Whitstable Society Response to the Draft Canterbury District Local Plan to 2045

Further to the previous post here is the Whitstable Society Response to the Draft Canterbury District Local Plan to 2045, submitted on the 16th January 2023.

The-Whitstable-Society-Response-to-the-CCC-Draft-Local-Plan-to-2045_final

I’m sure that you’ll appreciate the great efforts of our committee/subcommittee to compile this final, comprehensive version despite CCC’s rather late public consultations and the Christmas/New Year period. And we thank those members who’ve been in touch.

Hopefully the CCC team will respond positively to the comments and recommendations made.

Canterbury District Local Plan – invitation to comment

Following our combined Open and Zoom meeting on 16th November, we have formed a knowledgeable sub-committee to gather evidence and formulate a robust response to the Whitstable aspects of CCC’s draft Local Plan proposals. Submissions are due by 16th January. 

You may also comment directly via :

 https://news.canterbury.gov.uk/consultations/canterbury-district-local-plan-to-2045/

Invitation to become a Member of the Whitstable Improvement Trust

Since 1989 the WIT has helped finance initiatives which provide some benefit to our town and the local community. In so doing we have adhered to the Trust’s founding aims:

  • To secure the preservation, protection, development and improvement of buildings, land or features of particular beauty or historical interest.
  • To promote public awareness, particularly that of young people, regarding their local environment and the town’s heritage.
  • To help support other local charitable causes.

As a member you will be encouraged to suggest ways in which the WIT can continue to bring improvements to the town and its community. You will also be in a position to promote the benefits the WIT can offer to local groups and organisations needing assistance to achieve their own individual aims. Our members care about Whitstable and find the support they can offer most rewarding.

We strive to have a strong membership comprising a cross section of the community. Our Board of Trustees is held accountable to the members and are selected by vote for a 12-month term at an annual general meeting each Autumn. Any member can put themselves forward for election.

Communication between the members and the Board of Trustees is primarily by email, this includes, confirmation of membership, the sharing of information, distribution of newsletters and invitations to events. 

Should you wish to join us please complete the attached application form and send it to us as directed on the form. With effect from 1st January 2023 annual membership of the WIT is free.

More details about the WIT, including some of the past and more recent projects can be found on our website  https://www.whitstableimprovementtrust.org.uk/

Long Rock Consultation

As you may have seen in the press, the Canterbury City Council Long Rock consultation is continuing with two public events where you can discuss the proposals with them.

  1. Public meeting: Thursday 26 May, 5.30pm to 7.30pm, Swalecliffe and Chestfield Community Centre
  2. On-site session at Long Rock: Sunday 29 May, 10am to 2pm

Find out more about what’s proposed and comment on their website: https://news.canterbury.gov.uk/consultation-item?id=1&r=58

Public Space Protection Order for Whitstable and Herne Bay coastal zone

As you may be aware, Canterbury City Council has announced a public consultation on their proposed Public Space Protection Order for Whitstable and Herne Bay coastal zone. Their emailed message is:
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Public consultation on a new draft coastal zone Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) for Herne Bay and Whitstable is underway.
PSPOs were introduced to tackle nuisance behaviour that affects the quality of life for other people.
Including an activity in a PSPO effectively bans people from that activity in the area it covers.
Among the proposed measures set out in the draft coastal zone PSPO are:
* lighting or fuelling any open fire
* using, lighting or discarding any disposable barbecue
* being in possession of any glass bottle on any beach (except where the bottle is being carried in transit)
* harming or attempting to harm any wildlife
On the council website at https://news.canterbury.gov.uk/consultation-item?id=1&r=54
you can view the proposed PSPO, see a map of the area it covers and give us your views on the plans.


Comments must be submitted by Sunday 8 May.

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Membership renewal and AGM 2022

Membership renewal is now due for 2022.
The cost remains at £8 for single and £12 for joint membership.

The renewal Form can be found here on the website.

We ask that members pay by bank transfer or (preferably) by standing order where possible as, in common with others, our bank has introduced significant charges for cheque or cash deposits.

The latest Newsletter, recently sent to members also contains details of our AGM on Wednesday 23 March commencing at 7pm which will include a presentation and members discussion about the Future Options for the Society.

As last year, this meeting will be held online via Zoom and we hope that many of you will be able to join us then.

Whitstable Society Zoom Meeting – 27th January 2021

The committee wish all members a safe and happy New Year.

With the continuing Covid restrictions we’ll be unable to resume Open Meetings, including our AGM, at the Castle for the foreseeable future.

You may recall from our Autumn Newsletter our intention to trial a members’ on-line Zoom meeting on Wed 20th January. Unfortunately we find that this would clash with another local important event so have rescheduled ours to Wed 27th January, with log-in from 7.00pm for a 7.15pm start.  

We will email a Zoom meeting link and joining instructions nearer the time. (You do not need to preload the Zoom application).

The main aim is Zoom set-up and familiarisation for interested members well in advance of our (required) AGM which we’ll be holding a little later this year on 24th March via Zoom. 

We’ve been unable to engage a speaker for the 20th January but the committee will give updates for discussion on some current activities including:

  • Glebe Way railway crossing inquiry status.
  • Whitstable to Iwade section of the national Coastal Path.
  • The new Whitstable Town Forum.
  • AGM topics, including a brief overview of reasons to change the WS to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.

It will be helpful if those interested in joining this initial Zoom meeting will advise same by return email so we can determine roughly how many participants to expect.

Please note also that WS Membership annual renewal subscriptions will become due on 1st March 2021.

Richard Amos, Secretary and Membership Secretary, The Whitstable Society

March 2020 Update

The Trustees are taking the spread of Coronavirus in the UK extremely seriously and our number one priority remains the safety and wellbeing of all our members. Considering the current Government guidance to minimise the spread of the virus, we have taken the decision to stop meetings and the walks temporarily. We are closely monitoring the situation and plan to start up again as soon as we can.

We thank you for your continued support and look forward to being able to get back on track again as soon as possible. Please feel free to keep in touch via email and we look forward to the time when we’ll be able to get together again. 

In the meantime, we wish to share a message from the Gorrell Ward Councillor Chris Cornell about what Coronavirus measures are in place in Whitstable which may be useful:

“As you will no doubt be aware national guidance about COVID-19 is changing on a daily basis. The council will be publishing a statement in the next couple of days but in the meantime, as a local councillor, I’ve been in touch with a number of residents and voluntary groups worried about what happens to people in need of food. This is a summary of what I have found and think you should be aware of in Whitstable.

  1. Isolated and vulnerable individuals you are aware of who may need help should be directed to Red Zebra (01227 263 313 or admin@redzebra.org.uk ) who are redeploying their Social Prescribing Service to carry out welfare calls amongst the 850 people they already have registered as with limited transport in the area and anyone else that we identify. Red Zebra will have access to a stock of food parcels from Canterbury Foodbank which their DBS Checked staff can deliver.
  2. Individuals wishing to volunteer to support the effort should also contact Red Zebra. They are immediately in need of people to help with the welfare calls (freeing-up DBS checked staff to do delivery) and may deploy them in picking up stock from the Foodbank and other tasks as necessary. I am in touch with the leads of many of the local COVID-19 Community response Facebook Accounts and will be encouraging them to encourage people to volunteer here first, rather than necessarily visiting vulnerable people in their homes without proper safeguarding support.
  3. Individuals in need of food and not self-isolating should be encouraged to contact Clare at Canterbury Foodbankwho will signpost them to where they can pick a parcel up. You can email Clare at signposting@canterburyfoodbank.org. Upon speaking to Clare, food can be collected from the Umbrella Centre or on arrangement from their central warehouse.
  4. People wishing to donate food or hygiene products for those people in need should continue to fill the yellow bins in town. These are still being collected and the contents distributed.
  5. People wishing to donate money can do so in person at a number of the ‘pay it forward’ schemes at the Umbrella Café, Revival @ the Horsebridge, Café Eighty Nine in Tankerton High Street at the café at Riverside Church on the Thanet Way. These schemes are already well utilised by people on low incomes who may be most affected, and some will be looking to continue to offer take-away services even if their main business has to close.

We have no idea of how the demand in Whitstable may grow over the next couple of weeks but please feel free to contact me if there is anything I can do. I will continue to share information I receive and co-ordinate where it is useful. I’ll be posting to local Facebook groups making this information accessible; any way you can share the information locally would be great.”

Councillor Chris Cornell Chris.cornell@councillor.canterbury.gov.uk