Gower SOS Offshore dredging in the Bristol Channel from sand banks has removed over 100 Million tons of sand since the 1950's. The levels of sand on beaches is dropping, the fish stocks are getting less. Is there a connection? Does it affect me? Can I do something about it? Contribute here . . . . . . . Thanks to the WAG - more Gower beaches are now targeted to be destroyed - like Porthcawl and Port Eynon. Please write to your WAG rep or leader.
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
How to protest
Please just post your e-mail on this Blog and/or Euphoria Sailing and Mumbles Matters blogs. The internet is a powerful means of fighting this. Tell everyone. Please visit the Gower SOS Website to find other methods of protest. Basically writing to an MP or minister is possibly the most effective method. Please spend some time on the Gower SOS site and your individual protest. We need help upping the protest.
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19 comments:
Completely agree with the comments you make and those on the Gower SOS website. I have lived and enjoyed the Gower all of my life and my children are now enjoying all its benefits. I have been a keen boat angler for years and notice shifts in the pattern of marks that we use. The Oxwich bank for instance, that has consistently held bass over the years and has always been a sand bank has completely changed. It now consists of rough stony ground on one side as the sands have shifted. In addittion we have noticed many other changes to well known angling sand banks.
I agree with Euphoria's comments about our beaches. Sand on our beaches has completely changed and most rapidly recently. All efforts need to be made to prevent this practice will be the ruin of our beautiful coastline.
How can the stuffed shirts in the WAG make decisions in the face of increasing evidence that damage is being done. This will turn is an environmental and national disgrace unless people have their say and act. Let me know where and when we protest.
Dr Chris Johns
Swansea GP
Hi,
My name is Chris and I surf Kayks mainly from Southerndown beach
(www.beyondthebreak.eu) and, as a result of experience and talking to the
lifeguards and other surfers that use the area, have noticed the extreme
beach errosion that has been taking pace over the past few years.
Just down the road is Llantwit Major that 20 years ago used to support a
fantasic beach which has now all but gone and this is now happening to us.
Whether is is natural or a man made phenonemon is difficult to say but it is
happening and, without a doubt, my children will not enjoy the pleasure of
the beach in years to come at Southerndown.
Dredging is wrong on all levels; we are messing about with nature and
something we have no overall concept of. If our beaches are to disappear
then so be it but please do not let it be because of our ignorance and
financial gain.
Thank you for your time regarding this matter.
C
Happy to protest as commodore of Ilfracombe Yacht Club and as an individual Have a look at Hallsands , S.Devon where a whole village was destroyed after excessive dredging in Start Bay Best wishes Bob
After reading your email, and considering my experience, tonight I have made a commitment to my children that we will be on television by the end of the year raising this issue with the public. I'm not quite sure how we're going to do this but I support your endevours for public awareness.
Take care (and I believe in sailor speak, 'fair winds'),
Christopher Evans
Count me in. Southerndown taking a right kicking on the dredging front.
Have emailed Rhodri Morgan on your advice.
Gower beaches must be preserved for future generations to enjoy them as we have done.
Sue Hughes, UK
Gower is a priceless jewel in our nation's treasures and both local and national governments should have its preservation and the preservation of sites like it at the top of their agenda. We MUST stop damaging the natural environment. Dredging should be stopped.
deb lewis, Wales
This issue is something that has made my blood boil for some time. I totally agree with the 'precautionary principle' i.e. no more sand dredging until the matter is fully investigated. What can I do? Every year more rocks appear on the Gower beaches. At Llangennith a new shipwreck has even been uncovered. I'm mad!
Sally James, Wales
While there is ANY doubt on the matter there should be a complete stop to dredging for short-term commercial gain in order to assess the effect this has on the pattern of loss on these irreplaceable assets for South Wales' population and tourists.
Peter Neville, Wales
I have been coming to Gower since the 1960s and lived here since 1975. It offers a resource enjoyed and loved by locals and many from round the UK and the world. There is a difference in sand levels, we shouldn't lose something so vital and splendid through ignorance or apathy. Stop the dredging.
Ian Prothero, UK
Stop the dredging. Over the last 20 years the beaches on the Gower peninsula have been getting less and less sandy. Let's make more people aware of the damage that is being done to this beautiful and unique area. I spent many happy childhood days on the Gower beaches and I want to be sure that my young children can enjoy them as much as I did. No more dredging!
Joanne Thomas, Wales
When I was young, I spent a fortnight every summer in Swansea staying with my grandparents. Now I have moved back to the area, and in the forty years that have gone past the difference in the amount of sand on the beaches is unmistakable (and it's not just my memory playing tricks !).
Brian Jones, Wales
I have been visiting Porteynon regularly every Spring/Summer for the last 25 years firstly with my parents and now with my children. The change in the appearance of the beaches at Porteynon and Horton has been very noticeable especially over the last 20 years with more rock and less sand being present across the whole beach area. The change at Horton and Porteynon is severe and in my opinion changing more rapidly year upon year and needs urgent attention if Wales is to continue to attract tourism.
Dr Gareth Jones, Wales
I wholeheartedly support the campaign. As someone who sails along the Gower coast frequently, I am at a loss to know why dredging should be allowed to put the coast of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at risk. It may be difficult to prove the connection 'scientifically', but to anyone who lives in the area with good eyesight and a good memory, it's obvious.
Alison Burns, Britian
An area of outstanding natural beauty on our doorstep, and we are allowing it to be destroyed beyond repair! The dredging needs to stop, or we will lose our beautiful coastline forever!
Mel Dunbar, Wales
Having grown up a few minutes drive from the beautiful beaches of the Gower peninsula, the dredging that is occurring at the moment is a subject that is of concern to me. The dredging must stop before some of our beaches disappear altogether.
Helen Merchant, Swansea, Wales
I am in full support of the campaign to halt the dredging off the Gower coast until it is established what the reason for the loss of sand is due to. I live in Swansea and have been visiting many of the Gower beaches and coves from the early 1950's. In that time there has been considerable loss of sand. If things continue we will have permanently lost some of the best beaches in Wales.
Roger Brown, UK
I know these beaches well. While it may be hard to prove a link between dredging and sand loss the precautionary principle should be used. Take no risks; stop the dredging!
Chris Walley, UK
My organisations the North Sea Action Group and MARINET are running campaigns to try to stop offshore aggregate dredging which is destroying our coastline, sand cliffs, salt marshes and beaches, and destroying many of our coastal bungalows and houses without a hope of insuring or of any compensation. Please read the whole story on our
NSAG web page
and see the photographs of the damage. (Including pictures of my own bungalow now lost to the sea).
Pat Gowen, UK
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