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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:
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Teddybear27 · 22/05/2020 12:34

My friend went to the local beach with her children yesterday. She said it was heaving. I wouldn't go for that very reason. I completely understand that people have been cooped up with their families and the first bit of sun they will be out and about but I do wonder if we will have a second wave of infection... this isn't going anywhere anytime soon....

Hearhoovesthinkzebras · 22/05/2020 16:03

The government have made it clear that lockdown will only be eased further if the R number stays below 1 and if there is no prospect of a 2nd wave so anyone doing anything that could potentially raise the R number is risking extending lockdown. That risk is high at the moment given that R is currently between 0.7 and 0.9 and going up.

FliesandPies · 22/05/2020 16:31

So we should follow government advice but not follow government advice. Well that seems perfectly clear..

PafLeChien · 22/05/2020 16:43

So we should follow government advice but not follow government advice. Well that seems perfectly clear..

the current advice is unlimited exercise (or no restriction to). If you decide to swim across the Atlantic and drown in the process, will you be blaming the government?

Hearhoovesthinkzebras · 22/05/2020 16:46

But government advice is quite clear - no mass gatherings, stay 2 metres away from people outside your household, you can meet up with one person outside of your household but stay two metres apart. Yes, you can go further afield but those same rules apply. At the very least, crowding together on a beach appears very much like a mass gathering. People need Tobe sensible and exercise personal responsibility.

FliesandPies · 22/05/2020 16:56

At the very least, crowding together on a beach appears very much like a mass gathering

You can try to twist the rules if you like but people going for a family trip to the beach is not a mass gathering under those rules

Alsohuman · 22/05/2020 17:03

You can try to twist the rules if you like but people going for a family trip to the beach is not a mass gathering under those rules

Of course it isn’t.

Hearhoovesthinkzebras · 22/05/2020 17:04

What constitutes a mass gathering then?

Alsohuman · 22/05/2020 17:07

A mass gathering is people packed cheek to jowl, it isn’t discrete family groups two metres apart.

Hearhoovesthinkzebras · 22/05/2020 17:08

Don't worry. I've just found the WHO definition of a mass gathering

A Mass Gathering (MG) has been defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an occasion, either organized or spontaneous where the "number of people attending is sufficient to strain the planning and response resources of the community, city, or nation hosting the event" (WHO, 2008).

Can be either organised or spontaneous where the number of people attending strains planning or resources of the community.

So, how was it not a mass gathering?

Hearhoovesthinkzebras · 22/05/2020 17:09

Alsohuman

That might be your definition. It isn't the World Health Organisation's definition.

FliesandPies · 22/05/2020 17:15

WHO are talking about an event, you're twisting the rules again

FliesandPies · 22/05/2020 17:16

The point about a mass gathering is that it is a coming-together of people. Not separate groups of people in the same location

Hearhoovesthinkzebras · 22/05/2020 17:20

A mass gathering is a group or groups of individuals congregating together. Why does the purpose of the gathering matter? The effect is the same - a number of people in the same area. Is there s magical difference that occurs then depending on whether it's an event or not? The WHO definition clearly says it can be spontaneous. A large group is s large group is a large group.

Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady · 22/05/2020 17:41

I've been watching lots of films about shark attacks recently. I WILL NOT be heading to the beach any time soon!

And yes I'm fully aware that Great White Shark attacks are rare off skeggy but there's a part of my brain that apparently isn't.

MadameMarie · 22/05/2020 17:44

A busy pub or bar can be a mass gathering.

FliesandPies · 22/05/2020 17:46

And yes I'm fully aware that Great White Shark attacks are rare off skeggy Grin

FliesandPies · 22/05/2020 17:49

A large group is s large group is a large group

No. A large group coming together for a music event/rave/beach party/punch and judy show etc is clearly not the same as separate groups of people, not associating with each other, sitting on a beach.

mummmy2017 · 22/05/2020 17:52

How can people be so careless with their families health?
It's hot the idiots are heading to the beach, how much intelligence do you need to know that.
We got a travel loo and a pop up loo tent, it is now in the boot, but a cheap nappy and a bucket works, you just bag it up and bin it.

joystir59 · 22/05/2020 17:55

I live at the seaside (Scarborough) and my livelihood doesn't depend on tourism. And we don't want to be infected in droves by visitors bringing covid-19. And we are loving not having your litter everywhere. And I don't like seeing your excrement in our parks. Our shore roads will be closed again this weekend along with all public toilets

Pelleas · 22/05/2020 17:55

I see new cases are up above 3000 again today - that'll be V.E. day. I dread to think what we'll see two weeks from now because the 'lag' will start to show in rising deaths again, as well as new cases.

cologne4711 · 22/05/2020 17:56

Presumably the people flocking to the beaches and seaside towns will be happy to send their children to school on 1st June

I am not flocking to the beaches or seaside towns (or anywhere else) but I would be happy to send my son to school on 1st June if he were within the right age group. It's not the same thing at all. I don't like crowds, beaches or traffic jams so there is little incentive, if any, to go anywhere on the coast (or any other "beauty spot") but I do think schools are safe for children and staff without vulnerabilities themselves or in their households.

ToffeeYoghurt · 22/05/2020 18:06

Why shouldn't people go to the beaches?
The airports are wide open. Hundreds of thousands arrived over the last two months. Thousands still coming daily and heading off on public transport.

The government is apparently going to ask new arrivals to self isolate...after they get home. Which will be, for many, via public transport. There's also apparently no need for them to do this until 8 June.

urkidding · 22/05/2020 19:08

Those of you who said we can't have gel in buses and can't have places open, have a look at what Taiwan did. We don't have to live like this. we have an incompetent government who had done everything stupidly when all they had to do was copy Taiwan, which is what New Zealand did.
www.smh.com.au/world/asia/while-other-countries-lost-precious-time-taiwan-mobilised-to-keep-covid-19-at-bay-20200316-p54ah8.html

OmgThereAreNoPlanesAboveMeNow · 22/05/2020 19:18

Those of you who said we can't have gel in buses
People would nick it. There is very little respect for other's property in UK if I am being totally honest...