Turnstone: Hunstanton writer John Maiden discusses the beginning of Hunstanton Civic Society

In his weekly column, Hunstanton writer John Maiden discusses the beginning of Hunstanton Civic Society…

Prominent members of the Hunstanton Society have asked me to record how the society came into being in 2002 as the 'Hunstanton Civic Society'.

It might surprise current borough council members and officers to learn that I was advised to form such a body by Tim Leader, head of legal & property services at the borough, before his sudden and unexpected departure in August 2002.

is suggestion came in a telephone conversation, initiated by me, in the aftermath of the unexplained fire in May 2002, which led to the demolition of the CHS Amusements box-shaped building on The Green at Hunstanton.

Mr Leader told me that he was a chartered town planner, in addition to being a barrister. As such, it was his opinion that a planning application for a major new three-storey building should be refused because The Green had been part of an important conservation area since 1985.

The building destroyed by fire in 2002 dated back to 1963, when it formed a tasteless modern entrance to Hunstanton's Victorian Pier, the remains of which were demolished following a serious lack of maintenance over many years, leading to severe storm damage in January 1978.

Written evidence relating to this period will form an appendix to my report, because shortly after the fire I was contacted by retired judge, Martin Jeffries, offering his help after reading my letter to the Lynn News opposing plans for the 'hangar'.

Through an exchange of letters, Martin revealed how Tim Leader began by being sympathetic in response to Martin's enquiries.

But because the freedom of information act had not yet come into effect, Mr Leader refused to release documents relating to the 999-year lease for Hunstanton Pier.

Martin and I were duly elected as joint chairmen of a steering committee representing thousands of objectors who had signed petitions against the hangar, circulated by Harry Croad and handed to the borough council mayor at a meeting of the full council.

Meanwhile Mark Harriman, as secretary, was exchanging letters with the county council in an effort to have The Green registered as a Town Green.

For no apparent reason his application, and a later one, were both rejected after objections from the borough council.

This suggests to me that Keir Starmer is mistaken in his claim that local public opinion has too much power when it comes to determining planning applications and related issues.

Shortly before the inaugural meeting of the Hunstanton Civic Society in October 2002, Sheila Jeffries, Martin's wife, introduced Patrick Dodson to the steering committee and suggested that he would make an ideal chairman.

In January 2003 Patrick faced his first real test when, at a Section 123 meeting in Hunstanton Town Hall, he spoke against the disposal of land forming part of The Green to enable the hangar to be erected.

Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of his speech, but Martin Jeffries summed up my feelings by stamping his foot when John Chinnery, Tim Leader's interim replacement, failed to answer his questions about the procedure for conducting a Section 123 meeting of this kind.

The majority of objectors in an overcrowded town hall then witnessed a farce, as the three councillors forming the panel failed to reach a decision.

The matter was then referred back to cabinet, which made a bad situation even worse, by taking less rent for the hangar than it charged for a single kiosk on the promenade.

In May 2003 Patrick hit the jackpot, when Jeff Clarke, the borough's head of planning policy was the speaker at one of the monthly talks the society is still offering to members and non-members alike.

The first thing we discovered was the lack of contact between Jeff and Richard Dobson, the head of planning control.

This explained quite a lot, but the best was yet to come.

When Jeff said that English Heritage would soon be on to the council if it failed to protect its listed buildings and conservation areas, I decided to ask English Heritage if its local office had been consulted about the hangar being erected on The Green.

Needless to say, "due to an oversight" English Heritage had not been consulted.

The successful objection from Historic England (formerly English Heritage) to a recent planning application for a beachside hotel at Hunstanton, adjacent to The Green, provides evidence of what would have happened to the hangar planning application had it not been for that costly oversight in 2002/03...