Bournemouth beach - “Major incident”

[BebeGlazer]

The local police and council have now declared that Bournemouth beach is scene of “major incident” because people will not stay away. Overcrowding, littering, desperately dangerous parking.

www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/18541911.bournemouth-beach-bcp-council-declares-major-incident/

Please, please, think kindly before travelling to small seaside towns at the moment. We cannot cope.

The stabbings are now in the news.

Bugger. Was really hoping that it would have calmed down without something like this.

They were last night. It was all over Twitter and the community groups all night and now on the Echo. A group of men here from London.

I've tried to stay away from these types of threads for a while now because of my mental health, but yesterday seeing those images my heart sank. I've worked full time in the community throughout this pandemic, we are so under pressure and overworked it's unbelievable, I was hoping the end was in sight. But seeing those images yesterday I just knew, this isn't ending this year now.

It's tough when your working your arse off, running around in PPE sweating your tits off, suffocating in a mask to then see thousands of people who have no work to go to, packed in like that and a "major incident declared"

There's no end in sight to this nightmare.

@bankofnook doesn't need face licking to spread the virus. It managed to spread well enough without licking each other!

I missed all that - the last few years have seen a real rise in knife incidents here, sometimes in broad daylight in pretty public places. Very concerning.

I thought it was 1 meter plus (the plus meaning wearing a mask)

And so it continues

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-53186920

@pallisers

I've got friends and family living in Bournemouth and Christchurch, one friend living very close to Bournemouth beach and it doesn't tally with what she said about it today.

wow. Your friend should get onto the council and the police and ask them why they are wasting time and money making stuff up.

I was agreeing with you. It was just very badly worded. What my friend described tallied with what the media was saying about tensions running high in Bournemouth yesterday.

[quote BostonCheers]@Smallsteps88

I think working with local businesses to clear rubbish would certainly allow residents to speak to those business owners and bring home to them just how much their local economy (and hence their personal happiness and wellbeing) depends on visitors. Perhaps some of the staff furloughed from bars and hotels could help out.

@SquirtleSquad

I'm not denying that there has been disruption- the defection and littering are not ideal and any disruption to ferries or public transport is unfortunate. However, in the grand scheme of things, the benefits of tourism far outweigh the very minor issues it causes.[/quote]
How many times do you need it spelt out to you? Bournemouth residents personal happiness and wellbeing does not depend on visitors. As yesterday clearly showed.

*In hot sunny days before the virus all of the shops were open, pubs were open, there were museums, aquariums, softplays, attractions, hotels/B&Bs/holiday parks, cafes, restaurants, etc. So all the mass groups of people were more spread out, there were extra toilets available in cafes/pubs, venues had extra staff taken on to cover the additional work during the peak season and the peak would ebb and flow based on weekends, bank holidays, school holidays.

Yesterday (and throughout lockdown) there was a mass of people concentrated into one specific area - the beach - as there were no pubs, cafes, other attractions, etc to siphon any of them off elsewhere and spread out the concentration of visitors. No extra toilets as no venues open so only the public toilets available which are enough on their own to cope with that amount of people.*

This. I can't think of any other reason why it's been so busy round the lakes in the Lake District recently - especially with visitors who don't normally go to the Lakes. A lot of them wouldn't have been here at all and others would have been in cafes/at visitor attractions etc.

People are so selfish. Being crammed into a tiny patch of beach, hemmed in by hundreds of other people can hardly be a pleasant experience, surely? Won't deter the feckless idiots who don't give a damn about anyone else, create a mess and the bugger off home, though. It's depressing to see.

For those who say Bournemouth beach was not crowded and there was social distancing in place, here's a video for you (from the Guardian.)

www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=UULP1RR-9es&feature=emb_title

@Cam2020 that one will be glossed over here because it's harder to blame it on Londoners what with it being Wales

Sorry the above was to @Jenasaurus

The second part of that video - the drone footage - looks busy but fine. Is that the same place as the long lens shots?

Didn't the drone footage at the end say Brighton

The first half of the footage was Bournemouth, showing how not to do it. Second half was Brighton showing that not everyone is a fuckwit.

Johnson's response is that it's councils' responsibility to deal with crowds. What a great example of leadership that is.

@wildone84

I haven't said that every single Bournemouth resident depends on tourism- there will be a number who don't. However, like it or not, Bournemouth as a town is economically reliant on tourists.

Therefore, while there were clearly a number of regrettable and unfortunate events yesterday such as defecation in gardens and littering, these cannot be allowed to overshadow what is overall a great contributor to society and the economy in Bournemouth.

For one thing, there would be far less choice in bars and restaurants for the locals if no tourists came!

The sort of people that do this are the same sort of people who park next to you in an empty car park. Or sit next to you on an empty bus.

We are surrounded by coastline. Bournemouth isn’t the only place to go. Someone on page 1 said how unimaginative people were and I agree wholeheartedly.

Nothing was open yesterday, I don’t understand the argument that it helped the economy? It cost the economy because people had to clear up the rubbish, and now the lockdown may continue for longer?

Tourism contributes £1.8 billion to the Dorset economy every year, so Bournemouth would frankly be fucked if some of the ungrateful residents got their way and tourists decided to take their money elsewhere (life I'm doing in Spain this summer)!

When it’s open though. When it’s not open it’s just mess.

So how much money do you think they made yesterday, bearing in mind very little was open, compared to how much they will need to pay out to clear away all the rubbish and sort out the traffic nightmare.

@BostonCheers Spain have strict rules on their beaches, they have wardens patrolling etc. They don't want scenes like Bournemouth. So not sure what your argument is.