More maintenance nonsense
Wholly wrong!
More tosh from the Council, I'm sorry to say. A local councillor is reported as saying that village green status would delay emergency repair work on The Downs. This is STILL nonsense, merely a cover story that is getting flimsier by the day. The sharper-eyed amongst you will notice that the picture clearly shows a ladder running down to the bottom of the hole. Obviously this is not an accidental, natural hole - as Council spokesman Rob Davies says it's "part of the slope drainage system". Mr Davies also points out that "the responsibility to repair these lies with the City Council".
The Council neglected its responsibility to inspect and maintain this part of the drainage system. The manhole cover became overgrown, disintegrated and fell down the hole - the remains appear to be at the bottom of the ladder in the picture. The soil that once covered the manhole wore thin, and hey presto - suddenly there's a deep and dangerous hole in the ground.
This hazard is entirely due to the Council's neglect. Read on.
Foot-long crater opens up to reveal drop of 10 feet
A dog almost fell 10ft into water after a mysterious hole appeared on the Downs at Herne Bay. Authorities were alerted after the foot-long crater believed to be an old manhole was discovered less than a metre from a public footpath on Saturday morning.
Surrounded by loose earth, the pitch dark hole was mistaken for a rabbit hole by an eager Jack Russell. But only the quick-thinking actions of its owner, who grabbed the pooch as he went to dive into the hole, saved a potential tragedy. Bay councillor Vince McMahan, called by the owner and first on the scene with foreshore ramp attendant Doug Arponen, says a small child could have drowned:
“My two-year-old grandson Connor would have stood no chance if he'd fallen down there. It wouldn’t matter how quick the fire services arrived. I wouldn't be able to get down there myself and would be helpless. It`s really quite frightening. Small kids love to walk along the ledge of the footpath, and this hole was probably just a foot away. If someone had slipped and fell down the hole it would have been a disaster”
Mr Arponen and Cllr McMahan alerted the city council and waited by the hole for three hours until Serco arrived at 12.30pm. Workers covered the hole with a sheet of wood and returned later to fence the area off. Mr Arponen said:
“There's no way it could have been left as it was. You could tell it had probably been like it for some time as well, because the edge wasn't neat and the grass had grown. When I saw it I thought it was best to stick around. After all, the number one priority is public safety"
Cllr McMahan says the discovery of the hole adds weight to the argument against granting the Downs Village Green Status:
“If the status was awarded we would have to ask the Secretary of State to carry out emergency maintenance work like this. That takes time and money and could well have been too late in this instance.”
City council spokesman Rob Davies said:
“They are part of slope drainage system. We were alerted to this problem on Saturday and on-call staff attended to inspect the site. The hole was covered over and fencing was put up around it, as well as a second manhole cover further along the Downs, to make them safe. The responsibility to repair these lies with the city council, because they are part of the slope drainage system. An order for this work to be carried out has already been placed and we will inspect other covers on the East Cliff in case of further problems."
HB Gazette 3rd Jun 2010
CCC, Maintenance, Rob Davies, Village Green, Vince McMahan
Reader Comments (10)
In Whitstable, several village greens were used as depots for the beach repair works for many months and also the beach itself where it is a Village Green was dug up for new defences. No permission was needed from the government for any of that.
When the Downs is village green, the council can come and go on their land to do maintenance whenever they like. Indeed if they don’t they can be sued.
Section 38 of the Commons Act of 2006 deals with the issue of the need for the permission of the Secretary of State but this only applies to Common land and some obscure categories and not the type of village green covered by the current application. In any event it does not apply to works to protect life in an emergency.
Make a group once and for all for everything and empower this group to ask for or make public enquiries , start at the beggining . when there are rival factions its a sign that things are not for the good of all but for the greed of some and the jealousy of others
I have been told that the council would be putting concrete bases on the downs and then having these Beach huts installed at a minimal cost then selling them for high prices £00.000 yes Thousands in decimals.
this came to my ears over a year ago , yet with all the planning in place the public only gets to defend its position at the latest possible stage , There is obviously something a miss, Michael
It is relatively easy to find out this information with a request to CCC. JUST email: customer.services@canter bury.gov.uk
clearly mark it FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST
HAPPY TO DO THIS FOR YOU ON THIS ONE
please submit your requests on your other subjects such as BMX site
Regards Kim Hennelly.
P.s CCC have to reply to you within 30 days. From my own experience their replies are usually very vague and you have to return over and over for clarification until you get a proper answer. Good luck and please post replies here as I am sure there are many would like to know more about Councils hidden expenditure or INCOME
2 July 2010
Dear Canterbury City Council,
The following comment has been made about the councils conduct over
the proposed Beach Huts for the Downs, which are strongly contested
by local people.
"It has been known to me that a certain company Building wooden
sheds BEACH HUTS etc is awaiting for the downs project to go ahead.
I have been told that the council would be putting concrete bases
on the downs and then having these Beach huts installed at a
minimal cost then selling them for high prices £00.000 yes
Thousands in decimals - this came to my ears over a year ago , yet
with all the planning in place the public only gets to defend its
position at the latest possible stage , There is obviously
something a miss"
Always wishing to obtains the facts and just the facts I write for
full details of the proposal under the FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.
Could you please confirm.
1). The initial date of this proposal.
2). Details of the feasibility study and provide copy documents.
3). The estimated cost of preparing the site - concrete bases etc
and where funds have derived.
4). The individual estimated costs of a Beach Hut.
5). The Council estimated sale Price.
6). conditions of Sale ie. Lease terms
7). Ongoing income, such as annual Council Tax etc.
Some parts of this request may be easier to answer than others, and
should this prove to be the case I would ask that you release
available data as soon as possible rather than hold up the entire
request.
I would prefer to receive this information electronically. If the
decision is made to withhold some of this data using exemptions in
Act, please inform me of that fact and cite the exemptions used.
If you need any clarification then please contact me at the email.
Under your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance I would
expect you to contact me if you find this request unmanageable in
any way.
I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have
received this request, and I look forward to hearing from you in
the near future.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs Hennelly
Herne Bay Fix Our Town Campaign
Will the cost of demolishing the pier take into account the value of the tons and tons of scrap stainless steel iron copper etc . this metal is now worth more, I estimate around £180 000 any demolition company would normally be obliged to give a large discount on their price in exchange for this metal
If it cost £140,000 to pull the pier down then the excess money from the scrap value should go into the fund ,
England is known throughout the world as a quaint conservative place as in conserve non politic, it would be great to have a new pier same as the old one built with nice materials such as wood and iron etc , and the identity of Herne bay would be safe for a couple of hundred years more ,