The Whitstable Society is a member of the Kent Federation of Amenity Societies (KFAS) and all members have been invited to their AGM and a tour of Rochester organised by the Rochester Society. In the words of KFAS Chairman John Walker:
…the KFAS AGM and Woolford Lecture on Saturday 18th May at The Visitor Information Center, 95 High Street, Rochester, ME1 1LX. starting at 10am.
There is a good choice of excellent restaurants and pubs in the High Street for lunch after the meeting.

The Woolford Lecture will be delivered by Griff Rhys Jones, the well known actor, writer and TV Presenter who is also President of Civic Voice, the national organisation for Civic Societies in England.

Griff is starting a four day tour of Kent on Wednesday 15th May to promote the activities of Civic Societies in the county in his role as President of Civic Voice.

The tour will culminate at the KFAS AGM where Griff will deliver the 3rd Annual Woolford Lecture. As everyone will know from his TV programmes Griff is passionate about the built environment and about the role civic societies can play in protecting and enhancing our villages, towns and cities. His talks are always interesting, informative and entertaining so this is a great opportunity to meet Griff in person and discus matters of common interest.

The AGM is of course free of charge but we would ask for a small donation to cover the costs of the room hire for the Woolford Lecture

We very much hope you will support this meeting by attending on behalf of your civic society and would be grateful if you could confirm your attendance by telephoning our Hon. Secretary Crispin Davis on 01303 237831 or by email at crispinandsue.davies@talktalk.net

The reports from the 2013 AGM are now available on this website on the ‘News’ page.

Click the ‘News’ tab near the top of this page to get to the News page and the reports are listed on the left.

Chairman’s report

Last year I had planned to stand down as Chair, but then agreed to stay on with Angela Boddy as co chair and who will be chairing this year’s AGM this year in my absence. We have seen a lot of new faces on our committee who have brought new and innovative ideas to the society and I would like to thank them all for their support over this last year. I would especially like to thank our longstanding newsletter distributors who have over the years braved all weathers to deliver our newsletters. Thank you also to Rita Collett and the walking group who have provided the Society walks for many years and Ann who has provided refreshments. Mark Davies, our Honorary Secretary will be standing down this year due to other commitments, but he will remain to help us with our new website. I also shall be standing down as Chair, but hope to remain on the committee in my previous role for Public Rights of Way.

During this past year we have addressed many issues, some new and some ongoing. Looking back at last year’s report I am sorry to say that the Crab and Winkle bridges did not materialise due to lack of funding. The planning approval came too late for the funding to be approved. The planning permission for development of Tankerton Car Park was eventually granted by Canterbury City Council. Planning permission was also granted for a cycle path along Tankerton promenade. The Whitstable Society supported a seasonal route along the top of the slopes during Summer months, avoiding excessive traffic in front of the beach huts, but unfortunately this was not granted. Once the route is open we plan to monitor the usage during Summer months and to seek the opinions of those who use the route, promenaders, beach hut owners and cyclists.

We have also been supportive of the Thanet Way Residents Association in their bid to oppose the development on the Paddocks, on the corner of Millstrood Road and the Old Thanet Way. Which is proposing, in our opinion dangerous exits on to the Thanet Way close to the Tesco roundabout.

We are still working to maintain the integrity of Tankerton Slopes, especially to prevent encroachment of the protected open spaces by beach huts. Graham Cox, chair of the planning committee has also been representing us on CCC’s Beach Hut advisory committee.

As well as objecting to some planning applications, we also support many but may make some recommendations for improvement.

An exciting project this year has been the creation of a Whitstable digital map, which will provide information on many aspects of Whitstable from its history, geography and many local amenities eg. Public transport routes, accommodation, footpaths and open spaces, recreational facilities etc. This is progressing well, but is a long term project which will become available in stages. Users will be able to see these maps online or print hard copies.

In addition, this coming year Canterbury City Council will be publishing the new draft local plan, to which we will responding with the intent of retaining the integrity of Whitstable whilst recognising the need for future development.

Kath Gill

Many of our members will remember how Ann Wilkes tirelessly campaigned to make our beach a public space for all local residents and visitors to enjoy. She and Peter Steel, as members of Whitstable Society Public Rights of Way committee, successfully claimed Village Green status for some sections of the beach, but not for all of it.

The Whitstable Beach Campaign, headed by Nick Dewhirst, continued with Ann’s lifelong dream to claim a public footpath along the beach and in 2004 an application was made to Kent County Council for a 5 mile long public footpath starting at Reeves Beach and ending by the Sportsman Public House. Historic maps show a footpath along this stretch.

Now 9 years later, in 2013, KCC are considering the application with a view to making an order to create this path as a public right of way. Most important to the claim are witness statements from people who have regularly walked along the beach. Statements are needed from people who walked along any stretch of the beach, not necessarily the whole of the 5 mile stretch and the beach campaign are asking for people to come forward as witnesses. If you feel that you can help and have walked along the beach at any time over the last 60 plus years please contact Nick Dewhirst at dewhirst@btinternet.com

Treasurers Report for 2012

Again the expenditure exceeds the income, which has been the pattern in recent years. This can be attributed to the decline in membership and therefore a decline in subscriptions, which are the Whitstable Society’s main source of income. Membership in 2007 was 354, 2012 was 190. At the same time expenditure has continued to increase. We have looked at ways to reduce costs, one being the newsletter, which is now printed locally cutting the printing costs by half. This saving will reflect fully in 2013. The posting of the newsletters has also been greatly reduced, saving on postage, so thank you to the team of distributors who deliver them around the Whitstable area.Eve advised that membership fees had not risen since at least 2004 and have now been revised to £12/couple and £8/single membership, in order to bring costs more into line.We need to keep the membership numbers up. We are open to suggestions as to what you as members would like to get out of the society, how to raise funds and what would encourage new members. Suggestions included WS greetings cards, lottery grants for specifics such as the map project, standing order membership, walks and asking for donations rather than a set fee.If you have already renewed your membership for 2013/14 thank you for your support. If you have not yet done so, please do so as soon as possible and also encourage family and friends to join. The accounts for 2012 have been checked by an accountant and these together with the financial statement are available to view on request, so please contact us accordingly if you wish to do so.

General Financial Position(to be read in conjunction with the financial statement)

The society has had what for the last few years has been a ‘normal year’ with the exception of additionally having a special event costing around £500 to celebrate its 50 years of existence. (with £250 carried over into this years expenditure for the previous years Christmas bash we have ended the year with assets around £750 less than a year ago).
To maintain a balanced budget for next year the committee may wish to look at an upward revision of annual subscriptions and/or achieve an increased membership.
Many of our costs are rising e.g. printing of the newsletter and savings may be achievable if more members were to accept their newsletter by e-mail rather than a hard copy through their letterbox(perhaps subject for future discussion). Room hire remains constant at £30 per meeting at the Castle and seems well recived as a venue.

Affiliation Fees
The society by way of maintaining its role as a ‘civic’ or ‘amenity’ group both within the Town and more broadly this year subscribed to the following organisations:-
Civic Voice £286 (includes insurance that would otherwise
cost the society).
KFAS £10
Open Spaces Society £40
Whitstable Improvement Trust £25
Whitstable Castle Trust £15

The Future
The Society remains as always as strong as the membership it enjoys. Changes and departures (most notably the elevation of 2 committee members to the role of Canterbury City Councillors) have left a somewhat depleted committee. What the Society is involved in and provides for members (and by default its expenditure) is limited by the ideas and skills of its membership as I am sure your outgoing chair will duplicate in her report. I , due to other commitments, would like to find a replacement treasurer; I did after all take on the role in a temporary capacity about ayear ago. Any takers?
The only threat to the Society is not being able to maintain its membership and thus income over the next period. Any projects beyond running costs would need to be from reserves and not taken lightly unless alternative funding could be achieved.

Henry Lewis Treasurer.

Next meeting: Wednesday 21st November 7.15pm at the Castle
Our speaker is Gary Johnson, Chairman of Whitstable Football Club. This should be an interesting evening and is open to members and guests. Children and grandchildren are welcome.

Christmas Party: Wednesday 12th December:
This year’s Christmas Party is on Wednesday 12th December. The venue is to be at Whitstable Castle, which is so suitable for the Christmas atmosphere. Food and games are provided and this year the Castle is providing a bar to supply beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks. We do have to remind you that if you bring your own alcoholic drinks there will be a corkage charge of £2.50 per bottle. Please join us for what promises to be a pleasant and enjoyable social evening at the Castle

October meeting – Wednesday 17th October
We were pleased to welcome Graham West and his parents Derek and Jean of West Whelks. Graham has been running the company since 1994 when he took over from his parents and grandparents before that. They have fished for both whelks and oysters depending upon availability.
Oysters have been an important food source since prehistory, and during the Roman occupation, British oysters were exported in large quantities back to Italy. They provide iron and protein, together with essential minerals such as zinc and B vitamins. Whitstable Natives are not to be confused with farmed oysters, which are a combination of Pacific and Portuguese oysters, and are ready for harvesting after 3 years as opposed to 5 years for the Native oysters. Native Oysters are not farmed and the supply varies from time to time Oysters migrate and cannot be relied on. There was a time when 150 oyster smacks sailed out of Whitstable. Nowadays, only 12 fishing boats operate from our harbour.
Native oysters are gregarious animals, and start their lives as males. They mature sexually as males between 8 and 10 months old. From then on, oysters will change sex regularly, depending on the water temperature. If the temperature reaches 16°C, they become females every 3 or 4 years. If the temperature reaches 20°C, they will change to females each year. They only revert to being males during the cooler intervening periods. Oysters may live for as long as 15 years but the usual lifespan is thought to be around 6 years Eggs are stored and fertilized in the gill cavity of the female and remain there for a week before becoming free-swimming larvae and being released. The sperm is passed through the gills as part of the normal feeding process. The oyster larvae join the plankton in the open sea until, after 10 or 20 days, they find a surface to attach themselves. Adult oysters feed by filtration, sieving out the plankton using their gills.
Oysters aren’t “caught” so much as simply collected. They’re found on inter-tidal beaches, usually in groups, attached to one another or a solid object like a rock or shell.
Local Fishermen are finding it harder and harder to survive as there are so many problems. In competition with the Native Oyster is the Portuguese Oyster which is neither native nor commercially viable. They are expanding rapidly and need to be controlled. One oyster can produce 12 million young. As with other fish there are EU quotas for oysters and regulations governing size. Foreign boats raid the oyster beds, damaging them in the process. Oysters may only be taken from approved waters and are then purified under Ultraviolet light before being sold.
Most fishermen now fish for whelks rather than oysters as there is a larger market. West Whelks now operate as retailers, as wholesaling has become too risky.
Derek and Jean had brought along to the meetings to show us samples of various types of oysters including some of the pearls that they had harvested and also a wonderful collection of photos, pictures and memories of their business and the historic oyster fleet.

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Fields in Trust at Tankerton
On the 12th October, in between heavy showers on a cold blustery day, the official ceremony was held to unveil a plaque to commemorate the official opening of the Tankerton Coastal Park
The plaque which was donated by the SITA Trust was unveiled by the beacon on the slopes, by the Lord Lieutenant of Kent, Viscount De L’isle and the Lord Mayor of Canterbury, Robert Waters and attended by local councillors and representatives of interested organisations. Kath and Angela represented the Whitstable Society, who had promoted the choice of Tankerton Slopes to Canterbury Council as a suitable site of consideration as a Jubilee Field in Trust. This was followed by a reception at Whitstable Castle. The plaque will be set in stone at a later date and a second plaque will positioned at the eastern end of the park. The Future development of the Coastal Park will now be decided by Local Groups and the public working together with Canterbury City Council and The Whitstable Improvement Trust.

Membership Renewal fees
With the present financial climate, we are, along with everyone else, experiencing a considerable increase in our costs. There has been no increase since 2004 and now due to rising costs and inflation our income is less than our expenditure. Members will be offered a choice of payment methods. Consequently the committee is proposing to increase the membership fees for 2013, subject to approval by members.
1. £8 single and £12 joint: Cash or Cheque annually:
2. £8 single and £12 joint: Standing order annually:
3. £45 single and £65 joint: Five year single payment at a slightly higher rate to allow for future inflation.
The committee would appreciate suggestions for future fund raising events to raise money to help fund future projects such as the Whitstable Map and new WS information leaflets.

Whitstable Society Leaflet
This coming year 2013 we plan to have a membership drive, the last one was five years ago, and we feel that there is a need to redesign and update our current leaflet. In order to do this and achieve the best possible and professional result, we are asking members for support with both content and design. A copy of the existing leaflet can be seen on the website. All suggestions will be welcome. www.whitstablesociety.info

Planning Matters

Mapping Project
Progress on this project in its research stage is being made. A delegation, including Roger Livingstone from the Historical Society, went to meet map-makers at Kent County Council and contact has been established with Christchurch University at several levels. We have two confirmed student volunteers who study geography information systems as part of their geography degree and use mapping software. Advice from their mapping technician has been received. We hope to meet mapping people at CCC. The objectives of the project have been validated by these various expert contacts. Much more will have to be researched and careful thought given to how to run the project in later stages. A meeting of all interested parties is likely to be held to map out a plan. The initial conclusion is that volunteers will assemble data from various sources with more expert volunteers engaged in later stages.
It is likely to be both workable and very low cost. The actual mapping software that organises the data for the maps however comes from only 2 suppliers (a duopoly) and is expensive. Joint ventures may be necessary for this and other reasons.

Beach Huts
The campaign to get the new huts being built on Tankerton Slopes rented is effectively lost by a CCC decision not to rent; but in practice the council is considering allowing all hut owners to rent; for an extra fee. This may achieve access for all at a reasonable prices, but may not since the Council’s irresponsible decision to permit effective sales of public hut sites (a long-standing matter of concern) at high prices mean that many hut owners are investors and will look for high rental income. We will see.
In the meantime, there is the matter of the 2 extension huts that the Council applied to itself to build despite promising not to. We have made an official complaint and once that has gone 1 or 2 rounds without satisfaction it will be sent to the Local Ombudsman, for in our view there are a variety of mal-administration aspects. The last time this happened, at the western end by the triangle of paths, the Council gave in; but this is less likely this time round. CCC has however agreed to our request to build these 2 huts last so there is nearly 2 years to sort this out. The 11 huts we do not object to, as they are genuine infill in the back rank, will have shrub planting behind to replace the privet there now.

5, High St. Next to Bear and Key
This is a large scheme for flats and houses and we are proposing to object on the basis that there is not even parking for one vehicle per unit. The last government changed the rules in 2001 so councils must grant permission for development in the centre of towns with few or even no parking spaces to encourage bus use. The current government has scrapped that rule and the new National Policy Planning Framework gives planners flexibility to set local policy. Para 23 specifically lays down a duty to protect thriving town centres. The current site provides considerable parking. The consequences of the old rule has been more pressure on public car parks and the street, to the detriment of existing local peoples. It has been damaging to the economy as customers from the suburbs of the town have to go more to out of town shopping places because of the worsened parking situation in the town; even for short visits. Our car parks and streets are now full at most times of the year. The damage of under-provisioning for car parking cannot be reversed but it can be stopped from getting worse.

Peter Cushing – Wetherspoons
A planning application from Wetherspoons to have a Beer Garden at the rear of their premises was turned down on the grounds that:

1. By virtue of its size, location and the lack of supervision from the main public house premises at 16 – 18 Oxford Street the use of the beer garden hereby proposed would be likely to cause an unacceptable level of noise and general disturbance to the surrounding area that due to its proximity and relationship to the surrounding dwellings and business premises in Oxford Street, Nelson Road and Shaftesbury Road would result in an unacceptable degree of noise and disturbance to the detriment of the amenities enjoyed by the occupiers of those properties. The proposal is therefore contrary to Policies BE1 and TC10 of the Canterbury District Local Plan.

2. The application fails to demonstrate that adequate provision can be made for deliveries to the public house and can be provided across land within the applicants ownership and control. The application proposes to route all future deliveries through adjoining car parks which are outside of the application site and not within the applicants control. As a result, the proposed routing of deliveries through adjoining car parks would be likely to restrict and prevent access to, and from, these adjoining car parks to the inconvenience and detriment of users therefore, the development is contrary to Policy BE1 of the Local Plan and BE1 of the South East Plan.

3. The application proposes the re-routing of an existing right of way that runs across the rear of the site. However, the proposed alternative route proposed would be impractical and inconvenient to users and that due to proposed route crossing private land cannot be permanently secured. The route proposed would therefore not accord with BE1 and C1 of the Local Plan.

A Town Council for Whitstable?
“Do we want a town Whitstable Town Council?” To quote Councillor Alex Perkins, leader of the Lib. Dems on CCC. “It is all about Whitstable having its own say in what happens in the town and now we want to know whether Whitstable people want this” Consequently CCC have set up an e petition to gauge the level of interest amongst Whitstable people. If lots of people want it, there will be a public meeting to press the council to provide one

Whitstable Calendar 2013
The Whitstable Improvement Trust have produced an attractive calendar with some stunning photographs of our coast and harbour. They are now on sale at the WIT shop in Harbour Street.
An Ideal gift for family and friends- both locally and overland and A4, spiral bound, with writing-friendly matt paper, the calendar contains 12 unique full colour photographs of Whitstable. Both the Photographer and printer are local. All proceeds to support the WIT’s improvement projects and the visitor information service provided by volunteers in The Whitstable Shop in Harbour Street. £6 (£5 to WIT members) including a free envelope in which it is sold.
Please support the work of the Whitstable Improvement Trust and give a high quality, limited edition calendar this Christmas.”

Whitstable Society Walks
December no walk

Sunday 9th December 12.00 noon. Meet at The Monument P.H. Whitstable for a Christmas meal. Book early as this was very popular last year. Enquiries: Ann T. Tel: 277671