News Date: Monday 25th April 2005
Lancing Beach Green and the problem of the anti-tank concrete blocks
Many local residents have been annoyed by a highly misleading election leaflet being distributed by Liberal Democrats who are trying to take credit for all the opposition to proposals to deal with the concrete blocks buried under Lancing Beach Green. In fact concerns were raised by local residents who formed themselves into the Lancing Beach Green Action Group and have been working with the Lancing & Sompting Residents Association who are rightly keen to insure their political neutrality.
Furthermore Liberal Democrat councillors on Lancing Council signed up to the Council's original proposals to remove the blocks and have now apparently changed their minds without putting forward solutions to the problem at all and even now voting against the plans to ask independent experts to come up with a solution that the council and the residents can agree to. In addition the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate James Doyle has endorsed this position and refused an invitation to disassociate himself from such misleading campaigning.
This is highly irresponsible and highly offensive to the many local residents and supporters of the Action Group and Residents Association who have worked hard on this issue and who came together at Lancing Parish Hall on April 1st to agree a way ahead with the Parish Council at a meeting organised and cahired by Tim Loughton.
A copy of the letter which Tim has sent to the many hundreds of residents who have written to him on the subject is published in full below. He will be happy to answer any further queries you may have.
ENDS
Note to Editors:
Lancing Beach Green ' letter to constituents 5.4.05
Dear Constituent
Following recent correspondence about the proposals to deal with the wartime concrete blocks under Lancing Beach Green I am now writing to update you on the meeting between residents, councillors and others which I chaired at Lancing Parish Hall on Friday April 1st.
It is clear from the number of letters and slips that have been forwarded both to the Council and to me from the leaflet distributed by the Lancing & Sompting Residents Association and Beach Green Action Group, that many local people feel strongly about the future of Beach Green. I welcome the strong interest that this issue has triggered and I hope that this will translate in the future to a much closer liaison between councillors, residents and local resident?s groups on important local decisions. As I know from sitting in the public gallery alone at meetings of the Parish Council, that has not always been the position in the past and local democratic accountability suffers because of it.
It was clear to me from the responses that the position of both Lancing Parish Council and the Action Group was subject to misinterpretation and many residents are not in possession of all the details on this issue. That is why I offered a round table meeting to find a way through the current ?stand-off? and for all the available information to be made available. I am pleased to say that the suggestion was greeted positively by nearly everyone I spoke to. Subsequently I chaired Friday?s meeting with 10 local residents who were nominated by the Resident?s Association and Action Group as being representative of the wider community; six Lancing Parish Councillors invited from across the parties and the clerk to the council; County Councillor Robert Dunn whose division includes Beach Green; representatives from the Environment Agency and Adur?s Environmental Health department.
The upshot from that meeting is that no work on Beach Green will commence in the immediate future until further research has been carried out. That further research will take the form of independent consultants being appointed to assess the full extent of the problem and make recommendations as to what action should be taken. Thereafter it will be up to the Council to decide what recommendations should be followed particularly as regards what costs any proposals might entail.
In addition a small liaison group consisting of 2 residents nominated from the Action Group/Resident?s Association, and 2 councillors, will be formed and will initially discuss a list of consultants recommended to ensure that everyone is satisfied with their ?independence?. I hope you agree that this represents a very sensible way forward and it was welcomed unanimously by everyone who participated in the meeting. The final decision obviously rests with the elected councillors but I am pleased to report that a meeting of the full Lancing Parish Council on Monday April 4th endorsed these proposals and set the ball rolling.
The downside from all this is that the work of independent consultants will obviously come at a cost but it was agreed by everyone that this was the only way of satisfactorily finding out the real extent of the problem and taking appropriate action recommended by professionals in this area. It should be pointed out that this proposal was first discussed by the Council itself at the outset last year, but was not pursued out of consideration of the possible cost. It will also be necessary to conduct a full survey of the whole green to see whether all or only part of the grass area is affected.
An Action Group member took minutes at the meeting and will produce an account of our lengthy discussions but I think it is useful to make the following observations:
- It was stated categorically and accepted by everyone that there are no plans to build on Beach Green at all and indeed this would be impossible under the terms of the trust governing the land and under planning policy.
- The Environment Agency stated that (subject to further research) they did not see that removing the blocks would cause any problem with any underground watercourses. Indeed replacing them with more permeable material might make any water flow away from the area easier. They also stated that they foresee no problem with using topsoil to raise the land by up to 300mm (around a foot in real measurement !). With either option permission would likely be required from the Environment Agency particularly to check whatever waste soil may be used to fill in any gaps.
- Some people claim that the blocks are reinforced with metal which would be problematic, whilst other 'eye witnesses' say they were made on site with just concrete. We will not know without digging one up.
- Whilst records are slim the area was probably last covered with topsoil around 20 years ago and this has only lasted until now.
- Whichever solution is followed there will be disruption to the green. If topsoil is used the area will need to be fenced off for many months until the new grass grows. If blocks are dug up this could be done in sections so as not to interfere with revenue generating events, although one contractor suggested it could be done in less than 1 year rather than over 3 years. No firm at this stage has offered to provide topsoil for free as had been suggested. The cost of that option could run into 6 figures. Either way some disruption and cost is likely.
Clearly no one has definitive answers to the questions arising from the above which is why it is sensible to employ experts to make recommendations in the light of all the evidence. Whilst this work is going on I hope that all my constituents will be patient and respect both the integrity of the councillors who are genuinely trying to find a sustainable and affordable solution, and the concerns and hard work of residents, both of whom are rightly keen to maintain and improve this important local leisure facility.
I have offered to attend a meeting of the Action Group to give further details of the above and I will do my best to make sure constituents are kept as well informed of developments as possible. In the meantime I am sorry for the length of this letter but I hope it serves to allay many of the concerns expressed and assures you that everyone is working towards finding an equitable and effective solution to this problem.
Yours sincerely
Tim Loughton
