Party debris closes beaches
Tuesday 7th April 2009, 2:29PM BST.
Alison Gavey and five-month-old Emily by the warning sign put up by States Works about the debris left by a weekend beach party. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0752696)
A SATURDAY night beach party led to the biggest clean-up operation on the west coast, according to Environment minister Peter Sirett.
More than 40 bags of glass and rubbish were collected from Grandes Rocques and Port Soif since Sunday at a cost of thousands of pounds.
‘I’m appalled that two of our most popular beaches have been put out of use simply because of the sheer stupidity of some people,’ said Deputy Sirett yesterday.
‘Public funds are now being used to clear up after people who have absolutely no excuse for their behaviour.’
The debris was discovered by dog walkers on Sunday morning.
States Works sent an emergency team to clear up the area, but the scale of the job meant that the beaches will be closed until tomorrow.
Senior technical manager Nick Nicolle said the clean-up will cost in the region of £2,000.
‘It is just mindless,’ he said.
‘If you are going to have a party, fine, just clean up afterwards. It’s a danger to the public and, despite what we do, there will always be some glass left behind.’
- To read Guernsey Press stories in full click here for subscription details. Individual editions are now available online.
Island Life
All about Guernsey
Ambassador of the Year 2011
History & Heritage
Visitor Information
Guernsey's government
Campaigns
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
Useful Links
Particulalry inconsiderate. However, given the size of the fire, the purported debris there must have been over 100 people there. Parties go on for a good few hours and not one patrol car passed?
Report abuse
Surely they had to have a licence or something to hold this party on a beach? If that’s the case send them the bill!!!
Report abuse
If 40 bags of rubbish were picked up, I can’t believe it would have been that difficult for the police to attend the scene, identify at least some of those responsible and make them return the next day to clean up the mess.
This would have taught some social responsibility and saved the time and expense of a court appearance. Besides, the fresh air would’ve done wonders for the hangover!
Report abuse
Easter Holidays. What do you expect.
Report abuse
Its part of the failure of the Education system maybe a licensing system should be introduced for large parties on the beach which lets face it are fun.
Report abuse
the police didn’t come till really late on, it was just a few people being stupid, 250 people were having fun, 50 went too far. and think about it, if you did need a license would it make a difference? no! people would turn up anyway
Report abuse
People leaving GLASS on the beach…….MORONS !
Report abuse
Go back to issuing permits for parties on the beach and get a named person to be responsible for the clean up and a large deposit that will soon sort the problem out – just like in the good old days!!!!!!!!!
Report abuse
These events happen through out the warmer months, most dont cause any problems,its only the few that get out of hand.in past years there was similar events on beachs such as cobo that caused similar problems.Most beach gatherings go by unnoticed if people are sensible. However it is hard to control numbers of differnt groups of people whom turn up at such events.With most events the larger amount of people the harder it becomes to control litter.Maybe putting more bins closer to the beachs would help keeping our lovley island clean.
Report abuse
I seem to remember many years ago that there was a licensing system in place and that any mess left behind either had to be cleared the following morning or the organiser received a bill for the states doing it. Is this not the case today?
Report abuse
who is going to bother wih a license when they could just turn up anyway?
Report abuse
Pretty sure there’s still a licencing policy in place, however the beaches are common land therefor you cannot stop someone using the beaches. It just happened that this time it was used for a party and some people got waay out of control!
Basically having a stricter licence programme wouldn’t help as they would just find a different beach.
Report abuse
Like … says the majority were probably having fun without trouble, as usual it’s a minority that spoil it for everyone else.
Hence you don’t need licences or draconian measures. Simply get the police to turn up, find the minority responsible then make them clear up the mess the next morning….simple and effective.
Report abuse
I have to say, this is awful behaviour. I personally have been involved in organising outdoor parties in the UK where we ALWAYS went round in the morning with binbags and left the areas as we found them. All you do by not being responsible is create animosity towards yourselves and probably start the ball rolling towards prohibition of such events.
On the flip side, there is a severe lack of bins/large bins at the Guernsey beaches and also dog litter bins. I have had to put dog litter in the general purpose bins before now because of no dog litter bins and I can see a lot of people just not bothering to pick up because of that lack. I often wonder where my tax money goes………
Report abuse
Having been at many a beach party, The police tend to take more action when its a group of 10 people around 18yrs old having a bbq and a few drinks, rather than a group of 50 or so 15yr olds drinking, causing a disturbance and littering. Maybe the police are scared of large groups of youths? They know where the beaches are, why not just send a patrol car around the island a few times a night.
Report abuse
>>Easter Holidays. What do you expect.<<
It seems the police letter to the parents didn’t work. Hey ho!
Report abuse
There is only one unanswered question that requires answering regarding this problem.
Where were the Police right at the outset or shortly after this beach soiree got underway?
The Police are the only organisation that have the legal right to attend such events and if required….as it obviously was in this instance….take whetever measures necessary to control and correct the problem.
Perhaps the public servant in charge of this organisation – namely the Chief of Police- would care to be forthright and give the public an answer in the media for if beach party crowds know they can get away with anything without interventon as it seems they can, it will only continue and it will only get worse. The summer season is only just beginning. Get on it right away Chief.
Report abuse
To be honest, i think that it is just silly how young children think that they can just go and have parties.
Report abuse
Expat80 – what on earth are you going on about?
Why should the Police, and the Chief of Police be grilled over this issue?
The people who organised the party and the attendees are the ones who ruined the beach and made a conscious decision to do so – the Police are too busy dealing with child abusers, wife beaters, drunks in town (and soon if Deputy Jones has his way – track control arms) to baby sit people having a party. For Gods sake man, get a grip – parties are for fun, not for the Police to turn up in riot gear and tell people to ‘keep the noise, happiness and drunkedness to a minimum’.
I blame it on the parents to be honest – bring children up correctly and they know the difference between right and wrong.
Give the Police a break.
Report abuse
DARREN, it is you who should get a grip and more to the point start to develop a public concience. Blaming societys problems on ‘parents’ is low-ball. It is also a sign of an inexperienced mind for the facts reveal that that no matter how well a child is raised that child can go off the rails, and there is many such cases around to prove it.
Thousands of people use the beaches. Most are responsible. Most are respectful of other beachgoers. But most don’t leave a beautiful beach and headland in a disgusting mess for other beachgoers and their families. And most don’t leave tons of garbage behind, some of which is dangerous to other beachgoers, for other people, namely the taxpayer, to pick up and cart away to the dump. Furthermore, late night rowdy partying that disturbs the peace and in the process leaves tons of garbage on the beach is an infraction of our societal laws that are in place for the common good and are in the main respected by law abiding citizens. Consequently such infractions must not be tolerated otherwise they will become a ‘permissable’ habit.
Regarding the Police force. The Police Chief and the police force are the only body that can lawfully address infractions of society’s laws ( unless you feel citizens should take the law into their own hands?) and as such should and must be on the spot attending to the problem at the time of it’s happening. In this case it seems they did not do either, consequently the uproar that has followed, and rightly so.
That is my contention and I’m sticking to it.
Report abuse
Darren
Look up the dictionary definition of police. If they had done what they are called it’s likely there would have been less damage. I know that they are not directly responsible for any damage but they are there to limit this type of incident, it is their job, and in my veiw they have not done a good job here.
Report abuse
The beaches should be privatised, or sold off. They are costing the government far too much with this wanton party going.
Report abuse
Dear Sir
Why not just lay some mines on the beaches that are frequented by this party-going scum? Or encourage the Rozzers to go down there with their CS gas and their dogs and their Taser guns, that would soon sort these pesky kids out. Many of our beaches have Martello towers and such like nearby, why can’t the police take cover in there and as soon as the youngsters arrive with their beer, cider, and maybe, just maybe, a joint of Spice or some other equally life threatening poison, they could jump out and let them all feel the full force of the law.
I’m sure that in doing so they would ensure that these youths turn into responsible adults with the utmost respect for law and order, and indeed society in general.
Yours faithfully,
Concerned from the upper parishes.
Report abuse
Sell the beaches Jackie? Should i read that comment in a sarcastic manner?
Lets sell Guernsey’s assets so someone else can make lots of money out of it! Good call…. NOT.
Its a shame that so much mess was made on the beach, I for one HATE littering and always pick up rubbish that other people have dropped.
Don’t blame the Police, did anyone actually make a complaint to them? Port Soif is hardly visable from the road! Yes they should patrol the island and check nobody is causing trouble but to check every beach would take A LOT of time considering the amount of trouble they would find!
To all those suggesting stricter regulations on beach parties… can you suggest a way of the organiser controlling numbers? As stated by somebody above, the beach is common land… You can’t stop people turning up at a so called “Private Beach Party” because they were not invited! Should they be held responsable for ANY mess left on the beach after the party?
I am not defending these people, I hate to see my island covered in litter… But I can’t imagine there was any intent on making so much mess…
Report abuse
Our beaches are our parks and should be treated with respect.
My brother and I convinced our parents to sell up and move out of St Andrews because we missed the beaches so much.
Report abuse