The Southend Cliff Gardens are a remarkably special place in our city and our history. They have been used by huge numbers of people over the years and are an important, bio-diverse green space at the heart of our seafront. South facing and overlooking the Thames, they give a unique view of our estuary and coastal location.
But they have been under serious threat for some time. Ongoing minor slippage is displacing foot paths and steps, and rather than repair these over time, the Council has taken to simply barricading footpaths. This technique has spread and it is easy to see that it will get worse and one day we will be barred from all of the sloping cliff gardens. Other problems also exist and the general lack of maintenance is now becoming critical. Quite frankly, it casts a very poor impression of our city.
But the Cliff Gardens are important and Milton Society have researched them and written a paper describing their fascinating history. This goes back to the C18 and the earliest use of the Shrubbery gardens for access to the first bathing huts, through the Victorian and then Edwardian expansion of the gardens and their use for perambulation and taking in the air to entertainment at Happy Valley and later, Floral Hall. Large crowds attended and even political rallies with took place with visits from Lloyd George and Ramsey MacDonald. Numerous shelters, the Queen Victoria Statue, the funicular lift and the bandstand were all constructed at this time. The gardens were further expanded to the west-cliff during the interwar years and included two large sun shelters (one survives today) and various ornamental features. Post war saw the construction of the Cliffs Pavilion, clearly linked to the earlier but then lost Floral Hall.
Latterly, the cliffs suffered a major slip and the bandstand had to be relocated. Whilst the cliffs have been stabilised the landscaping has been left, almost deserted as a crudely leveled terrace and no attempt to renew or rebuild the ornamental landscaping.
Now is the time to step in and Save Our Cliffs – watch this space for our emerging campaign!
Milton Society is proud to be a leading supporter and driving force of the Hamlet Court Calling project, working to bring about renewal and regeneration in Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff-on-Sea. The project has the support of traders, residents and community groups as well as the Government’s High Street Task Force and Southend City Council.
The road has amazing heritage in its architecture and history but now it needs us all to help build a brilliant and sustainable new future, where businesses can thrive, residents can live happily and safely, and visitors can enjoy a renewed and upbeat environment. The project is fizzing with ideas from small quick wins to longer terms big goals. This includes a live crowd funding project to bring back the Christmas / festive season lights in the road which you can contribute to here https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Light-Up-Hamlet-Court-Road
Milton Society has applied to Southend City Council for a review of their 2021 decision not to designate the so called ‘wider area’ of Hamlet Court as a conservation area. The area includes lower Hamlet Court Road, Ditton Court, Preston and Cossington Roads. This follows the 92.5% survey support from the public for wider designation.
New evidence of the importance of local Edwardian architecture has resulted from a survey of local turrets which, in Southend, all centre on Hamlet Court Road and the neighbouring Leas area.
And numerous mistakes and falsehoods have been uncovered from the earlier Council considerations.
We hope that a review can lead to the designation of all of Hamlet Court Road (south of London Road) and the surrounding roads to help protect and regenerate the area, attracting new initiatives and heritage funding to the area.
A comprehensive document has been put forwards and the Leader of the Council has been asked to back up the Conservatives spring 2023 election manifesto commitment to designate.
Watch this space as further developments unfold…..
The unattributed results are fairly lengthy but can can be understood quite quickly. A summary is included at the beginning. The results include all of the unattributed public comments which make interesting reading.
These results will be issued to the High Street Task Force and Southend City Council to assist in the evidence base for future regeneration.
Thank you to all who gave their views and especially to those who indicated they would like to support and join Milton Society.
Our Spring 2023 Newsletter has just been published and here you can read all about our recent work and activites. You can find it here: Spring2023Newsletter
A new local Society was created at the recent AGMs of Hamlet Court Conservation Forum and Milton Conservation Society. It is to be called Milton Society and in due course this website will be updated to reflect the new group and describe our activities. Essentially the main work will continue in and around the local conservation areas of Milton, Shorefields and Hamlet Court but we will also be looking to assist the heritage of the local Milton area. More to follow soon…
HCCF is to consider and vote on a merger with Milton Conservation Society at its AGM on 26th October 2022 at 7.30pm at the YMCA Hub in St John’s Road, Westcliff. This exciting possibility has been considered throughout the summer and can bring significant advantages for both groups, most notably describing a far wider working area of support for local heritage in the Milton Westcliff area. Information can be shared and best practice encouraged in caring for our wider built environment. It would also bring other advantages including the opportunity for the membership to grow and the sharing of resources and costs. Hopefully this will open up better opportunities for regeneration projects locally. The proposed constitution can be seen here.
More details will be explained at the HCCF AGM for members of HCCF and Milton Conservation Society.
A new survey of business opinion has been launched throughout Hamlet Court Road by Hamlet Court Business Partnership (HCBP) with a leaflet drop and online survey. This is open to all businesses in the road with the opportunity to give views on a whole range of local issues.
Thanks to all those who supported our recent ‘Hamlet Court Calling’ event. With the help of The Haven Community Hub and 12 local traders we displayed around 60 Edwardian photographs in Hamlet Court Road. This created a great deal on interest in the history of our local area with a good deal of wonderful feedback reaching us. Many of you took advantage of the opportunity to purchase a photograph or two and we have been asked about the future availability of smaller copies which are now considering. More news on this will follow.
We also had a very interesting talk at the Hub by local historian Ian Yearsley, titled ‘Westcliff-on-Sea: A Century of Change 1921-2021’.
Our thanks go out to the participant business as follows:
The possible conservation area designation of either the north end of Hamlet Court Road (HCR), south of London Road, or of a wider area including all of HCR, Preston, Ditton Court, Cossington and part of Canewdon Road is currently out to public consultation. If you live locally you may have received a letter recently from an anonymous ‘resident’ suggesting that conservation designation ‘can mean many restrictions’. This is misleading and here we’ll try to explain each of the claims.
Please note planning rules can be complicated and will depend upon the exact planning rules in place in the area. Below is only general comment and we would always advise that as it is the local authority who make the decisions they are best placed to advise on individual cases.
A house in Milton Conservation Area with a large modern extension to the rear
The first response to the claim is that the implication of living with difficulty is quite wrong. There are around 10,000[1] conservation areas nationally, from sophisticated urban areas to simple rural and coastal settlements, some very modest. Nowhere across these areas will you find a public outcry of injustice. Conservation areas work and are generally welcomed and supported by residents, businesses and local authorities. Yes, there are differences as to how town planning works in a conservation area but you will see that these are not restrictive.
The incorrect or misleading claims are that restrictions will generally apply to:
1 Changes to your windows Repairs to windows do not require consent. If you wish you change your windows on a like for like basis, timber replacing timber, steel replacing steel or uPVC replacing uPVC these changes are usually permissible and have consistently been agreed in next door Milton Conservation Area. Yes, you probably will need to make a planning application for alternative changes as it is common for what are called Article 4 Directions to remove permitted development rights for windows, in protecting a conservation area. Generally, uPVC windows replacing original timber windows will not receive planning consent in a conservation area. Many people would not consider this a restriction.
However, in 2005 the World Wildlife Fund published ‘Window of Opportunity’ which showed that timber windows compare far more favourably than uPVC windows when comparing life costs, length of service life, environmental harm (PVC releases poisons when incinerated) and waste. Later, in 2013, a university report[2] found that timber windows are carbon negative (i.e. not contributing to CO² growth), last more than twice as long uPVC (60 years compared to 20-25 years – although many historical timber windows last for over 100 years due to the quality of the timber used at the time) and have lower life cycle assessment impacts than uPVC. uPVC windows are also not maintenance free, a common misconception. Whilst the purchase cost is less (hence the attraction and growth of the uPVC window market) the opposite is true in terms of life cost and environmental sustainability. Therefore, in 2021, when society is working towards a carbon neutral future, the likely refusal of planning permission for uPVC windows in a conservation area may not be considered a restriction.
A single dwelling in Milton Conservation Area with parking at the front
In nearby Milton Conservation Area most people understand about not replacing timber windows with uPVC and this is widely accepted. This planning control is not seen as a restriction.
2 Installing solar panels Solar panels are likely to require consent and this may not be given to street facing roof slopes but are likely to be permitted for rear facing roof slopes. Given that beautiful roofs are an important part of a conservation area this is not surprising.
3 Demolishing part of the property Demolition of small parts of a property do not require consent. Consent is required if you wish to demolish a property of 115 cubic metres or more, which almost never happens in a conservation area. Consent is also required for demolition of a wall or fence more than 1m next to a highway or 2m elsewhere. This is to protect historic enclosures but consent has been given for well designed alterations to front gardens across England, including for vehicular hardstanding – as can be seen in the illustrations here.
4 Building new walls or extensions Interior changes do not require consent (except that Building Regulations may apply, as is universal). Small changes and extensions at the rear of properties do not generally need consent as is the case across the whole country, with slightly different size limits before consent is required in conservation areas. Larger extensions will need consent but some of the most modern extensions are built at the rear of properties in conservation areas. Street boundary walls are a little different and may require consent where an Article 4 Direction (see 1 and 3 above) applies.
A large house in Milton Conservation Area divided into flats with parking at the front and rear
5 Laying paving No consent is required for paving (although suitable drainage is a requirement). Planning consent is normally required for a vehicular hardstanding but this is more to do with the vehicle than the paving (see answer 3 above).
6 Cutting trees. You will need to give notice (free of charge) of works to trees but this is almost always agreed by the local authority. Trees in conservation areas need to be maintained like anywhere else and local authorities understand and support this. If you wish to completely remove a significant tree in a conservation area, usually one contributing to the character of the area, you are likely to need consent. Removing trees in back gardens is usually permitted.
A conservation area is there is protect the heritage of the past. Yes there are different controls but these are not restrictions and many forms of development are perfectly possible.
[2] Dr Gillian Menzies, Institute for Building and Urban Design, Herriot Watt University, June 2013, Whole Life Analysis of timber, modified timber and aluminium clad timber windows: Service Life Planning, Whole Life Costing and Life Cycle Assessment
