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.

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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.]

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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.

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