Welcome to the November issue of the Granville Cliff Estate Newsletter. If like many, you love the changes in the seasons and what they bring, you will appreciate the present and distinct nip in the air and whiff of autumn. The November Update brings news of the roller coaster year we have had. If nothing else,it has proved that we are a diverse bunch with greatly differing opinions and perceptions as to what is acceptable for us in our immediate surroundings or even the estate as a whole. You will find here Company information and documents that will answer some of your questions. They have been sent out many times over the years but may not have been seen by more recent arrivals to the Granville Cliff Estate. Here is where we take a look what has been happening on the estate and what is to come. And of course there is the ever present subject of the ‘Roads’.
There have been many incidents involving unauthorised access to the estate this year. Builders working in Admiralty Walk have had an injunction presented to them to prevent lorries using the estate roads. The Abbot development have co operated fully with our requests and have been model builders, though access past the site has been difficult with parked vehicles at times.
Southern Water had sewer works and tried to enter the estate on grounds of urgent access. The estate threatened to go to court because Southern Water’s contractors should have used the bridge from Faversham Road. Southern Water paid a levy to us for the use of the roads. Not ideal, as again the gate had to be closed at Preston Parade and Admiralty Walk to confirm we meant business. This does cause residents problems of access and we do consider carefully before that action is taken.
BT required us to give them permission to excavate the bank along Preston Parade for installation of fibre cables. We refused this request, and the lines have been laid along exisiting ducts in Faversham Road.
The new Gas main will be soon on the agenda and residents should know that the gas main can be within the verge between the road and front garden of all properties. This will require excavation of some drives and gardens where residents have made the verge their own. A note of caution, all land forward of the telephone poles along each road have services running underneath. They will be subject to disruption and may need to be replaced by the owners.
The Granville Cliff Estate Comany Limited owns all the roads, verges, banks and down to the mean high tide level of the beach and the Residents Association manages these on behalf of the Company. There is a public right of way from Admiralty Walk all along the top of the bank (cliff) on the seaward side of Preston Parade to the Estate boundary at the end of Preston Parade.
The concrete pathway by the sea wall is not a public right of way but a maintenance access road for Canterbury City Council and their contractors to maintain the sea wall, beach and groynes.
Originaly all the raods were unmade and ran between the boundariesof the properties on both sides, or as with Preston Parade, from the boundary of the properties to the top of the cliff and grassed bank on the seaward side. When the road were surfaced, only a 3 metre wide strip was laid with a provisional 10 ton limit. This left a grass verge either side. Many residents maintain the grassed areas and others have paved or laid shingle on the areas. Others have done nothing. We employ a gardener to keep the areas tidy where required.
Residents should request permission to cover the verges as it is still Company land.m Generally, there is no objection to the areas being paved as it stops them becoming muddy but the utility services run in these areas and residents are warned the the service contractors can at any time and without reference to residents, excavate through the paving and have no requirement to make good afterwards or provide compensation.
The verges should not be fenced off, have rockeries built, planted with trees or shrubs and should remain unobstructed allowing the areas to walked over by pedestrians. This was the footpath for pedestrains and is an area for cars to pass each other on the narrow road.
Vehicles, caravans, motor caravans and boats should not be parked on the verges and cars should park on the seaward side of Preston Parade. Skips should not be placed on Company land but within the boundary of residents property.
Verges cannot be claimed as part of the adjoining buildings land. Some recent planning applications have been submitted showing Company land as part of the property, giving a wrong impression of the available parking and access. One property had a bay window being built on Comany land and it had to be demolished.
The boundaries to properties are generally easily defined. Along Preston Parade the boundary is on a line running to the rear of the telegraph poles. Older properties have fences or walls that floow this line. In St Mary’s Grove, Allen Road, Hodgson Road and Bowyer Road, the same rule applies.
If any breaking out or excavation into, through or accross Company land for sewer or service connections is deemed necessary, permission should be requested from the Residents Association. Reasonable notice should be given to ensure access for emergency vehicles and other residents. The use of the road must not be compromised and an undertaking must be given to reinstate the areas on completion.
Vic Ellis- GCE Director
If you’d like to contribute something for the next issue, simply e-mail: val.albin@talktalk.net or write to our postal address that is detailed on the last page.
The committee would like to extend their best wishes to all residents new and not so new for the forthcoming festivities. Once again, if you have elderly family or neighbours, please spare them a few minutes this Christmas. Isolation is a huge problem for older people, especially at this time of the year. Encourage them to stay warm and if you are popping to the shops, check to see if there is anything that they need.
Best Front Gardens Competition 2012
Judges: June Grout and Val Rochester (Social Committee)
Winners: Mr & Mrs E. Newbound, 48 St Mary’s Grove who were presented with a £10 B&Q voucher. They were suitably delighted with their win and thanked the Committee. Their intention is to buy a new rose bush for their garden with the prize.
Highly Commended:
23a St Mary’s Grove: previous prize winners, with an ongoing colourful display.
35 St Mary’s Grove: colourful and innovative and previous prize winners.
68 St Mary’s Grove: well laid out, good mixture of plants and shrubs with great colour.
25c Preston Pde: new garden with another colourful show of plants & shrubs.
27 Preston Pde: neat and tidy with a good mixed show.
22 Allan Rd: beautiful roses and colourful
6 Bowyer Road: well laid out, attractive and very different from the others around.
12 Bowyer Road: tucked away down the side, with a pretty show of baskets and flowers.
Well done to you all for allowing us all to enjoy your great gardening displays.
Please don’t forget that there will be a strongly contested competition for The Best Christmas Lights Display again this year.
Estate Roads Update
This year we have only carried out emergency road repairs at the Admiralty Road entrance to the estate and to St Mary’s Grove.
In St Mary’s Grove a very large pot hole appeared and was continuing to be enlarged as large lorries loosened the sub base allowing the tarmac surfacing to collapse into the hole. A temporary repair was made on a Sunday by Committee members using block paviors that had been fly tipped along Faversham Road and a contractor made a more permanent repair a week or so later.
At the Admiralty Walk entrance, the heavy lorries or mobile cranes, with the help of some extremely hot weather caused the tarmac to soften and be pushed outwards and upwards forming a deep rut at the sea side of the road and a high mound in the centre of the road.
There was a danger that cars could be damaged, oil sumps ruptured and even cyclists or pedestrians injured.
At the time, the Gas board had closed Admiralty Walk so very little traffic was able to use the entrance and this allowed us to discuss the road damage with the Gas Board and their contractors. Neither would accept responsibility for the damage but Morrisons, the contractor agreed to cut out the raised section of road, cut out and fill the rutted section and resurface the affected area as a gesture of goodwill and at no cost to us.
The Gas Board stated that the contract with Morrisons contained a clause that they should not use our estate roads and so rejected our general claim for compensation for general damage. As Admiralty Walk was closed for some 12 weeks the Gas board argued that less traffic would have used the estate roads than normal as sight-seers and scenic route drivers were not accessing the estate.
As new builds have continued throughout the year requiring large lorries for material deliveries and spoil removal, cranes and skips, to have redressed surfaces and repairs to the road edges and disturbed areas would have been a waste of funds. We do not know what this winter has in store for us but if there is a lot of ice and snow the roads will suffer.
We propose to wait until the spring and then survey the roads, prepare a schedule of repairs and obtain competitive quotations for the works with a view to the repairs being carried out in suitable conditions. Obviously, if any areas deteriorate suddenly or become dangerous we will deal with them as soon as we are aware of them. Vic Ellis (Roads Committee)
Weighty Problem
We have been asked by a resident what the lorry signs mean at both road entrances to the Estate.
To answer this, we will go a bit further into the roads themselves.
When we first started talking about tarmac surfacing our roads, more than ten years ago now; costs were obviously a major consideration. For those of you that were not here at that time, we had a shingle topping, which over the years had weathered down into and added to the basic foundations. These foundations themselves were often rubble laid down by early residents to form very basic roads. We have archive photographs; some as late as 1968, of quagmire conditions where wellington boots were the order of the day and vehicle access was impossible at certain times of the year in many areas of the Estate.
Because of these basic foundations, some better than others throughout the Estate, we had a dilemma. To lay proper foundations then, tarmac would have been prohibitively expensive.
Following consultations with potential road laying contractors, we managed to negotiate a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ 10 year guarantee for a tarmac surface on the existing foundations, as long as certain areas were strengthened first. We also decided on reducing to a single track width, again because of the cost. ‘Passing places’ would be the Company land, some of which had been previously shingle coated, to the housing side of Preston Parade and both sides of the new surface in all the other roads.
In talking to the contractors and advice from other bodies and people experienced in these matters, it was recommended we introduce a 10 tonne weight limit to ensure the new structure would withstand general road traffic over the expected life of the road. Government statistics show that road damage and in particular subsidence, is mainly due to lorries not cars. I once read that single ‘juggernaugts’ cause more subsidence than thousands of cars because of their weight.
This is one reason we try to restrict vehicle size throughout the Estate and impose a building charge on major construction works for our and Admiralty Walk residents.
I hope this information now explains our reasoning behind the lorry signs. Alan (Joe) Crow.
Parking on Company Land
Residents are once again being asked not to park on company land i.e. the grass bank on Preston Parade and particularly other soft areas on the estate. This is leaving the way open for any passing motorist or dog walker to think that they can park anywhere and also damages these areas.
Allow enough space on your property to cater for your and your visitors vehicles. This is common sense.
The days of one-vehicle households are now a thing of the past; indeed it is quite common for each resident in a house to own a car and with the condition of our local public transport this is often a necessity.
We have worked hard and spent considerable monies to bring the roads up to their current standards. Everyone benefits from this, albeit in the house prices or the quality of life we enjoy on the estate. To reduce this quality by inconsiderate parking would be selfish.
We as a committee would be remiss if we did not bring problems to your attention and request your approval, support and co-operation in this matter. If you have off-street parking, and most do, please use it and ensure it is adequate for your needs. Your property is not an island and your actions impact on those around you.
This is not big brother in action, nor is it an attempt to stop people or their visitors parking outside their houses for short periods, but it is an attempt to prevent continual damage to certain areas and obstruction of the roads.
