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Beach Regeneration Project
Would you like to help?
What do YOU want at the beach?
Do you want to take an active part by serving on the committee or helping otherwise? You can serve on the committee or be a source of ideas and information.
What Have we done since Feb 2012?
There has been one site meeting and two business meetings in the short time since the committee was formed. The minutes of the latter are below.
Draft Minutes of the Meeting of the Beach Regeneration Committee held on
Thursday 29 March 2012 at 7.00pm in New College Hall
PRESENT: Cllr D Sim (in the Chair) Mrs P Argyle, Cllr I Hill, Cllr T Kelly, Cllr F Kennedy,
Mr J Kennedy, Cllr C Robson and the Clerk
In attendance: Ms R Osborn (CBC) Ms P York and Mr U Ahmed (Nuclear Graduate Scheme)
B07/12 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Moules and Strong.
B08/12 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were no declarations of interest.
B09/12 INTRODUCTIONS
Members of the committee introduced themselves. Rachel Osborn explained her role at CBC in working with coastal communities and Ms York and Mr Ahmed explained that they had agreed to help with this community project as part of their training scheme.
B10/12 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 7 MARCH 2012
It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting on 7 March 2012 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
B11/12 CHAIRMAN’S EXPLANATORY REMARKS
The Chairman explained that the committee was constituted as a committee of the parish council. The terms of reference drafted at the last meeting had now been approved by the parish council and a budget of £200 had been delegated to the committee.
B12/12 ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN
Nominations were sought for Vice Chairman.
It was RESOLVED that Mr J Kennedy be elected as Vice-Chairman.
B13/12 PERSPECTIVE PRESENTATION ON THE BEACH
The Chairman gave a brief presentation of the history of the beach area from the coming of the railway in 1849 to the present day. Tourism had declined as overseas holidays became more affordable and the release of effluent from Sellafield in 1983 had seriously damaged the reputation of the area as a tourist centre. However, in recent years numbers of people visiting the beach area had increased again with coach parties coming to the Seacote Hotel, visitors staying at the caravan park and walkers beginning the Coast to Coast walk. It was noted that the beach was a SSSI and St Bees Head was a nationally renowned RSPB reserve as well as being part of the Heritage Coast.
B14/12 REVIEW OF SITE VISIT
Members of the committee had visited the beach area on Saturday 24 March and a list of comments and observations had been circulated.
Each area was considered in turn and possible improvements were identified with suggested timescales – see appendix attached. Ms Osborn undertook to follow up a number of issues with colleagues at CBC. It was agreed that a meeting be arranged urgently with Dave Toner of CBC Open Spaces Dept to discuss improvements to the play area and with David Bechelli to discuss issues relating to the groynes and engineering work at the north end of the beach.
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B15/12 STRATEGY
The strategy to meet the tasks in the terms of reference was discussed. It was agreed that some improvements could be made immediately at low cost whilst others would be projects in their own right and would take longer to plan and implement. It was agreed that developing and maintaining liaison with CBC would be essential and the Chairman thanked Ms Osborn for her help in taking forward a number of issues.
It was RESOLVED that £100 be approved to improve interpretation at the beach area in time for the coming season.
B16/12 COASTAL INTERPRETATION PROJECT
Ms Osborn explained that CBC was currently seeking funding for a coastal interpretation project. The aim was to provide one interpretation panel in each coastal village. Parish councils and beach groups were being asked to provide suggestions for inclusion on the panel and possible locations. Time-scales would be dependent on funding but it was hoped that they would be in place before the 2013 season.
B17/12 ANY OTHER BUSINESS
A number of items were reported for information:-
- Funding was available for improvements to shop fronts. Further information was available from Simon Walker at CBC.
- CBC was producing leaflets of heritage walks from the coast and a similar leaflet for cycle routes. A sense of place leaflet was also being produced in conjunction with Cumbria Tourism.
B18/12 SUMMARY OF ACTIONS AND DECISIONS
(a) It was agreed that one of the first steps should be to find out what people want to see at the beach. Cllr Hill had drafted some suggestions which could be included in a questionnaire to sample views. It was agreed that the nuclear graduates could be asked to draw up and circulate a questionnaire. It was suggested that they could also be asked to undertake a desk-top study of comments about St Bees beach on the internet etc.
(b) It was agreed that Cllrs Sim, Moules, and Hill meet Dave Toner to discuss the play area improvements on Wed 4 April at 10.00am at the beach (tbc).
(c)It was agreed that Cllr Sim arrange to meet David Bechelli to discuss the need for the groynes and CBC plans for engineering work at the beach.
B19/12 DATE & TIME OF NEXT MEETING
It was RESOLVED that the next meeting of the committee take place onWednesday 25 April at 7.00pm in New College Hall.
Draft Minutes of the Meeting of the Beach Regeneration Committee held on
Wednesday 7 March 2012 at 7.00pm in the Village Hall
PRESENT: Cllrs I Hill, T Kelly, F Kennedy, S Moules, C Robson, D Sim, Mr P Argyle
and the Clerk
B01 /12 ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN & VICE CHAIRMAN
Nominations were sought for Chairman. Cllr Sim was proposed by Cllr Hill and seconded by Cllr Robson. There were no other nominations.
It was RESOLVED that Cllr Sim be elected as Chairman and that the appointment of a Vice- Chairman be postponed until the next meeting.
B02/12 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Mrs P Argyle and Cllr Strong. Apologies for absence were also received from three members of the local community who had expressed an interest and wished to be kept informed.
B03/12 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were no declarations of interest.
B04/12 TERMS OF REFERENCE
Draft terms of reference had been circulated. It was agreed that the committee should be called Beach Regeneration Committee and its purpose would be to develop and implement beach improvement plans at the main (Seacote) beach. A number of amendments were proposed to the draft terms of reference.
It was RESOLVED that the amended terms of reference be recommended for approval at the next parish council meeting (copy attached to the minutes).
B05/12 BEACH REGENERATION & PLAY AREA PROJECT
The committee considered how to proceed with the initial tasks outlined in the terms of reference.
(a)Identification of stakeholders
It was agreed that the first step was to define stakeholders who might have an interest in the beach area. The following stakeholders were identified:-
- Residents living close to the main beach
- Residents (adults and children) of St Bees parish
- Owners of businesses located close to the beach (caravan park and beach café)
- RNLI
- Village in Bloom Committee
- Beach users –dog walkers, water sports enthusiasts etc
- Coast to Coast walkers
- Local B&B businesses
- CBC
- Tourists
- Potential funders
Members considered the ways in which stakeholders could be involved. The parish council was elected to represent the views of residents and it was hoped that volunteers from the local community would also come forward to join the committee.
It was agreed that as a first step the Clerk would write to the businesses in the beach area to invite them to play a part in formulating plans for improvement. (Action: JD)
(b) Survey of existing facilities
The Coastal Design Guide commissioned by CBC described the existing facilities and considered possible improvements and this would provide a good starting point.
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It was agreed that Cllr Moules would carry out an up to date survey of facilities in the main beach area before the next meeting. (Action:SM).
(c) Site Visit
It was agreed that before the next meeting of the committee members would visit the beach to look at possible areas for improvement. Members would initially visit the area individually and a joint meeting would take place at the beach on the morning of Sat 24 March (time to be confirmed). (Action:ALL)
Members of the community who had expressed an interest in the committee’s work would also be invited to the site visit. (Action: JD)
It was suggested that it would be helpful for a representative of CBC to attend the site visit and Cllr Hill agreed to speak to the appropriate officers. (ACTION: IH)
(d)Collation of Other Information
- Cllr Hill explained that CBC had set up a group looking at interpretation signs for the coastal communities in Copeland. It was hoped that standardised signage would be provided and the parish council would be invited to contribute to the text about the village. The group was working with the Lake District National Park whose staff had considerable experience in the design of such signage. Funding was being sought for the project.
- Cllr Robson noted that there was a considerable amount of information available about facilities, events etc in the beach area and village generally but this needed to be brought together in more accessible ways. For instance, few people were aware that the History Group gave regular talks at the Seacote Hotel for visitors to the village.
- No progress had been made with getting brown signs to highlight the attractions such as the beach and Priory. The Clerk would obtain further information from CCC on how this could be addressed. (ACTION:JD)
- It was considered that it would be useful for the committee to have information on the ownership of land in the beach area and CBC’s plans for remedial work on the promenade and groynes. The Clerk would speak to appropriate officers at CBC. (ACTION:JD)
B06/12 DATE & TIME OF NEXT MEETING
It was RESOLVED that:-
- The site visit to the main beach take place on Sat 24 March 2012 (time to be confirmed)
- the next meeting of the committee take place on Thursday 29 March at 7.00pm – venue to be confirmed.