New Courses from the WEA

The splendid people at the WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) have just announced their new season of adult education courses - have a look and see what tickles your fancy.

There's Rachmaninov - Man and Music, E.M. Forster, Faces and Places, Music of the Renaissance, 19th Century ‘Terror’ Literature, and Laureate Poets and their Poetry.

Rachmaninov - Man and Music

• Music Tutor: Michael Chandler
• 10 meetings, on Tuesdays from 10am-12 noon, starting 25th September 2012
• Fee: £79

E.M. Forster

• Literature Tutor: Sarah Anthony 
• 7 meetings, on Thursdays from 10am-12 noon, starting 27th September 2012
• Fee: £55.30

Faces and Places 

• Art Tutor: Caroline Finucane 
• 7 meetings, on Wednesdays from 2pm-4pm, starting 10th October 2012 
• Fee: £55.30 

Music of the Renaissance  

• Music Tutor: Michael Chandler
• 10 meetings, on Tuesdays from 10am-12 noon, starting 8th January 2013
• Fee: £79.00 

19th Century ‘Terror’ Literature  

• Literature Tutor: Sarah Anthony
• 7 meetings, on Thursdays from 10am-12 noon, starting 10th January 2013
• Fee: £55.30 

Laureate Poets and their Poetry  

• Literature Tutor: Ron Dodge 
• 7 meetings, on Tuesdays from 10am-12 noon, starting 17th April 2013
• Fee: £55.30

Venue: North Room, Christ Church, William Street, Herne Bay. Contact the WEA Herne Bay branch for more details: HerneBayWEA@gmail.com

Herne Bay on the Rain Scale

The wags over at BBC Radio 4 invited their listeners to invent a new word-scale to describe British rain - like the Beaufort scale for wind, but funnier. I'm delighted to see that it takes the very heaviest kind of rain "siling down" to drive people from Herne Bay's beaches... Praise indeed!

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Your words for rain
1. Not Raining	Outdoor furniture is erected cautiously in gardens and on balconies. Light to moderate rummaging takes places in rucksacks for cagoules and pac-a-macs.
2. Mizzling	Women on way to hairdressing appointments proceed apprehensively without umbrellas.
3. Grizzerable	Overseas players on county cricket teams are surprised to discover that they're required to continue playing.
4. Woodfiddly Rain	Outdoor furniture is brought back indoors. Lips are pursed.
5. Mawky	Aggressive hawkers selling fold-up umbrellas appear outside railway stations and shopping centres. Women on way back from hairdressers form impatient queue.
6. Tippling Down	Garden furniture is returned to garden centres in hope of getting money back.
7. Luttering Down	Fingers drummed on indoor furniture. Eyes rolled. Tuts tutted
8. Plothering Down	Irritating displays of supposedly barbecue-friendly foods are removed from the entrance areas of supermarkets.
9. Pishpotikle Weather	Rain intensifies.Women with newly done hair find aggressive hawkers have disappeared when they take defective umbrellas back in search of a refund.
10. Raining Like a Cow Relieving Itself	Cows relieve themselves.
11. Raining Stair-rods	Any garden furniture not taken indoors floats away. Reporters on 24-hour news channels began using words torrential and holding their hands out with their palms upturned.
12. Siling Down	Hardy British holidaymakers are finally driven from beach at Herne Bay. Garden furniture begins appearing on eBay. Water companies introduce hosepipe bans, pointing to dry spell five years ago.

Beach Creative

A new and good thing is happening in Herne Bay.

A group called Beach Creative is taking up residence in Beach House, just off the William Street car park.

They are a new creative community who will be using the space to provide artists' studios, exhibition spaces, meeting rooms and workshops.

They are having an open day on Saturday 7th July from 10am until 8pm, so go along and have a look at what they're up to. These are nice people, doing a good thing, and they would love to see you.

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Beach Creative founders Mandy Broughton, Gill Wilson and Mandy Troughton

A community interest company looks set to convert an empty building into a thriving centre for the arts.

Beach Creative, set up by the University for the Creative Arts, will take over Beach House and turn it into a hive of painting studios, writers' rooms and community space. UCA will lease the building after plans to demolish it to make way for town development stalled. The council-owned building will be leased to the group for a yet-to-be-agreed rent, expected to be a nominal sum.

University outreach coordinator Gill Wilson is heading the new community interest company. She said:

"At UCA we are excited to build upon existing relationships with local schools and community groups to enable more people to become involved in the arts."

Fellow director of the new group and artist Mandy Broughton said:

"This is an exciting new initiative for Herne Bay. In addition to providing much-needed studio space for local artists, we're committed to playing a positive role in the local area."

thisiskent 17th Feb 2012

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Beach House in Beach Street was due to be bulldozed as part of town centre regeneration plans, but they are on hold after council bosses struggled to find investors. Charities that were based in the building, including Herne Bay Volunteer Centre, Volcare, Shopmobility and Epilepsy Here, were forced to relocate to make way for the plans and many of them ended up forking out for higher rents.

The building has now been empty for almost a year and officials plan to rent it to the University of Creative Arts. One volunteer working with the affected charities – many of which moved to Age UK's new centre in Reculver Road – said:

"It's a bit of an embarrassment for the council. It was rushing to get people out of it and now is worried about leaving it empty. It looks like it will be handed over to the University of Creative Arts to use as studio space."

Council spokesman Rob Davies said:

"The former leaseholder's tenancy of Beach House was due to end in December 2011 anyway, but early last year three of the organisations were offered alternative accommodation by Age UK, providing the opportunity to move. The other users of the building were also able to find a new home, and the council paid the moving costs of all the organisations. We would still like to have Beach House occupied, but the majority of users would want to have security of tenure, which the council is unable to offer. We are in discussions with the University of Creative Arts about their use of the building and the terms of a possible lease, which we hope to finalise in the near future."

thisiskent 14th Feb 2012

Is a superstore super news?

A huge Sainbury's and petrol station on the edge of Herne Bay - this would be on the ill-fated and currently languishing Altira site.

There's no indication in the press reports as to where exactly, but I assume it would be east of the existing developments at Altira, between the A299 Thanet Way and the railway line.

Big news for a small town, and not all of it good news.

Up:

• employment opportunities for Herne Bayers (and for anyone else who can travel along the A299)
• their salaries would inject money into the local economy
• Herne Bayers who usually shop in a supermarket will have one nearer to home - time saved, fewer miles travelled, reduced pollution
• a decent supermarket can give the town a lift, making it more attractive to people and businesses looking to relocate
• the superstore would take Altira up to the occupancy level which would oblige Kitewood to make good on its contractual obligation to build a pedestrian bridge at Blacksole
• ... do feel free to suggest more

Down:

• having a single large employer leaves the town vulnerable to the eggs-in-one-basket problem... think Pfizer
• Sainsbury's would be exporting their profits to Galactic HQ, wherever that is, and converting it into shareholder dividends
• the small petrol stations in town couldn't hope to match Sainsbury's prices and discounts
• the small food retailers - butchers, bakers, greengrocers and so on - would be in serious jeopardy, and they're having a hard enough time as it is
• ... do feel free to suggest more 

Then, of course, there is the impact on the CDA - the Central Development Area proposal to convert the William Street car park area into a small-scale clone town. This has been a shining example of greedy stupidity (on the part of both the Council and the developers) from the outset, and has centred on building a large new supermarket next to, er, a medium-sized old supermarket. The Council and the developers egged eachother on into believing this was great plan, and are now shaking their heads in bewilderment, having run into the brick wall of commercial reality.

Even before "austerity" became a freshly recycled buzzword, times were hard in retail. Any major operator thinking of investing millions in a store that they would want to last for a decade or two, would want a healthy catchment area, and they would want it to themselves. Why move in next door to one of your major competitors? And if Morrisons up-sized and moved into the new store, who would want their cast-offs?

For these (and probably a number of other good reasons), the negotiations between the Council and whoever was interested faltered and fell, leaving the whole project in suspension, and everything around it in confusion, uncertainty and blight. If Sainsbury's open a superstore on the edge of town, that will restrict the number of operators who might be interested in the CDA.

If we broadly divide the national chains into "upmarket" and "budget", Sainsbury's fall into the upmarket end. Commercial reality dictates that another upmarket operator in the CDA would have to compete directly with Sainsbury's for their customers. On the other hand, a budget operator would be serving a different "market segment", and might be able to make a go of it. A budget supermarket will do little if anything to lift and regenerate the town centre.

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Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s have drawn up plans to build a superstore on the outskirts of Herne Bay three years after talks to build a town centre store. The supermarket chain is looking to build a 95,000 square feet store - equivalent to nine football pitches - and filling station at Altira Park.

They were thought to be one of three supermarkets looking to build at the Kings Road car park as part of £35 million plans to regenerate the town centre. However, the latest plans were revealed by property developers Terrace Hill who announced the Altira Park development as part of a six-month report.

They said they had signed a pre-letting agreement with Sainsbury’s and hope to submit plans to Canterbury city council at the end of the year. They added that they wanted to complete the development midway through 2014.

Herne Bay coastal manager Chris West said he had not been aware of the development but said it was not likely to detract from plans for a supermarket in the town centre. He said: 

"It is difficult to comment until we can look at the plans and decide whether it will be a good thing for the town or not."

However, he did cite Tesco on the edge of Whitstable as an example of an out-of-town supermarket which had not hindered the town centre.

However, one resident has voiced concerns saving the regeneration of the town centre needs to be the priority. Geoff Wimble, 64, of Sea Street, said: 

"I’m not impressed to be honest. Over the last 20 years they have hastened the degeneration of this town with the closure of recreation and caravan sites. When we were told we were getting Sainsbury’s in the town we were happy but it was shielded by Canterbury city council and Southern Water because it was a flood risk.

If that’s the case then the whole regeneration footprint is a flood risk, they are blocking out what they don’t want to deal with. It would have been good to open it in the town centre but they dropped out of the deal when they couldn’t get the Stagecoach site."

HB Gazette 14th June 2012 - Jamie Bullen jbullen@thekmgroup.co.uk

Terrace Hill

Sainsbury’s store programme lifts Terrace Hill

Specialist retail developer Terrace Hill said today it was pressing ahead with 600,000 sq ft of new schemes in spite of the supermarket slowdown. Chairman Robert Adair said:

"Whilst there has been some slowdown in the expansion of Tesco we are continuing to receive good interest in our sites from the other major operators. We continue to make good progress with all our committed foodstore development sites and are advancing a number of new opportunities."

The firm said it had no prospective deals with Tesco and Marks & Spencer, which have curbed expansion plans, but was still seeing strong demand from other food retailers.

Development pipeline

London Road, Whitchurch
Site sold to Sainsbury’s with the benefit of a detailed planning consent for a 55,000 sq ft foodstore and petrol filling station.

Wessington Way, Sunderland
Construction of 99,000 sq ft Sainsibury’s now well under way with completion scheduled for early Spring 2013.

Skelton, East Cleveland
Detailed planning permission for this 42,000 sq ft Asda development finally granted. Forward funding has been secured at £13.5m with construction due to start this month.

Sedgefield, Co. Durham
Construction to start shortly on 50,000 sq ft Sainsbury foodstore plus a petrol filling station.

Altira Park, Herne Bay, Kent
Achieved a pre-lett agreement with Sainsbury’s for a 95,000 sq ft store plus petrol filling station. Planning application due to be submitted towards the end of this year.

Middlehaven, Teesside
Application will go in for a large Sainsbury’s foodstore at the end of this year. Also agreed terms for the sale of land to a pub operator and two fast food outlets on the 16 acre site.

Hyde, Greater Manchester
Subject to planning consent, terms agreed with retailer for strategically located site adjacent to the M67 to the South East of Manchester.

Prestwich, Greater Manchester
A planning application for a foodstore-led development expected by the end of this year.

St Austell, Cornwall
Development partner for Cornwall Council for a large foodstore for either Morrisons or Sainsbury’s. A detailed planning application will go in this autumn.

Construction Enquirer 12th June 2012

Deferral on Kingsmead land decision

Excellent news - Kingsmead has won a brief reprieve, thanks to the sheer number of written objections, and the huge support for the online petition.

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Discussion by Executive members of council proposals to appropriate land at Kingsmead for planning purposes has been deferred until the meeting on Thursday 21 June.

Originally the Executive was due to consider the plan at its meeting on 31st May.

However, the council received 246 comments during the appropriation public consultation, many of them containing detailed information. Therefore, the council has decided to defer a decision to allow for full analysis of all the issues raised. Council Leader Cllr John Gilbey said:

“This is an issue that has caused concern locally. We do not want to make a rushed decision and miss something important, so deferring for a meeting will mean we can give this full consideration.”

Additionally, the e-petition created on the council website by local people who oppose appropriation of the land has now passed 1,500 names. Reaching this figure automatically triggers a discussion at the council’s Overview Committee, and this has been scheduled for Wednesday 13 June.

The initiator of the petition will be allowed to ask a number of questions in advance, and the background to the issue and answers to the questions will be provided in a report that councillors will then discuss. Arrangements for this are being put in place at the moment.

CCC 28th May 2012

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Schoolchildren Orla Lineham Fox and Timmy Pettman took on the might of the city council in a battle to save their playing field. The pupils from St Stephen's Junior School stood in front of the Canterbury Area Members Panel on last Monday night at the city's Guildhall in a last-ditch bid to save Kingsmead Field from being used for housing. Orla, 10, told the meeting:

"It's not just for me and my friends but for all the people of the area who live and breathe better because there is a lovely empty green field nearby."

Timmy, 11, added:

"Often in the evenings, I go to the field and play football with my dad and brother. It's very easy to stay indoors and watch TV or play computer games. Please leave our field alone."

Labour councillor Alan Baldock (Northgate Ward) said:

"The passion of the campaigners is phenomenal. It shows they really care and have realised the council has been a little bit sneaky. They have inspired these two children to become involved in local politics. If we lose this space, how can we trust a judgment made in similar circumstances again?"

Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Alex Perkins Tweeted the following day:

"Very impressed by the two brilliant young people who so professionally addressed Canterbury Council last night."

At the stormy meeting, residents accused the council of not consulting them – but council chief executive Colin Carmichael said consultation was carried out in 2004 when a primary school was planned for the site. The plans fell through when Kent County Council pulled out of the scheme and the land was earmarked for housing instead. He insisted that the decision had already been made by the council's executive but the move had to be rubber-stamped at the end of this month.

Residents have organised an e-petition – which has already attracted 1,603 signatures – on the council's own website. The petition closes Friday 25th May but has already been signed by enough people to force a debate by the council's overview committee. The 16 city and county councillors voted unanimously to send the plans to the committee for debate, effectively delaying the scheme.

County councillor Graham Gibbens (Canterbury City North East) demanded a fresh consultation to include health and traffic implications after GP Dr David Pratt from St Stephen's warned that more houses would lead to more traffic pollution. 

Liberal Democrat councillor Ida Linfield challenged the council's decision to reclassify the area as "development land" when it was originally classed as recreational land under the Local Government Act. She said that selling the site to Berkeley Homes in 2006 could have breached the act and suggested that there could be a case for a judicial review.

Mr Carmichael said a report would be prepared for the overview committee on Wednesday, June 13. After the meeting campaigner Sian Pettman said:

"The resounding 'no' vote to residential development from Canterbury's own councillors will place a huge pressure on the executive to respond to public opinion and rethink plans for Kingsmead."

The council has been sent 246 letters of objection, a written petition of more than 650 signatures and the e-petition.

thisiskent 26th May 2012

Historic Westgate Towers Museum to reopen

Amazing views of the city from the top of Canterbury’s historic Westgate Towers Museum will once again be on offer when it reopens to the public for the summer on Friday 4 May. The city council has been very keen to reopen the attraction to continue the work of local businessman and entrepreneur Charles Lambie following his death in January. Discussions have taken place with the executors of his estate to allow it to happen.

The museum will be open every day between 10am and 5pm until September. Entry prices will be in line with those at the council’s other museums in the city, with children and Residents Card holders going free. Any existing tickets with a six month expiry bought under Mr Lambie’s guardianship will be honoured.

The City Gaol Café, which Mr Lambie created as part of his redevelopment of the building, is not included in the reopening. Executive member for culture, Cllr Ann Taylor, said:

“There was a collective shock in the city when the news came of Charles Lambie’s death, but we hoped it would be possible to carry on his wonderful work with the Westgate Towers Museum, because it is one of our most historic buildings. I’d like to thank the executors of Charles’ estate for their help with getting the museum open. It means our residents and visitors have another great attraction available to them again.”

A decision on what might happen in the long term will be taken in the autumn, once the council has assessed how successful the summer opening has been.

For more information on the Westgate Towers Museum and other museums in the district, go to the dedicated museums website . The council has also created a special joint ticket offering entry to the Westgate Towers Museum, Canterbury Heritage Museum and Canterbury Roman Museum for £12.

http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=7577

King's Hall features new live music

Herne Bay’s iconic King’s Hall will be featuring three well-known bands this summer.

Following the foyer refurbishment, The King’s Hall, paired with Herne Bay entertainment promoters Viva La Sociale, have booked quite the line up for this summer’s festivities. Featuring bands from across the nation, Herne Bay residents and visitors will be able to see some of their favourite musicians play live in their community.

Celebrating their 20th anniversary together, Irish rock group Ash have lost none of the energy that saw them debut on Top Of The Pops whilst awaiting their ‘A’ level results. On Thursday 31 May, Ash will take to the stage at The King’s Hall. This will be a performance to remember as on the following night they are supporting Coldplay at The Emirates Stadium in London.

Friday 29 June, Turin Brakes will be making their way to the stage, following the release of the album “Outbursts” and last autumn’s sell out “Optimist” LP anniversary tour. This gig promises to be full of their classics, dating back to 2001, and new releases. ” will be held prior to the band’s tour in South America.

Friday 24 August, Delays will be showcasing a back catalogue of songs, as well as new material, ensuring they’ll be bringing their signature playful energy to the stage. Taking place during the Herne Bay festival, this exclusive Friday night show, "Have Yourselves A Delays Road Trip Night".

Tickets and more information about these events are available from www.vivalasociale.co.uk

http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=7589

Bay's renewal plan is 'second best in Europe'

I'm intrigued by this award. I've asked the Strasbourg judges for a copy of the prize-winning bid, but they said they weren't allowed to release it. So I've asked Mr Rynne of CCC for a copy - I'll share it with you when I get it.

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Herne Bay's plans for regeneration are the second best in Europe, according to a European poll. Judges in Strasbourg voted the town's efforts into second place in the Council of Europe's Best Practice Awards for Coastal Towns. City council executive member for Herne Bay regeneration Councillor Peter Lee said:

"We've beaten off some strong opposition, both in this country and across Europe. That says a lot about the hard work and commitment shown by the council and residents to improve the town we all love. We are obviously very pleased to receive this recognition and look forward to building on all this good work in the coming years."

He made the announcement at a meeting of the full council on Thursday. The bid included the new Bay Sports Arena and extended Herons Leisure Centre, improvements to the Memorial Park, plans for a Coastal Park as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the exciting future for the town’s pier and the effectiveness of the Herne Bay Area Action Plan.

Jurors said they had been "impressed by the quality and innovative spirit of the council's Herne Bay regeneration project, as an encouraging practice for the regeneration of coastal towns."

Friends of Memorial Park, the Herne Bay in Bloom committee and Herne Bay Town Partners were cited as examples of strong community co-operation. Judges also took into account plans for a Diamond Jubilee coastal park. Top prize was won by the Ukrainian seaside resort of Yevpatoria.

This is Kent Friday, May 04, 2012

Kent beaches get seal of approval in new Good Beach Guide

 Almost 20 Kent beaches have been given the seal of approval today in The Good Beach Guide by the Marine Conservation Society (MSC). The MCS has recommended 516 out of 754 (68%) UK bathing beaches as having excellent water quality – that's 8% more than last year. 

This year, 75% of beaches in the South East have obtained the MCS recommended status for excellent water quality in the Good Beach Guide – a slight increase on the previous year. 

In Kent, the following beaches were recommend by the MSC Guide: Dymchurch, Hythe, Sandgate Beach, Dover Harbour, St Margaret`s Bay, Sandwich Bay, Ramsgate Sands, Ramsgate Western Undercliff, Stone Bay, Botany Bay, Margate - Fulsam Rock, Margate - The Bay, Westbrook Bay, St. Mildred's Bay, Westgate Bay, Minnis Bay, Herne Bay, East Tankerton Beach and Whitstable West Beach. 

MCS Coastal Pollution Officer, Rachel Wyatt, says the latest figures will be a boost to UK tourism.

"This is a milestone for coastal resorts to be proud of." 

She underlined however that the results are not a reason for complacency.

"It's really important that local authorities, water companies and environmental regulators don't become complacent and take their collective feet off the pedal of continued environmental improvements. If that happens we could see a drop in the number of beaches recommended by us in the future, which could pose a risk to the great reputation that British beaches have."

thisiskent 3rd May 2012

Death, suicide and death threats

Drugs death suspect Craig Wallis has been found dead. Mr Wallis, 37, from Herne Bay, was arrested in connection with the death of Bay man Mark Creed. Mr Creed died of a drugs overdose in a house in Claremont Street on Saturday, March 17.

After being released on bail by police, Mr Wallis checked himself into a mental health ward at Ashford's William Harvey Hospital. But the diabetic walked out without his insulin on Wednesday, April 11. His body was discovered in Sweetwillow Wood behind the hospital last Saturday morning.

Mr Wallis had been expected to face Canterbury magistrates on Friday, May 11, to answer a charge of supplying a controlled drug. Kent Police spokesman Lesley Miller said:

"Formal identification has not yet taken place but the death is not being treated as suspicious."

The body was named locally as that of Mr Wallis. Hospital spokesman Adrian Lowther said:

"We would like to offer our condolences to the family of Mr Wallis. We are undertaking a review of this case but the matter is now in the hands of the coroner and we cannot comment further at this stage."

In a further twist in the double-death inquiry, homeless man Steve Williamson, 44, claimed he had received death threats. Mr Williamson, who has been living in a shack in woods at Herne, said:

"I took one of the same pills with Mark. We were on the seafront and popped them at the same time. I nearly died and was in hospital with an overdose. When I heard Mark had died, I told police about the suspect drugs. We were given them by two men. Now I've heard I am being blamed for the deaths of both Mark and Craig. I don't know why. The word on the street is that I have seven days to leave town."

Police said they were taking the threat seriously. Mr Williams, a self-confessed former alcoholic now accompanied by his dog Jack, added:

"If you find me dead on a pavement you'll know why. But I'm not running. This is my home. I've gone clean and found God. I believe I've escaped death this many times for a purpose. Maybe God wants me to be an angel and help those like myself who have fallen through the cracks."

Friday, May 04, 2012 Herne Bay Times

Pier review

Well, it's all kicking off over at the Pier Trust - name-calling, playground threats, hair-pulling, you name it.

Once upon a time, the Herne Bay Pier Trust had a nice little Facebook site which people would saunter over to from time to time, to find out what was new, and add their words of wisdom and encouragement.

How times change.

Reading between the lines as much as I dare, my guess is that our beloved Council has decided that the whole Pier Thing needs to be more tightly managed and controlled. Murmurs of unquiet, mutterings of discontent, and opinions that diverge from the Unquestionable Truth have all emerged in the local media recently, much to the annoyance of our Controllers.

The solution seems to have been to seek greater direct control, and to this end Cllr Cook (one of the nine or so Trustees, and one of the two councillors appointed by the Council) was annointed an Adminstrator on the Trust's Facebook site. And that's when things started to go awry.

Within the Herne Bay Pier Trust Facebook site, a new page was set up called, er, "Herne Bay Pier Trust". Hardly confusing at all. This new page, let's call it HBPT2, then started writing stuff, and replying and commenting, just as a real person would. One of the first messages gave a clear indication of what was to come:

"Facebook comunication is being Hi jacked by activists stick to being positive about the Pier please, and offer help dont just moan."

HBPT2 then went on over the next few days to speak as if it had the knowledge, authority and support of the Trustees, indeed it spoke as if it was the Pier Trust. Those who questioned the Unquestionable Truth were dubbed snipers, gripers, downers, and (gasp!) "activists". The identity of HBPT2 remains a closely guarded secret - HBPT2 has been asked to reveal itself, and has refused.

Anyway, it's Cllr Cook. I don't know if this was meant to be a light touch on the rudder to steer the Trust along the Council's preferred course, but he's managed to rile a lot of long-standing Pier supporters - do pop over to the Trust's Facebook site and have a look at the swirling confusion and anger he's left in his path.

So what's next? The ex-Trustees who invested hundreds of hours and thousands of pounds' worth of effort in the Trust will still be dismissed as grumbling malcontents. The Council will beam approvingly on those who toe the line unquestioningly. Criticism will be branded as negativism. Cheery, shallow words of encouragement will be plentiful - substantive commitment, support and promotion won't.

A lot of people will work bloody hard to make the most of what little we're being given to work with, and my heart swells with pride in anticipation of what we will probably achieve. But please don't forget - if our Council had shown the same commitment to Herne Bay as it has shown to Canterbury over the last five years, we would have our Pier by now.

News from the end of the Pier

Herne Bay Pier Trust Newsletter

Spring 2012

Hello members,

Well, we have had a lot of coverage about the future of the pier in the local press over the last few weeks – some of it correct and some… rather misleading. So we thought our members would like to have the facts from the horse’s mouth.

As the editor of this newsletter and a new Trustee elected last September, I have no political associations or any past history with the Pier Trust so I promise you that what appears below is an open and honest communication to our members of where the Pier Trust stands, what we are doing and why we have chosen this way forward.

A small group of ex-Trustees are currently expressing their disagreement with a majority vote by the Board that we should work in partnership with the Canterbury City Council – a decision made after much debate and consideration of the pro’s and cons. They may ask the Chairman in the near future to call an EGM because they are questioning the Articles of Association drawn up when the Pier Trust was first set up as a charity which includes two council appointed Trustees on the Board. We have invited the members concerned to discuss these issues informally with the Board but we have already had one decline.

This summer is an opportunity to fulfil our first mission statement “Reclaim the Pier for the People” and we can best do this working with the Council. If we succeed to manage the pier efficiently, we have no doubt that they will hand the pier over to us in 2013 for the Rebuild stage. If we are forced to call an EGM, at a time when we are so busy trying to show what we are capable of, we would value your support please.

We have included various appeals for help in this newsletter as we would also like as many members as possible to play a part in developing our pier and working towards a longer future,

Thank you,

Doreen Stone

Wine and Wisdom

Our first Wine and Wisdom will take place at the King’s Hall on April 20th at 7.00pm with one every month thereafter. The King’s Hall caterers will be providing food and soft drinks – please bring your own bottle of wine. We are seeking really good quality raffle prizes to surprise you. Peter war will be our question master. To book a seat or a table of 8, at £8 a head, ring 01227 374420

Where we stand in the Trust…..

The first thing to state is that all 11 Trustees want, as much as all the members, to see a long pier stretching out to sea where we can walk out across the sea, turn round and look back at our lovely and often under-rated traditional seaside town. That is the reason we all joined the Pier Trust and are expending much of our spare time on it.

However, the challenging task of rebuilding of the pier has to be tackled in phases. It is totally unrealistic not to recognise that rebuilding one of the longest piers is a massive challenge with many pitfalls. We have to plan, cost out and find funding for every phase thoroughly and raising enormous sums of money in difficult financial times is not going to be easy. To achieve our ultimate goal of a long pier, we shall need something in the region of £20million and £40 million if it includes a marina and traditional pavilion(s).

When we hopefully take over management of the existing pier in 2013, it will be because the Trust has proved this year to the current owners that it has fit managers who can raise an income of over £56,000 a year just to maintain and run it. Currently, CCC spends this sum just to keep the under structure in safe order. If we are able to achieve our business plan this year, we are confident that we shall be able to take over the pier and its next phase next year.

So, we really do need members’ support – both in practical and professional skills and in volunteering to help - to run the lively programme of events we have planned and raise enough annual income to show we are competent to run the pier by ourselves. Come and play a part in winning back the pier….

Members’ skills register

If you have particular skills such as catering, entertainment, management, stewarding, first aid, van transport, design, container gardening, sales, accounting, computing, decoration or if you can just spare a few hours to help us supervise the events ……. Please get in touch with our chairman, Julian Jennings on….. or write to him to The Pier Gallery, Central Parade. Let’s make the pier a community effort – please join us this summer. We promise not to overwork you or take liberties! We welcome help from all ages.

The Trust’s Business Plan

Three weeks ago, a group of Trustees, met with the specific officers and councillor who have been given the pier in their remit and we presented the Pier Trust’s 2012 Business Plan to them. The meeting, despite previous reservations on our side, went well and we came away with a positive feeling that a new type of partnership has begun. The new brooms at CCC are as keen as us that we succeed and will give us a lot of support, e.g. to facilitate planning permission, legal requirements, risk assessments, leasing terms, concessionary arrangements, as well as the current structural maintenance of the pier. That is why for this first summer, we have voted that this is the best way forward - working together with the Council.

The business plan has taken a lot of hard work fleshing out ideas, costings, income, funding, health and safety and feasibility. The two local councillors, Joe Howes and Andrew Cook, whose position as appointed Trustees has been the root of much opposition, have actually put hours of work, way beyond the call of duty, into supporting Trust decisions.

Incidentally, the so called criticism by CCC of the Trust’s plans made an interesting headline in the local press based purely on one word in an executive report amid many other positive ones. The CCC officer chairing the meeting told us she had not even been contacted by the reporter and had made not a single critical statement.

A Brief Summary of the Business Plan

Phase 1:

Once the pavilion has disappeared within the next two weeks, we need CCC to have a good quality multi-purpose surface put down. Until the demolition is complete, we are not allowed to go onto the pier to see what we will be left to work with. The Council have promised to make good the surface and work with us on preparing the pier for public safety. It may be that the varying floor levels left by the pavilion will prove useful as the basis for seating around the arena. We shall see in the latter half of April.

To meet the public preference for a traditional pier (see our survey results) we are hoping to add some attractive touches – rows of flags with solar uplighters, planters with the kind of plants Herne Bay in Bloom Society consider will stand up to the sea air, bunting made by the Herne Bay High Schoolchildren, a sun deck and café which so many residents requested as a must in the surveys. A recent TV advertisement for Homebase which featured a pier is an inspiration for ours.

The designs and events we are planning have all been based on the results of our public consultation exercises culminating in our stand at the Business Fair mentioned above. We have been very conscious that it is the pier belongs to the people of Herne Bay and we need to follow the peoples’ mandate……

Finding out what the people want on their future pier

The Trust has received the Herne Bay residents’ views and aspirations from a variety of sources –

• the survey printed by the Herne Bay Times in November,
• the same survey returned via the Herne by Trust website, and still coming into the Pier Gallery
• all the people we met at the Christmas Grotto ( we had 3000 visitors - Santa gave 650 presents to children)
• Trustees talking to local groups

The results show the following preferences of local people:

Results of surveys

• You would like a traditional pier with children’s rides, retro amusements, a big wheel or a helter-skelter, a sun deck and café, ice cream, sweets and sea-food stalls, child/parent telescopes and boat trips.
• The most popular activities or events you would like to see – farmers’ market, musical performances, film, roller-skating again, fishing, exhibitions, antiques market, dancing and bands
• Many good suggestions included a sea world centre, an eco information centre, an underwater viewing facility.
• Many wanted to see boat trips back again, angling from the pier, quality retail beach huts, sporting activities.

Therefore, on the strength of your replies,

During the summer, supported by CCC we are planning a series of events and activities.

• A film on the pier on a large screen in July – with dancing demos, music, refreshments
• A series of sports weekends in July and August for youngsters with demos and training from top professional footballers, cricketers and more
• A farmers’ market (s) – a very popular request
• A Spirit of the Sea music event in August – bands competitions and gigs to coincide with the Herne Bay Festival
• Maybe also an antiques market
• Concessionary roller-skating days during the holidays
• Concessionary sales tables of refreshments, traditional sweets and candy floss

Wine and Wisdoms

We are raising funds and will be running Wine and Wisdoms to cover each event. The first Wine and Wisdom will take place at the King’s Hall on April 20th at 7.00pm with one every month thereafter. To book a seat or a table of 8, at £8 a head, ring 01227 374420

The Beach Hut Village

During this year, the Trust will be applying for planning permission to build a row of traditionally decorated seaside beach hut sales booths. The income from these – maybe up to 14 of them – will bring in useful funds. Similarly concessions to selected traders running the café, ice-cream and sweets stands, candy floss, pancake and shell-fish stalls will also bring in funds.

If you are interested in renting a hut next year or applying for a concession to provide refreshments, please contact us. Either write to the Chairman, Julian Jennings, at the Pier Gallery, Central Parade. or email us via this website.

All of these plans will be a steep learning curve. The Trustees have already met the Fire Service for advice, consulted our insurance company, started to cover legal requirements such as necessary risk assessment and health and safety issues. We are also sourcing free training courses in crowd management, stewarding and first aid skills.

Again if you are trained in any of these skills please contact us. Your skills will be most welcome.

Also, if you have personal contact with any company who might be willing to sponsor an event or a flag, please let us know. All sponsors will be acknowledged – major sponsors will have a permanent plaque on the pier. Maybe you know a celebrity who would help us with publicity for the charity or open one of the events.

Phase 2 :

Looking further ahead, beyond 2012 – the Trust envisages gradually building on the pier– lengthening it seawards section by section. The diagrams you may have se en in the papers were early concepts presented to us by Trust member, David Parish. The idea was to have two covered all-weather areas – one for children’s activities and the other as an all-weather multi-purpose area for all year round skating, performance and exhibitions – and maybe weddings! These covered areas would lengthen the season for pier activities into the winter months. The further we go out, the better the fishing too! This stage will be open to much further public consultation.

Fishing permits, weddings, performances, exhibitions, markets would bring in further much needed income for building further out to sea.

For Phase 2, the Trustees are exploring many sources of funding – government, local, European, Lottery, private, corporate. The search is definitely on! All information is welcome to add to our trawl for big money.

Phase 3: The Long Pier

The Trust and CCC have already paid £19,000 for a long-term report on the feasibility of a long pier and/or marina and has committed a further £8,000 through sponsorship for a professional economic study on the options outlined by the first report and its economic impact on the town.

Despite the Trustees working on the short-term phase and 2012 events, a dedicated Rebuild team of Trustees are concurrently committed to overseeing the rebuild of the long pier.

How we organise ourselves

As well as these two sub-groups of Trustees, each of the 2012 events listed above has a lead Trustee working with his/her team on each event. We now have a very well structured organisation. Anyone who has time and would like to join any of the teams working on one of the events listed above will be most welcome – we need all the help we can get.

What else have we been doing?

Santa’s Grotto

Thank you for your support of Santa’s Grotto which was open for three weekends up to Christmas Eve in the bandstand. We had 650 children queuing under the snow from the snow machine to receive their present from Santa. We had children’s entertainers there and the face-painting went down well. It was a good opportunity for the trustees to meet the members and discuss the plans.

During the school days we had hundreds of schoolchildren singing during the lunchtimes and in the evenings Trustee David Shepherd organised a variety of quality musical events. Over the three weeks we had over 3000 visitors.

The Schools’ Art Project

Sponsored by Southern water and KCC, Sue Austen and Lynn Faux-Bowyer ran a massive project which involved five local primary schools. They arranged art workshops with an artist and the children produced hundreds of lively, imaginative and beautiful paintings on the themes of the seaside, the pier and sea creatures.

Herne Bay High pupils expressed their feelings for the seaside and the pier through dozens of imaginative sculptures. The project culminated in an exhibition in the Pier gallery and the new art gallery at the King’s Hall judged by Southern water, a local artist and MP Roger Gale. Prize-giving took place on 23rd of March. The project enabled us to meet and gather views from children, parents and teachers about the future of the pier.

The Pier Gallery

The Pier Gallery has become a hub for information and fund-raising. Friendly volunteer staff will make you welcome at weekends and there is always a lively exhibition of paintings and art on show. The latest exhibition is …..(Andrea to flesh out please)

Going Green

The Trust has raised a significant amount of funds through its recycling can campaign. The can collection points will be augmented by a paper-recycling collection point. New can bins are being placed in the Memorial Park near the toilets.

Public interest, secret debate

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the Locality Board, sounding the death knell for local democracy.

It's made up of the Canterbury City Council Executive and the 9 Kent County Council members who represent constituencies in the Canterbury District. It meets behind closed doors, and "Minutes (including a record of attendance and any conflicts of interest) will not be widely circulated".

I'll be examining the Locality Board more closely in another post.

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Service discussed behind closed doors

The fate of the district's youth centres remains a mystery, after councillors met in private to discuss the issue. A £1 million cut in funding for youth services means there could be only one Kent County Council-funded youth club left in Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay. Faversham Youth Club is also under threat.

The newly formed Canterbury Locality Board, which is made up of Canterbury county councillors and members of the ruling Tory executive of the city council, met behind closed doors on Tuesday, March 24 to debate the issue.

Liberal Democrat councillors fear that the secret meeting was used to rubber-stamp controversial plans to keep Whitstable Youth Club open instead of the city’s Riverside Centre, as originally expected. Lib Dem parliamentary spokesman James Flanagan said:

"Decisions like this should be taken in public so that the people taking them are fully accountable. Closing youth clubs can only lead to more young people ending up hanging around on street corners and getting into trouble. For councillors to hide their actions from the public is an absolute disgrace."

A final decision will be made by Kent County Council, and city council bosses said the locality board members had no powers other than to give their views. Canterbury City Council spokesman Rob Davies said:

"The meeting last week discussed the future of KCC’s youth service in the Canterbury district, and city council members were happy to have the opportunity to discuss how that service operates in the months ahead. However, the decision about youth services is one for KCC to take and any queries about its decision-making process should be directed to County Hall."

County councillor Mark Dance insisted that clubs would not close, although they could be funded differently.

"There will be no closures of any of the youth centres in the Canterbury district. However, further details are still in negotiation and will be revealed at the end of the month by cabinet member Councillor Mike Hill."

The board’s discussions will be revealed when the minutes are published of the city council's Scrutiny Committee, which meets on Wednesday, 25th April. Kent County Council will meet on 27th April to debate the issue.

Gilbey slams the gutless

But there's no hint who he might be talking about. Or what they've done.

At the recent Executive meeting, Canterbury Council Leader John Gilbey laid into someone or other. He was clearly disappointed that they weren't there to take their medicine - maybe their invitation didn't arrive in time.

OK, well I'm going to say something else now which I'd like recorded. I think it's quite clear that there are people who are quite prepared to go out to Twitter, they're prepared to email newspapers, they're prepared to cause unending sorts of trouble and worry to all sorts of residents by misrepresenting, and by having things out there that are simply not true, and they have no guts in not appearing here tonight to ask the questions.

Hear these words.

So what's actually happening here?

The Council as a whole is effectively a mechanism for rubber-stamping the decisions from the Executive. The Executive is chosen by the Leader. Thus the Precious Leader, Joniji-il Bi, enjoys a position of sweeping authority.

It would appear that someone displeased Jonji. He could have used Twitter to rebut their their arguments, or emailed the newspapers himself to put his side of the story. However, he has used (abused?) this public democratic forum to indulge in what is little more than posturing.

It's safe to assume that the rest of the Executive knew what, and who, he was talking about - he was grand-standing to a small and carefully chosen crowd. In my mind's eye, I can picture them nudging each other "Go on, Jonji, stick it to 'em... that's telling 'em". It may have played well to the Chosen Few, but it was a waste of breath.

If someone is "misrepresenting" an issue, the simplest and most effective remedy is to represent it accurately. If someone has displeased the Precious Leader, how are the rest of us to avoid repeating their error, unless we are told Who Did What?

Unless we know what is forbidden, we cannot be appropriately obedient or respectful.

Vickery-Jones showered with praise

Now here's a funny thing – at Canterbury City Council Executive on 29th March, the leader of the council, Cllr Gilbey, went out of his way to congratulate Cllr Vickery-Jones on his recent successes.

The first of these was the chaos that resulted from the re-routing of traffic around the Westgate Towers, which will probably soon be renamed the Vickery Victory Arch.

The second praiseworthy achievement was Cllr Vickery-Jones' masterful and diplomatic handling of Tesco's threatened invasion of Herne. John Gilbey gave a moving account of Cllr Vickery-Jones' single-handed triumph over the retail giant:

I would like to acknowledge the way you approached the issues that were affecting Herne village recently. It is, I think probably, an example of what a proper Ward councillor should be doing in those circumstances, which is quiet dialogue, which is talking, which is becoming aware, and in the end I think Herne probably got the result that it wanted, I'm sure in no small part to what you did there, so thanks for doing that.

Hear these words. (You can download the whole recording here, where it says Audio Version, the fun starts at 18:56)

I can't help feeling that history is being re-written...

Sep 22nd 2011: Cllr Vickery-Jones greets the news of Tesco's proposed purchase of the Red Lion at Herne thus:

Maybe they can buy the School Lane car park from the council and we can all enjoy some free parking. From the perspective of what a shop there would offer, it has to be good for the area. There isn't anywhere around there like it.

Sep 29th 2011: Local residents are unimpressed with his approach:

... the complete ignorance and stupidity of Herne councillor Peter Vickery-Jones. Has he ever visited Herne? Does he have eyes? Has he not seen the shop that is right next to the site and serves the community so very well?

I am also disgusted that a local Councillor is in favour of a Tesco Express, does he not realise what effect it would have on the area and local business, especially the shop next door and the pub opposite? He may be a councillor but he's out of touch with his local community.

Jan 12th 2012: An anti-Tesco rally fills the church at Herne, giving Cllr Vickery-Jones an opportunity to show how out of touch he is with popular feeling:

I didn’t expect so many people.

Jan 26th 2012: Tesco continue to ride rough-shod over local opinion, and the local councillor is unconvincing:

I did my best to persuade them that this is not an appropriate spot, but they are not convinced and say they have faced opposition, but over time it dries up and people start using the stores. Unfortunately I don't have any lawful way of stopping them.

Feb 3rd 2012: Tesco tries to buy its way round the problem - the parish council refuse the money, but City Cllr Vickery-Jones' hands are outstretched, in a defeated kind of way:

Peter Vickery-Jones said that, despite the parish council voting to reject any cash contributions from the supermarket as part of its planning application, the city council would be keen to use the money for a training and education project in Herne.

"Short of civil disobedience, there's nothing we can do about Tesco coming."

Mar 4th 2012: Ignoring the defeatism of their Ward councillor, the people of Herne mobilise en masse, and between 700 and 1,000 people march through Herne in protest.

Mar 9th 2012: Tesco shelve their plans, citing "highway contraints" - no mention of any "quiet dialogue" with Cllr Vickery-Jones prompting or influencing their decision. The Herne villagers earn themselves national news coverage.

It is often said that the Conservative party's not-very-secret weapon is unity. This seems to extend to unflinching loyalty to any of their number who stumble, and in this case giving them credit for anyone's success.

Cllr Gilbey lavished praise on his colleague, but said not a word about the efforts and achievement of the Herne villagers who Cllr Vickery-Jones should have been supporting and representing throughout.

HB Exhibition at King's Hall

There was commerce, campaigners, councillors and charities crammed into Herne Bay's Kings Hall for the town's annual business expo exhibition. It was opened by the Lord Mayor of Canterbury Ian Thomas on Wednesday. The city council's senior projects manager, Patrick Rynne, who helped to arrange the event, said:

"There were 46 businesses and 22 projects represented in the hall, with more than 500 visitors at the exhibition. Herne Bay should feel justifiably proud of the interest the town is attracting. This really highlighted the success stories we are seeing."

Herne Bay Pier Trust unveiled a multicoloured model of an extended pier. The trust's deputy chairman, Andrea Leach, who works tirelessly to raise funds for the charity, said:

"We are very excited about the summer on the pier platform and have some good events lined up. It was great to see the public's enthusiasm."

Herne Bay Coastwatch members, who scour the seas from the Old Bathing Station at weekends, were among those scouting for volunteers. They need spare hands to man the station on Fridays as they prepare for the summer season.

But there were also awkward moments. Coplan Estates, which is managing the stalled Herne Bay Central Development regeneration plan, was placed opposite new group Beach Creative. Beach Creative is dedicated to turning Beach House into a thriving artists' colony after the building – earmarked for demolition under the Coplan scheme – was given a reprieve.

The developer's Colin McQueston admitted:

"Three months ago things looked like they were stuck but we are tweaking the proposal and are at last beginning to have some renewed interest."

The artists looked on politely, wondering whether their new home will survive the summer.

thisiskent 30th Mar 2012

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.

Council demolition failure

Now 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.

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Counting the cost of pier demolition

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

Herne getting famous for beating Tesco

The sleepy village that  triumphed over Tesco as people power forces chain to abandon pub conversion

The charming village of Herne seems an unlikely spot for an awesome display of people power. But the extraordinary resolve of its residents has just seen off the might of Tesco. Villagers won a David and Goliath battle with the store chain over what they saw as a threat to their way of life.

Heart of the village: The pub, with church next door, that Tesco aimed to convert

At the centre of the struggle was the Upper Red Lion, a recently closed pub next door to the handsome 14th century church of St Martin. Tesco wanted to turn it into a store – and the villagers were appalled. For one thing, it would have ruined the view at weddings. For another, it would spell doom for their Village Stores, Herne’s only shop, which is on the other side of the pub and has been keeping the community on the Kent coast in bread, milk and newspapers for more than a century.

Soon after word of the proposal for the Tesco Express leaked out, an emergency meeting was called by the parish council at the community hall in January. More than 500 turned up – too many to fit in the hall so the meeting had to be moved to the church.

Fightback: The campaign leaders. Villagers vowed to fight the plans and formed a campaign group

The parish council vowed to fight the plans and campaign group Herne Against Tesco – HAT – was created. When rumours spread that Tesco was thinking of extending the pub at the rear, residents put a spanner in the works by getting the pub listed. Then there was a protest when, despite a downpour, 700 men, women and children marched through the village on March 4.

Five days later, Tesco, which had not even got as far as putting in a planning application, abandoned the scheme. St Martin’s celebrated by ringing its bells. Vicar Elaine Richardson had feared the church would miss out on the 130 weddings, christenings and funerals it conducts a year if the store opened.

Tesco signs on the store would also ruin wedding pictures and the atmosphere. Reverend Richardson said:

‘There’s something about the big boys just thinking they can push their way into the High Street or a village like ours. It’s awful.’

Thiruvalluvar Kumanan, 45, who runs the Village Stores, which includes post office, said:

‘If it was something the village needed, then fine. But we felt they were just trying to bully their way in.’

Chairman of the HAT campaign Frank Holden, 55, said:

‘We were preparing for a long fight. It’s a victory for the small people.’

Tesco picked Herne – which is distinct from the nearby town of Herne Bay – as potential site after analysing data from its Clubcard scheme and consulting residents. Pubs are attractive because they are already licensed to sell food and alcohol so do not require an application for a change of use.

Tesco said it felt there was ‘a demand for a shopping choice in Herne’ but added that ‘highway constraints’ meant it would not pursue the pub conversion.

mailonline 24th Mar 2012