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© Upnor Sailing Club
1-3 Pier Place, Lower Upnor, Rochester, Kent ME2 4UY Milton Creek
www.sittingbourneyachtclub.org.uk
Kent County Council have again raised orders for the Sittingbourne Northern Relief Road that includes a bridge over Milton Creek with clearance of 4.2 Metres.
This low level bridge will prevent the navigation of masted boats to the top of this creek.
Objections must be received by 3rd March.
This Creek is unusual in that it is surrounded by industrial development and is not visible to the inhabitants of Sittingbourne at the moment.
However the top end of the Creek is about to be redeveloped for Retail and housing and the new crossing will 'open up' the creek to the local community.
Wil Pretty
T: 01580 892741
M: 07866365059
Vice Chairman Medway Yachting Association18/02/08
Sittingbourne YC
You may be interested to know that Wil Pretty and I, with other local people, are re-starting Sittingbourne YC. It has a new web site at www.sittingbourneyachtclub.org.uk.
With our recent cruise of two yachts to the head of the creek, we generated quite a bit of publicity in the East Kent Gazette and there is a half page article in this month's Sailing Today magazine.
We hope you will support us in our campaign to keep Milton Creek open for sailing vessels. It is potentially an attractive, interesting, historically important and convenient sailing destination for yachtsmen on the Medway and Swale, plus those from further afield on the East Coast and the Continent.
Tony Lavelle19/04/2006
Hoo Ness Yacht Club
Easter Cruise to Milton Creek
Calling all Creek Crawlers
As you may be aware - Milton Creek could soon be closed to sailboats as KCC are planning to construct a low level bridge over it with no lifting section.
This year could be the last chance to visit this Historically important Creek. (500 sailing Barges were constructed here.)
There are no facilities there, but if you can take the mud we have arranged berthing at Murston Wharf About 1 mile up the creek on the port hand side. If you are adventurous, you can get all the way to Sittingbourne over the High Tide (14.18 on Friday)
I will be there over the whole Easter Holiday and you can contact me on VHF 77 or Mobile. Your boat will need to have a draught of less than I Metre
As a result of the construction of the new Sheppey crossing, Opening of Kingsferry Bridge will be limited and you should listen out on VHF 10 and try to time your arrival to coincide with openings due to Commercial movements.
Wil Pretty - Rear Commodore
Chica - Telstar tri
Tel 01580 892741
MOB 0786636505906/04/2006
Save Milton Creek!
Photo by Wil Pretty
Crisis, what crisis?
The proposed new bridge over Milton Creek for the Sittingbourne Northern Relief Road will be too low for sailing vessels to pass. Thus an important sailing destination will be lost forever and the potential for local leisure and employment will be wasted.
Past, Present and Future
In the days of sail, up to the Second World War, the Creek was a major centre for Thames barges taking paper, cement and bricks to London and bringing rubbish back.
Daybreak on Milton Creek a hundred years ago
Painting available for sale, shown with permission of D F Harvey (01795) 423304.
The Creek is reputed to be silted-up, polluted and foul, though perhaps not quite as bad as has been made out. Pilot books discourage yachtsmen from visiting. The old wharves are in disrepair and there are no public facilities for landing. Unsurprisingly few yachtsmen come nowadays. Apart from some barges in various stages of restoration at the museum at the head of the creek, there are no boats to be seen.
Now much of the old industry has gone or is being cleaned up and millions of pounds are being spent on regenerating the area between Sittingbourne and Sheerness. The landfill site has been capped. Leisure and shopping facilities are being developed. Tesco is planning to clean up and dredge the head of the creek to attract shoppers to their new Skyway centre. The new Kingsferry Bridge will make it easier for sailing vessels to enter the Swale. At least one local landowner has been granted permission to redevelop an old wharf (Mr Lilley, Murston Wharf) with a slipway and pontoons.
Swale Forward (www.swaleforward.org) acts as a steering body for Swale Borough Council, Kent County Council, SEEDA and the ODPM. Their development framework preliminary report considers many important aspects of this area but completely ignores the potential of the Creek itself as a waterway.
Why Milton Creek is important to Yachtsmen
Red circle shows strategic location of Milton Creek. © Collins-Bartholomew 2006.
1. It is a short creek directly to a large town with space to moor a large number of boats.
2. Yachtsmen from St Katharine's Dock to Harwich (and the Continent) are within a day's sail and only the Medway or Ramsgate can offer similar facilities on the south side of the Thames Estuary.
3. It is midway between the North Foreland and London. Yachtsmen coming from the Continent are likely to arrive at North Foreland at the start of the flood. Milton Creek is just a tide's sail away from there for a large proportion of boats.
4. A yacht emerging at High Tide would have tidal assistance if they wish to go to the North or to the East through the Swale. (The tide separates where the Creek joins the Swale)
5. The new Sheppey Crossing will eliminate the traffic problems caused by boats requiring the bridge to lift.
6. Unlike most other navigable creeks around the Thames Estuary there are excellent road and rail connections.
7. The shape of the Creek would make it relatively simple to install a dam with a lock or sill to keep boats afloat, unlike other Swale creeks. Along with dredging this would also make the Creek more attractive. The dam would serve as a flood protection barrier.
Why keeping the Creek open is important to the Local Community
Developing leisure and tourism are important aspects of the Local Plan of Swale Borough Council.
Heritage
Sittingbourne is the child of Milton Creek. Boatbuilding and industry was centred around the creek because it was perfect for sailing vessels to reach London on the tide. The Barge Museum has been forced close (by their landlord) and so far has not found a new home.
Tourism
Visiting yachtsmen, from the East Coast and the Continent would bring spending power. Sailing yachts and barges are a visitor attraction in their own right - no expense to community. The sight of traditional masts, fluttering pennants and furled sails of a few barges would beckon visitors to the water and other facilities like the light railway and karting circuit.
Leisure and sport
Sailing is a growing sport for the young and a popular pastime for the middle-aged and not just the wealthy few. In the last two Olympics Great Britain obtained more medals in sailing than any other sport.
Nature conservation
Sailing is an eco-friendly activity and relatively compatible with nature conservation. What better was to appreciate the quiet nature reserves of the Swale with their teeming birdlife than to glide through the waters on a sailing boat? Also it would be an ideal location to operate electric (or other low pollution) boats to take visitors around the nature reserves in the Swale from the Lillies to Harty.
Employment
Catering for the visitors and running marina facilities would provide much needed local employment.
Flood Protection
Sea levels are rising. The area is low lying and known to be liable to flooding but only parts of Milton Creek have flood banks. A dam across the creek mouth could double as a flood barrier and lock.
What we ask Swale Borough Council to do
Milton Creek looking north towards Sheppey
1. STOP!
2. Reconsider alternatives to the proposed bridge:
(a) the bridge could be higher or
(b) have a lifting section. The Northern Relief Road will not be wide so the extra expense need not be huge.
Alternatively and more simply,
(c) the bridge could cross the creek nearer the town.
3. Intervene to help the Barge Museum stay or find a new home in Milton Creek. Offer incentives to the growing number of sailing barge owners and traditional boatbuilders to come back to the Creek.
4. Conduct a feasibility study for the development of marina facilities in Milton Creek.
Tony Lavelle and Wil Pretty
Hoo Ness Yacht Club
February 2006
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