'Deplorable' lack of safety at beach

One councillor has described the closure of the foreshore office over the holiday weekend as "deplorable", and it has also been slammed by Gary Smart, managing director of the seafront Harbour Park amusement complex.

Harbour Park staff had to deal with two missing children over the weekend, and also warned daytrippers about the dangers of swimming in the sea near the mouth of the River Arun '“ both duties which would normally be carried out by Arun District Council foreshores staff.

Arun councillor Mark Butler, whose River ward includes the seafront, said he had been told by a senior Arun officer that the council had overlooked the fact that Easter was early this year, so no staff had been recruited.

"I think it's deplorable that we didn't have the foreshore staff cover for the Easter weekend. Thank God there was not a catastrophe of someone drowning in the first groynes next to the river, or a serious accident on the beach."

Mr Smart said he had spoken with other tourist businesses and it was clear that Arun had not consulted with or notified anyone about the foreshore office closure, which also affected Bognor Regis.

"Arun surely has a responsibility, a duty of care, towards our visitors. To withdraw a service without any notice is just appalling.

"We had a couple of days of good weather and it was busy down here. There were people swimming in the first groynes near the river, in spite of the warning signs not to. Normally the foreshore staff would use a megaphone to warn people, but there was no one around.

"Have they downgraded tourism in Arun so much? There was no litter collected along the seafront at the weekend, and they are talking about bringing back charges for coach parking.

Arun clearly isn't interested in tourism any more."

Arun's transport and car parks manager, Tony Pearson (not the officer who spoke to Mr Butler), said: "The foreshores staff are seasonal and only work in the summer months, from April to September. We are currently in the process of recruiting foreshores staff for this summer.

"Some cuts were made to the service under the Arun Priorities (spending plans for the next five years) and at present we are developing a new schedule for the appointed foreshores staff to reflect the staff levels under the priorities. It is hoped the staff will be part of the larger multi-enforcement team which Arun is developing.

"There would not normally be boat patrols this early on in the season '“ they annually operate from May onwards through the summer months.

"There is clear safety signage warning that people should not swim in the first groyne, and we would hope that visitors respect these rules."