Plans for Herbrand Walk

Now owner Steve Hall is trying again for permission to provide family seaside sport and activity on the beach - but he wants the public on his side.

Steve is holding an open meeting on Saturday November 14 at Hamilton Hall in Eastwood Road - off Little Common Road - from 10am until 5pm.

His new plans for the beach at Herbrand Walk will be on display so that everyone can see exactly what he has in mind and discuss his ideas for watersports, car park, beach huts, changing room facilities, lifeguard hut and public toilets.

He has been working on the proposals alongside the Environment Agency, Natural England and Network Rail, and reports he has their backing.

He has made adjustments to his original plans, such as using reclaimed wooden sleepers instead of concrete bollards to prevent vehicles from driving onto the beach, and installing information boards concerning beach vegetation and wild life, as well as currents and safety advice.

He has also contacted local schools and youth groups to tell them of this new sport facility that might soon be available and believes it will be a new asset for the whole community.

Having bought the stretch of beach almost by coincidence because he walked his dog down there and then discovered he could buy it, Steve worked on his plans for two years and feels he has so far been misunderstood.

"All I want to have down there is kayaking - I will have 20 single kayaks and 20 double. But anybody who wants to come down there for windsurfing, canoeing, or jetski, like they do at the moment, can do so. The Council has set out a boat lane for them, and if I have got a base down there I can control them and make sure they have got their insurance and date tag for their jetski - if they haven't got them, they can't go in the sea.

"I want everyone to come and have a look at the plans, because I want this to be enjoyed by everybody young and old."

He has been a fan of seaside sport since he was a teenager and his family moved to Cape Town in South Africa for three years.

"I was on the beach every day surfing," he said.

"So when I saw that bit of beach not being used and not fulfilling its potential it made me think. People say there is nothing down here for the kids to do, and everyone I have spoken to has said - what a great idea, we'll come down and have a go."

His original plans were turned down by RDC in March 2009 and Herbrand Walk was during the summer the centre of local controversy when wheel clampers went to work and drivers had to pay up to 200 to have their cars released if they parked on the beach.

Steve said: "I was surprised that people didn't read what I wanted to do down there - they took everybody's word except mine. They were objecting, but not at what I wanted to do.

"So now I am going to have this meeting with the plans there, so all the people who moaned last time can turn up and read them properly and I will tell them what I want to do down there."

He is also working on developing access so that wheelchair users can enjoy the facilities, and is talking with the RNLI about the possibility of having a small rescue boat.

"It's all getting there. It's all done now...It has taken a long time but hopefully everyone will like it when it's all finished."