CLACTON & HOLLAND ON SEA BEACH HUT ASSOCIATION

END OF SEASON MEETING

Held at at Tendring Disrict Scout Group HQ

Saturday 19thOctober 2019

Present  Heather Davis : Chair

Ray Lafferty: Treasurer /Membership Secretary

 Ian Neville

 Pat Lafferty, Ivy Court

 47 Members

Apologies Teresa Ryland , Miriam Denis, Mrs Hayward, Mrs Birch, Mrs Yeung, Mrs Alexander, Mrs Smith, Susan & Chris Wade, Sue & Laurie Snell and Bill Clarke. Apologies also received from Ryans Insurance, Woodcover, Community Guard, and Tendring District Council, the last named having informed us that they will only attend these meetings once a year from now on.

Minutes of The AGM:   Were summarised and agreed as correct

Matters Arising:   The major items related to questions passed to TDC which had not been       responded to by the council. This aspect would be covered under Members    Questions.

Chair’s Report  Heather welcomed the members and read her report   (See attached)> She       mentioned that two members of the committee , including herself, intended to      resign at the next AGM and asked for anyone interested in serving on the  committee to contact her.

Secretary/Treasurer’s Ray reported on the current increase in membership to 230 and referred to  Report the non-attendance of anyone from TDC. He also mentioned the accident suffered by    George Wright of Community Guard and hoped he would soon be recovered.

He gave some detail of the way we used Community Guard to protect the huts, and stressed that it was important that the membership certificates were displayed on the huts to enable the security firm to identify member’s huts in case of need. In this connection he was aware that some forms had faded in the summer and had prepared some replacements which were available at the meeting. However he was pleased to report that the number of incidents reported by Community Guard had reduced from last year. He also stressed that the patrols were often carried out on foot at times at present due to the amount of sand on the promenade in places.

Ray mentioned that the Association’s emergency telephone was being well used, although he was having problems in that the local police were phoning when there was a problem with huts, not necessarily belonging to members of the Association. Apparently the police have been unable to obtain addresses for hut owners from TDC. He suggested that CHBHA could advise the Police of members’ addresses but only with member’s permission. At this point Heather asked for a show of hands from the attendees and the suggestion was agreed with an overwhelming majority.

Members Questions 

Heather opened the meeting to questions from the floor, (for the sake of brevity and clarity the Committee’s response is referred to as coming from Ray)

A71 Member reported having seen rats in the vicinity of his hut, He had approached TDC (Mike Cross) who also promised to install a humane trap but had not done this. Other members mentioned having seen rats, mice, and even a fox near their huts, Ray responded by stating that this matter along with any others raised at the meeting which could not be satisfactorily answered by the committee would be forwarded to TDC in a formal letter asking for a full response, and if necessary followed up at a meeting of the Chairs of all Beach Hut Associations in Tendring with TDC, due to be held in November. 

G section A member reported that Taps C14/16 were not working. This problem had been   noted by other members. Ray was of the opinion that this whole issue would be sorted following the completion of the cliff stabilisation project. Query to be forwarded to TDC.

Bin Collections:  A member suggested that a large refuse bin should be provided to replace the existing bins which when used soon became full and were often not emptied. To be forwarded to TDC

Access Gates to slopes: A member reported that she had discovered the gate to York Road slope (E Section) open with the open padlock lying on the ground. To be reported to TDC although not sure what other steps could be taken, it is the responsibility of the person obtaining access to re lock the gate when leaving.

Financial Report:  A member mentioned that at the AGM he understood that a deficit of £900 had been reported and asked if the Association was short of money. Ray reassured him that the figure related to the excess of expenditure over income for the year in question and that we had ample cash in reserve to carry on.

J Section A member mentioned that there was no hand rail on the slope from the upper to the lower prom and she considered this to be a safety problem. To be forwarded to TDC

Air Show: A member complained that from Holland Haven end where his hut was, he had been unable to enjoy the show in full and asked if representation could be made asking the organisers to arrange for the display to be extended to that area. Committee’s view was that the event was CLACTON air show and it would be unreasonable to expect the displays to be changed in this way, especially in view of current extremely tight safety controls.

There being no further questions Heather thanks members for attending, invited them to the AGM on May  9th 2020 and invited them to partake of the buffet which had been prepared.

The meeting was formally closed at   4.10pm

Chairs  report.

The  weather  has  been  kind  to  us  this  year  again  and  we've  had  a

wonderful summer. I  appreciate that  some  of  our  huts  have  been  out  of

action  while  the  stabilization of  the  cliffs  has  taken  place,  but  that  work

is  now  finished  and  the  huts  replaced for  us  to  use  again.  A  big

inconvenience for  some  but  very  necessary. Let  us  hope  that  is  it

regarding major  works  to  our  sea  front!

It  seems  that  the  latest  issue  we  have  is  sand  on  the  lower  promenade

which  is  causing  problems for  those  using  wheels  for  access,

pushchairs, wheelchairs, mobility  scooters and  even  cyclists!

Tendring District  Council  are  very  aware  of  this,  and  are  currently

investigating the  best  way  of  dealing  with  the  problem. The  solution  is

bound  to  involve  money  and  the  Council  have  limited  funds  as  we  know.

Holland  on  Sea  Residents Association are  also  on  the  case  and

some  of  their  members have  had  their  shovels  out  but  it  is  a  big  battle

with  nature  as  every  time  the  wind  blows  there's  more  sand!

We  should  remember though  that  before  the  beaches were  replenished

5/6  years  ago,  that  at  high  tide  it  was  impossible to  get  down  on  to  the

lower  promenade due  to  the  water  being  right  up  to  the  cliff  and  in  the

winter  a  lot  of  the  contents of  the  huts  had  to  be  taken  home  to  keep

them  dry.

When  I  bought  my  hut  5  years  ago,  the  previous owner  advised  me  not

to  keep  anything in  the  front  three  quarters of  it  at  any  time  of  year  and

keep  everything covered  in  huge  plastic  bags  as  well.

So  one  big  challenge is  solved  and  now  there  is  the  next  one  -  nature

will  always  have  the  last  word!

The  end  of  the  season  saw  Clacton's air  show  display  again  which

despite  not  having  the  Red  Arrows  this  year  was  very  successful and

brought  the  usual  huge  crowds  to  the  area.  I  love  the  buzz  at  this  time

of  the  year  with  lots  of  people  enjoying themselves.

Our  security  company Community Guard  continue wlth  their  random

nightly  patrols  between 7pm  and  7am  and  their  presence ensures  that

incidents are  kept  to  a  minimum. However Community Guard  are

constantly being  harassed by  Holland  Residents Association about  the

sand  issues,  this  is  not  what  we  pay  them  for  and  they  have  also  been

affected  in  having  to  patrol  on  foot  as  the  sand  is  blocking their

vehicles. All  complaints about  the  buildup  of  sand  should  be  made directly  to  Tendring District  Council.

It  appears that  Tendring District  Council  have  not  supplied the  Police

with  a  list  of  Beach  Hut  owners  contact  details,  Clacton  and  Holland

Beach  Hut  Association is  happy  to  provide  the  Police  with  a  list  of  our

members details  and  hut  numbers, but  only  with  members approval.

Obviously those  who  have  not  joined  our  Association will  not  be

passed  on  as  we  do  not  know  their  contact  details.

I  would  like  to  thank  the  existing  committee members for  their  help  and

support, their  help  is  invaluable as  well  as  their  enthusiasm. However we  are

all  volunteers and  have  busy  lives  and  other  commitments as  well.  Teresa

Ryland  has  told  us  she  is  resigning and  I  am  considering resigning at  the

AGM  next  year  so  we  need  more  volunteers to  come  forward,  otherwise we

cannot  run  the  Association with  just  two  Committee members, Ray  Lafferty and  lan Neville.

What  commitment is  involved? -  well  the  committee meets  several  times  a

year,  one  of  us  attends  the  Tendring District  Council  Beach  Hut  Associations

Meetings when  they  are  held,  a  max  of  four  a  year;  and  planning and  running

the  AGM  and  End  of  Season  Meetings. The  Association holds  a  mobile

phone  which  is  rotated  around  the  committee, and  that  is  it.

Please  speak  to  me  or  any  other  committee member if  you  would  like  any

more  information or  even  better,  like  to  help  on  the  committee.