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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Seadide stupidly busy

576 replies

mummydoris2006 · 20/05/2020 16:22

I live in a seaside resort (Slegness) and today it is absolutely heaving with people. I understand new guidelines say you can drive and enjoy the beach etc for the day but people are really taking the Mickey!

The beach has human excrement on it, the queues for supermarkets are worse as people are queing hoping they can use the toilet and one person even knocked on a residents door and asked if his pregnant girlfriend could use the toilet. Upon being told no he told the homeowner they were out of order as she was pregnant and they'd drove from Essex.

I keep seeing threads where people that live by the sea etc are being slated for not welcoming visitors but the reality is due to the amount of people flocking to the coast we can't safely enjoy our own hometown, the streets are far to narrow to be able to stay 2m away from people with the influx of visitors.If any local dares to comment we are immediately hit with the "you wouldn't have jobs if it wasnt for us". Neither my own or any of my families jobs are tourist reliant and amazingly we manage to keep our economy going well enough during the winter months.

I understand people want a bit of normality and it's really hard on children but surely you should respect the place you visit and as people that live here all year round we should be able to safely enjoy our own hometown.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
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Original poster
mummydoris2006 · 20/05/2020 16:23

Sorry typing on my phone, I live in Skegness

OP posts:
Namechangedorthis · 20/05/2020 16:27

People are stupid

The rates will go up again. Maybe they’ll
Realise then

GinDaddyRedux · 20/05/2020 16:28

Why do people write about this and never ever propose a solution?

Boris was (unfortunately perhaps for you and others who live in "destinations") very clear that families can travel to a place.

This means that people will inevitably do that when the weather is good. Lots and lots of people.

Which of those people should be the ones to go "hmm I won't do this in case it's busy" and which should then be allowed to go?

There...is NO real way of doing this, without a ticketing system (even more control of people! yay!) or the police turning back cars somehow on approach.

None.

It's happening because lots of people are either working from home, "working from home", or furloughed. They've been cooped up at home for ages, and now we have stunning Summer-like weather. So boom - off they go to wherever the car will take them.

Councils could play their part here, but they are inevitably ostriches about such things, as there's no revenue to be made from it. This is exactly the time when parking wardens would be useful.

It would help of course if people who travelled X number of miles, actually accepted "oops, I got there too late, time to move onto another bit of open space". But no - British people being British people, it's "I'm just as entitled to be here as you are" and social distancing goes out of the window.

I have sympathy for you OP but I think YABU not to suggest what should be done about it...

AmNot · 20/05/2020 16:28

Essex to Skeggy? Really?

vanillandhoney · 20/05/2020 16:28

YANBU but prepared to be slated by people who think they have a right to go wherever they want because Boris says it's okay!

Tableclothing · 20/05/2020 16:29

Absolutely rammed round here today. Very few people attempting social distancing.

Seadide stupidly busy
GinDaddyRedux · 20/05/2020 16:32

Exactly @vanillandhoney exactly!

I went to a beauty spot in Surrey where I live yesterday with my wife and children. It was too busy for our liking by the "main bit", so we went and sat under a tree with a beautiful view of the scenery and people playing. We were at least 10-15 metres from anyone else. We accepted we got there too late for the "main bit" but we distanced ourselves. We brought a potty and bags for my youngest - didn't need it but it was there.

Why can't people be reasonable and accept they take a risk when they set off hundreds of miles to another part of the country? And if it's too busy when they get there? Tough, move on somewhere else.

Original poster
mummydoris2006 · 20/05/2020 16:33

@GinDaddyRedux I would be more than willing to discuss this with Boris or anyone else interested in my opinion. I think there should be a mileage limit on how far you can travel therefore fencing in the amount of people in any one area. I apologise for not expressing this in the original post, I wasnt aware I needed to have a solution.

OP posts:
cologne4711 · 20/05/2020 16:33

It's FOMO isn't it? I see a crowd and I think "forget it", I'll go somewhere else.

Other (most?) people see a crowd and think they must be missing out on something amazing so join the crowd. I'll never understand why people like overcrowded beaches - well overcrowded anything (or indeed beaches, not liking sand or pebbles!) to the extent that they'll drive for miles on a hot day to get there. Anyway at least I am not adding to your woes, OP.

They should have introduced a driving limit eg 25 miles. Most people can find somewhere nice to walk or cycle within 25 miles of their homes.

MuthaClucker · 20/05/2020 16:35

Who drives from Essex to go to Skegness?!

NeutralJanet · 20/05/2020 16:35

YANBU. Some people are stupid and entitled, I wouldn't be letting any random stranger in my house to use the toilet either, pregnant or not. If you don't want to have toilet issues then stay within local distance of your own house.

NurseJaques · 20/05/2020 16:35

People who travel to Skeggy are unreasonable as its a dump!

Sorry OP Shock

LemonPudding · 20/05/2020 16:35

You can hardly blame people for acting lawfully. If we lived near the coast we'd probably have gone today, it's a lovely day.

If you don't like the beaches being used as toilets tell the council to open up the loos.

GrumpyHoonMain · 20/05/2020 16:36

I’m a bit shocked that anyone south of Birmingham would travel to Skegness when Bournemouth or Brighton or Norfolk was an option. Also, Skegness’ houseprices are driven by tourism too. But ignoring that, I think you are being unreasonable. These people are following goverment guidelines - it’s not their fault the local council hasn’t set up appropriate facilities for them.

FiveGoMadInDorset · 20/05/2020 16:36

Someone turned up at our local destination spot having driven 90 minutes to get there and was outraged about how many other people were there as well and it wasn’t right, she made font page of the Metro

GinDaddyRedux · 20/05/2020 16:38

@mummydoris2006 I didn't mean to come across rude. I was just keen to hear what people actually think solves this. No solutions = people acting with FOMO terrified that some else got there early and they won't get to have a go.

I completely and wholeheartedly agree that it was a HUGE omission not to limit the radius that people can travel, to 25 miles or fewer.

The spread of COVID-19 is inevitably going to rise again when you get people travelling 250 miles from a potentially infected area like West Midlands or London, just to sit less than 2 metres from a person who may not have had much of a risk of catching the novel coronavirus.

Ridiculous.

PickUpAPickUpAPenguin · 20/05/2020 16:39

If I was pregnant and living in Essex I would have gone to Southend or driven towards Suffolk if that was closer.

Has Boris ever explained why there's no limit? I think it's a stupid rule personally but maybe he wants domestic tourism to start reopening?

Embracelife · 20/05/2020 16:40

They need to suggest people carry portapotties in their cars...or open the toilets
Table clothing that pic still shows spaces between groups ?

vanillandhoney · 20/05/2020 16:41

I do think there needs to be a limit on how far people can travel like they have in France.

Maybe 50 miles unless it's for work purposes or an emergency.

GinDaddyRedux · 20/05/2020 16:42

@embracelife

Completely agree on portapotties.

Thousands of people of all ages are travelling greater than 100 miles to a destination. No toilets are open anywhere due to the threat of spreading COVID-19.

So where on earth did the Government think people were going to urinate or worse, defecate?

They didn't think, and they didn't care. Like I said, councils are our friend here, but they're not interested as there's no revenue.

Hysteriawhenyourenear · 20/05/2020 16:44

Give people an inch...
People are probably desperate for a sense of normality, but the state of things at the moment is far from normal.
It must be very difficult to live in a coastal town and go about your everyday business when people are flocking there for a day out.
Maybe it should have been said by government that you can have more exercise but keep yourself more local.
The trouble is that these things are suggested and then there are no resources to police it. Tell people to have as much exercise as they like and they can travel and the next thing the towns by the seaside are heaving and have to monitor car parks and roads etc, and there are little or no resources to do it.
People get cheesed off, infections rates could rise, this lasts even longer.
Back to people being cheesed off

fuckinghellthisshit · 20/05/2020 16:44

It's the same in the countryside. I caught a man weeing into my sheep trough earlier.

MrsRogerLima · 20/05/2020 16:45

This is precisely why we have decided to stay home/local.

The kids have settled into a routine and I would be devastated to have promised them eg; skeggy beach for the day to have to turn sound after traveling 80 miles because it was too busy to be safe and no toilet facilities.

People are stupid.