Eliot Johnson Beach Sand Report to IPC 20th March 2025
Since the report to the last meeting 20 February 2025 there has been a marked change thank in the main to Mother Nature, the Marines, and the community.
Mother Nature
My previous report, based on the situation at that time, envisaged large-scale works to move a high volume of sand. As this was considered financially unworkable contingency plans were being worked up and resource marshalled.
However, Mother Nature is more for action than planning and fortunately she was on our side and dramatically reducing the volume of sand on the beach over the high tide weekend.
Drains Cleared
A team of from DCC cleared the drain on the road and the sand from the outfalls on the beach side. This assisted in not only freeing up the drains but also letting the tide get into the banked sand.
Their appearance, although greatly appreciated, was unannounced and clashed with similar work planned by the community. Communication will have to be improved to avoid this in the future.
Community Team
On the back of a beach walk with members of the ISAFAG and CDE it was proposed that a day of action be planned where the community would take up tools to continue the clean-up past the past stop.
The community group had around 30 volunteers come forward vastly improved the area they were working on. Thank you to Jacqui and Carolyn for organising this.
Beach
About two weeks ago myself, and reps from the CDE visited the beach and observed the works of Mother Nature, the community clean-up team, and the Highways a magical change of scenery in such a short time.
The revised plan was agreed to clear either side of the 'Hopkins Highway' at the bus stop end to expose the drains and gullies to allow that end of the village to drain.
We also walked the path from the bus stop to the car park where the sand spills on the road. Minor work to bind the sand and stop blow over were discussed and CDE will look to action these. NB The main observation was that the sand here appeared to be blown down the beach rather than over the dues - this will need following up (Biosphere / NE) with potentially sand breaks put in place to both develop another dune and stop the sand movement....
What a Week
This week the heavy lifting has been carried out by the Marines with assistance from Tim and Will of Hudson Marine and Simon Goaman. They cleared the bus stop drains and a large section of the sand bank on the other side of the Hopkins Highways.
Then, as marines do, continued up the beach clearing the remaining banked sand from the Commodore Slipway area. The hope is that shortly the remaining sand islands will also be removed. I wish to again express my gratitude to all parties for coming to our assistance when asked.
CDE were put together a formal Scope of Work but unfortunately this was not supplied in time, so the team work off the verbal arrangement.
Forward
Hopefully, CDE will shortly supply the follow-on programme to cover maintaining the drainage outlets, removal of the sand islands and the proposed work for the foot path i.e. Sand clearance, fence removal, and planting programme to bind the loose sand.
Longer Term
Building on the success so far, the next stage will be to re-engage with the authorities to agree the way forward for the longer-term solution and understanding how all the stakeholders can contribute.
CDE has already written to Biosphere to start the engagement process for developing the longer-term beach management plan.
CIC
I have proposed setting up a CIC to co-ordinate the work programmes, hold the funding. The remit of the CIC will not be limited to the beach but could also cover ‘good works’ around the village This entity could then look for funds from the IPC, CDE Government bodies, lotteries, local funding, etc. not just for the beach but for the village as a whole.
Close
I am thankful to all those who have taken part in the various actions over the last month and you should all be very proud of yourselves for the dramatic change in the beach front you have been part of.
Mother Nature willing, we can move into a beach management phase while we wait for the long-term strategy from NE / Biosphere.
Eliot Johnson Beach Sand Report to IPC 20th March 2025 (pdf)
20th March 2025