Mersea beach huts Plan B... but we still don’t like it
2:40pm Saturday 13th August 2011
THIS could be the new face of West Mersea seafront.
Plans have been submitted for 30 beach huts on part of the Victoria Esplanade car park. Colchester Council, which could make a reported £300,000 from the huts, has modified its proposals in a bid to appease residents.
But town councillors and campaigners say they still don’t want the huts.
Mayor John May said it looked better now the huts were not scattered about, but it would not be enough to convince opponents.
He added: “It will not make a difference. The people living in Victoria Esplanade are so against it. We don’t think it is needed and I just think the council should have listened from the start.”
The proposals, which will be decided by Colchester Council’s planning committee, show the huts would be built behind existing huts in two rows of ten. There would also be two rows of five at the edge of the car park.
John Bouckley, ward councillor, said he was pleased to hear the position had changed, but said he was not sure it was enough for the people living in the area.
He added: “They are so dead set against it.”
Tina Dopson, Colchester’s councillor responsible for communities, has come under fire for not meeting town councillors. She said the plans had been amended in the light of feedback.
She said: “I am completely aware of the objections West Mersea Town Council has because it has e-mailed me. I have read all those comments and taken them into account.”
A report from Colchester Council notes the car park is seldom full.
There are 388 beach huts privately owned on land owned and managed by Colchester Council. Owners pay a rent varying from £149.14 to £376.12 a year, depending on the size of the hut and whether they are residents.
Colchester Council has not revealed details of rents for the new huts.