Weld Estate Plans For the Cove

At the December Parish Council meeting the Lulworth Estate’s plans for the redevelopment of the Cove area were considered and rejected.

Mr Simpson, the Parish Council chairman, subsequently received a letter from Mr J Weld stating his perspective. The Parish Council have placed it here for your information, but do not endorse the contents.

The plans may be accessed from the Parish Council Section of this website, along with all documents relating to them. They are presently awaiting a decision from Purbeck DC.

The PDC reference number is 6/2012/0757 

Paul Simpson Esq

Newlands Farm

West Lulworth

Wareham

Dorset

BH20 5PU

24 January 2013

Dear Paul

Lulworth Cove Improvements

It is becoming increasingly clear that some in the village may have misinterpreted the planning application we recently submitted and in view of this and some of the statements made by residents and members of the Parish Council, I think it may be helpful for me to try and respond to some of these misconceptions to ensure that any decision taken is based on the facts.

Some of the comments made within the village have included:

·         The village was completely unaware of the Estate plans, the application coming without warning and with little time to respond.

·         No account taken of the views of the community.

·         A significant development, which should be at the least decided by the Planning Board.

·         The destruction of the Jurassic Coast, possibly leading to loss of World Heritage Site status.

·         The Lulworth Estate seeking only to maximise profits, with little or no appreciation of the importance of the Cove or the views of the community.

·         The scheme will reduce jobs.

·         The beach café was to be extended by 8’ (2.4m) and would have a 10’ (3m) high wall in front of it.

·         There are sufficient food outlets at the Cove, another is not needed, although I believe this was qualified by adding, in the winter.

None of these statements are accurate.

I would respond to some of these and other comments, as follows:

·         The Estate has presented these plans to the Parish Council in open meetings on 3 occasions, twice by me and once by a senior member of my staff over the last few years.  On all three occasions the plans were broadly supported.

·         The village had expressed concern at an early stage about the use of the pumping station and we agreed to reconsider this.  We did this and concluded that the alternatives suggested by the community were not economically viable.

·         The traffic improvements at the car park entrance, designed to reduce the number of cars attempting to reach the Cove itself, and thereby improving the safety for pedestrians and the use of this area for residents.  The village considered that this would not be an improvement and at your request we deleted this part of the scheme.

·         Our earlier plans envisaged and showed changes to the beach café and terraced area, including a much larger terraced area and a high retaining wall to hold up the clay cliff and protect the path above.
After considerable thought we decided that the high retaining wall against the cliff was inappropriate, significantly reducing this for the application, which also had the effect of reducing the terraced area.  We also extended the front of the beach café, effectively spreading onto the beach by a further 0.3m, not 2.4, although the building itself would be extended by 1.5m.  The new sleeper wall will be 1m high, not 3m, roughly the same as the existing height of the café above the beach.

·         The District Council approached us requesting whether we would consider taking over the public toilets at the Cove, but also stated that they were not in a position to make any contribution to the refurbishment or the running costs.  We were also aware of the Parish Councils views of the toilets, which are very much aligned with our own.  The inclusion of the toilets into the scheme adds a considerable sum to the investment required, for no return. Neither the village, other businesses nor the District Council have offered any contribution to the establishment or the running costs of these toilets and expect the Estate to assume this expense.  This initiative to offer to include the toilets and improve them at our expense was welcomed.

·         There will be the same number of outlets as currently exist, although the scale will be different.  With nearly 500,000 visitors to the Cove each year, there remain insufficient outlets to cater for this number and the addition of a quality café/bistro will add to the local economy and available jobs.

·         There is a net LOSS of buildings by 15 square metres.

·         The application does NOT propose to extend or add to the existing sea defences.

·         The application does NOT propose changes to the cliffs or any other area of the Jurassic Coast, except in an endeavour to ensure that the clay cliff/slope on the northeast side of the café does not slip any further, thereby leading to the loss of the path above;  there is no alternative route for this path and no further land that can be taken to retain it should the clay slip in the future, which it is likely to do without intervention.

·         The Parish Council raised a number of concerns regarding roof coverings, the steps at the Cove and the turning space;  all of these are relevant and appropriate and we have agreed to amend our plans accordingly.

·         Our proposals will lead to at least 20 new jobs.

This application, in my view, will have the following benefits:

·         Improve the appearance of and views from the Duck Pond, which was supported at the various consultation meetings.

·         The toilets will be renewed and maintained at no cost to the community.

·         Contrary to the views of some at our recent meeting, I do not believe that the siting of toilets immediately adjoining the main thoroughfare to the Cove is appropriate.  They should be discrete, but easily accessible;  our proposals achieve this.

·         A REPLACEMENT, albeit larger food outlet will be sited where the toilets are currently, providing a much more pleasant approach to the Cove, than public toilets.  This will improve the ambience and appearance of this area and afford a more pleasant outlook down to the beach and sea.

·         The beach café will be reinstated to its former glory of many years ago, but will also have its appearance enhanced and will include a toilet, the main reason for requiring a little more space.

·         The exposed concrete foundations of the café and the mass concrete alongside it have tested us in seeking a practical and visibly better solution.  In our view the long concrete wall or sea defence, although it was never built as such, is unacceptable in appearance, despite the fact the easiest answer was to leave it.  Stone work would probably be washed away during high springs and would be difficult to replace and maintain.  Sleepers would also probably suffer during high, particularly spring tides, but are easy to replace on a regular basis and thereby allow us to ensure that this aspect does not deteriorate as has been the case in the past.

·         The inclusion of the terraced area allows us to take the opportunity to ensure that the coastal path behind the café does not fall into the sea, particularly because there is no more available land for it to retreat to and there are no close or easy alternatives;  the Estate does not own the land here and has no influence over it.

·         The Earth Sciences at Dorset County Council have suggested that their preference would be to remove the café and adjoining mass concrete, allowing the forces of nature to take their course.  An ideal, but perhaps not a realistic solution, which would lead, very quickly, to the loss of the path behind the café also exposing the steps down to the beach to more rapid destruction.

·         It will introduce more jobs to West Lulworth.

To attach some figures to our proposals, the overall cost is likely to exceed £2,000,000, a large proportion of which will be attributed to the public toilets.  In commercial terms, the return on this investment is not likely to be very fruitful and cannot be regarded as a sensible investment for any business, but such public facilities need to be paid for whether through taxes or, as in this case, by a local business.  The entire local economy and, dare I say, all local residents will benefit from these changes, not just those businesses connected to the Estate.

Managing and operating an area such as the Cove is costly, particularly when other services and those provided by our Rangers are added, the heritage centre, education, the conservation and ecology and, until recently, the coastal paths, not to mention the only other public toilets.  To be able to provide these services, we need to generate income and we need to do this profitably, as any other organisation would, whether funded by the taxpayer or not.  We do not need to provide these other services, but choose to do so.

Another concern raised by the Parish Council has been the fate of the fishermen.  As you may be aware the Estate has the benefit of the seabed of the Cove and has the right to charge rents for moorings;  we make no charge to the local fishermen.  The fish shop was let at a very concessionary rent to a local fishing family to allow them to build up a viable business;  as yet, we have not reviewed this rent.  The fishermen, currently, pay no rent for storage, which, admittedly, has probably contributed to the relatively uncontrolled and untidy use of the area.  This does need to be addressed and although we do not intend to introduce mooring charges, for the present, we do need to consider how we might work with the fishermen to improve the appearance of this area and their storage;  this will probably require investment and we have heeded the comments made by the Parish Council expressing concern about the fishermen’s storage and will be submitting a proposal to the community for us to provide some storage, which will also ensure that we establish boundaries to areas that can be used for this purpose.

We have spent 5 years carefully and thoroughly considering how we might be able to improve the appearance of the Cove area, providing decent toilets and improving the safety of those visiting the Cove, whether locals or others.  During this time we have consulted with the local community through the Parish Council and have also taken account of comments made to me and other members of Estate staff by a number of residents and businesses at the Cove.  However, we also need to be mindful of other factors, the plethora of designations, including the Jurassic Coast, the environment, visitors and other businesses also generating employment and contributing to the local economy, to name but a few.

I am very comfortable that we have considered these proposals properly, with the expected and necessary attention being paid to the local community and those other relevant factors, when one is significantly responsible for such an important site.  The result is a feasible, viable and much-needed plan to enhance and improve the Cove area.

I would be grateful if you could distribute this among the other members of the Parish Council and other residents of West Lulworth.

Lastly, I am always available for any specific and relevant comments or questions that anyone may have and can be contacted through the Estate Office.

Regards

Yours sincerely

James Weld