November 2011 News Update
This issue of the Society's newsletter contains:
- Chairman's Introduction
- Society Business
- Planning Issues in Deal and Walmer
- Walmer in Bloom
- Talks Programme
- Social Programme
Chairman's Introduction
Robin Green writes:
What future does the town of Deal have? That is the fundamental question behind the study being undertaken by GVA Grimley for Dover District Council. After long delays we now have the Stage 1 report and it contains the early clues to their thinking about the long term development of the town, especially as it affects the areas of North and Middle Deal.
They have analysed the constraints that we are all familiar with. The weakness of the flood defences especially in the light of climate change. The very constrained transport system. The natural environment of sea and landscape that mercifully imposes its own constraints on the town. The fragile employment situation made far worse by the closure of Pfizer. The limitations imposed on the town centre by its architecture and the proximity of the conservation areas. All this has been well documented in the past and contains little that is new.
They argue, nevertheless, that many of these constraints and problems can be overcome by mitigation measures and long term planning. The Environment Agency already has plans in place to strengthen Deal’s flood defences against invasion by the sea. But a much more regular threat is caused by surface flooding from heavy rainfall. Some of that has also been caused historically by developers being allowed to build where once there were ponds and springs.
The report says that the Department of Transport has no plans to improve the road network in the Deal area so other measures and solutions have to be found. They also say that it is unlikely that the town centre can deliver the 18,300 square feet of new retail space that Dover District Council is asking for. So they have painted four scenarios for future development and then rejected two straight away! The scenario they favour is the development of land to the north west and east of the railway line stretching towards the Cinque Ports golf course. They see the golf club as a clue to regeneration by providing some form of hotel accommodation close to it. They also envisage mixed development including light industrial and retail units as well as housing. The next clue is a road linking Northwall Road to the A 258.
I have monitored this exercise from the very beginning because it could be fundamental to the future of the town, especially as it is looking to deliver more than 1,600 new homes up to 2026. We must continue to monitor it at every stage. I don’t believe that Deal is threatened as it was in 1964, but the fact that developers will be expected to deliver all or most of the new development should make us extremely wary. In all new development risk and opportunity is very finely balanced.
We are often asked about Tim Lloyd our past President. As I write this I have spoken to him and he tells me that with all the aids that can be provided to help us though our senior years, he and Pam are well. I continue to wish both of them, and indeed all members of the Deal Society, good health and well being.
Society Business
Membership
Since last July’s News Update went to print, Mr & Mrs John Blackman, Pat Jones, Diana Howard, Peter and Elizabeth Cook, Fenella Riseley, Beryl Walker, Victor and Lesley West, Raymond Cole and Paul and Jane Langstaff have joined the Society – welcome to you all. The membership currently stands at 347.
Annual subscription for 2012
A reminder that next year’s subscription becomes due on 1 January 2012. To avoid unnecessary programming in my database, the reminder is being sent to everybody on our mailing list but should be acted upon only by those members who pay their subscriptions by cheque and who joined the Society before 1 October this year. I very much hope that you will renew your membership - we need you.
Next mailing
In February 2012 members will receive the notice and agenda for the AGM to be held on Tuesday 3 April, together with a detailed prospectus for the 2012 social programme.
Planning Issues in Deal and Walmer
Robin Green writes:
In the last two months I have sat through nearly five hours of debate at Dover District Council about the two large planning applications at Sholden. Both applications had attracted a mountain of objections not only from Sholden residents but also from the wider Deal community. I had submitted detailed objections to both on behalf of the Deal Society because we considered them premature. A whole number of strategic and infrastructure issues needed to be resolved first. After long debates and a fair degree of confrontation between the councillors and the planning officers, both applications were deferred by a unanimous vote of the district planning committee.
Both Walmer Parish Council and Deal Town Council continue to be concerned at the inconsistency between decisions taken by the parish and town councils and the decisions of the district planning officers. The Kingsdown Conservation Society has also raised similar issues, so we are exploring ways in which the problem can be addressed.
Walmer in Bloom
Robin Green writes (with photograph by Stephen Misson):
For several years the Deal Society has presented the trophy for the outstanding garden in the Walmer in Bloom competition. It was a particular delight this year because the winner, Janet Wood, has overcome considerable disability to make her garden an absolute joy. Each year the competition makes an important contribution to the enhancement of our local environment.
This year I commented that gardeners are making green corridors through our communities and, in doing so, are contributing to the sustainability of our world. I should dearly love Deal Town Council to partake in the annual Britain in Bloom event – this adds to the beauty of our surroundings and also makes a serious statement about how we need to conserve our green spaces against the encroachment of housebuilders and developers!
Talks Programme
Amendments to the 2012 Talks Programme
Please note the following amendments to the 2012 Talks Programme ('Yellow Card') which was sent out to members:
- “Life after the Deal Society”: this talk will still be on Tuesday 7 February, but will now take place in the Astor Theatre (first floor Studio).
- “Artistic Deal – heaven or heathen?”: this forum will still take place in the Town Hall, but a day earlier on Monday 5 March.
Flooding in Deal – what is the risk? - 1 November 2011
Robin Green writes:
When extra chairs have to be pulled out for a meeting at Deal Town Hall, you know that you are considering a topic that touches the town’s nerve! The Town Hall was packed to listen to Ian Nunn from the Environment Agency and Roger Walton from Dover District Council talk about the threats to the town from both the invasion of the sea and the flooding caused by massive downpours.
Roger Walton began by reminding us of all the floods that had happened since the 1950s with some as recent as 2010. The most devastating had happened in 1978 when the sea poured in from near the Cinque Ports golf course and created what we know today as the Deal flood plain, the area of Deal where substantial numbers of houses are under threat from a breach in the sea defences. Ian Nunn picked up that theme and outlined the various strategies that the Environment Agency, in collaboration with a number of other bodies, is pursuing to counter the effects of global warming, coastal erosion, rising sea levels and over-development. He said that the two areas in Deal where mitigation measures had to be undertaken were the coast to the north of Sandown Castle and the stretch of promenade from the Royal Hotel to Deal Castle. North of Sandown Castle large granite boulders needed to be installed. Between the Royal Hotel and Deal Castle there needed to be a wave wall and a massive increase in the beach shingle. He acknowledged that the Deal Society was already involved in the group designing the wave wall, not least because it was in a conservation area.
Roger Walton said that there was an urgent need for more joined-up action to counter the effects of surface water flooding in the town. He specifically mentioned Southern Water as an agency needing to be more aware of the impact of its responsibilities on other agencies. Specific actions were being taken to deal with surface flooding and, in response to a question from the floor, he acknowledged that Kent Highways needed a proper schedule for the cleaning of the town’s drains.
The Deal master plan, referred to in my Introduction to this Update, also addresses the question of whether Deal has a healthy social and economic future without the issue of flooding being addressed. Ian Nunn was confident that Deal met the criteria for funding for new sea defences and that it was hoped that work could start on them by 2013.
I came away from the Town Hall pleased that at last we had been given a strategic overview of this ever-present threat to the town. I was also delighted that this season’s talks had got off to such a cracking start and that once again the Deal Society had created a forum for the an issue that affects the future of us all.
Social Programme
This year’s Christmas Drinks Party to be held on 14 December is fully booked.
Next year’s Spring Drinks Party will be held at Glenhill on Friday 20 April.
A walk with Simon Gregory, 17 September
Muriel and Ron Trainer write:
Thirty plus members met Simon on a wet, blustery morning at Sandown Castle, where we learned that Walmer, Deal and Sandown Castles were built by Henry VIII for the defence of our coast and were unusual in that they were low and round, thus not very visible from the sea and affording a 360 degree trajectory for any missiles aimed at the enemy approaching from land or sea.
We learned the history of the Goodwin Sands, where cricket and other pursuits still occur at certain times of the year. The Great Storm of 1703 sank many ships, including three of the largest in the Fleet, with the loss of 1,200 lives. Ashore, in Kent alone, 1,200 homes were devastated. The Downs comprises a stretch of sea fifty miles square and provided the largest anchorage in the world, accommodating four to five hundred vessels at a time.
Simon told us of one of Deal’s greatest benefactors, Sir Ernest Justice Charles, who provided headquarters for the Boy Scouts and the Football Club. He also founded the Rowing Club, almost one hundred years old; one of its longest serving members kindly turned out on this awful morning to open the premises and show us the boats, some costing up to £10,000. Further along the sea front we visited the thriving Deal Angling Club, housed in what was previously the old Lifeboat Station. Three of the members welcomed the cold, wet group with lifesaving coffee, tea and delicious biscuits.
Another of Deal’s popular benefactors was Queen Adelaide, recognised by the number of streets and houses named after her (it was interesting to hear how the many streets running between Middle Street and Beach Street got their names). Our next stop was the old Boatmen’s Rooms, now a private house. The Rooms have a long history and we can still remember the fishermen sitting outside on a good day, enjoying the view and the sunshine. Another fascinating character was the Rev Thomas Stanley Treanor, Chaplain to the Seamen’s Mission. In one year he expected to visit 400 boatmen’s homes and 890 ships, spending an average of 250 days afloat. He still found time, however, to marry three wives and father many children!
The cold, wet but now happy group then thoroughly enjoyed a delicious two course lunch in The Three Compasses restaurant, bringing to an end a very interesting and enjoyable morning. Simon is a very good guide and raconteur, informative and, above all, amusing. His book “Deal – all in The Downs” is well worth buying.
Tower of London, 12 October
Alan Clarke writes (with photographs by David White):
“A trip to the Tower” - without a doubt words that would have struck fear and dread into even the most stouthearted in bygone days - was a just a day out for 34 sturdy Dealites who have now joined millions of others to visit this shrine of English History. Thanks to David Bridgen we had our own Beefeater to show us around and were soon regaled with stories of beheadings, famous prisoners, ravens, poisoners, regicides, torture and ghosts.
We passed some of the most iconic names in English History: Traitors’ Gate, The Bloody Tower, The White Tower, Tower Green. Famed most for its dire deeds, we were reminded that this still is a Royal Palace and, up until the time of the Charles II, was the residence the night before a coronation.
The Tower has had many uses: an armory, a garrison guarding the Thames and Thames crossing, the forerunner of London Zoo, the Royal Mint, the Royal Observatory (until it was moved to Greenwich), the Public Record Office, and even the Ordnance Survey started here. It is still the principal prison for traitors and spies - the last being executed in 1941 in the miniature rifle range (a German spy Josef Jakobs).
After thirty minutes of captivating stories we were released on our own - and how this place has changed! Sliding floors taking us past the crown jewels, apparitions of the doomed princes appearing in The Bloody Tower, interactive and hands-on displays of the use of medieval weapons, roars of the menagerie animals and so much more. New areas of the Tower have now been opened up: Martin’s Tower, where the shady and mysterious Colonel Blood attempted to steal the Crown Jewels; Wakefield Tower, the palatial tower and site of the arbitrary execution of Henry VI with, on its lowest floor, a blood chilling exhibition of the Rack, Scavenger’s Daughter and other means of painful enquiry.
The Who’s Who of English History have passed these walls over 400 years, with kings & queens (some making the short walk to Tower Hill), Rudolf Hess, Sir Walter Raleigh, the young Princess Elizabeth, the Kray twins, Archbishop Laud, the Duke of Monmouth, John Wilkes, Lady Jane Grey, Guy Fawkes, the Earl of Essex, Thomas More, Sir Roger Casement, Thomas Cromwell - and on it goes.
There is so much to see and even in five hours I missed the Royal Fusiliers Museum - this is the headquarters of the City of London’s own regiment. Finally we made our weary way home, not before I held a quiz to see who had been paying attention - I am pleased to say I was not disappointed!