If you know Hengistbury Head and Mudeford Sandbank you’ll know it’s a pretty unique place. A haven of tranquillity away from the bustle of Bournemouth and Poole. Simplicity combined with a family atmosphere and natural beauty.

Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council have posted a Public Consultation Beach House Consultation on their plan to replace the café and shop on Mudeford Sandbank with a larger, busier restaurant and takeaway.

We would like your help in responding to this Consultation. You will know of too many examples of fragile sites that have been destroyed through sheer pressure of numbers and poor visitor management.

PLEASE ACT NOW to register your opposition to the Council’s plans. The consultation is a short questionnaire where you may comment on the impact the proposed design could have on you. It is open to all, even if you live outside the BCP area.

The café has long provided a place of refreshment for walkers and beach-goers and supplies for the community of huts. But in recent years it has a become a high-volume takeaway and party venue bringing noise lasting all day and often into the late evening with over-crowding of areas around the café, the inevitable litter and more anti-social behaviour fuelled by alcohol.

Those who want a buzzy bar life can find it elsewhere in the area. Mudeford Sandbank should be a place where children, families and older folk can feel safe.

The café has to be serviced by cars and trucks driving down a one-mile track designed for walkers, children in pushchairs and on bicycles and scooters, exercising dogs and a land train.  In its own management plan the Council recognised that vehicle movements should be reduced but they have increased and will, we believe, increase further under current plans.  The larger land train and the additional vehicle visits on account of a larger café will exacerbate the safety issues on this track.

The Council own the café and propose to spend over £1 million to rebuild it. Proposals for a new café were posted on their planning application website in March and attracted over 230 objections with only two comments in favour. Despite this overwhelming opposition BCP has decided to make the same proposals to a different audience in the hope of getting a different answer.

BCP Council claims to value local distinctiveness, family-friendly spaces and environmental protection alongside financial prosperity and economic growth but their refusal to discuss proposals for a lower-key, more affordable rebuild suggest otherwise.

Here is a reminder of the negative impacts of a larger, busier café;

• Threaten the Head, Harbour and Sandbank as a place of natural beauty and tranquillity
• Spoil the Green Belt, SSSI and SCNI in which it sits, contrary to BCPs own Mudeford Sandbank Plan
• Generate more noise, rubbish, traffic and anti-social behaviour
• Two story building will be a blot on the iconic skyline
• Proposed separate shop will increase commercial activity
• More traffic will increase danger to children, pedestrians and cyclists using the track
• A £1.1 million spend when budgets are under strain and a like-for-like rebuild was possible from the insurance pay-out

 

PLEASE ACT NOW

Here is some more background;

Unfortunately in November 2018 the café and shop burnt down.

It seemed a simple, reasonable task to rebuild and carry on with the café and shop services previously provided as soon as possible.

But No, in August 2019 an architect was appointed by BCP with a brief to design a more ambitious replacement cafe. This architects brief does state;

“Initially, the Council considered the option to rebuild the former structure as was. Initial pre-planning advice was sought and it is understood that this option would not require Planning Consent, but any re-build would need to comply with modern building regulations. The option would also not require further consultation with the Environment Agency around flood risk issues. This option was initially attractive as, under the tenancy agreement, the Council is obliged to provide a new café by September 2020. “

But the brief to the architect discards this rebuild option and goes on to request a design to satisfy;

“However, subsequent discussions with the tenant have established an appetite to re-look at the offer and form of building, opening out the brief on the understanding that the tenant will waive the requirement for the Council to provide a new building by Sept 2020. This more ambitious approach forms the basis of this brief.”

Despite considerable questioning, we have found no evidence yet of an elected BCP Council Member or Committee prior to the appointment and direction of the architect ratifying this decision not to design a full replacement. Nor have we found any Council Officer prepared to state that they were responsible for such a decision.

Had the decision to rebuild the premises to the same area including the shop and to contemporary standards been concluded during 2019, this rebuild would have been completed by now!

In January 2020 a BCP Council Committee authorised funding allocation in excess of £1 million for a larger café on the basis of a submission by BCPs Corporate Director of Development and Economy which included;

“This approach is anticipated to require significant additional funding, therefore the business case will require this to funded through an uplift in the rent and the tenant will therefore expect an expansion of their business activities (such as additional covers) in order to justify the additional annual expenditure.”

In short the Council sought and received approval to fund a larger commercial restaurant enterprise without a shop on Mudeford Sandbank on the understanding of an increased financial return.

The result;

A Planning Application made by BCP Council Tourism Destination Development Team, March 2020 for Erection of Cafe with associated storage including bin store.

Unsurprisingly, given the Architects Brief, this application describes a larger area than that burnt down and does not include any provision for a replacement Shop

 

For a number of years the Council have struggled to provide adequate services to the Mudeford Sandbank particularly with regard to; Sewage Disposal, Rubbish Collection, Vehicle and Visitor Access.

• All sewage from Mudeford Sandbank is pumped through a series of Pumping Stations connected by a limited single pipe.

A larger café will exacerbate the current situation.

• All rubbish is removed from the Sandspit by truck through the single vehicle and pedestrian access adjacent to the Hengistbury Head Nature reserves. The truck size is limited by the width of this track and vegetation to either side.

A larger café will exacerbate the current situation.

• The single vehicle access is a combined track used by delivery vehicles, refuse collections, cyclists and pedestrians. For 50 years pedestrian access was aided along this route by a Land Train service which became affectionately known as the ‘Noddy Train’. In 2014 more than 21,000 people signed a petition against Bournemouth Council plans to replace the traditional wooden trains with more modern ones. On the train operators retirement in 2015 this service was taken over by Bournemouth Council who then implemented additional safety measures. In 2018 an accident occurred whereby the serviceability of the ‘Noddy Train’ was brought into question. Since then an intermittent service using a larger Land Train (the more modern ones) has been operated by the Council.

This larger train and the additional vehicle visits on account of a larger café will exacerbate the safety issues of the single combined vehicle and pedestrian access to Mudeford Sandbank.

The former Christchurch and East Dorset Council did recognise the fragility of the Sandspit and Hengistbury Head natural environments producing a Management Plan for this sensitive location.

 

‘The MUDEFORD SANDBANK MANAGEMENT PLAN April 2014 – March 2024’ (reference) includes;

“The nature and setting of the Sandbank creates a welcoming and pleasant place to be. The natural beauty of the site and the stunning views instantly put visitors at ease. Mudeford Sandbank offers so much in terms of the simple pleasures of being outdoors which is why we place a high value on maintaining the atmosphere of the area.

The Sandbank provides:

• An oasis for relaxation and reflection
• A space for being active and healthy
• A space for people to meet with friends and family
• A space for informal recreation and play
• A space for learning and stimulating the senses
• A space to connect with wildlife and the natural environment

There is no doubt that whilst the popularity of the Sandbank could be increased, visitor levels should be kept at present levels to maintain sustainability.

In tourism terms there are too many examples of fragile sites that have been destroyed through sheer pressure of numbers and poor visitor management and it is hoped that this Management Plan will work to assure the Sandbank’s unique environment is preserved.”

In April 2019 the Christchurch and East Dorset Council was consumed into BCP Council.

This Management Plan remains fully applicable to BCP until review in 2024.

It has been ignored within BCPs current larger café for financial gain proposal.