2 days ago
Drunken sailors will ruin our exclusive sandbank, say beach hut owners
Owners of Britain's most expensive beach huts fear their exclusive Dorset sandbank setting will be destroyed by drunken sailors using a new floating bar and restaurant.
Hutters at Mudeford Spit, in Christchurch, say they are worried that a 'rabble of party-goers' will ruin their idyll.
They fear the seaborne venue will result in anti-social behaviour, late night noise and drunken revellers falling into the sea.
And with just one lavatory on board, there are concerns that revellers will end up urinating over the side.
The beach huts on the sandy peninsula can sell for up to £500,000 because of its exclusive, remote location.
Virginia Hazell-Trickett, of the Christchurch Harbour Kitchen, wants to moor up the floating restaurant and bar in the harbour just off the sandbank.
The 30ft by 30ft motorised venue will be accessed by a gangplank with handrails.
She has applied to the local council for a licence to play music from 8am to 11pm every day and serve alcohol from 11am to 11pm.
There will be a kitchen in the middle with seating and tables around the outside.
A decision will be made by the council next week, but the application has received 37 letters of objection from locals and hut owners.
As well as anti-social behaviour, objectors say the venture will also encourage people to drink and cycle home as cars are banned from the sandbank.
One objector said: 'I have grave concerns that the very nature of the sandbank, and the reason so many people choose to have a beach hut there, is likely to be destroyed forever if this was allowed.
'The relative tranquillity when the day trippers have gone home gives a whole new aspect to life on the coast. It is likely to be destroyed by the rabble of party-goers rushing for the experience of an evening on a floating restaurant in our midst.
'Why music? Why alcohol? Both likely to encourage rowdiness in the exuberance of the party-goers and we all know how sound travels over the water.
'These are unlikely to be the quiet couples wanting a new experience eating afloat in the harbour.'
Another hut owner said: 'More people would be enticed to come to the sandbank for the bar, potentially creating more drunken and anti-social behaviour.
'Also, the fact that it is a floating bar with a dropped gangplank in the sea is a concern for safety with potentially drunk people on board.'
Mrs Hazell-Trickett's council application said there will be railings all the way round the floating barge for safety and CCTV cameras will be installed.
There will also be signs telling customers to leave the premises quietly.
Mrs Hazell-Trickett has been approached for comment.
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