Founded in 1990, the Association aims to represent, support and safeguard the interests of its members who own beach huts at Barton-on-Sea, Calshot, Hordle Cliff or Milford-on-Sea. We hope you will find information of use and interest in these pages, whether you are a general enquirer or looking for information in our members’ only section.
The Association’s purpose, set out in its constitution, is to advise, represent, and liaise with New Forest District Council and other authorities on behalf of its members across all matters relating to the ownership of beach huts. Membership is by annual subscription and there are currently over 400 huts whose owners are members. The Association is headed up by a committee of currently 7, though 1 additional member is being sought. Although not a Registered Charity, the Association makes donations to charitable organisations from time to time.
Your Committee has made arrangements for the Association's 2022 Annual General Meeting which is on Wednesday 27 April 2022 at 6.00 pm; venue - Lyndhurst Community Centre. All Association members are welcome to attend.
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Hordle Cliff suffered worst of the four beaches in the NFDC area from storms Eunice and Franklin and we have now received three update concerning Hordle from Steve Cook, New Forest District Council's Service Manager, Coastal:
I’m pleased to say that the steps at the eastern end have now been opened-up and access can be gained to those huts that sit behind the seawall as well as those on the upper level, from hut 158 to hut 177. We are though, continuing to see cliff movement in the upper level between hut 137 and hut 153 and this section needs to remain closed. We are continuing to monitor and assess this area for ongoing movement, but for now unfortunately, access cannot be allowed to this section.
We are continuing to liaise with individual owners who require further information or who have huts that have been affected by the beach erosion. But should you have any questions then please direct them to coastal.team@nfdc.gov.uk although the team is busy, we will try to get back to you as soon as we can.
I’m writing to you to provide a further update with regard to the beach huts located behind the seawall, this follows my Update 1 of 22nd February.
Firstly I would like to thank you for your patience while we have been dealing with the numerous issues at Hordle Cliff following storms Eunice and Franklin. Unfortunately, we are still continuing to see the further impacts at the site with cliff instability and further beach losses to the west of where your beach huts are located.
I’m pleased to say though, that you can now plan to have the necessary works undertaken to your beach hut to make it usable again. Particularly those that have been moved out of alignment and just need some minor work. For some of you, whose huts suffered more substantial damage, you will need to consider if you will be repairing or replacing your beach hut. If this is the case I would remind you of the need to determine if planning permission is required, you can do this by making contact with the duty planning officer using the following details:-
www.newforest.gov.uk/article/2001/Duty-planner-service or call 023 8028 5345.
We will be looking to fully open up access at this eastern end of Hordle Cliff from next week to enable you more easily access your beach hut. If possible, I would like to request that you advise the coastal team at coastal.team@nfdc.gov.uk of your intentions for repairing your beach hut. Particularly if you are planning to undertake this yourself or make use of contractor.
Once again thank you for bearing with us during this time, with a changing situation. Should you have any questions then please do contact the Coastal Team using the email address above.
I'm writing you to provide an update on the devastating impact of storms Eunice and Franklin on Hordle Cliff and the beach huts. As I'm sure you can understand this has been a challenging few days for us in trying to inspect and assess the impact across our coastline, not helped in any way with the prolonged unsettled weather.
Following initial inspections on Friday afternoon (18/2/22) and Saturday morning the decision was taken to close access to Hordle cliff, on the basis of there being a number of huts in an unstable condition as well as a report of some cracking in the upper footpath area. Without knowing the full extent of damage and to provide safety to hut owners, residents and visitors the site was closed.
We are still in the position of undertaking further detailed inspections in trying to identify damaged beach huts, which is proving to be even more difficult when a number of huts do not have a number on them. This work will still continue for a while and once we have a clearer picture we will be in a position to make contact on an individual basis with owners who have had huts damaged.
What I can update you on is that we plan, on the 23rd February, to open access again to the western side of Hordle Cliff. We do though need to retain the closure for the eastern end, the reason for this being that:
* There has been significant beach erosion
* A number of huts are in damaged and unstable condition
* Some cracking has been identified in the upper footpath along the top row of huts
* There has been some ground movement within the slope between the upper and lower beach huts
For access purposes this means that on the upper level there will no access to any beach huts from hut number 136 through to the eastern end at hut number 177 and for the lower level no access to beach huts from hut number 294 through to the eastern end to hut number 235. It is of course difficult to fully close a beach, but I would ask that you do not access any of these areas.
Please bear with us in the Coastal Team while we work through assessing the impacts and actions that can be taken. Should you however, wish to ask any questions then please do so by emailing us at coastal.team@nfdc.gov.uk
On Friday 10 December, your NFBHOA committee met Judith Lacey and Steve Cook of NFDC Coastal team to discuss a number of items of interest and concern to beach hut owners. Amongst the items on the agenda was the annual Site Licence Fee, and New Forest District Council’s proposals for increases for 2022-2023.
Steve Cook indicated that to keep pace with increases in costs which NFDC is seeing, it was proposed to increase the Site Licence Fee by 12%. NFBHOA committee members argued that 12% is significantly above the current rate of inflation and that the increase should be reduced. Steve Cook agreed to discuss the increase with his department head and has since advised that the proposed increase has been reduced to 10% (or more precisely 9.7% allowing for the rounding down numbers to whole numbers of pounds).
The picture on site licence fees is complicated by value added tax which is levied by HM Revenue and Customs on the fees. The normal rate of VAT in the UK is now, and has been over preceding years, set at 20%. However, for 2021-2022 due to the Covid pandemic, HMRC allowed a reduction to 5% in the VAT charged on payments for council services. While some councils did not pass on this reduction to the users of their services, NFDC was one which did indeed pass it on in full.
For the 2022-2023 financial year, your NFBHOA committee was anticipating that the VAT rate would revert to 20% but were pleased to hear from Steve Cook that for the site licence fee invoices to be issued to hut owners in March 2022, a VAT rate of 12.5% will be applied.
The net result of these two changes, 10% (or more precisely 9.7%) increase in site licence fee and VAT at 12.5%, is that hut owners have seen on the invoice they receive in March 2022 an increase in the charge including VAT totalling 17.5% when compared with the invoice for 2021-2022.
The NFDC representatives also advised that all huts on NFDC land have been re-measured over the past weeks. When site licence fee invoices were issued in March 2022, hut owners were advised to check that their hut remains in the correct charging band.
Two new size bands have also been added as some huts have been seen to be well above the sizes for the largest charging band in the 2021-2022 scheme.
The licence transfer fee, payable to NFDC on the sale of a hut, is set to remain at £400 ex VAT. From 1 April 2022, the VAT rate applicable to this fee reverted to 20%, resulting in a charge of £480 including VAT.
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We take crime very seriously and have written to both the local police and MP in relation to reporting and reducing crime. This is an ongoing matter and we will work with all members. Advice on this can be found at: https://www.newforestbeachhuts.com/#security.
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As a reminder, a Beach Hut Sales option is included on our website. This is a free facility which members can use. Please visit https://www.newforestbeachhuts.com/hut-sales for more information.
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NFDC have advised that you will no longer be able to contact them on 023 80 28 5588. If you have the 5588 number stored anywhere, please delete it to save you misdialling in future. If you call that number you will hear a recorded message to advise that the number is no longer in use.
All the other NFDC telephone numbers remain unchanged and 023 80 28 5000 is the customer services number.
Before telephoning you may wish to save time by visiting the website http://www.newforest.gov.uk where there is information about NFDC's services.
By visiting https://www.newforest.gov.uk/article/1162/Contact-us you will also see all NFDC contact options including using a web-chat with the customer services team.
You can email NFDC at customer.services@nfdc.gov.uk
If you call customer services you will hear a list of options. Please listen carefully so you can select the right one for the service you need. Your call will then be automatically put through to the service you want, or you will be connected to customer services.
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The Association's audited Income and Expenditure Accounts for 2021 are available for Members to view in the Members Only section, by clicking on AGM minutes (current and archive).
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The position of Chair of the Association remains vacant, so a new Chair is again sought.
If you are interested in being the Chair, please contact Jan Wise for further details: hon.secretary@newforestbeachhuts.com
Prospective nominees will need to be members of the Association.
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If you see anti-social behaviour or criminal activity in progress, do not intervene, but call 999.
Report any suspicious behaviour you see, or damage to your hut which you believe may have been caused by criminal activity, to the police on 101.
Be ready to give the postcode for the incident. For Barton on Sea BH25 7DU, Calshot SO45 1BR, Hordle Cliff SO41 0UX and Milford SO41 0PY.
Looking around your neighbours’ huts is invaluable. Please report any damage found to your NFBHOA beach rep. For contact, see: https://www.newforestbeachhuts.com/#contactus
or phone NFDC on 02380 285000, email: coastal.team@nfdc.gov.uk
Outside normal office hours call NFDC’s emergency service on 023 8028 5250. In the unlikely event you are unable to contact NFDC on this number, you can call an emergency mobile number: 07771 259098.
https://www.newforest.gov.uk/article/1162/Contact-us
Advice for Beach Hut Owners - Autumn and Winter
Autumn / winter is an interesting time at the beach, but there are fewer people about to look out for problems with huts and weather may cause damage too. So, the first step to keep your hut safe and secure is to make sure that it is in good condition and that it is properly locked-up. If repair work is needed, a list of contractors can be found by visiting our Members Only page (password required) and clicking the link to Beach Hut Repair / Maintenance Contractors:
https://www.newforestbeachhuts.com/members-only/
If you are closing your hut for the winter, please be sure to remove any items of value and all gas bottles.
Under the licence issued to owners by New Forest District Council for beach huts on our 4 beaches, no renting of huts is permitted under any circumstances.
Responsible dog owners and their dogs are welcome on our beaches, but it is advisable to keep dogs on long leads. Please clean up after your dog has fouled.
Reports have been received of white lumps of congealed palm oil on New Forest beaches. Dog owners are warned that this material causes severe illness if ingested by their pets. If you see this material on a beach, please advise NFDC's Customer Services by phoning 023 8028 5000 or by email at: customer.services@nfdc.gov.uk
