House of Commons ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee Coastal Towns Session 2005–06 Volume II: Written Evidence Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 27 March 2006 HC 1023-II Published on 18 April 2006 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £18.50 The ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee The ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its associated bodies. Current membership Dr Phyllis Starkey MP (Labour, Milton Keynes South West) (Chair) Sir Paul Beresford MP (Conservative, Mole Valley) Mr Clive Betts MP (Labour, Sheffield Attercliffe) Lyn Brown MP (Labour, West Ham) John Cummings MP (Labour, Easington) Greg Hands MP (Conservative, Hammersmith and Fulham) Martin Horwood MP (Liberal Democrats, Cheltenham) Anne Main MP (Conservative, St Albans) Mr Bill Olner MP (Labour, Nuneaton) Dr John Pugh MP (Liberal Democrats, Southport) Alison Seabeck MP (Labour, Plymouth, Devonport) Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/odpm.cfm. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Jessica Mulley (Joint Committee Clerk), Elizabeth Hunt (Joint Committee Clerk), Charlotte Littleboy (Second Clerk), Ben Kochan (Committee Specialist), Ian Hook (Committee Assistant), Ian Blair (Chief Office Clerk), Emma Carey (Secretary) and Laura Kibby (Select Committee Media Officer) Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 1353; the Committee’s email address is [email protected] Coastal Towns: Written Evidence 3 List of written evidence Page Councillor Geoffrey Richards, Sutton on Sea South Ward (CT 01) Ev 1 Coastal Academy (CT 02) Ev 1 Councillor Ron Shapland MBE BSc FICFor (CT 03) Ev 3 Lancaster City Council (CT 04) Ev 4 Exmouth Town Council (CT 05) Ev 5 Cumbria Tourist Board (CT 06) Ev 6 Channel Corridor Partnership (CCP) (CT 07) Ev 7 Caradon District Council (CT 08) Ev 9 English Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) (CT 09) Ev 14 Essex County Council (CT 10) Ev 16 South Hams District Council (CT 11) Ev 17 South Lakeland District Council (CT 12) Ev 18 East of England Development Agency (EEDA) (CT 13) Ev 20 nef (new economics foundation) (CT 14) Ev 22 Holyhead Forward (CT 15) Ev 27 Market and Coastal Towns Association (MCTA) (CT 16) Ev 28 Southport Partnership (CT 17) Ev 32 Skegness Town Council (CT 18) Ev 36 Southampton City Council (CT 19) Ev 38 Torbay Line Rail Users Group (CT 20) Ev 39 Dover Pride (CT 21) Ev 40 East Kent Partnership (CT 22) Ev 43 Thanet District Council (CT 23) Ev 46 Jenny Lennon-Wood & Christopher Wood (CT 24) Ev 50 Cornwall County Council (CT 25) Ev 51 The Theatres Trust (CT 26) Ev 54 Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council (CT 27) Ev 55 The National Piers Society (CT 28) Ev 57 Dover District Council (CT 29) Ev 58 East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) (CT 30) Ev 61 United Utilities (UU) (CT 31) Ev 64 Learning and Skills Council (LSC) (CT 32) Ev 65 Kent County Council (CT 33) Ev 66 South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA) (CT 34) Ev 70 Shepway District Council (CT 35) Ev 72 Brighton & Hove City Council (CT 36) Ev 76 English Heritage (CT 37) Ev 80 South Tyneside Council (CT 38) Ev 82 Kent Green Party (CT 39) Ev 84 Supplementary Memorandum by Kent Green Party (CT 39(a)) Ev 86 Supplementary Memorandum by Kent Green Party (CT 39(b)) Ev 87 4 Coastal Towns: Written Evidence Bournemouth Borough Council (CT 40) Ev 90 The British Amusement Catering Trades Association (BACTA) (CT 41) Ev 91 British Resorts And Destinations Association (BRADA) (CT 42) Ev 92 Shepway Economic Regeneration Partnership (CT 43) Ev 101 Devon County Council (CT 44) Ev 101 Lincolnshire Coastal Action Zone (CAZ) Partnership (CT 45) Ev 114 Supplementary Memorandum by the Lincolnshire Coastal Action Zone (CAZ) Partnership (CT 45(a)) Ev 120 Supplementary Memorandum by the Lincolnshire Coastal Action Zone (CAZ) Partnership (CT 45(b)) Ev 127 Supplementary Memorandum by the Lincolnshire Coastal Action Zone (CAZ) Partnership (CT 45(c)) Ev 134 Supplementary Memorandum by the Lincolnshire Coastal Action Zone (CAZ) Partnership (CT 45(d)) Ev 135 Isle of Wight Council (CT 46) Ev 136 Blackpool Council (CT 47) Ev 139 Torbay Council (CT 48) Ev 144 Wyre Borough Council (CT 49) Ev 151 Environment Agency (CT 50) Ev 155 Suffolk Coastal District Council (CT 51) Ev 159 The British Associations of Leisure Parks, Piers & Attractions Ltd (BALPPA) (CT 52) Ev 159 Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) (CT 53) Ev 161 Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (CT 54) Ev 166 Supplementary Memorandum by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (CT 54(a)) Ev 175 Coastal Towns: Written Evidence 5 List of unprinted written evidence Additional papers have been received from the following and have been reported to the House but to save printing costs they have not been printed and copies have been placed in the House of Commons Library where they may be inspected by Members. Other copies are in the Record Office, House of Lords and are available to the public for inspection. Requests for inspection should be addressed to the Record Office, House of Lords, London SW1. (Tel 020 7219 3074). Hours of inspection are from 9:30am to 5:00pm on Mondays to Fridays. CT 04(i) - Regenerating Morecambe – An Action Plan, Morecambe Action Plan Partnership, Oct 2002 CT 33(i) - Kent Coastal Town Analysis, February 2006 CT 33(ii) - Report of the Kent Child Protection Committee Inquiry into the general concerns expressed by officers and politicians in the Thanet Area regarding Child and Public Protection Issues, June 2005 CT 33(iii) - What Price Growth?, Kent County Council, December 2005 CT 42(i) - ‘The Seaside Economy – The final report of the seaside towns research project’ by Christina Beatty & Stephen Fothergill, June 2003. CT B/P 01 – St. Anne’s on Sea regeneration strategy – An Overview CT B/P 02 – DCMS – Background note on Government Policy CT B/P 03 – Tomorrow’s Tourism Today: A prospectus for tourism development in five key areas, DCMS, July 2004 CT B/P 04 – Fitness for Purpose: Quality Counts [Helping hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs to raise standards in health and safety, fire and food safety, and trading standards], DCMS, February 2005 CT B/P 05 – Beacon theme Guide 2004/2005: Promoting Sustainable Tourism, I&DEA, undated 2004 CT B/P 06 – JPC Shapter/Sybil Cardy – Documents re: development of Exmouth Docks. 3320021028 Page Type [SO] 05-04-06 22:39:53 Pag Table: COENEW PPSysB Unit: PAG1 ODPM: Evidence Ev 1 Written evidence Memorandum by Councillor GeoVrey Richards, Sutton on Sea South Ward (CT 01) I welcome the New Inquiry Coastal Towns and wish to make the following comments. There are over 37,000 permanent caravans situated on various sites along the coast in the East Lindsey District. These are not rated for Council Tax but the sites are rated for Business rates which the East Lindsey District collect on behalf of the Government. The District Council only receive a low %age of the Business rate collected based upon the resident population. There are problems associated with the residents of the permanent caravans who are allowed to reside for eleven months of the year on the sites. A large number of the residents are elderly and place great stress on the limited Health facilities provided for East Lindsey. Fire appliances and other emergency services such as Ambulances have diYculty in finding the correct caravan when called out in emergencies a fact which has led to the Ambulance trust not hitting targets set to arrive within a specified time limit. The sites receive full waste disposal and other services provided by the Council Tax payers of East Lindsey. Over the past nine years since being elected to the District Council I have advocated that there should be a Tourist Tax of 19p per week per caravan, less than £10 a year placed upon the 37,000 vans. This would amount to £370,000 income to the District Council which would help in paying for improvements that are required within the district Site owners are charging well over £12,000 per year rent on top of which they charge for all other services such as water electricity etc to each van I am sure that 19p a week tourist tax would NOT break the bank considering that most vans can accommodate six folk on Holiday. The areas of depredation are well documented along with the other problems of teenagers leaving the area, and the influx of elderly retired folk from the Midlands. The emphasis has always been placed on Tourism along the East Coast without the Planned development of light industry and full year employment for the resident Population. The only folk making money in the district are candy floss and amusement arcade owners. If Tourism is bringing in so many Millions how do the local residents feel the benefits why are the locals paying such high Council Taxes? I am not against tourism and am well aware that over the years it has been allowed to control the coastal zone but a new approach is required why not new museums along the coast with a cultural aspect to the attractions in the area.