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<<First Name>>, as we head towards the seasonal holiday period, on behalf of the SCG Committee, I would like to wish all our members an enjoyable Christmas & New Year with their families.
This message is a round-up of current SB issues and looks ahead to what we can expect in 2021.
Quick read
SB beachfront cafe & three kiosks have a new owner
Police/ BCP give encouraging assurances about funding & resources to support seasonal readiness 2022
Plans to demolish the Haven Hotel and replace it with blocks of flats are likely to be decided in Feb/March 2022
Latest Haven plans conclude a huge seawall defence - higher than the Great Wall of China - is needed to prevent flooding
SCG paid-up membership reaches 620+
SCG submit ambitious vision for SB infrastructure & public realm as part of BCP 'Seafront Strategy' review
Save the Date: SCG AGM 4pm 08 July 2022 at RMYC followed by drinks reception - all Covid permitting
More detail
SB beachfront cafe & kiosks sold
Rockwater, the group behind the successful Rockwater Hove seafront bar & restaurant, has acquired the leases to the SB beachfront cafe & three kiosks on the SB beachfront, together with the Branksome Cafe, from local catering outfit Banquets for £2.5m.
We understand that Richard Carr also bid for the leases but was unsuccessful.
Rockwater CEO, Luke Davis, has produced an executive summary of his plans that can be found via THIS LINK.
Their plan is to negotiate with BCP to extend the leases - some of them have only a few years left to run - in exchange for substantial investment totalling £8.7m (including the lease acquisition costs of £2.5m) to renovate and upgrade the properties.
Rockwater will need planning permission to redevelop the sites and have been keen to engage with SCG. Matt & I have already spoken to Luke about their plans. There is a long way to go. But initial indications are that this could bring a welcome breath of fresh air to the SB beachfront food & refreshment options.
Rockwater will also need to engage with BCP on the redevelopment of the Pavilion. We hope this will allow a more imaginative design solution, freed of some of the restrictions imposed by the kiosk leases.
Seasonal readiness 2022
We recently wrote a letter to senior officers at BCP, the Police and Poole Harbour Commissioners seeking their support for appropriate funding and resources for seasonal readiness 2022. A copy of our letter can be found via THIS LINK.
Our concern was that the authorities may crimp funding needed to cope with a busy 2022 season under pressure from other priorities.
We do not want a rerun of summer 2020. The authorities lost control and that culminated in the declaration of a Major Incident.
The seasonal readiness put in place for 2021 worked reasonably well. We wanted to ensure similar or better levels of resources & funding would be available for 2022.
The response has been encouraging. Both the police and BCP recognise the importance of a coordinated plan across all emergency services and BCP. They also recognise busy seasonal times for SB & the whole seafront are likely to be here to stay. If we are to make visitors feel welcome and keep visitors and the community safe, there must be adequate funding to support those plans.
A copy of the response to our letter from the office of David Sidwick, The Police & Crime Commissioner, can be accessed via THIS LINK.
Haven Hotel
It now looks likely that the application to demolish the Haven Hotel and replace it with blocks of flats will come before the BCP Planning Committee for a decision in Feb/March 2022, almost five years after it was first submitted by John Butterworth/Richard Carr.
We have formally requested the planning committee to organise a large venue to accommodate the significant public interest in the outcome of this application. However, concerns are growing that BCP will try to use a small venue to limit the number of members of the public who can attend the hearing. Watch this space.
We hope we will be able to call on members to attend the hearing once we know the date. It's important that elected Councillors, who decide the application, are fully aware of the strength of feeling in the community.
In the meantime, the developer's flood risk advisers filed a report recently concluding that the Haven development would need a seawall defence up to 8.25m high - higher than the Great Wall of China and almost twice as high as the Berlin Wall.
A copy of the Daily Mail article on the topic can be found via THIS LINK.
I do not think the developers have taken flood risks seriously enough. The same advisers originally concluded in Feb 2021 that the seawall need only be 3.75-4m high. Ten months later in Nov, under pressure from the Environmental Agency (EA), they almost doubled that to 8.25m. That suggests, at best, a flawed initial analysis that raises questions about the reliability of their work.
In the Daily Mail article Richard Carr is quoted as saying "They are right that there needs to be a mechanical wall in the event of a once-in-a-200-year flood or storm, but it will be mechanical so it will not be there, it will be hydraulic and come up in the event of a storm."
We have seen no plans or designs for such a 'mechanical wall' and strongly suspect that none exist. We have shared with the EA and BCP planning dept our concerns as to the feasibility of such a 'mechanical wall' and the challenges of maintaining and regularly practising it.
Seafront Strategy
In the autumn BCP started a consultation on a new Seafront Strategy for the whole BCP area. We saw this as an opportunity to put forward a positive vision to upgrade the infrastructure and public realm in SB to benefit local people, visitors and visitors alike.
A copy of our response can be found via THIS LINK.
Many thanks to our volunteer working group Norman Allenby-Smith, Lucie Allen & Kate Allen for their thoughtful and comprehensive work.
Enjoy the holidays and let's look forward to a wonderful SB 2022!
Kate Allen
Norman Allenby-Smith
Tiffany Chawner
Paul de Cordova 07701 307213
Matt Moffat
David Morley (Chair) 07785 500808
Sue Morley 07748 630076
Alison Sepping (Treasurer) 07837 988996
Anthony Vickery 07802 951886
Bertie Webb 07900 496677
