Sea sports plan sparks protest

A PLAN to provide a greater range of watersports at a beachside beauty spot has been met with a storm of protest.

Herbrand Walk Developments, which owns land at Herbrand Walk near the Cooden Beach Hotel, submitted the application to Rother District council on March 27.

Plans include 20 new beach huts, which would be of wood and double sized at 10ft wide by 8ft long, space for 100 cars, a new entrance/driveway onto the beach to provide access for jet skis, boats and windsurfers, bollarding the entire beach 2.4 metres from the side of the road and tidying up of existing kerbing.

The owner, Steve Hall, proposes to provide two free-of-charge car parks, one at either end of the beach, employ a lifeguard and a jet ski instructor between April 1 and September 30 each year, and have a portable winch on site so jet skis and boats can be launched safely.

Other activities would include rowing, wind surfing, fishing, kayaking and kite flying, and there would be 10 refuse bins and four doggy bins, which would be emptied daily.

In a letter to Rother District Council, which is published on the council's website, Mr Hall said: "The benefits would be an increase of trade for the local amenities, more visitors to Bexhill town centre, the area would be tidy and secure, travellers will be unable to set up camp as in previous years and the involvement of local schools - free days, with training in all activities."

However the application has received almost 100 online responses, many of which are objections, and the Observer's postbag this week has contained several letters of complaint.

Joey and Robert Mitchell, of Cooden Sea Road, branded the plans a "disaster", fearing increased noise from jet skis and increased traffic gridlock at Herbrand Walk in the summer.

They said: "What an extraordinary place it is - the beach is replenished routinely by the Environment Agency. Were that not done there would be no land.

"Effectively, this is already public land, maintained at public expense by the replenishment of its beach.

"It cannot be treated as yet another development opportunity to benefit only some of the public."