Sefton’s Capital Budget Doubles to £145M, No Improvement Planned for Southport Beach Access

Sefton’s Capital Budget to be finalised this Thursday is ballooning (almost doubling) to £145 million next financial year as the Council hopes to progress major projects in Bootle and on the Southport seafront, but sadly there is no improvement planned in access to Southport beach included. For a mere fraction of the anticipated expenditure access could be given to vast expanses of golden beach cut off from the public by the “mudification” of the traditional Southport Leisure beach. 

Opposition leader, Liberal Democrat, John Pugh, believes that a significant opportunity is being missed.

  “There is a legitimate debate to be had as to whether the traditional Leisure Beach is rescuable and frankly this Council has a blindspot on that issue, but no-one can deny that beyond the Pier Southport has vast areas of golden sand that only the most intrepid dog walkers discover.

 Currently the average visitor has to get themselves and their family filthy to get there. Even our lifeboat crew struggle to get their vehicles over the mud. In many other coastal areas though the tried and trusted solution of broadwalks is employed. Sometimes the problem is mud - often it is bruising shingle. Our problems are not unique.  What is unique in our area is the complete fatalism and inertia of the Council.

There are hours of fun to be had on the Southport coastline - free for all families - but tantalisingly out of reach as the leisure beach has migrated.”

 Cllr. Pugh added,  “I am pleased that the Council has responded positively to consider the case for using the Pier for beach access when it is finally refurbished. Broadwalks though provide an extremely viable alternative. 

Not every visitor to Southport in the future will be a conference delegate. We want Southport to continue to offer something for hard pressed families who need to mind the pennies as well as well-heeled conference delegates looking for good restaurants. That’s the Southport tradition.” 

Councillors Pugh and Sammon promoted and explained Southport’s new, but currently inaccessible beach in video here https://vimeo.com/1081833565?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci