QE2 Coastal Park in Herne Bay

Question asked at HBAMP on 3 January 2012

Phil Rose:

I am very concerned that Members are mistakenly believing that the ongoing village green application requires that a number of activities on and around the Downs at Herne Bay must be deferred until the outcome of the application is known. 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.

A couple of examples:

• Why should Community Cleanups on the application land over the coming months (Item 2.3) be affected in any way by the outcome of the application?
• Why should the outcome of the application have any effect on the clearance of the channel at Bishopstone Glen (Item 3.8)? The Glen is entirely outside the application area - the bridge across the Glen is ¼ kilometre west of the application land.

Response

The Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Field — Herne Bay Coastal Park puts the Downs into a legal trust that Fields in Trust states "protects forever the land for leisure and recreation". As this is a consultation report we are seeking feedback on the proposal.

As the Downs Village Green application is still ongoing it is not appropriate to discuss the legal issues relating to it. It is worthy of note that the implications of a successful village green application are not part of the decision making process.

One result of a successful Village Green application is that enhancements that take place between the date of the application and the final decision may be at risk of being removed once the application is decided, particularly if they breach the Victorian statutes that govern village green land.

Fields in Trust will not consider any external funding application until the village green application is resolved.

This means that many potential projects on the Downs are on hold due to the application for village green status. With regards to the two examples given:

• The existing community clean ups can continue, but we cannot access the funding to obtain extra equipment specifically for the community group.
• The clearance of the channel at Bishopstone Glen can proceed because it is outside the Downs Village Green application area, thank you for the feedback.

Inquiry could decide fate of Downs

The battle to get a Bay beauty spot registered as a village green looks likely to go to a public inquiry. Council officers made the decision after admitting the "volume and complexity" of the case for the Downs meant an inquiry would be necessary. Save the Downs group head Phil Rose said he was frustrated by the slow progress:

"A huge amount of time has been spent producing comprehensive replies to the dozens of pages of (presumably expensive) objections written for Canterbury City Council by London barristers. Given the clear and strong local support for the application, why have our councillors allowed unelected officers to squander public money fighting the wishes of the Herne Bay people?"

The battle started after the council proposed building 40 beach huts on the downs near Beacon Hill at East Cliff. To protect the Downs Mr Rose pushed to get it registered as a village green. Council spokesman Rob Davies said the site was not suitable for a village green. A final decision on whether it will be decided via a public inquiry will be made on June 13. But Mr Rose said council objections were not clear:

"The council objected to the village green application on the grounds that they wouldn't be able to maintain the land if it was registered as a village green. Not true - they already maintain village greens in Whitstable."

Bay councillor Peter Vickery-Jones said it was not necessary to register the land as a village green. He said:

"There's a faction in this town that never wants anything to be done. The Downs was never under threat. I'm not opposed to it being registered as a village green but it's just unnecessary. We could never build on it, for engineering reasons amongst others. I just want to say, for God's sake, let's get this town back on its feet and stop seeing everything as a threat."

HB Times 26th May 2011

Village Green Public Inquiry

Here's the latest from the village green registration people at Kent County Council.

Dear Reader, if you have any experience of Public Inquiries like this, do please get in touch with any tips and advice.

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I am writing to update you regarding your Village Green application at The Downs at Herne Bay.
 
Due to the volume and complexity of this case, we have sought legal advice from Counsel as to how we should proceed. Counsel has very carefully considered all of the documentation submitted and the arguments raised. The advice received is that it is not possible for the matter to be resolved on paper and the case should properly be referred to a Public Inquiry for further consideration.
 
I have arranged for this matter to be referred to a meeting of the Regulation Committee Member Panel to seek authority to refer the case to a Public Inquiry. The date of the meeting will be Monday 13th June 2011 and my colleague Andrew Tait will be writing to you shortly with a more formal invitation and details of the time/venue etc.

The meeting on 13th June will be a Committee meeting. There will be a site visit in the morning followed by a more formal meeting in the afternoon at which point you will have a brief opportunity to make any representations to the Committee. Andrew will send further details in due course. The Public Inquiry, if approved by the Committee, is held locally and normally takes place about 3-4 months after the Committee date, depending on the availability of the parties and an Inspector.
 
Counsel's advice was received in conference and as such there is no formal written advice. However, as a summary, Counsel raised concerns regarding the eastern part of the application site and, in particular, whether the correct procedures were followed in relation to the the CPO. Counsel was satisfied that, on the current authorities, where land is held under s164 it was not capable of registration as a VG, but felt that further information was required from CCC (e.g. minutes) to determine conclusively which parts of the site were held under this provision (which would, of course, also be directly relevant to the validity of the byelaws). It is not, in Counsel's view, from the information currently available, possible to determine conclusively the manner in which the various pieces of land which make up the application site are held. In short, Counsel felt that there were still too many unanswered questions which require further clarification before a final decision can be reached.
 
I should stress that the Inspector who is appointed to hold the Public Inquiry will be a Barrister but is unlikely to be the same person. This means that they may take a slightly different view of the precise issues to be considered at the Public Inquiry and it will also depend on the view of the parties involved as to whether the Public Inquiry focuses on specific issues. This can be discussed nearer the time.

The Friends of The Downs

The Friends of The Downs is a new community group of local residents who have joined forces with the Council to protect, preserve and enhance the Downs. The recent campaign to make the Downs a village green attracted huge local support, showing how well-loved and important the Downs are to the town. The Friends aim to build on that affection by working with residents, the Council and organisations like Kent Wildlife Trust and the Kent Reptiles and Amphibians Group to make the most of this unique open space.

The Friends of The Downs is a newly formed group of Herne Bay residents, chaired by local ward councillor Gillian Reuby. The Friends will be a focus for the future care and management of the Downs area, to ensure that the area is well looked after and continues to support its natural flora, fauna and wildlife for the benefit of local residents and visitors alike.

Click here to join the Friends of The Downs mailing list. We'll send you Newsletters to keep you up to date with news and events, and the next few months should be newsworthy and eventful!

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.

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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