Brean beach parking charges to rise as district council takes over running of beach

Beach parking fees are set to rise next week as Sedgemoor District Council takes over management of Brean beach from Brean Parish Council.

The district council says it is investing over £85,000 on upgrades to the beach, including upgraded toilets, extra staffing, better safety equipment, new signage and cleaning.

New beach parking charges will come into force at Brean and Berrow from April 7th. The prices, shown below, are outlined in full here.

All vehicles at Brean have previously paid £5 during the tourist season, but after April 7th cars will cost £6 per day while large motorhomes will pay £16 per day. Horse boxes and small motorhomes will pay £9. Reduced rates are available after 2.30pm.

Spokeswoman Claire Faun confirmed: “We will take over on 1^st April, but the summer opening parking on the beaches won’t start until Thursday 7^th April. Until then, we are still operating on the winter times of weekends 11am-5pm at Brean and 10-3pm at Berrow each day.”

Burnham-On-Sea.com first reported last year that Sedgemoor would be taking over the beach ahead of the new tourist season.

Claire Faun adds: “Sedgemoor District Council will also be investing in the region of £75,000 into the area in terms of staffing, equipment, signage and beach cleaning to make sure that the beach is a well-run and safe attraction, as well as adding to the areas tourism offer for visitors and local residents.”

“Sedgemoor will also be providing a grant of £10,000 to Brean Parish Council to allow refurbishment of their closed toilet block at Brean Village Hall.  They will also work with the Parish Council to help clean their toilet bock, once it has been reopened.”

Specific areas of operation agreed include:

Beach Safety Wardens:  Wardens will be operated similar to Burnham-On-Sea and Berrow beaches, who are on consistent and regular rotas to be on-hand for any safety issues, as well as managing the on-beach parking, taking into account tidal and weather conditions.

RNLI Lifeguards:  In the high summer season (July-Sept), beach safety wardens will be supported by an RNLI lifeguard Team in monitoring and proactively intervening in safety issues or unsafe behaviour.

Beach Cleaning:  All beach cleaning activities will be undertaken by Sedgemoor District Council, including litter picking bin emptying and general cleaning.

Safety Signage:   Sedgemoor District Council will install beach safety signage as detailed in an RNLI audit to relevant best practice standards.

Concessions:   Sedgemoor will take over the letting of and management of concessions allowing concessions to bid to operate on the beach such as ice cream vendors etc.

End of season review meeting:   At the end of each season, Sedgemoor District Council will organise a meeting with residents to discuss how the season has gone and raise any issues that have arisen.  This is in addition to the ability for residents to discuss with on-site beach staff immediately should any issues arise.

Toilet provision:  SDC will also open, clean and maintain the toilet block by the access ramp at Brean and will consider the use of mobile toilet units at peak times.