Regular customers of the Pembroke Bay slipway kiosk are rallying behind the de Carteret family, who have been serving beachgoers there for years. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0614794)
PEMBROKE bay’s ‘community’ is rallying behind its kiosk.
Beachgoers said the facility had been there as long as they could remember and they wanted it to stay. The de Carteret family, they said, always went that bit further to help their customers.
‘There’s a community on the beach and the kiosk is a big part of it,’ said plumber Adam Bailey, 38. Mr Bailey and wife Karen have been going to Pembroke since they were youngsters and now take their own children, Jordan, 15, Samuel, 8, and Bryony, 7.
‘If you are short of money one day, they let us pay them the next time we are there – and you couldn’t do that at many places,’ he said.
Maria Waddingham, along with sons Louie, 10, Harry, 8, and Owen, 5, and her mother, Maureen Slattery, go to Pembroke every day the weather is fine in the school holidays. ‘What the States are trying to do is disgusting,’ said Mrs Waddingham. ‘The kiosk has been around much longer than other places. I can’t see why they won’t let them sell chips or burgers. The kiosk is always spotless and hygiene is never a problem.’
She said cost was an issue for bigger families.
‘The kiosk is much cheaper than other places, especially when there are four or five of you. The boys love the beach and it’s easy to get here, but it’s also cheap.’
Janette Le Noury and her daughter, Samantha, are regulars at Pembroke.
She said people had their favourite beaches and even their favourite places on them to sit.
‘If Lynn [de Carteret] isn’t busy, on occasions she brings us down a tea or a coffee because she knows who her good customers are,’ she said.
‘It seems extremely odd that the States should decide this now as they’ve been there for such a long time. I really don’t see how they could be competing against anyone else.’
Tracy Le Page has been going to Pembroke since she was a little girl and said the States’ intended forced closure of the kiosk was disgusting.
‘We are talking about a local couple with a small business who provide a superb service in the summer,’ she said.
‘This is a case of bringing the big boys in to shut the little ones down and the States needs to look at what it’s doing very seriously.’
Lorry driver Mark Tardivel is a regular at Pembroke Bay with his fiancee, Sally Lynch, and her family.
He said the situation was an outrage.
‘Every other kiosk in the island is allowed to sell fast food, but Gary and Lynn can’t. Why is that?
‘There’s a problem down there with weaver fish stinging people at low tide and Gary and Lynn know exactly what to do to treat them,’ he said.
‘It’s ridiculous to expect them to open from April to October when both have full-time jobs to go to.’
Article posted on 1st August, 2008 - 2.29pm
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