Lincolnshire Beaches Amongst The Best In Europe.

Fantastic news this morning that the beaches in Skegness, Mablethorpe and Sutton On Sea have again been awarded the Blue Flag.

The Blue Flag is awarded for beaches, marinas and boating tourism operators as a statement of the high environmental and quality standards they maintain. The Blue Flags are awarded on an annual basis. It is the work of the local East Lindsey District Council operators that maintain the highest of standards and they should be thoroughly congratulated for there wonderful efforts. Out in all weathers from early morning until late in the evening they fight the good fight to keep our beaches in a pristine condition.

There are miles and miles of golden, sandy beaches stretching from Skegness north to Mablethorpe and beyond which are enjoyed by millions of visitors annually. Long may this continue. 

Central beach Skegness. Blue Flag awarded!

Let's now see the flags proudly displayed above our wonderful coastline and let's use the fine achievement of the continuing award as an attraction in its own right. 

ELDC - Completely Unfair Car Parking Charge Changes - What About The Coast?

So they have been and gone and done it!

5 months ago I highlighted the fact that East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) were planning to revert back to a car park charging scenario that was totally unfair. You can read my thoughts from back then here:

http://steveodare.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/east-lindsey-car-parking-back-to.html

So what have they done? Well they have decided to have free car parking in some amenity car parks but not in others. This is despite the last council going a long way to rid the District of the unfairness in charging in 2014 by making all car parks chargeable. This made me personally unpopular within the council as I was one of the leading proponents of the change. Cest la vie! That was a very unwelcome decision for those communities that, at the time, benefited from free car parking but at least it was fair to all residents of the District.

Now what have ELDC gone and done? Well, they have made the 10 car parks that were free prior to the changes made by the previous council free again! Honestly. Why? Gawd only knows.

Where are these car parks? Here is the list:

Cattlemarket in Horncastle
 South Street Overflow, Alford
 Millers Way, Alford
 Market Place, Burgh Le Marsh
 Sandilands, Sutton-on-Sea
 High Street/Silver Street, Coningsby
 Off Market Place, Tattershall
 Linden Walk, Louth
 Cattlemarket, Louth
 Boston Road, Spilsby

You will no doubt notice that apart from one car park in Sutton on Sea all of these are located inland and none are located in Skegness! Why is that? Is that fair? 

It is my feeling that this is totally unfair. There are communities that suffer from high levels of deprivation in our District and they are, almost exclusively, located in our coastal communities. So where is the help with parking charges for those communities? With the one exception there is none. As I have said now ad nauseum, this decision reeks of unfairness and, no doubt, some will say bias. Bias towards looking after the inland communities whilst "Devil take the hindmost" as far as the coast is concerned.

DOUBLE WHAMMY!

If that was not bad enough, pin your ears back while I impart the next little gem. Not only do the amenity car parks on the coast not have any free parking but the free parking after 6 pm in the evening that was also brought in by the last council for all car parks has now been removed. All car parks that are now chargeable, not including the 10 listed above of course, will now have a £2 overnight charge. Presumably this is to pay for the removal of the charges on the free car parks! What happened to "Supporting the night-time economy"? As they say "You could not make it up". 

I am hugely disappointed by this move which has no real logic to it. It is totally unfair and leaves a real bad taste in the mouth.

One last thought. What are our local, Skegness elected councillors doing about this? Where is their outrage. If outrage is too strong an emotion then where is their opposition to this? What have they done to fight this? Do they think this is acceptable? Looks as if they do as I haven't heard a peep from any of them. I don't think it is at all acceptable and I am sure that the majority of people in our town won't either. 

Free Car Parking For All or All Car Parks Chargable! FAIRNESS!

12 Month Caravans And Flooding. East Coast.

Today is the anniversary of the East Coast Floods that devastated our area in 1953 during which over 300 people lost their lives. This disaster alone should tell us that there is a need for flood protection in our area both physically and through legislation. Over the last few years there have been many "near misses" when the sea threatened to inundate the land once again, with December 2013 being the one that came the closest to being another disaster. It caused much damage along the coast but thankfully, in the main, the flood defences held and no lives were lost.

I raise this issue not only because today is the anniversary of the 1953 disaster but also because there is now a push to allow caravan parks to be open and occupied 12 months of the year. I can fully understand why people who own caravans and also the caravan parks would wish to see this happen. I also understand the economic arguments for allowing it to happen. The wishes and the arguments need to be set against the issue of safety of the caravan occupants.

Caravans during the 1953 flood.

In the event of a serious inundation, caravans become flotsam and jetsam. Large metal boxes that are at the mercy of the onrushing waters. A flooding tide moves at incredible speed and caravans stand little to no chance of being stable even if chained down.

The caravan parks we have are not residential, they are holiday parks. Any residential park would already be allowed to have people on them 12 months of the year. None of the holiday parks would have received planning permission if they had originally applied for residential status. Why? It was not deemed safe to do so and still isn't under planning legislation.

It is for that reason that those wanting to see caravan parks open for 12 months of the year in the flood zone have a forlorn hope. The Environment Agency will not let it happen and would oppose any move for it to do so.

It is a real pity that is the case but in my view there is not good enough reasons to put people at risk.

Coastal Flooding - 1 in 200 Years

As some of you may know I am the Chairman of  Skegness Area Committee, which is a liaison committee between East Lindsey District Councils, the local parish councils and those people that live within the boundaries of them. We had a meeting last night in Anderby Village Hall and on the agenda was a presentation from the Environment Agency entitled Flood Risk Plans. Very informative and interesting it was.

The one thing that struck me was the amount of ifs and buts that the whole of the flooding risk seemed to be based upon. Models are run fairly regularly, as I understand it, but there are always many assumptions put into them. Apparently we run the risk of a major flood once in every 200 years.

Given that, how much credence should be placed on the flooding when looking at the development of the coast? Should flooding be one of the first things that is considered when looking at plans, and if so how much weight or credence should be given to the risk.

Of course we need to look at the risk and it is beholden on the authorities to have plans for a major flood, or any other natural or manmade disaster for that matter, but I ask myself "How worried am I that there maybe a flood tomorrow, the day after, next month, next year of sometime in my lifetime". Would I let that colour my judgement about buying a house or a business in Skegness? Do I think that I need to have measures in place just in case? I live a couple of hundred yards from the beach, so should I do that as I must be one of the most vulnerable?

All very confusing really. Should flooding be right up there in my thoughts? Should if be right up there as a probability or a possibility? Should it be the major consideration when looking at development on the coast. All interesting questions. Wonder what you think?