BEACH HUT PLANS SUBMITTED

Thanet district Council press release

A new planning application, for the siting of new and existing seasonal beach
huts along the coasts and promenades around Thanet, has been submitted.

Seasonal beach huts, which are put up for the summer months and then taken down
and stored away during the winter, were first introduced to the area as long ago
as the 1920s. Planning permission has never been sought for them before, as they
have been in use for so many years.

Last year, following an enquiry from a member of the public about whether the
seasonal beach huts needed planning approval, the council investigated the
issue, but was unable to get a definitive answer in law.

As a result, this application has now come forward, which also includes plans
for additional beach huts along the coastline to meet the growing demand and an
application to use some of the area’s car parks to store the beach huts during
the winter months.

Cllr. John Kirby, Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services and Ramsgate Marina,
said: “Beach huts are very much part of both our local and national coastal
heritage and we all know that they’ve been put out every summer for many years
now. However, as people are no doubt aware through their own experiences,
sometimes the law can be murky on some issues and this is one of those cases.

There is no specific law to tell us definitively whether we need to apply for
planning permission or not after this length of time. The council has carefully
considered the issue and has taken the decision to err on the side of caution,
which is why we’re submitting this application now.”

The application is out to public consultation until 3 April 2009.

Ed the planning application number is 09/0142 click here to go to the TDC planning site