BBC Radio Kent interview: 27th January 2011
MP3 download

Preamble and Introduction to interview

BBC Radio Kent – James Green, what are you actually proposing to build.
 
WOFC – The original building was like a café which was situated on the beach outside the tennis courts, and I think 13 beach huts.
 
BBC Radio Kent - There's nothing there at the moment?
 
WOFC -  No not at the moment. They knocked down the original beach huts and the original beach café when they re-did the sea defences about 12 years ago 
 
BBC Radio Kent – So anything you build wouldn’t interfere with the sea defences would they??
 
WOFC - No. The original reason why they were knocked down was so that the sea defences could be built up.”
 
BBC Radio Kent - That doesn’t sound too invasive Simon?
 
Simon - On the face of it, it doesn’t sound it, but as you made the point in your introduction this is a designated site of special Scientific interest…
 
BBC Radio Kent - Why is that?
 
Simon - It’s in an intertidal zone, its ecologically important, and Whitstable being the wonderful town that it is,  there's a presumption against development on Whitstables beach. This is an amenity for the town as a whole, the presumption was to try and ensure that the conservation status of that area remained.
 
BBC Radio Kent - So if this were the only development, if you could be guaranteed that, you wouldn’t have a problem with it?
 
Simon - Well the idea of having a reinstated building on the beach is one that sounds quite nice. This was a building that was enjoyed by the town for a considerable period of time before it was knocked down in the 80’s. The problem we have with it is that part of the application is for 13 beach huts as well and it's this notion of creeping development, its whether this is the thin end of the wedge and whether there is in the future, as a consequence of this development, other development coming along behind it. 
 
BBC Radio Kent - James Green could you not leave the beach huts out of the plan?
 
WOFC - Well, we could have…um….in actual fact part of the plan….they are not part of the planning application anyway. The only planning application is for the red Spider café.
 
BBC Radio Kent - So what happening with the beach huts?
 
WOFC - Well beach huts, because they have no fixings to the beach, and the beach belongs to the WOFC, they don’t need planning permission. The application does only involve the Red Spider café and as regards the…its nowhere near the intertidal zone and that part of the beach has only been there for 12 years because it was built up with aggregate brought in from elsewhere around the country.
 
BBC Radio Kent – James, do you not see their point? Your proposals aren’t very invasive at all, in fact they might be quite attractive but it does set a precedent.
 
WOFC - The beach café that was already there doesn’t really set a precedent for any other development and you can’t really say that about any sort of development anywhere I don’t think
 
BBC Radio Kent - So if part of the application said, we will allow you to build this because you are reinstating something that was there…..you would have no problem with it?,  
 
WOFC - No but then on the other hand there was already beach huts there 12, 13 years ago anyway. In fact there wasn’t 12 or 13, on the original plans of the oyster company theaters probably nearer 80 or 100 beach huts along there. I’m not saying that’s what going to happen but its still substantially smaller than it was.  And we’ve put them in front of the tennis courts purposely because that’s where there's no local residents adjacent to them.
 
BBC Radio Kent - Simon, what about that, the beach huts don’’t need planning permission that’s not part of the deal, its purely that cafe
 
Simon - That’s not the impression that we are under. We are under the impression that these are structures and that under designated planning law, they do require planning permission so this is an issue that we are having to get resolved now.
 
BBC Radio Kent - James, are they part of your planning application?
 
WOFC - The beach huts are not part of our planning application. The only planning application is for the Red Spider
 
BBC Radio Kent – And have you checked with the council that you can put these beach huts up
 
WOFC - We have..we have..we’ve been …I mean this applications been going on for (unclear..)  
 
BBC Radio Kent -You know for a fact you don’t need planning permission for those beach huts?
 
WOFC – Yes
 
BBC Radio Kent – There you are Simon. He doesn’t. So you can forget those because he can put those up as he likes it seems
 
Simon – Well, we certainly can’t forget that, because that for us is the major sticking point.
 
BBC Radio Kent - You can’t object to someone putting something up on their land that they don’t need planning permission for?
 
Simon - We have to differ with James on that. The information that we have is that you do need planning permission and if you don’t need planning permission then we could end up with the situation where there are beach huts running from the Whitstable Yacht Club right through to the end of the beach in Seasalter. If they don’t need planning permission then developers could just simply go along and stick them up tomorrow and not in fact be under any recourse of law to have to take them down.
 
BBC Radio Kent - ……..surely if its going to be a vibrant seaside community…you have to have a certain amount of development then don’t you?
 
Simon …the problem we have with this development is that it is on a Site of Special Scientific Interest
 
BBC Radio Kent - He says its not….Its miles from the SSSI….
 
Simon – It is in a Site of Special Scientific Interest…you talked about the intertidal zone, which is one of the aspects of why this was designated as such. Whereabouts this is within that SSSI is really immaterial – its within it and its within a Conservation zone. Its actually built outside the sea wall and on top of the sea defences….
 
BBC Radio Kent – James do you want to come back on any of that. So you are still convinced you don’t need planning permission, for the beach huts I take it?
 
WOFC – You don’t need planning permission for the beach huts.
 
BBC Radio Kent -  Let me just say James as someone who doesn’t know either way, I’m somewhat surprised you don’t. You’re saying you don’t because they are not permanent?
 
WOFC - Just as when you put a shed in your garden, that does not need planning permission. Effectively the beach is owned by the WOFC and you put a shed on the beach, which effectively a beach hut is, it doesn’t need planning permission. The first thing is the SSSI. Anything of interest is below the high water mark, intrinsically because the beach was built up to that level only 12 years ago with aggregate
 
BBC Radio Kent - So you are saying that you are building on a bit of beach that wasn’t even there 12 years ago?
 
WOFC - Wasn’t even there…As regards the Conservation area, the gentleman is actually wrong. The Conservation area goes up to the boundary of the sea wall. The beach is not included in it.
 
BBC Radio Kent - Is it going before Canterbury City Council first of all?
 
WOFC - Its been delayed by the number of objections. I mean to be honest the whole proposal is almost marginal from the WOFC’s perspective anyway. Its not going to be a massive development opportunity for us in that its only 12 beach huts. We don’t receive a lot of rent from the beach huts….
 
BBC Radio Kent - Well..the beach huts are nothing to do with the planning application are they?
 
WOFC - I know but if we were going to do those and the Red Spider café is only a small café on the beach.  The original reason why we did it was, a few people came up to me and said ‘Oh the Red Spider, we remember that, it was nice..”, and we put it in not really expecting so much objection.
 
BBC Radio Kent - So its been delayed, when will it….
 
WOFC - We haven’t  received a date for it. I mean it all come down to the number of people using the beach and who’s using it. Beach huts and a café will increase the use of the beach, and to a degree the number of people who enjoy it.