Attendees
Cllr Michael Hoy (Chairperson) (MH) - Rochford District Council
Doug MacEwen (Vice Chairman) (DME) - Representative of the Boating Community
Accountable Body
Marcus Hotten (Secretariat) (MHo) - Rochford District Council
Public Sector
Leanda Cable (LC) - Maldon District Council
Cllr Alan Shearring - (AS) South Woodham Ferrers Town Council
Helen Quinnell (HQ) - Chelmsford City Council
Leanne Brisland (LB) - Bird Aware Essex
Cllr David Flack (DF) - Hullbridge Parish Council
Cllr Glen Dryhurst (GD) - Ashingdon Parish Council
Cllr Diane Carter (DC) - Burnham-on-Crouch Town Council
Business Sector
Robert Brown (RB) - Baltic Wharf Distribution
Rachel Fancy (RF) - RSPB
Roy Hart (RH) - Battlesbridge Business (Skee-Tex)
Maritime Sector
Ken Wickham (KW) - Crouch Harbour Authority
Independent
Keith Powell (KP)
Andrew St. Joseph (ASJ)
Apologies:
Cllr Mrs Jo McPherson (JM) - Rochford District Council
Ken Wickham (KW) - Crouch Harbour Authority
Cllr Stephen Stratton (SS) - Burnham-on-Crouch Town Council
Cllr Joe Parsad (JP) - Rettendon & Battlesbridge Parish Council
Absent:
Dave Record (DR) - 3 Chambers (Hockley, Rayleigh & Rochford)
Cllr Doug O Bown (DOB) - Maldon District Council
Cllr Mike Halford (MHa) - Canewdon Parish Council
Julie O’Brien (Note Taker) - Rochford District Council
Welcome and introductions
10/24
Cllr Michael Hoy in the Chair.
Introductions were made. Cllr Hoy suggested that the Steering Group might be better placed under the Economic Development, Regeneration & Tourism Committee, of which he was the Chair.
Notes of the Last CVCC Group Meeting Held on 11 March 2024 and Matters Arising
11/24
Agreed as an accurate record.
An update on matters arising as follows:
- Minute 06/24: Outstanding planning application. MHo advised that he had chased on a number of occasions.
Annual Review of the CVCC Terms of Reference and Accountable Body role (update on min 15/23 of AGM notes re Chelmsford City Council)
12/24
The Steering Group agreed that the Terms of Reference were very comprehensive and noted that the Secretariat was separate from the Accountable Body.
HQ advised that talks had taken place with Stuart Graham (Head of Economic Development & Implementation at Chelmsford City Council) about taking over the Secretariat, but wider discussions were required with the new Portfolio Holder, who was also joining the Essex Coastal Forum as the Chelmsford City Council’s representative. It was also noted that, constitutionally, Chelmsford City Council may need to appoint a representative to the Steering Group.
After looking at the composition of the river front at South Woodham, HQ queried whether Economic Development was the right area and suggested further discussions take place with MH, MHo, HQ and Stuart Graham to discuss the way forward. In the meantime, MHo agreed to check the governance arrangements.
Action: MHo to convene a meeting with the attendees mentioned above and also check the governance arrangements with regard to Chelmsford City Council’s representation on the Steering Group.
Following on from a suggestion from ASJ, it was agreed that voting rights for the Essex Coastal Land Owners should be reviewed, as currently they did not have a vote on the Steering Group.
Action: MHo to review the voting rights for the Essex Coastal Land Owners.
New CVCC Website & Logo
13/24
DME and KP gave brief details of the current set up for the CVCC on the Visit Maldon website, which was good but did have limitations.
KP then gave further information on two possible options for the website going forward:
- a subset off Maldon District Council’s headline events, or
- HugoFox, an easy to use website builder whose niche market was Parish Councils, Charities, etc.
Discussions had taken place with HugoFox and it was considered that this was the best option going forward. As the CVCC would be treated as a non-profit organisation, it would have a status similar to that of a charity and could have its own website for free. DME and KP were confident that, between them, they would be able to develop and maintain the website at no cost and would be able to add maps, features, promotions and businesses, etc., as well as integrating with Google Maps and Analytics.
LC confirmed that there were limitations and restrictions on data and content management on the Visit Maldon website. It was also noted that this website could not plot anything outside of the Maldon District. In response to a query from MHo, LC agreed to provide visitor statistics to the Crouch Valley Coastal Community page on the website.
Action: LC to provide visitor statistics to the Crouch Valley Coastal Community Page on the Visit Maldon website.
Post Meeting Note: LC advised that there has been 71 views in total between 01/03/24 and 25/07/24.
If the Steering Group agreed to the HugoFox option, KP confirmed that a new website could be up and running in a very short time. The new site would also be able to link to the existing content on the Rochford District Council website, which would remain the official site for the accountable body and the Secretariat could be the repository for contact and access information for the new website.
In response to a question from HC, LC agreed to contact the Clayhill Vineyard to ascertain whether the crouch valley region had been mapped out and defined. The Steering Group agreed that this would be useful information to include on the new website, as some attractions fall within South Woodham Ferrers and are not that far from the River Crouch.
Action: LC to contact Clayhill Vineyard to ascertain whether the region had been mapped out and defined.
Post Meeting Note: LC provided a response from Dale at Clayhill and the Crouch Valley Map was circulated to the Steering Group on 30 July 2024.
The Steering Group unanimously agreed to go ahead with setting up a new website via HugoFox.
Action: DME and KP to set up new website and provide log-in and contact details, etc. to the Secretariat in due course.
Working Group Updates
15/24
Rights of Way
With the aid of plans and diagrams, RH advised that some progress had been made with the plans to build a 1.2 m. wide footbridge across the river, which would join two communities together, but despite writing to British Rail on two occasions, no response had been received to date.
RH reported that the logical conclusion was to site the bridge as far as possible to the west of the Rawreth Brook and soundings and measurements had now been taken. The owner of the land was very pro footpaths and was keen to be involved. RH was willing to contribute £5K towards the works and had identified a structural engineer that was willing to draw up the plans. No monetary input required from the CVCC. Contact would then be made with the landowners on either side of the River. Then the proposal would be brought back to the Steering Group for a vote.
It was noted that planning permission may be required and that the footbridge must be built to a standard that would allow ECC to adopt and maintain in the future.
GD confirmed that he would be willing to continue to assist RH with this project.
Action: RH to continue as outlined above with assistance from GD.
With reference to the latest notes of the Rights of Way Group and Darren Braine’s presentation, KP advised that Darren had clearly made the point that we now need to bring political pressure to bear in order to encourage Essex County Council to fully establish the King Charles III England Coast Path.
Following discussion, it was agreed that:
- KP would draft an appropriate letter to Cllr Tom Cunningham, Cabinet Member for Highways, Infrastructure and Sustainable Transport. This letter would be signed by MH.
- HC would lobby our representatives on the Essex Coastal Forum.
- LC to engage with Cllr Mark Durham, the Cabinet Member for The Arts, Heritage and Culture.
Action: KP, HC and LC to action as detailed above.
Post Meeting Note: Letter emailed to Cllr Tom Cunningham on 03/07/24 and a copy circulated to the Steering Group on the same day.
ASJ passed round two photos of coastal footpaths in Essex and Norfolk and advised that a lot of the footpaths within Essex were in a poor condition, whilst those in Norfolk appeared to be well managed. He advised that landowners have been attempting to work with the Environment Agency to bring about much needed improvements.
Vision Refresh
DME advised that he had been working on a newsletter and update, which he hoped to circulate later in the month.
Pollution
DF had not yet convened a meeting of this working group and passed on his apologies to the other members. He advised that he had asked the Environment Agency to provide information about their monitoring of recreational water. As the area was tidal, the times of any monitoring was vital to the amount of pollution found. DF reported that Hullbridge Parish Council were aware of a number of discharges from the sewage works and he was quite confident that the water would not meet the requirements for water recreation, with the two crucial measurements being E.coli and biological oxygen demand.
DF advised that a site meeting was due to take place on 20 June 2024 to discuss the various issues occurring on Footpath 9 (Hullbridge to Brandy Hole). He was hoping that the encroachments on the sea wall and pollution would be discussed at this meeting. Representatives from Essex Highways, Anglian Water and the Environment Agency would be in attendance.
It was noted that the Cambridge University used to have a monitoring station at Brandy Hole, but it was now no longer used.
ASJ advised that a representative from his village collected regular water samples and passed them to the Essex University for analysing. DF confirmed that this could also work for monitoring the water at Hullbridge.
Action: ASJ to provide DF with the relevant contact details.
HQ suggested that the Steering Group could potentially monitor the water and may be able to apply to a suitable project for funding to purchase the necessary testing kits. Could also get the sailing clubs involved, build the data and then report back to the relevant bodies.
RH confirmed that he owned an easy to use water monitoring kit, which members of the Steering Group could borrow.
DC advised that Burnham Town Council were also experiencing similar issues and requested that they be involved in any future water monitoring.
Post meeting Note – Update on Open Water Swim Group:
Cllr Jo McPherson provided the following update ahead of the meeting but, unfortunately, attendees did not see it until after the meeting. Here is an extract from Andy Hawkins email:
I offer 6 different “History Hikes” which are all between 2 and 2.5 hours and between 2 and 3 miles in length. It began with Canewdon (where I live) as I am passionate about local history, particularly the Vikings and Saxons, and the contribution that the Canewdon radar made to ww2. As an ex history teacher, it has always frustrated me that this stuff is missing from the national curriculum. My son went to Canewdon primary for 7 years and never heard about any of it. The next walk I did was Rochford with its strong link to the Boleyn family and loads of other stuff. I then did Rayleigh which has a castle, as does Hadleigh where I also offer history rides with Hadleigh Park Cycles CIC. I also do Pagelsham/Wallasea with its rich history of smuggling, Prittlewell with its amazing Saxon burial and am currently working on a new walk around Shoebury garrison. As I’m not very tech savvy I may have to send my little posters for each walk separately but they will give more information.
Open water swimming I have been doing for a couple of years at a lovely spot called Lion Creek between Canewdon and Wallasea where the current is gentle and the water quality is good. I loan out equipment (in the winter) and provide coffee and home made cake after the swim. The charge is £20 for the introductory swim and then £10 each time thereafter.
The cost of the walks is £10 per person. I hope this is useful and thank you for any help you can provide.
Update on:
16/24
Latest Stretch of Wallasea to Burnham Coastal Path (WIB2-5) – Establishment Works
Dealt with in Minute 15/24 (Rights of Way) above.
Coastal Footpath – Hullbridge Repairs Update
DF advised that the footpath was eroded in a couple of places. He was hopeful that there might be some resolution at the meeting on 20 June (mentioned in Minute 15/24 (Pollution) above). Rochford District Council has enforcement notices for various structures on the pontoons, but has declined to attend the meeting.
Action: MH to discuss attendance at this meeting with the Corporate Manager for Planning.
Post Meeting Note: Email sent to DF on 19.06.24 advising that enforcement notices are not from Rochford District Council. They would possibly be from Essex County Council, so representatives from the Highway Authority should be able to cover off any questions. Unfortunately, an Enforcement Officer from Rochford District Council was not available to attend the meeting.
RSPB Wallasea Island - Latest Developments
17/24
RF passed on her thanks to MH and MHo and confirmed that the RSPB had received £41K grant funding towards the supply of two new toilets. The contract would be let once planning permission had been granted.
Other works that would be commencing shortly were:
- More islands in the lagoons for breeding birds – more depth of water puts off the predators. This was being funded by the Species Survival Fund.
- The Environment Agency sluice was still broken, but the farmland was now drained. Works would be taking place between August and November. The footpath would be closed for some days during this period.
In response to a question from GD, RF confirmed that the site could not exist without the volunteers who carry out vital work, i.e. lead guided walks, habitat/estate maintenance, cladding the two new shelters, etc.
Essex Coast RAMS (Bird Aware) Update
18/24
LB advised that her team was now up to full capacity, with the appointment of a lead ranger that would support the team on the ground. She reported that they had been working on the following:
- Supporting and monitoring beach nesting birds.
- Trialling caging some of the Plovers.
- Contacting sailing clubs to arrange talks/presentations.
- Visiting Parish/Town Councils – raising awareness about our estuaries/coasts and sharing the Coastal Code, leaflets, etc.
- GD requested that contact be made with the Ashingdon Parish Council.
- Trialling walks for the public – hoping to role out further during the winter months.
- Reviewing the RAMS Strategy – ongoing.
- Reviewing visitor surveys – this was last done prior to the pandemic. An update would be provided in due course.
- Stakeholder workshops.
LB asked the Steering Group to provide her with existing information around recreational activities on the Rivers Crouch and Roach. DME advised that the Crouch Harbour Authority booklet contained a list of clubs that operate on the rivers and it was assumed that they would also hold broad data for licences that had been issued.
Action: Steering Group Members to provide LB with the requested information.
HM Coastguard Incident Data Reports, 1 January to 31 March 2024
19/24
The Steering Group noted the report but considered that the information provided was not particularly useful due to the large area covered. There also appeared to be an issue with the bar chart colours.
Action: MHo to feedback to HM Coastguard accordingly.
Date of Next meeting
20/24
Tuesday, 10 September 2024 @ 2 pm in the Terrace Bar, Mill Arts & Events Centre, Rayleigh.
The Annual General Meeting will take place on Tuesday, 19 November 2024 commencing at 14:00
The meeting started at 14:05 and ended 15:30