Time is running out to enter Love Your Hut of the Year
Entries for this year’s competition close on Wednesday 30th August, so make sure you make the most of the Bank Holiday and get your entry in!
If you think your hut is worthy of winning, click here for all the information you need on how to take part. It is easy to enter and it won’t take long at all.
Our first prize in a hamper full of treats hand selected by the team here at Love Your Hut. The winner will also win the winning plaque and of course, the all important title of Love Your Hut of the Year 2023!
The 3 Runner Ups will win a Love Your Hut goody bag, including a £30 voucher!
Good luck to everyone who enters this year’s competition!
We can’t wait to see your huts!
BEACH HUT SUB-LETTING REGULATIONS
In response to a number of concerns raised by beach hut owners about the removal of subletting from April 2023, the Council has reviewed its position.
Further to the consultation, the Council has agreed that beach hut subletting is permitted to continue but with revised Terms and Conditions to the Standard Sublet Beach Hut Tenancy.
The amendments and additions to the Standard Sublet Beach Hut Tenancy are as follows:
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Amend the ‘Agreement to Let’ Notice period to 6 months (The notice period for the standard beach tenancy remains at 9 months)
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Limit to the maximum group size who can rent beach huts to 8
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Hut owners who choose to sublet shall provide emergency contact details to the Council, to enable quick contact should issues arise
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Increase the fee for the option to sublet to 100% of one year’s site fee for the beach hut location
If you wish to take up the option of subletting your beach hut, a new revised Standard Sublet Beach Hut Tenancy will need to be issued. All requests should be made in writing to beachhuts@canterbury.gov.uk
If beach hut owners are found to be subletting without permission, the Council will complete the required processes, ultimately leading to notice being served or forfeiture of the tenancy.
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“Good News – Wildflowers for Tankerton Slopes”
Members of the Tankerton Bay Beach Hut Owners’ Association may remember that, back in the autumn of 2022, at our AGM and in the subsequent Minutes of that meeting, your Committee asked for some suggestions on how to spend a little of the money that we currently have in our Rainy Day and Fighting Fund bankaccount.
We received 12 suggestions in all, including those put in by the Committee in order to start us off, and to be frank, we didn’t get as much support as we’d hoped; certainly not enough for a thumping mandate! So the idea which received the most votes was pursued by your Committee with officials from Canterbury City Council, and we are therefore pleased to announce that we will donate an initial £500 towards the signage and planting of wildflower patches at the top of the Slopes, in front of the Tankerton Ice Cream Parlour, and at the foot of the long sloping path to the Promenade, where the grass is a little threadbare in early Spring. This will be a joint project between us and Canterbury City Council.
We found out that this is not an easy thing to do, especially with our tricky clay soil, and especially doing this with actual seeds! So the idea is to follow a successful outcome at Reculver Park, in that fresh mowings from that area (already a wildflower haven) will be transported to Tankerton after the cutting season in the autumn, and left to self sow in these two zones.The signage is necessary in order to protect the newly-laid “green hay”.
We thought that this would be an idea that everyone would welcome as a way of beautifying an already-lovely spot for both residents and visitors alike. If the plan works (there is of course no guarantee with wildflowers!) then we could extend the idea to other parts of the Slopes. For your information, the topic of spending some of our fundswill come up again at our next AGM at the end of this year.
With regard to the other ideas that didn’t make the cut, some were probably beyond our remit, and/or would be tricky to maintain. Here they are in full, including several suggestions that were included in the agenda for last year’s AGM, and included in the Minutes. All were put to the Foreshore Office initially, as Canterbury City Council is our landlord, and some ideas involve land entirely under the control of the Council.so of course we would need the Council’s permission and active leadershipfor at least some of the suggestions:-
1. A paid-for security review of all members’ beach huts (promoted by the Committee but only 1 vote from other members)
2. A donation of £10 to any member who had work done to their hut (0 votes)
3. A Portaloo for the Long Rock area (1 vote)
4. One or more extra rubbish bins (2 votes)
5. A social gathering in the summer (2 votes)
6. A shower at Long Rock (0 votes)
7. A donation to “SOS Whitstable” (1 vote)
8. A wildflower patch (5 votes)
9. A donation to “Surfers Against Sewage” (1 vote)
10. Creation of a short film on security issues (0 votes)
11. Motion sensors/CCTV (1 vote)
12. Further donation towards upgrading the CCTV at the Tankerton Sailing Club/liaising with National Coastwatch re CCTV (1 vote) *
* We had already donated £200 towards the Sailing Club CCTV in a previous year.
Your Committee hopes that our decision to trial the wildflower ideawill find favour with you all. The area of the SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) will not be changed in any way, and the rare hog’s fennel plants will of course remain. We hope that the “green hay” will establish itself over the coming couple of years, adding to the beautiful view that we all appreciate so much, and may merit replication.
As ever, thank you all for your support.
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NEW WAVE OF VANDALISM
An urgent New Year’s message from your Association committee, which deserves your attention:
As of 28 December, day 4 of a 9 day Christmas-New Year holiday, the darker side of a festive spirit has brought the vandals & burglars out to Tankerton West and at least 9 beach huts to our knowledge have been vandalised and/or broken into so far. Those broken into have been those huts with patently weak security.
Members are urged to consider whether the security measures taken on their huts are as a good as they can be. The choice is ultimately yours but the Holiday Season has several more days and nights to run. The risk is clear and one mitigant is obvious. Would you walk into a casino and gamble £7k a night on the roll of the dice ?
If your hut does fall victim to an attack, we urge you to report it to Kent Police without delay – we need the incidents to be officially logged if we are ever going to get any attention paid to these issues.
Roger Simpson
Chair
Tankerton Bay Beach Hut Owners Association
28/12/22
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| Good Morning,
Beach Hut owners are reminded to secure their huts using adequate locks and security and to remove all items of value from with the huts to prevent and deter anyone breaking into them. We have had a number of reports of Beach Huts being broken into over the summer period but taking appropriate measures to secure your hut can deter and prevent offences being committed as well as protect your belongings. Please click the link below for advice on securing sheds, garages and outbuildings that can also be applied to Beach Huts.
Keeping your shed or garage safe and secure | Crime prevention | Kent Police
Kind Regards
PC Hoffmeister |
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Message Sent By
Matthew Hoffmeister
(Police, PC, Herne Bay Town Centre Team) |
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NEWSLETTERAugust 2022
from The Committee of The Tankerton Bay Beach Hut Owners’ Association
Dear Member,
The Committee members of the Tankerton Bay Beach Hut Owners’ Association thought that, having not written a Newsletter to our members for a while, since there was little to report, we now have one or two items that you may find useful or interesting.
First of all, all beach hut owners will by now have received a letter from Canterbury City Council, alerting you to the “increasing number of complaints about noise and anti-social behaviour caused by large groups who are using sub-let beach huts”.
Although the Council had initially informed us that owners who sub-let their beach huts would have this perk removed from April 2023 (so as to allow owners to honour any sub-letting commitments for 2022), there appears to have been a re-think, and the Council is now asking hut owners for their views on this. All hut owners have been written to by the Council inviting completion of a questionnaire. Completion of the questionnaire can be effected either online at the address given in the letter, or via a QR code given in the letter, or by asking Mike Bailey, Principal Policy Officer (Engagement) at the Council for a paper copy; he can be found on 01227 862059. The deadline for completion is 5pm on Monday, 19th September2022.
We would encourage all of our members to reply to the Council, whatever your views may be, for or against sub-letting. We as a Committee will be making our own individual views known too, rather than as a bloc vote on your behalf, because of course we don’t know what your individual views are. Only one or two members in total have contacted us about this.
Secondly, it has been in the news recently that certain stores, such as Marks & Spencer, have stopped selling “disposable” barbecues, in an effort to discourage their use during this heatwave. We would urge all hut owners to resist using these while the grass surrounding our huts is tinder dry. Only a couple of weeks ago, during a beach clean, several scorch marks were seen, left by these barbecues, right by the huts! The same goes too of course for any beach fires anywhere near the huts.
Thirdly, again prompted by the beach clean (by The Friends of Tankerton Bay, a group which three of your Committee members belong to) a concern was voiced about the amount of large rubbish often left close to the beach huts (broken chairs, old barbecues, etc., etc.) Although it is rather unfair to blame hut owners as a group, the evidence often makes passers-by think of us; such evidence often including bits of torn roofing felt. Also, items that are virtually impossible to clean up, such as silver glitter and confetti, left by party groups, should never be used near the beach huts.
Some of you may be unaware that, until the end of the summer, there are two very large Council refuse bins at the top of the Slopes, by the side of the Ice Cream Parlour, which are specifically marked “Litter – For Public Use”. Do please use these bins (within reason, of course!) and take your discarded beach hut furniture home with you, or to the Council dump.
Sadly, within the past week or so, there have been four huts broken into within Gorrell Ward (the Council huts near the Harbour). Hut doors were smashed, although no property details were reported to the Police at the time. (Crime number 46/150720/22 refers; this is in the public domain. Always report vandalism to the Police, and always request a crime number to pass on to us, and to use in any claim on insurance.) We have also had damage to a hut at Tankerton West (doors were damaged in a failed attempt to gain entry). This hut lies in an area of recent graffiti attacks on four other huts, where the words “Bacon Bau” is prolific. The pictures of the damage to the Tankerton West hut doors are on our Facebook page – unfortunately, the hut owner is not a member of our Association, so the Treasurer, David Richards, asked the Foreshore Office to pass this information on.
Finally, looking to the cooler weather that will come eventually, if any member would like some advice or help with the “winterisation” or security of your hut, do let us know, and we will put you in touch with Committee member Martin Pammant, who many of you will already know from past AGMs, and the very useful advice he has given to us there.
As always, if any member needs any help or advice, or wishes to give us new input for our website, do contact either the Chairman, John Marsh, at jgmarsh1943@gmail.com, or the Secretary, Marilyn Richards, at pluminthebeachhut@talktalk.net. Enjoy the rest of the summer!
John Marsh
Chairman
The Tankerton Bay Beach Hut Owners’ Association
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Could all beach hut owners take any rubbish home with them, rather than leaving it around the beach hut sites
– or alternatively, there are two large Council bins at the top of the Slopes, to the eastern side of the Ice Cream Parlour,
which have been placed there for public use.
Many thanks!
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The Importance of numbering Beach Huts
(New Feb 2022)
During these storms, and in the winter generally, passers-by on the Promenade often report wind damage to huts, and to their roofs in particular, for us to pass on to the owners. It’s been noticed that many huts have no numbering at all on their fronts (which is also a rental agreement requirement by the Council) and so the passers-by have no idea which hut they are really reporting. We have often phoned hut owners with a damage report, only to find that the passer-by has given a wrong number by guessing from neighbouring huts (thinking in alternate numbers, as with houses) or they have merely described the hut, hoping that we can identify it!
If hut owners could put a clear number on the front the next time you visit, we would be most grateful.
Marilyn Richard
Secretary TBBHOA
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Beach Hut Success!
As you might imagine, we have had many lovely comments from TE hut owners, all of whom are cock-a-hoop about the outcome of Thursday’s Council meeting. I have sent a simple “We couldn’t believe it either! Many thanks for your support!” email to each of them. I will also send a copy of this to Neil Baker, as I’m sure he will be pleased to read it.
Here is a sample (I loved the sherry one – read on!)
Thank you so much for this information. Ted emailed to let me know the astonishing news. Honestly, we did not expect it. Thanks to those who spoke, who supported the whole way and to the councillors who saw sense and made what I consider the right decision. It’s not often I agree with councillors! Thanks to you both for clarity along the way and for always being on the end of an email with wisdom and experience. All good wishes and HURRAH!
This has made not just our weekend, but our year! Excellent result.
May I add my congratulations to you one and all. The planning refusal is one huge success. Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a summer gathering every year around the beach huts? As you know my hut TE58 was broken into last week and there has been nothing but kindness from you and committee members ever since. Brian Forbes Turner took the trouble to phone me then today Yvonne Philbrick came over to meet me. I am really so grateful for this support. Thank you all. Martin Pammant has done some splendid repairs on an old hut. I am fond of my hut as it is and will only replace it when absolutely necessary. We had some friends to tea this week who were telling me they have had their hut in the family since 1924. I wonder how many can boast that! All best wishes and thanks.
Thank you for the comprehensive precis of the meeting and outcome. Such good news. I am so grateful to all those involved in putting the beach hut owners interests to the meeting. The desired result was achieved. Good job everyone and well done.
Very good news – it would have changed the mood of the whole space . Congratulations and thanks to the Team involved . We have cracked a bottle in celebration . How can we thank you all ?
Thank you John for the good work of all the commitee. Especial thanks to Brian & Yvonne.
Thank you so much for sending this information and I would like to say a huge thank you and congratulations to all involved for their magnificent work in saving our lovely beach hut space .
Fantastic news and thanks so much for your really detailed and precise report! Phew ! I was beginning to wonder whether the Council ever listened to anyone about anything. I am much bucked by this . Might even go mad and have a dry sherry.
Thank you all so much for all the work and time you have put into this. I am so glad as a back row beach hut owner that we can continue to have a lovely open space that is used by all.
Many thanks again .
Marilyn & David
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Ryan’s Insurance Competition
Please open the link below:
TBBHOA Ryan 2021
***According to the news today, 11th August all beaches have been re-opened, and signs removed***
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Attached is a message from Matthew Young on behalf of Canterbury CC.
“Government guidance now says that, if owners can adhere to social distancing, then use of our beach huts is possible. We are all relying, as the government has said, on people using common sense, thinking of others and staying alert.
Here is a link to the government pages….
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do
With regard to the local toilets, some of these are presently closed (to limit the spread of the virus and not having capacity to maintain cleanliness) but we believe that these are due to open – something the Foreshore Office has raised with the relevant group overseeing the recovery of services. This is the same with the public standpipes and showers. The Council will be placing notices on them shortly.
On another matter, the Council contractor will be on site to remove the asphalt path between the second and third row of beach huts at Tankerton West on Tuesday 19th May, until the end of that week. This is because the pathway has become unsafe. The area will be grassed over later. The contractor will access the site via the gate in front of the Hotel Continental, and will use a small excavator and a dumper. They will house a skip at the bottom of the Slopes on the seawall, within temporary fencing, and will keep their plant down there at the end of each day.”
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Here is a Message from Tracy Healey at Ryan’s Insurance:
We hope that you and your Beach Hut Association members are keeping safe and well during these very difficult times, we just wanted to let you know that all of our staff are able to work from home so we can continue to provide the same service you and your members expect from Ryan’s.
Although your AGM’s may have been postponed and therefore Ryan’s have been unable to support you with our presence or the supply of ‘goody bags’ for your members we want you to know that we haven’t forgotten about you.
I’m sure you are looking forward to being able to enjoy time at your beach huts again and to being involved with your member community. Our staff are certainly looking forward to using the Ryan’s Beach Hut again at Felixstowe with their families, let’s hope it’s not in the too distant future.
In the meantime we need to keep everyone safe but our beach hut team have been thinking ahead for returning to our huts after lockdown so here are some ideas you might find useful (this link is available on their website ryans.co.uk), feel free to share with your members along with the attached infosheet about our Beach Hut Association donation scheme.
Take care and stay safe!
Tracy
Tracy Healey ACIM
Marketing Manager
t: 01473 343301
m: 07771 620224
w: ryans.co.uk
Crane Hall, London Road, Ipswich, IP2 0AL
** Please note we are unable to accept cheques for payment at this current time.**
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****NEW DEFIBRILLATOR******
A letter of thanks has been received from Margaret
Greenway representing Tankerton Bay Sailing Club,
thanking TBBHOA for our generous donation to this
unit.
A photo of the unit:
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****POTENTIAL HAZARD****
There is an increasing habit of some hut owners leaving their BBQ outside their huts.
These can easily be used on the decks of their own, or other beach huts by vandals.
It is unsafe, unwise, and asking for trouble!
An incident of arson waiting to happen!!
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A Facebook group has been set up as a closed group for all members. It can be entered as Tankerton Bay Beach Hut Owners Association.
If you are a current member you will be permitted to join. This is a speedy way to communicate with fellow members at no cost.
To date, it has received many positive comments from members.
This site has been very popular, please apply to join.
YOU MUST BE A CURRENT MEMBER, OR FAMILY MEMBER OF THE TBBHOA
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Whats on in Whitstable/ Tankerton
I have searched for websites links (Hyperlinks) that can be used, and linked into for their content, they vary in content and quality:
To enter the link click on the blue highlighted area, below each heading.
Canterbury Times:
http://www.canterburytimes.co.uk/s-weekend-Faversham-Whitstable-Herne-Bay/story-19639610-detail/story.html
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Canterbury City Council:
http://www.canterbury.co.uk/events/
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Where Can We Go:
http://www.wherecanwego.com/whats-on/whats-on-in-whitstable/events.aspx
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What’s on in Whitstable (FACEBOOK)
http://www.whatsonwhitstable.com/
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Visit Kent
http://www.visitkent.co.uk/destinations/canterbury-herne-bay-and-whitstable/6466
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Trip Advisor:
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g503922-Activities-Whitstable_Kent_England.html
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Whitstable Oyster Festival
http://www.whitstableoysterfestival.co.uk/
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Best of Whitstable:
https://www.thebestof.co.uk/local/whitstable/events
Places to Stay in Whitstable:
http://www.placestostayinwhitstable.co.uk/things_to_do.html
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I hope they are of benefit to TBBHOA Members!
