St. Anne's Beach Access situation
NEWS...NEWS...NEWS...NEWS...
Posted 30/07/09
Eddie Sloane has secured the land lease from Fylde Borough Council and very kindly paid the arrears since the Sand Yacht Club ceased operating in 2002. This has meant that work can start on the building interior. I recently visited the site and Eddie was kind enough to show me around. The guys from Trax Group have worked like dogs and are making very fast progress on the building, Eddie hopes that the building will be ready in 4-6 weeks time.
Phase 1 of the proposal that went to Fylde Borough Council is to use the existing structure after bringing it up to modern standards as a springboard to getting wheels back on the beach. There is much work to be done before Eddie and I apply for permission to operate wheels on the beach in accordance with the Safety Management System sent to Fylde Borough Council. Hence this will form Phase 2, Phase 3 will commence once the site is established as a Wind Sports Centre of Excellence which will allow us to attract key partners in order to re-develop the building with an all new structure, purpose built for the sports and services that will go along side.
The existing building will have the following facilities:
The view from the existing centre (old sand yacht club car park)
The view through the newly installed window (view from the shop)
Artists impression of Trax Windsports Centre (this is the Phase 3 part of the development plan).
If you would like further info please call 01253 870 000
St. Anne’s Beach - A Potted History!
Following the tragic death of Carole Cruz during a Sand Yacht race in 2002, due to prolonged court actions by the state, Health & Safety Executive and the
family of Mrs. Cruz Fylde Borough Council took action to ban all wheeled vehicles from the beach with the exception of the Sand Extraction Company and the Beach Patrol which operate on the beach to this day.
Successive Court cases finally finished in 2007, these actions set a precedent as no other accident of this type had ever been tried in a U.K. court where the accident occurred on a public beach.
In 2006 a member of public walking her dog along the top of the beach towards the sand dunes was involved in an incident with a Kitesurfer, although no injuries were sustained she complained about the incident to the council. Although the kitesurfer acted appropriately and made the situation safe and apologised to the lady another kitesurfer on the beach acted in an aggressive and rude manner, this we believe was the nature of the complaint rather than the actual incident involving the kite. The Council reacted by banning ALL 2, 4 & 5th line kites, (single line kites were un-affected by the restrictions).
Following this ban we (Hangtime Kitesports) along with support from the BKSA, BPKA, BKFA and South Shore Board Riders organised a campaign to negotiate the raising of the ban. We set up a group called "the Fylde Kite Access Committee" and asked for the support of the kite community. Within a week we had received over 250 emails of support and a great deal of media exposure in the National Press and Regional Television & Radio. This public support got us through the door and allowed us to meet with the officers of the Council who until this point had been un-willing to meet with us.
In the mean time the Council had enlisted the services of a commercial risk management company called Atkins; in turn Atkins sub-contracted the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to provide a report on beach management to the Council. Once the Council had put these measures in place they were willing to meet with us and we were able to propose risk management measures which would allow the sport to continue, these were;
Better signage informing kite pilots where to kite and what measures they should take to ensure they looked after the public
A code of practice for kite pilots
An accident / Incident reporting system
Kite Training for the Council's Beach Patrol Officers (provided free of charge by Hangtime Kitesports)
These measures were proposed as an interim until Atkins could feedback their findings to the council. To date only the code of practice and training has been accomplished we are hoping that signage improvements can be made but this has been held up whilst decisions on the type, size and nature of signage are being made.
The Atkins Report (Safer Sands), was submitted to the Council in 2006 and resulted in the kite ban being lifted within 9 weeks of its start. This started a dialogue with the council that has been on-going since then, though the Safer Sands Committee established as a result of the report.
Subsequently we (Hangtime Kitesports) submitted two Safety Management proposals for wheels to be allowed back on the beach. The first of these relied on a code of practice / voluntary approach as at Fleetwood and would have been very un-restrictive in its operation, the second was a little more restrictive as it relied on a code of practice, zones, insurance (for each pilot through the BKSA/BPKA/FED) and a permit, similar to the system in place at Ainsdale.
Both of these proposals were rejected as the council (and we) lacked the resources to manage and operate the scheme in a satisfactory manner.
So who are Trax and how do they fit in?
Whilst all this was going on a local businessman who we had known for some years became enthusiastic about kiting following a brief introduction to the sport through Fleetwood Kite Club during a club meet. Eddie Sloane and his son became passionately involved in the sport and have been kiting since 2007. Both Eddie & his son are now kitesurfing and still enjoy the sport. Eddie started Trax Motorsport in Preston some years back and has a wealth of experience in business, motorsport and construction. He had by this time also altered his core business by working with young people in care. The company is now called Trax Group Plc and is an Ofsted inspected education provider.
Eddie has been backing a new scheme which we have now put to the council, with Eddie's financial and business support we believe we now have the best possible chance of re-introducing wheeled, wind sports back to the beach.
So what's the plan?
A Safety Management System that is managed and operated by the Trax Windsports Centre removing the liability as far as possible from the Council, insured to operate using state of the art equipment and fully trained staff to effectively manage risks on the beach. In brief this means establishing zones for the sport, professionally qualified and well equipped (mobile) Marshalls, Education Centre and Instructors, basic competency test for pilot's, insurance, establishment of kite / sand yacht clubs, developing the existing building in the short term and a substantial development of the centre in the future (see artists impression).
The Councils ban on wheeled activities still stands and our negotiations are still ongoing, we have invested a great deal of time, money and effort in the process so far, subsequently we will update this page as developments occur. If you require more information please feel free to contact us on 01253 870 000 or email info@hangtimekites.com, we would value your feedback.
Once again thanks you so much for your support over the past years and we hope we can deliver this project to the benefit of everyone wishing to enjoy the beach at St. Anne’s
Ultimately our beaches are held in trust for everyone and we believe that our sports and the many other varied activities from walking a dog, gathering for a picnic, riding horses and many more pastimes can be accommodated and enjoyed at St. Anne’s, if you're flying kites anywhere on the North West Coast please remember you are an ambassador for the sport, politeness costs nothing and the prize is this fantastic beach for all of us to enjoy.
Your support counts!
If you would like to register your support for the scheme or you’re objections please mark your letter or email – “Kitesports” and write to Fylde Borough Council at:
Mr. Chris Holland
Fylde Borough Council The Town Hall St Annes Road West St Annes Lancashire FY8 1LW
Alternatively Fylde Borough Council has an Online system which can be accessed by clicking here http://www.fylde.gov.uk
Feel free to email us a copy of you’re support / complaint if you wish us to submit your emails of support or complaint to the Council we will be happy to do so on your behalf.