We don't want beach huts, say campaigners (From Echo)
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We don't want beach huts in Shoebury, say campaigners
8:00am Friday 14th December 2012 in Local News
The proposed beach huts
CAMPAIGNERS have renewed their bid to stop new beach huts being built.
Anne Chalk, an Independent councillor for Shoebury, is spearheading the attempt to block Southend Council’s plans to build up to 16 new huts on Shoebury’s East Beach.
The council claims the facilities are “hugely sought after” among residents and visitors to the town.
But Mrs Chalk said there was no room on the beach to accommodate them and argued neighbours had not been adequately consulted.
She said: “This has just been pushed through, regardless of people’s opinions.
“We must protect the beach for the general community.
“There has been no effort to really find out what the people who live here think about this - it’s just been shoved through.”
The Echo revealed council chiefs were drawing up plans for the new huts earlier this year.
Ms Chalk campaigned at the time to torpedo the plans, but bosses announced last week they had chosen architectural firm Pedder and Scampton to design the facilities.
The authority hopes they will be finished by spring next year. Each hut will have two folding glazed doors, a solid panel for changing behind and two coloured “over panels” to be bolted shut when the huts are not being used.
The huts will be leased to buyers, with the council retaining the freehold.
No prices have yet been announced, although bosses speculated earlier this year they could cost about £25,000 each.
Andrew Moring, the Tory councillor responsible for support services, insisted there had been a public demand for the new huts.
He added: “Beach huts are a very well-loved traditional feature of Southend, and are a wonderful seaside facility.
“There are currently 500 in the borough and we are delighted to be able to introduce these new ones which will blend in beautifully with our existing range.
“They are to be built on a site where beach huts formerly stood, but from where they were removed some years ago.
“They are such hugely sought-after leisure features that we feel sure these new beach huts will prove extremely popular.”
Comments(15)
echoforum
says...
8:51am Fri 14 Dec 12
Nebs wrote:Sorry!
They will have great views of the airport that will be built in the estuary.
They won't be there long enough.
Vandalism is already a big problem with beach huts and this plan to site them in probably the worst place conceivable will lead to a lot of sleepless nights for those with £25k to blow on a wooden shed.
The night timer nutters will relish the chance to trash these huts out of sight and away from the public gaze....insanity!!!!
openspace
says...
9:01am Fri 14 Dec 12
echoforum wrote:I too have mixed feelings about these huts but do not have strong views either way. However, I would question the use of the word "neighbours" in the report about the protest. What "neighbours" would these be exactly, I thought the huts would be a long way from any local residents !!!!.
Nebs wrote:Sorry!
They will have great views of the airport that will be built in the estuary.
They won't be there long enough.
Vandalism is already a big problem with beach huts and this plan to site them in probably the worst place conceivable will lead to a lot of sleepless nights for those with £25k to blow on a wooden shed.
The night timer nutters will relish the chance to trash these huts out of sight and away from the public gaze....insanity!!!!
Russ13
says...
9:45am Fri 14 Dec 12
This is yet another example of locals with nothing better to do with their time than start a campaign against something that won't affect them in the slightest!
BD
says...
11:51am Fri 14 Dec 12
The negihbours won't even see them, and how they can complain about planning when one of them built a lift up the side of their property despite planning being refused I really dont know.
However they won't last long, the tops of hte huts will be just in range for the local 'yoof' to practice jumping on, so not long before someone falls through the roof or just sets fire to them as they do in thorpe bay...
Nice idea just not gonig to last long.
Shoebury_Cyclist
says...
11:56am Fri 14 Dec 12
http://www.francisfr
ith.com/shoeburyness
/photos/east-beach-c
1960_s275069/
Seasider90
says...
1:02pm Fri 14 Dec 12
Cockle
says...
1:28pm Fri 14 Dec 12
Shoebury_Cyclist wrote:Yes, remember them well from back in my childhood.
I don't see a problem, there used to be beach huts in this location in the 60s:
http://www.francisfr
ith.com/shoeburyness
/photos/east-beach-c
1960_s275069/
IIRC quite a few were vandalised, even back then, fell into disrepair and, I think, were eventually either washed away in a violent storm or were so damaged that the Foreshore Department had to remove them.
Not quite sure how SBC are going to divert the forces of Nature from doing the same again, perhaps they know a trick that good old King Cnut didn't.
Eric Whim
says...
1:33pm Fri 14 Dec 12
We don't want beach huts in Shoebury, say campaigners
don't buy one in Shoebury then.
Max Impact
says...
3:29pm Fri 14 Dec 12
Shoebury_Cyclist wrote:STOP PRESS:
I don't see a problem, there used to be beach huts in this location in the 60s:
http://www.francisfr
ith.com/shoeburyness
/photos/east-beach-c
1960_s275069/
Southend-on-Sea was in a state of utter shock this afternoon after Shoebury_Cyclist & his arch rival set aside their diffrences and actually agreed that beach huts planned for Shoebury were a good thing, this went against many many years of the two bickering and fighting each other on the Echo Comments page over virtually every story published on the website.
Readers can be reassured normal services will return in probabky the very next story, probably about SUFC stadium and not wanting to pay £6m for the right to build!
Shoebury Man
says...
7:30pm Fri 14 Dec 12
Max Impact
says...
7:52pm Fri 14 Dec 12
siddymint
says...
8:10pm Fri 14 Dec 12
If anyone did, would they still want a beach hut there?
Nebs
says...
11:14am Sat 15 Dec 12
Carnabackable
says...
1:46pm Sat 15 Dec 12
Nebs wrote:I think they have done that already on Canvey Island, it's known as Thorney Bay...
Couldn't they be built a bit more sturdy, insulated and connected to the mains, and then just leased out for 8 months of the year. Then during the winter they could be used by the homeless as a shelter from the cold.
Nebs says...
8:22am Fri 14 Dec 12