COUNCILLORS at Christchurch did not have the technical specifications for proposed TV beach huts at Highcliffe before they approved the scheme. 

A packed out meeting at Christchurch council on Tuesday night heard campaigners who are calling for plans for the controversial beach retreats to be scrapped, ask 14 questions about the scheme.

A petition with more than 1,400 signatures was also presented to councillors.

In answering the questions about the competition with Plum Pictures, who produce George Clarke's Amazing Spaces, the council revealed they did not have the technical specification for the beach retreats before they approved the agreement with the production company in December.

Deputy leader, Cllr Claire Bath said: "The specification for the beach retreats was not available for inclusion in the committee reports in December as it had not been written at that time.

"The members were told that the huts would be overnight huts and of innovative design as part of a national design competition."

And an official site visit was not undertaken by members before a decision was made last year.

Leader of the council, Ray Nottage said: "There was no organised site visit by members prior to the decision being made in December 2015 but all members are very familiar with the site and were content to rely on discussions between Natural England, Coastal Engineers and Community and Recreation Officers to advise on the best specific locations within the general area of the cliffs."

The council withdrew their application for consent for the overnight beach huts from Natural England last week.

As of Monday, a decision had not been made over whether to submit a second application for day huts on the site, an option the council are exploring.

But Cllr Nottage, asked if the council agreed the huts were in the wrong place and if the agreement with Plum Pictures should be terminated, said:"Natural England will have the final say on whether the sites proposed for the huts are suitable.

"The council committees which considered the proposals for overnight huts at Highcliffe agreed unanimously that the agreement with Plum Pictures should be entered into."

Members were also asked if they thought the council had shown openness and transparency in its dealings with residents in Highcliffe.

Cllr Nottage said: "Because of the commercial sensitivity of the agreement with Plum Pictures and the nature of the design competition, it was not possible for the council to debate the proposals in open session.

"The council has a long history of community engagement and consultation, but there are times when those who are elected by the community have to take decisions based on the information before them without public consultation and based on what they believe to be the right solution for the whole community, not just those in the immediate vicinity of the proposal."

He said similar decision were taken when the council invested to protect the cliffs at Highcliffe many years ago.

"If the council had not done this work, we would have the truly natural environment that you can see if you look east into Hampshire which is completely inaccessible to the public and which continues to erode with every high tide or storm."

He said the investment was for "future generations", with the beach retreats the next stage in that investment.