Whitstable Harbour Village
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Please help safeguard the future of 

Whitstable Harbour Village

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Whitstable Harbour Village People August bank holiday 2013
Whitstable Harbour Village People 

 

Whitstable Harbour Village Food Quarter Aug bank holiday 2013
Whitstable Harbour Village Kentish Food Quarter 

  

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Current list of the 33 local businesses being put at risk by Canterbury City Council 

The Curry Hut
The Harbour Smith
Cafe Quayside
South Quay Coffee
 Tea & Times Express
Pearl Harbour
Owl and the Pussy Cat
Matsies
The Hat and Sunglasses Hut
La Mer
Handbags Galore
Gourmet Fishcakes
Little Bead Hut
Old Oak Hut
Juanita Newton Artist
The Greek Deli
Lili 
Beaney's Fruit and Produce
Yankee Doodle Candy
Whitstable Harbour Events and Diary Dates

 

Bring the kids for our regular FREE community Punch & Judy and magic show from the great Uncle Miles and featuring Billy the Magic Rabbit.

 

Friday 20th Sept @ 3pm
Come and tell the harbour authorities what you want to see in Whitstable Harbour

Goodbye to the Curry Hut
Sadly we have to say farewell to the very popular and lovely Lorraine who served her award winning Kentish curries from the Chai Stop. 

Start-Up Business Workshops
Run by Margate Town Team, working with the FUSION project- Monday 30th September, 9.30-12.30 at Bentleys Bar and Grill, High Street, Margate CT9 1DL.

To book call 08457 226655 or email [email protected]

 

Greetings!

It is with great sadness that we have to report that after a glorious English summer on the Kent coast, a huge shadow of uncertainty is being been cast over the future of Whitstable Harbour Village by Canterbury City Council.

 

Our vibrant community of thirty-three artists, artisans and local independent retailers have been told that the Harbour Village will not be part of the longer term plans for the harbour. The Council insist that any new lease offered to the Village must include the right for them to evict all the traders and the huts given 12 month's notice at the end of any season (a "break clause") to make way for their so called "master-plan".

 

In short, those hard working local businesses, many of whom depend on the Village for their family's livelihood will be tolerated by the Council until a more lucrative offer comes along. Having helped improve the harbour, boost the local economy and create a popular visitor destination over more than six years, the Villagers can just doff their caps and shuffle off. Many of our talented artisans would be forced onto state benefits.

 

Whitstable Harbour VillageIf that doesn't sound very fair or sensible, it gets even worse....

 

This break clause (or "kick out" clause) also means that it is impossible for us to progress a funding opportunity with the Coastal Communities Fund to create a young entrepreneurs hub in the harbour village. We have already achieved Stage 1 approval for an �86,000 grant to create 10 new businesses for local youngsters with a business adviser to help them but the Council won't back it or offer the minimum five year lease required by the rules.

 

And if that sounds plain daft what about this?  Tim Bennett Kentish Fare

 

There are now more than 20 new local independent businesses renting premises and employing people across Kent who started or developed their business at the Harbour Village. In tough economic times, the Village produces tangible economic development (i.e. jobs).

You would think that the Council might be bending over backwards to encourage and embrace this local success story. 

 

Instead, we estimate that by not offering basic security to these local businesses and squandering the opportunity to create 10 new businesses for local youngsters, Canterbury City Council are jeopardising more than 50 full and part time jobs in Whitstable in the midst of a difficult recession. That has to be a perverse policy for encouraging economic development.

 

Can you please help us? Harbour Village People

 

Please help us to persuade Canterbury City Council and Whitstable Harbour Board to see sense and commit to making the Harbour Village central to the future plans for the harbour- not just tolerated like a bad smell until some better offer turns up. Please email or contact your local Councillor or MP with your thoughts, sign our petition in the harbour or just visit our Facebook page and Like us. If you can, please attend the next Harbour Board meeting on Friday 20th September at 3pm at Whitstable Castle and make your views known. It may be our last chance to make those in charge see reason and secure our future at the heart of Whitstable's wonderful working Harbour.

 

Whitstable Harbour Village is operated by Kentish Trader Limited with the permission of Whitstable Harbour Board and Canterbury City Council. The village provides a commercial opportunity to local artists, food producers, crafts-people and independent retailers and offers a vibrant local alternative to "clone towns" and Tesco-Land.

 

Regards,

Stuart Heaver  

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  WE'RE LOCAL AND WE'RE NOT TESCO