Over Commercialisation

The Sandbank is special and its atmosphere and nature needs to be protected from over-commercialisation.

Quality of life and well-being is as important as financial gain which is why there are rules to protect fragile sites.

The café sits in Green Belt and a Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SCNI) and is next to a SSSI.

The Council should take account of these designations in its planning and development.

But in recent years we have seen more;

• Litter
• Over-crowding
• Anti-social behaviour
• Noise
• Vehicle movements

as a direct consequence of over-commercialisation.

Just look at the pictures below taken this and last year.

The Council are borrowing nearly £1MILLION to rebuild the café. Ultimately this will be paid for by expanding the business further.

It’s plain to see the damage this will do to the beauty of the Sandbank and the surrounding wild life.

 

We have a huge catalogue of images illustrating the deterioration of special place in exchange for commercial activity. See here : a continual stream of litter being taken by the wind and tide or being lodged in the flora of the sandbank.

The café management have rightly declared that they are not responsible for the litter once it has left their premises. Of course the person leaving the litter is responsible. However, the Council have a duty to keep the Sandbank clean but the remoteness of the area makes it unmanageable with this level of commercial activity.