Windblown Sand Update
March 24, 2009 by John · 4 Comments
Further to yesterday’s news about all the sand on the promenade I can confirm that it’s been pretty much cleared-up. I was running along the prom this lunchtime and a tractor was scooping sand up at the bottom of Kings Gap. The main pile at the bottom of Trinity Road had also been cleared.
In response to my query about clearing up sand yourself and putting it back on the beach, a local Hoylake Junction reader suggests:
I think you’re allowed to clear it yourself (if you want to), I would view it the same way as snow clearing.
I agree, I’m sure you can shovel it up yourself if it’s on your property or blocking your access, but it’s the issue of what you do with it? I spotted one local resident putting some sand in a brown garden recycling bin …I don’t think that’s right.
The Telegraph reported in 2007 that Fylde council deemed the act of returning windblown sand back the beach as fly tipping. Perhaps I’ll email our appropriate council department and ask them.
Another local reader John suggests that you can report problems such as road blockages or broken street lamps etc to streetscene (@wirral.gov.uk).
I did notice that a section of railing has come away near the Kings Gap bend – maybe it snapped off in the winds? Only the other week a section was replaced at the Trinity Road slipway.
In addition to informing streetscene, there’s a site called Fix My Street where it’s suggested you can report local issues and the people behind the site report the problem to our local council. So, as a test, I’ve posted an entry about the broken railings – I’ll let you know what happens next.
Oh, it’s rather windy again, so the sand might… again!
Possible related posts (computer generated):
The council commissioned a report on windblown sand problems in Hoylake which recognised that something needed to be done as Hoylake, if left alone, would revert to sand dunes. The report was on the concil website soimewhere. The proposal was to encourage some dunes to develop along the coastline initially in The King’s Gap to Beach Road area. It seems the council decided to reject the advice but it struck me as a sensible plan and wouldn’t it be nice to have some sand dunes again along this stretch of coast for the first time in over a century. They would provide a nice area for walking, playing, etc and provide a natural ’soft’ sea defence and help reduce the sand problem.
By the way I’ve got a great postcard from the 1930s of the dunes in front of Stanley Road before the sea wall was built fom the Royal Hotel all the way to Red Rocks.
I’ll send you a copy!
I checked out the Wirral MBC website and the windblown sand report is no longer there but there is a long summary here http://www.wirral.gov.uk/LGCL/100006/200073/670/content_0001005.html . However, it conveniently omits the detailed recommendation for a trial to promote natural dune development which was apparently rejected by the council.
Just read that article – some interesting info there.
By the way, the site http://archive.org is often useful to view older revisions of specified web pages.