“Bournemouth beach has been described as one of the most disappointing beaches in the world… after a bank holiday heatwave… the beach has also been ranked 12th in the world on TripAdvisor’s list of top-rated beaches of all time.” – The Independent
Every year right on cue, the sun comes out for the May bank holiday, and residents down here at Britain’s favourite south-coastal beach start complaining about the overflowing rubbish, faeces – both animal and human, plastic, glass, and hot disposable barbecues buried under sand for people to tread on barefoot that holidaymakers leave behind, as well as overstretched car parking and certain anti-social behaviours. Valid concerns. But why is this newsworthy?
It happens every year – one comment on the local newspaper’s article online said so, and that ‘every year, Brighton & Hove are surprised’. The beach is the difference – seven miles of clear sand. We get swamped on peak dates, on a level not seen anywhere else in these isles.
So, how to manage it? Everyone looks for someone to blame, and that’s usually the council. They haven’t got any money, and that in turn is because of 14 years of Tories, cuts to services, and Lib Dem Nick Clegg’s ‘austerity,’ if you remember? One misguided racist comment claimed it’s because ‘other cultures have different attitudes to littering’… predictable standard these days on UK forums; I only had to scroll about five comments down before I found that.
A friend who teaches in the field of Environmental Studies and who has a close understanding of local politics advised me that if activists and concerned citizens, green eco-conscious do-gooders, went down there hands-on with our bin bags and cleared it all up, if that happened all the time, councils would see this happening and stop allocating official funds to it. I would agree it is the council’s responsibility, but also ours to take our debris home if the bins are full. But we all know that won’t happen when you get hit by flash-flood tourism on the scale just seen at the weekend.
How is it done in other popular places with great beaches?
If they make it an offence to leave your stuff on the beach (it probably is), how is this supposed to be enforced? They have security patrols, but they’re simply overwhelmed by the numbers coming down on a record-breaking hot bank holiday.
I thought nobody liked Bournemouth anymore anyway? Every time something bad happens here, it gets on the national news – certain controversial hotels and the far-right TV news may have a hand in that. No one denies there have been national newsworthy incidents, but for us living and working here in this tourist economy, the overall damage to the town’s reputation as a resort is devastating. Or is it? Looking at last weekend, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s business as usual.
How can you implement more bins or better means of refuse collection ongoing through the day, or set rules and enforce them, with the sheer number of flip-flops on the ground? You don’t want to over-police the beach and put people off coming, but at the same time, others want to feel safe and looked after.
(see Barcelona’s example)
People are going to smoke weed and drink beer openly, then fall in the sea. That’s what a lot of them come here to do. We, hospitality workers, are here to clean up after them. This is normal around here – for a few months before it goes dead again. It’s party town. They literally come here TO make a mess and not have to take responsibility—that’s part of the appeal. I think you must accept that XYZ is going to happen, and you are not going to stop it. Like people taking drugs in nightclubs… you’ll never stop that completely; it goes with the territory.
Regarding drugs – simply, where you have a high demand, suppliers will swoop in. This town is thus inherently attractive to organised crime from elsewhere. I don’t think you’ll stop that in a hurry either. And then the inevitable turf wars…
(See Portuguese example.)
A young Labour councillor who infamously won his seat off a long-standing Tory ended up presiding over the beach and central tourism department during lockdown – he must be glad he’s not still in that job. I’m told he moved away.
Finally—to the festivalgoers. Do you leave all your sh*t in a field? I doubt it… but you know it happens. What’s the penalty? Who clears it up? I’ve seen Swampy and Extinction Rebellion cleaning Hyde Park after a big event. Should they have to?
What can you do? Not complain, but be an agent of actual change? If we know it’s coming, why the same headlines year in, year out?
Now that Reform UK now runs the local town council, let’s see what they come up with.
