Criticism as Kent County Council could sell its windmills

KentOnline / KMTV

Locals say the mills are vital for Kent's heritage while the council are trying to balance the books and say they need to make cuts.

Transcript

00:00 These are just some of the hundreds of volunteers across Kent

00:03 who maintain the county's windmills

00:05 and they were furious to learn all eight could soon be getting sold.

00:09 The proposals are part of a bid to fix Kent County Council's multi-million pound budget gap.

00:18 Kent's windmills currently cost the council a couple of hundred thousand pounds a year.

00:22 They're dotted far and wide across the county,

00:25 some of which are museums,

00:26 some have been restored

00:28 and some are still working mills today,

00:30 including the Union Mill in Cranbrook.

00:33 It's England's tallest working smock windmill

00:36 and is also known for its views of the Kent Downs.

00:39 The people of Cranbrook love their windmill.

00:42 They like the look of it.

00:43 Lots of them come to visit it

00:45 along with tourists from other parts of the country

00:48 and even other countries.

00:50 I'm quite sure that around here

00:52 about 99% of the people would not want the proposal to continue.

00:58 They would like to keep their windmill

01:01 in the good condition that Kent County Council have continued to maintain it.

01:06 While these plans are due to go to public consultation,

01:09 the chair of KCC's Environment and Transport Committee

01:12 tried to overhaul this today.

01:14 I think that we shouldn't be looking at getting rid of them

01:17 because I think that if you put them into a trust

01:19 or some kind of voluntary organisation

01:22 with the best will in the world,

01:23 those things are always scrabbling to get money.

01:26 They can never be sure that they will get the finances

01:29 that those buildings need.

01:30 And my fear would be that if that happened,

01:33 that gradually they will deteriorate

01:35 and they will become less and less

01:38 the splendid things that they are at the moment.

01:40 I think the County Council has a duty to look after them.

01:42 As we've learned, Kent has a variety of different types of windmills

01:46 but they all look different.

01:48 They have different identities, different purposes as well.

01:50 Like this one here in Chillingdon looks completely different

01:53 from the one we saw in Cranbrook.

01:54 With most windmills, you'll see just the sweeps

01:56 turning these bits at the top, turning in the wind.

01:58 But what's different about this, this is a post mill

02:01 which means the entire body will turn in the wind.

02:04 It will mean a great loss of our heritage eventually.

02:07 One's only got to look at other mills

02:10 where other arrangements have been made

02:13 and generally it has not been successful.

02:15 We've been very fortunate up till now

02:18 because we've had tremendous support from KCC

02:21 but the alternative in this way going forward

02:25 looks very bleak for us all.

02:27 KCC said these proposals focus on the community groups

02:30 and give them the opportunity to take over the windmills if they wish.

02:34 They confirmed the public consultation will still go ahead

02:37 but no decision will be made until all feedback is received.

02:40 After years of volunteering,

02:42 those here hope this won't be the final time they're closing their doors.

02:47 Sophia Aitken for KMTV

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