A note about Paul

Paul Burrows has decided to step to one side as Chairperson for the time being, so I am filling in as Acting Chair. Paul has been dealing with ongoing health issues, and a fire at his home has compounded matters considerably. I know you will join me in wishing Paul and Jackie well.

The Beach Hut Policy

As you may recall, the council announced its Beach Hut Policy earlier this year. We initially had difficulty obtaining a copy before it became public, but Councillor Jonathan Hulls helped us get one.

New policies go before the council’s Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee before Cabinet makes its decision. This gives councillors an opportunity to question the officers responsible and recommend changes where they feel these are needed. It is an important part of the council’s decision-making process.

We anticipated a range of issues with the Beach Hut Policy and submitted a comprehensive report explaining our concerns and suggesting improvements. The O&S Committee appeared to take notice and made six recommendations to Cabinet, including further consultation before the policy was finalised.

It was therefore all the more disappointing that Cabinet rejected every one of those recommendations. We remain willing to work with councillors and officers and hope that future consultation will lead to changes where they are needed.

Charges for moving beach huts

A case in point is the charge for moving beach huts. In December last year, council officers decided to start charging licence holders who needed a hut moved, whatever the reason. The first licence holder affected was charged £900. The explanation given was that the council no longer owned a telehandler — the all-terrain forklift used to move huts — and had hired one for the job, passing on the cost.

HIBHA has since been advised that, following a review, the council intends to buy a new telehandler to replace the one it disposed of last year. Our first question to Councillor Jonathan Hulls, who passed on this welcome news, was whether hut movements could then be included within the licence fee again, as they were before December 2025.

We have raised this several times. Councillor Hulls has said that no charge is what he is pushing for, but we have not yet had a decision from the council.

In the meantime, a charge of £228 has been quoted for a hut movement next month. We are applying every bit of pressure we can muster to get these charges dropped.

To us, this feels like another example of the beach huts being treated as a “Beach Hut Cash Cow”. Licence fees have risen substantially, while many licence holders tell us that service levels have fallen. Asking them to pay additional charges without a clear explanation will only deepen that frustration.

Other concerns on the beach

You will have noticed that the person living in a tent between the beach huts is still there, some four months after arriving. We appreciate that this may not be a straightforward situation to resolve, but licence holders deserve an update on what is being done.

Our next meeting with the council

A planned meeting with council officers and councillors was postponed earlier this month. We now have a new date in early October and will see whether the suggestions we have put forward will be taken on board.

We are trying hard to work with the council. We have made numerous suggestions about how we could help it manage the beach huts more effectively and efficiently, and even increase revenue.

At the meeting, we will also raise this year’s licence agreements. Some of you may have received one, and a number of clauses have caused concern. It appears that many licence holders have still not received an agreement, although these were due on 1 April, when invoices were issued. We understand that they are being sent out individually. In an informal check of our own committee, only one of the five members had received a copy.

We will also seek to be consulted about the likely level of licence fees for next year.

We will report back after the meeting and let you know whether our local council is in “listening mode” — and, more importantly, whether that listening leads to action.

How to make a complaint to Havant Borough Council

Committee member David Lawlor has written an article for the Latest News section of our website: “How to Make a Complaint to Havant Borough Council”. It explains the council’s complaints process and its stages, and includes examples you can use as templates when putting your own complaint in writing.

Read the article here.

Beach hut maintenance survey

Thank you to everyone who responded to our recent beach hut maintenance survey. Your answers have helped us build a clearer picture of the issues licence holders are facing, particularly those renting huts from the council. We will use the findings in our discussions with the council.

Read the full report in the Latest News section of our website:

Disabled Access Board Walk

Some positive news work has now been completed on improving the safety of the Disabled Access Board Walk.  A coating of Anti Slip Paint has been applied, its dark brown and has the texture of sandpaper. HIBHA hope that will reduce the number of people having falls on the walkway but do wonder if it will resolve the issue of the stones being kicked up on to it.

Our new bank account

Until now, HIBHA’s costs have been met by committee members. We are not currently proposing a membership fee, but donations towards the association’s work would be very welcome.

HIBHA now has its own bank account, so anyone wishing to contribute can make a direct transfer:

Please contact hutters@hibha.org for more details.

We have chosen not to use GoFundMe or a similar platform because of the charges involved. Donating directly means every penny of your contribution goes to HIBHA. Donations are entirely voluntary.

In the meantime, please take care around the heavy plant equipment moving up and down the beach. If you see shingle being removed from in front of beach huts, please take photographs, note the location and pass the information on to us.

Best wishes,

Colin Falla
Acting Chair
Hayling Island Beach Hut Association