A regular Burnham-On-Sea beach user has this week raised concerns over the amount of sand being washed away from the town’s beach and warned the problem could worsen with the removal of the boating pool.
Brian Burt, pictured, warned town councillors at their meeting this week that beach erosion in Burnham is a matter of “concern.”
He says the poor condition of aging breakwaters means sand is not being held in place – and the imminent demolition of the beach boating pool could make the problems worse.
He told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I recently visited the Burnham War Memorial Boating Pool to establish for myself the state of the pool and my attention was drawn to the watery mud moat which has formed around it. Sand has been washed away around the pool, exposing the pool structure.”
“Just north of the pool, sand has also been washed away, exposing three timber breakwaters. These are in need of repair and some of the supports and horizontal timbers have disappeared.”
“These structures are failing to hold the sand in position and now the sand is being washed away. This action has formed a water channel in the sand and water is draining south around the boating pool, taking the sand out to sea.”
Brian has written to Sedgemoor District Council regarding the poor condition of the wooden structures and he is unhappy about the response.
“No direct reference was made to the breakwaters and the poor state of their repair was by-passed,” he told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“Furthermore, the council has not carried out an environmental survey on the removal of the boating pool.”
Brian, a life-long resident of Burnham, added: “While we must accept that changing seasons and tides have always affected the sand levels, these breakwaters would not have been constructed should they not have been necessary.”
The Town Council has said it will look further into the matter. Town Clerk Eileen Shaw told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I have written to SDC on behalf of the Town Council to ask if they can undertake any additional monitoring of the sand movement, and following further correspondence from Mr Burt on Wednesday I have written to DEFRA to ask for their views, particulary in the light of Mr Burt’s comments about
the breakwaters.”
