Thanet council is urging people to avoid three Broadstairs beaches as they near visitor ‘capacity’

Botany Bay Photo John Horton (pre-covid)

Thanet council is urging people to avoid beaches in Broadstairs as they are ‘nearing capacity.’

Visitors have flocked to the isle to make the most of today’s heatwave but social media posts from Thanet council, and electronic signage in operation on motorway, is urging people to consider other beaches or even come back on a quieter day.

Council messages say: “Please avoid our most popular beaches Joss Bay Botany Bay and Viking Bay during the heatwave today as it’s now extremely busy. We have 19 miles of coastline, so consider all the places you could visit or come back at a quieter time.”

 

Extra police officers are on duty and a new coastal supervisor is also in place. Security staff are on duty across several beaches and bays to tackle anti-social behaviour and parking wardens are on duty throughout the day and into the evening to tackle illegal parking, especially at known hotspots

Extra litter bins have been put in place along the coastline and dedicated beach cleansing crews on duty daily from 6am-10am and 4pm-8pm, litter picking and emptying bins. Beach tractor/surf rake out in the mornings on main beaches for large scale clearing.

Margate is also busy today Photo Frank Leppard

The council has also launched a new coastal booklet to educate beach businesses, bay inspectors and its partner agencies on current byelaws in place across Thanet’s 19 mile coastline.

 

New signs have been introduced at entrances to beaches to remind the public and visitors of their responsibilities. Byelaws are local laws which have been put in place to keep residents, visitors and the coastline safe.

Margate Photo Carl Hudson

A full list of byelaws can be found on the council’s website

The publication of the new booklet coincides with recent action taken by the council to prevent jet skis launching at unauthorised sites on the coastline last weekend. A coordinated effort from council CCTV operatives, a Duty Beach Supervisor and Civil Enforcement Officers ensured three vehicles who attempted to launch jet skis from the slope opposite Turner Contemporary, in Margate were prevented access to the water.

27 Comments

  1. Jolly good luck to them. i hope they get the safe beach experience they where hoping for.. no wait they don’t care, sunshine and a overpriced ice cream is way more important than trying to stay safe when there’s this pesky virus kicking about..

  2. Steve. I could not agree with you more totall thoughtless I don’t wish them ill but it will be their own fault . something has to be done to stop this bringing back a total lockdown till the end of summer maybe an idea.

    • Just how, then, will any seaside town get through next winter without their summer trade? It’s odd that when it suits, people moan about the lack of visitors to Thanet compared to ‘the good old days’ of ram-packed beaches pre-package deals abroad, yet when visitors return they don’t want them,

      • So rather than try and get this virus under control and maybe keep the death toll down and avoid spikes and a massive second wave we should all make sure we have summer trade? That’s whats important is it!!

      • Totally ridiculous thing to say David. There is a pandemic that has already killed nearly 50 thousand people in this country and now the number of infected is starting to rise rapidly.

        This isn’t a normal summer and quite rightly sensible people don’t want to spread this deadly disease and are horrified when they see the mindless idiots in the beaches carrying on as though it’s over when it’s clearly not over and is only going to get worse again.

        I really feel for these business owners however the Truth is that money shouldn’t come before people lives. Trying to have a normal summer in the middle of a deadly disease is stupidity at its finest.

      • I think the problem is that many of these tourists bring absolutely no trade at all to the town. They arrive with their own picnics and cases full of drinks, sit on the beach and stuff their faces and then drive or get the train home. Local businesses see none of their money.

        I think the problem Thanet has is that we do want tourists but want to pick and choose which type of tourist we want which is clearly not working. We seem to be attracting tourists who produce no net benefit for the towns at all. In fact, many of them result in a negative impact due to the littering and anti social behaviour.

  3. Hey look, the sun is out again, so the idiot races are on at the beaches once more & people wonder why the infection rate is soaring again-lets see, BLM protests, beach invasions in the thousands, the clueless government instead of staggering reopening things properly instead doing it a week or two apart before any data can be looked at to see the effects.

  4. Had the pleasure of walking past Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay and Kingsgate Bay yesterday. Didn’t see one security guard or “coastal supervisor”. Did see numerous BBQs going on billowing out smoke just after midday, insanely awful parking, overflowing dog poo bins and loads of dogs running round on beaches they shouldn’t be on.

    For all the big talk TDC give about having things under control they really haven’t got a clue. I would suggest their Management Team spend some time in Thanet on a weekend and see the chaos their policies and inaction are causing.

    • Thanetian Blind, you are exactly right.
      I too, passed along Palm Bay, Walpole Bay, to Margate, today, not one inspector, or police officer sighted anywhere.

      Jetskis now launching from the slope behind Winter Gardens, is that allowed in that area. Couldn’t believe how many bathers/swimmers were in the water, with the jets driving around.

    • TDC couldn’t run a toddlers birthday party, so to think they could manage this is pure naivety.

  5. Putting out warnings like that just sends them to other nearby beaches. West Bay in Westgate is appallingly packed today, complete with cars blocking drives and access. No police are to be seen, and the warden for the bay is “shared” with St. Mildred’s Bay, which in reality means he stays there all the time.

  6. Don’t close the beaches, that would be very unfair to local residents. Close the car parks.

    • That would fine with a LOT of extra policing, otherwise they’ll just block even more driveways and entrances.

  7. You need to be realistic, Thanet Council can’t cope when it snows, how do you expect them to manage with the heat?

    They are just incompetent at planning, even without the pandemic, then add to the equation, the people who can’t be bothered with social distancing, there is no hope.

  8. I’m reply to David Riddle,are you a share holder in some of businesses making money out of all these thoughtless idiots we are facing a very serious situation that we must all be aware of in times like this we all have to make sacrifices ,let’s all pull together and beat this invisible KILLER.

    • The government was stupid (again) to relax the travel restrictions. They should have kept it at 5 or 10 miles.

  9. If the excess seaweed was cleared off of the other beaches, then so many people probably wouldn’t congregate in the same place because they’d have other areas to use. It’s crazy to have a beautiful beach that’s unusable for locals and tourists. I don’t understand why TDC can’t sort their best asset out.

  10. Well still furloughed from my job. Want go get back, yet with every passing day where a massive chunk of the population wish to either stick their head in the sand or consider they are entitled to carry on as normal, then my chances of returning go down. At this rate pretty sure my job, like many others will be lost. But hey, glad you are all enjoying the beaches before you see Londons covid cases soar again.

  11. Such a sense of entitlement displayed by many of the out of town coastal visitors.
    Locals down my part are keeping well away from the massive beach crowds and other visitor areas,”its a recipe for virus spread” they say.
    The locals seem to be doing their part,Hopefully there will be No increase of infection due to the visitors.
    A rise in local infection = local lockdown.

    • James- I see local people on the beach every day. Apart from some dog ownere, who shouldn’t be on the main sands now , they are behaving sensibly.

  12. There were vehicles launching jet skis on the beach slope next to the Turner and lifeboat station today and no enforcement or police about to stop them. People even had to get up off the sand as a black range rover was going to run them down. A silver car towing an inflatable followed it down onto the sand also. A Parking warden checking parked cars said it’s nothing to do with her !

  13. Jetskis should be banned from all popular bathing beaches. Their users always have a car or van- they can easily get to quiet beaches. Actually I think jetskis should be banned altogether. Why should people who go to quiet beaches have to endure the noise and danger any more than people who go to busier beaches?

  14. I had a naked perv trying to talk to my 15 year old daughter yesterday on Botany Bay beach .

  15. TDC Need. to reclaim our coastline and beaches from these idiots . Stop talking and take a range of clear actions and controls including fining those who clearly break the law.

  16. If the officers of the council are not prepared to act I think it is time we all got our councillors involved they are the ones that should hold TDC to account,
    I agree with all comments regarding the pandemic and this stupid behaviour, and being an ex town trader the visitors do not bring a lot to the towns especially in the state they are.

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