It has also started legal proceedings in the form of a judicial review which aims to overturn the council's decision to make the field available for development.

Earlier this month, dog walkers donated a bench for the field and the campaign group is hoping to photograph lm people sitting on it for a picture montage.

Log on to kingsmeadfield.blogspot.co.uk for more information about the campaign.

HB Gazette 27th Jun 2013

The "never apologise, never explain" approach to democracy

Here's a councillor who thinks he was elected to speak his mind. What do you think - did you vote for representation, or a brain dump?

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Battling Bay councillor Peter Vickery-Jones and campaigner Phil Rose have clashed over a campaign to get the Downs registered as a village green. At a recent council meeting, Mr Vickery-Jones blasted Mr Rose as "pious and lamentable".

The 51-year-old has hit back in an official complaint describing the councillor's comments as "slanderous and abusive". A copy, which was leaked to the Times, lays bare the bad feeling. Mr Rose said:

"Cllr Vickery-Jones has made a series of inaccurate and abusive statements about me and my work to protect the Downs. These culminated in his most recent allegations at Herne Bay Area Member Panel. He repeatedly claims I deliberately misinform the public. Cllr Vickery-Jones' behaviour is slanderous, abusive and disrespectful."

He demanded written evidence from Cllr Vickery-Jones, or a full apology and a promise to never repeat the allegations. But the councillor said:

"I was elected to speak my mind and that's what I do. I have no intention of apologising for doing so."

HB Times 2nd Feb 2012

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"I was elected to speak my mind"? No, councillor - you were elected to represent the interests of your constituency.

Being elected doesn't give you the right to speak as you please, it gives you the duty to speak on behalf of others.

Crass criticism from stunning councillor

Yes, dear reader, I was there and this actually happened - Cllr Vickery-Jones scored a few notable firsts. He is the only person to have called the village green application "crass", and he is the only person to have called me "pious".

He also suggested that as a "newcomer" I didn't have the right to clutter things up with my pesky village green application. He seemed to have forgotten that the application is supported by 1,180 other people, some of whom were using the Downs on a regular basis long before he ever saw the light of day in his native Derbyshire.

He also demonstrated an astonishing lack of understanding in his belief that a village green could in any way only ever benefit a single person.

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A row over a Bay beauty spot erupted at a public meeting after a councillor slammed an application to secure village green status for the land as "crass and pious". Herne and Broomfield councillor Peter Vickery-Jones, 69, speaking at the town's member panel, blasted "newcomers" to the town for the campaign to register the Downs as a village green. Leaving councillors and campaigner Phil Rose stunned, he said:

"This is a crass application, it doesn't empower local people. Newcomers to the town are damaging what we're trying to do."

The broadside came amid debate over council plans for a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Field, which would transform a vast swath of the town's coast, including the Downs, into a legal trust "to protect the land for leisure and recreation".

Friends of the Downs member Phil Rose had asked council officers why they had claimed certain clean-up activities around the Downs had to be cancelled until the village green inquiry – which has been postponed until March after the £500-per-day lawyer brought in by the council fell ill – had been concluded. He said:

"None of the items in the QE2 Coastal Park action plan that are being deferred pending the outcome of the village green application actually need to be deferred for that reason."

Officers had claimed community clean-ups and plans to clear a channel at Bishopstone Glen needed to be put on ice until the fight over the Downs had been resolved. They were forced to backtrack when Mr Rose pointed out that the Bishopstone Glen lay outside the village green application area. But Mr Vickery-Jones said:

"This application serves to empower one person who has picked up bad information. And now his pious and lamentably late concerns about what that involves show that he's trying to wriggle out of his responsibilities."

thisiskent 19th Jan 2012

Inquiry on village green stops!

The first three days of the Inquiry steadily improved as we found our feet and got better at highlighting the key points in the evidence of each of our witnesses. However, it all came juddering to a halt on Day Four.

We arrived at 9.50am on Thursday to find that Mr Ground was in the loo at the back of the Christchurch North Room. He had fallen prey to some kind of bug (norovirus from an oyster, perhaps?) and was forced to miss work for the first time in 16 years.

We all agreed with the Inspector that the best plan would be to assume the Mr Ground would also be out of action on the Friday, and to restart the Inquiry on the next available date. Matching up the diaries for Mr Ground, Canterbury City Council's representative, Kent County Council's representatives, the Inspector, and Ros and myself gave us the earliest possible date of Monday 12th March (!) to resume the Inquiry - North Room, Christchurch again.

All of the evidence given so far, and all the work done in the Inquiry so far, is all fine and safe - we don't have to start again from the very beginning (phew!). The second phase of the Inquiry will probably take most of the week starting 12th March - we'll be starting with a couple of days of our witnesses, then Canterbury's witnesses (all employees), then a site visit, and finishing with legal submissions.

The delay means that the issue remains unresolved for longer, but it does give both sides more time for preparation. To be honest though, I don't see how Canterbury can be any more thoroughly prepared than they already are: most of their witnesses were there for most of the time through the first three days. (Why? Mr Ground and Janet Taylor, Deputy Head of Legal @ CCC, were present throughout and taking notes, so would have been able to tell their witnesses what had happened each day.)

I was surprised that Janet Taylor didn't step up the mark to fill the breach left by Mr Ground: she has been our point of contact in CCC from the very start of the application over two years ago; she is (presumably) the one who has been given Mr Ground his instructions; she was there all day every day; she (and the CCC witnesses) were in briefing meetings with Mr Ground before each day started, and at every coffee and lunch break. With her legal qualifications and experience (over 25 years in CCC) and familiarity with the case, I would have thought she would be ideally placed to step in for Mr Ground for a couple of days. After all, that bit was simply asking questions, rather than writing the legal opinions. It would have saved time and money.

VG status will protect and preserve the Downs, regardless of who's running the Council. The Council will still be able to do the day to day maintenance, and the longer term coast defence work - just as they do now. In the Inquiry they were saying that they had legal advice that VG status "might" make coastal defence work harder to organise. Our research shows this is a red herring, so we asked to see their legal advice - they suddenly became very shy and fell silent.

The application doesn't involve any tax payers money - it's only the objection that starts running up the bills. CCC are of course entitled to object, but I do wish they would come clean about their true reasons for objecting. In the CCC Executive 13th Oct, they pointed out that without VG status they would be free to "lease the land, offer a concession, charge for use, and build on it" - I think this closer to the real reason that they're opposing the VG application.

Inquiry on village green starts

An official inquiry into the 'grass roots' fight to make the Herne Bay Downs a protected Village Green started with allegations of council waste and bullying. Canterbury City Council were accused of adding massive legal costs of hiring a barrister to cross examine locals, to the £30,000 they have already spent in legal fees.

Campaigners Ros McIntyre and Phil Rose, who want to keep the green by the prom a much-loved area for dog walkers and blackberry pickers, sat opposite the massed ranks of the council as the inquiry started on Monday. With their initially hesitant questions they bravely stood up to the suited and booted professionals who are being paid by CCC up to £500 a day to take them on. [Correction: it's £850 a day.]

Phil said:

"They might have a top barrister who is charging £8,000 plus £500 a day to rip our case apart, but we have the might of a grass-roots democratic movement behind us. The council plan to build what they call a QE2 Costal Park, got just 41 votes in a national poll and to keep it undisturbed as a village green got 1,181. The council reckon by hiring expensive top legal minds to beat us back they will do what the minority want but we will fight them. This inquiry could well last a long time as we have 49 witnesses and they are all demanding to be heard."

Ros added:

"There was an argument at the start as the council had stopped one of our witnesses giving evidence against them as she was in fact the local councillor for the area. A lot of what they have come up with is nonsense. They simply just want the freedom to make as much money from the land as they can. They still want to build some beach huts but what about the future? The village green status protects it forever so it will be saved for our children."

Inquiry chairman, barrister Lana Wood made it clear she is paid by KCC to host the inquiry as a public duty. She said:

"I am a barrister employed by Kent Council because we have a duty to carry out a public inquiry. When local people complain about CCC hiring a barrister they are referring to Richard Grant who is acting for them."

Mr Grant quizzed the first witness of the inquiry Mr Alan Joiner, 82. He told them how he had enjoyed walking both his and his daughter's dog for 23 years across the green and during the summer had picked blackberries and held family picnics and hoped it would stay that way. Other witnesses were due to give similar evidence this week as the inquiry moved from St Andrew's church hall to Christ Church.

HB Times 1st Dec 2011

Council fights bid to turn Downs into Village Green

Canterbury council bosses were this week racking up a huge legal bill battling to keep control of picturesque land in Herne Bay. A five-day public inquiry to stop the Downs being granted Village Green status opened on Monday 28th November, with top London barrister Richard Ground fighting the city council’s corner against local campaigner Phil Rose.

Mr Rose wants the mile-long stretch between the Kings Hall and Bishopstone Glen to be made a Village Green – taking its control out of council hands and protecting it from development. He made the application in September 2009 after plans surfaced to build beach huts on the eastern side of the site.

The council refused to support the bid, but independent inspector Lana Wood will rule on the case after the inquiry ends on Friday. It is expected complicated legal issues about what the land is actually owned for will play a huge part in her decision.

Mr Rose has collected more than 1,000 questionnaires from people backing his fight, making it the most strongly-supported application for a Village Green ever made in England and Wales. To qualify for the status, land must have been used by locals for “lawful sports and pastimes” for at least 20 years.

Mr Rose told the inquiry those who answered questionnaires had used the land for as long as 86 years. He also listed more than 70 sports and pastimes the land is used for, including dog walking, football, sledding, sunbathing and bagpipe playing. He said:

“We have met every single one of the tests required to register the application land as a Village Green.”

Barrister Mr Ground said most of the Downs has been owned by the city council or previous public authorities since the Second World War – large parts for longer. He added the council had no intention of developing the land or stopping anyone from using it for recreational purposes.

HB Gazette 1st Dec 2011 joewalker@thekmgroup.co.uk

Village Green: how you can help

Two years ago, I applied to Kent County Council to register the Downs as a Village Green. In November this year, Kent County Council will be holding a public inquiry to decide whether to register the Downs as a Village Green.

If we’re successful, Canterbury City Council will have to continue maintain the Downs, but they won’t be able to sell the land, build on it, or use some of it for car parking as was suggested for the King’s Hall end.

Village Green status will protect the Downs as an open space for Herne Bay people to use for freely and free of charge forever… just as we use it today.

To succeed in persuading Kent Council to register the Downs as a Village Green, we need people like you to come along to the public inquiry to tell the independent inspector about the use you make of the Downs.

Can you help us?

The Public Inquiry will run from Monday 28^th November until Friday 2^nd December, and will start with hearing evidence from people, like you, who have used the Downs. The 28^th and 29^th of November have been set aside for hearing evidence, although we may need longer if lots of people want to have their say. We would like to hear about:

• how long you have been using the Downs;
• what use you may have made of it in the past, particularly if your use of the Downs has changed over the years;
• how frequently you use, or have used, the Downs.

The idea is that the inquiry will be pretty informal. You can bring along with you anyone you like. Indeed, if you know anyone else who would like to talk at the inquiry about how they use the Downs, do let us know!

Your “slot” should last a maximum of 30 minutes. We would need you to be there a bit before you’re due to speak, simply because some people may take less time to have their say than we had imagined and so we might need you to do your bit before the time we originally had booked you for.

We particularly need to hear from people who use the eastern half (i.e. the half nearest Reculver) as Canterbury Council is claiming that people don’t use this end of the Downs.

If you can help us, we can help you to write a short statement that you can read out at the hearing in November. We need to get the statements completed by late October.

Please help us if you possibly can. Despite the fact that we produced 1,181 questionnaires proving that local people have used the Downs for over twenty years, Canterbury is challenging this and is insisting that we produce people at the inquiry to testify that they actually use the Downs.

Without a convincing number of local people willing to come along and do that, we won’t be able to register the Downs as a Village Green, and Canterbury will be free to do whatever it likes with our land.

If you can help, do let me know by:

• emailing me on SaveOurDowns@gmail.com
• or phoning me on 07970 405678 or 01227 365942
• or writing to me at Phil Rose, 56 Beacon Hill, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 6JN.

Thank you in advance. We’re now in the home straight of a process that we started over two years ago. Please help us with this last bit if you can!

Village Green at Westbrook

Congratulations to WASPS (Westbrook Against Selling Promenade Site) for getting the Westbrook Promenade at Westgate-on-Sea registered as a village green, thus preventing Thanet District Council from "disposing" of this locally valued asset for development.

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Village Green Hearing
At the Village Green Hearing on 8th February 2011 it was decided by the KCC Regulation Committee that the land adjacent to Barnes Car Park on Westbrook promenade be registered as a Town Green. WASPS are delighted with the result that protects this land from development and ensures the continued use by local people.
The site on Westbrook Promenade remained on the asset disposal register awaiting the outcome of the village green application and we assume it will now be removed.
You have probably seen the publicity about the fact that we have persuaded TDC that an ideal solution for this site would be to create a nature park. This could be achieved involving local people in planting shrubs on the site and managing the grass to encourage wildflowers and biodiversity. This would be part of a larger project run by the Kent Wildlife Trust to manage cliff tops and other sites around Thanet under the Thanet Wildlife Project. This site will form an important part of this project. It is good to have support from TDC, Natural England and the Thanet Coast Project.
A presentation was given at the January Westgate and Westbrook Resident’s Association meeting by Paul Pearce of the Kent Wildlife Trust who outlined the scheme which will be supported by local volunteers.

Volunteer Day
There will be a volunteer day on Sunday 20th February 2011 and and full details of the event are in the previous posting. Following the event we would like to set up a group, possibly called Friends of the Westbrook Undercliff Nature Park. This could consist of local volunteers to help Kent Wildlife Trust manage the site and determine its future.
The success of the village green application will give protection and allow local people to create something on this site for the benefit of the community and wildlife. This also strengthens the protection under European law as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI). This campaign has demonstrated to TDC the feelings of local people and the value of this site to the community. It has also made local politicians think carefully about other sites up for disposal.
I would like to thank all those people who have supported us and gave evidence. It has been a long road to reach where we are at present but it has been worth it.