Is Southport Home to the UK's Worst Beach? Local Leader Proposes Radical Change!

Following some very negative publicity in the national press this week (Mirror, Express) for Southport Beach where Southport is said to have “UK’s Worst Beach”,  Liberal Democrat opposition leader on Sefton Council, John Pugh has repeated his call for a new beach strategy and what he calls “a bit of lateral thinking.”  https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/seaside-town-uks-worst-beach-35843013

“ We can do without the brickbats, but the way to deal with them is actually to do something !  Sefton Council’s strategy here is to just let nature take its course, do nothing about vegetation and let muddy areas increase. 

We can’t stop tidal processes altogether , but happily the tides have brought us beautiful expanses of golden sands west of the Pier that you currently cannot get to over the mud. The Leisure Beach has moved and Sefton hasn’t noticed.’”

Local Liberal Democrats are suggesting that a re-design of the end of the Pier with access down to the new and expansive Leisure beach, possibly paralleled with wooden walkways could make Southport Beach truly popular again.

“We  should do something with the old leisure beach to curb further deterioration, but opening up the vast expanses of sand and sea west of the Pier is the key to the future.

 It’s fantastic area to take a dog, play volleyball or whatever... if you can get to it! 

 We should not forget that it’s  people’s primordial urge to get to the seaside on a sunny day that brings people to our coastal towns. Regenerating Southport and sorting out our beach are not separate enterprises."

Concerns have been raised by critics about beach safety.  

“This is largely people finding an excuse to do nothing,” says Cllr Pugh.

 “ Southport beach presents no more risk than countless other beaches across the country and considerably less than many. It currently has coastguard and lifeboat cover. The real threat ironically is increasing mud deposits making a lifeboat harder to launch which is what happened in Hoylake.

 It is important though to emphasise that the end of the Pier will be crucial to the popularity of the 'new beach' - hopefully providing quality toilets as well as catering and beach monitoring.

Southport needs its Pier and making it a gateway to the golden sands has to be considered in any future refurbishment.”