Beachgoers face £100 fines for enjoying two simple pleasures this summer – don’t get caught out
BEACHGOERS could be slapped with a £100 fine for simply enjoying some popular pleasures under proposed new rules.
Anyone caught with a glass bottle or enjoying a barbecue on the sands could land themselves a sizeable financial penalty if found along a 14-mile stretch of seafront.
Fines could also be imposed on anyone doing some overnight camping, carrying a catapult and dangerous cycling or jet-ski riding.
Tough rules are already in place at a number of parks and beauty spots in Canterbury but now council bosses want to increase the regulations to apply to the coastline from Herne Bay to Whitstable.
The ban on bottles come after reports surfaced of swimmers finding shards from smashed glass in their feet.
The authority’s lead member for enforcement Cllr Ashley Clark claimed the move was not done to “kill fun” but as a way to stop “our beaches being covered in glass”.
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The senior Conservative told : “We’ve had numerous complaints from people who try to walk on the beach and find broken glass all over the place.
“We don’t want that. It’s got to stop. People get injured – I and others have been cut by glass at the beach – and animals get cut.
“And when certain people see bottles, they go around smashing them. We’ve been having yobs having bottle-smashing competitions.
“We don’t want to kill fun. We want people to use the beach without being endangered. It’s limited specifically to the beach because that’s where the problem is and people tend to have bare feet.”
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The proposed ruling would ban anyone from being in possession of any glass bottle on any beach on the district’s coast, unless the bottle is being carried in transit.
It comes as Britain is currently enjoying a mini heatwave with soaring temperatures to continue into the weekend with the mercury set to hit 21C this Saturday.
The clampdown is part of the city council’s new public space protection order (PSPO) which could come into force this summer, covering the costal strip from Seasalter to Reculver.
Should the proposal get passed and given the green light, the lighting and discarding of disposable barbecues on the seafront would also be outlawed.
In a bid to stop the district’s wildlife being targeted by thugs, anyone carrying a catapult in the area would also be liable for a fine.
ANIMALS ATTACKED BY THUGS
“People do attack animals. We get footballers who go around kicking cats,” Cllr Clark added.
“We claim to be a nation of animal lovers, but I’ve seen some pretty awful things.
“I’ve seen people catapulting at bottles and seagulls on the beach.
“Quite frankly, if they’re on a beach, they’ve got no business with a catapult.”
There were a string of incidents in 2019 that saw ducks along the Stour in Canterbury being targeted by youths with slingshots and throwing stones.
The lighting or fuelling of open fires, overnight camping, interfering with wildlife and dangerous bike and jet-ski riding on the seafront would also fall foul of the new PSPO.
Anyone falling foul of the proposed PSPO would the handed a fixed penalty notice of up to £100.
Those brought to court for breaching the order could be fined as much as £1,000.
City council bosses said in a new report said: “We want to make residents feel safer and happier about where they live, and make sure the district continues to be a great destination to visit.
“The PSPO outlines measures to tackle anti-social behaviour and issues that have been identified in our coastal areas which are detrimental to quality of life.”
The authority’s community committee were set to decide this week whether to go ahead with a six-week public consultation which was due to start on March 28.
Concerns though were raised that a clause in the order which banned “removal, disturbance or interference of any wildlife” could mean the end for crabbing along the district’s coastline.
OBJECTIONS TO 'DRACONIAN' RULES
Authority chiefs though have confirmed they will change the wording of the restriction to prevent the popular pastime from being affected.
The restrictions were first considered two years ago but were put on the back-burner as the council prioritised a barbecue and glass bottle ban across 20 green spaces last September.
The PSPO is expected to come into force by the end of July.
The Whistable Oyster Fishery Company, one of Kent’s oldest firms, hit out at the "draconian" rules, saying it would challenge any attempt to impose the restrictions on a stretch of beach the 229-year-old firm owns in the town.
The Kent authority is not the first in the UK to want to bring in the restrictive rules.
In March this year, anyone who lights a barbecue on a beach in Brighton this summer faces a fine of up to £100.
The Green-run council has voted to ban disposable barbecues from all beaches in Brighton and Hove and from all parks and spaces owned by the local authority.
Anyone caught lighting a disposable barbecue after July 1 will be handed a Fixed Penalty Notice for £100.
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The ban will also cover balloon and lantern releases in public spaces after public concerns over their effect on wildlife and the environment.
However, sunseekers will still be able to use stand-alone non-disposable barbecues on some beaches and parks.
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