Bournemouth Reef - Off again!

[Sar]

direct quote from my local newspaper today....no, I dont have anything better to do with my time (not until Harry Potter comes out anyways )

"Boscombes artificial surf attraction will not be completed until next spring at the earliest - six months behind schedule.
Bournemouth council has pledged that the £1.4 million attraction, which is central to the Boscombe regeneration scheme, would be ready in September. But the borough's head of leisure services, Roger Brown, has now confirmed the reef, which will now create waves up to 13ft high, will not be completed until at least Spring 2008. Council officers met represantatives from the Department For Environment Food and Rurual Affairs this week to discuss local fisherman's objections to their licence application for the reef. Boscombe Cliff's Residents Association chairman Parry Brooks to the Echo: "there are 15,000 tonnes of sand on the beach awaiting to start the reef scheme - they wont be there by next spring. When we had a meeting with council officers in 2005 we suggested that consent could take a very long time but the council's application wasn't submitted until early this year. The delay is going to push up the cost of the reef. It's absolute chaos at the seafront and local residents just wanted it all done and dusted."
Dave Weights, chairman of the British Surfing Association, who warned the reef scheme could be scuppered by the fisherman's objections said: "My worst fear is the Defra want a full environmental impact assesment it could drag on for another year.
"It is a real worry because the sand will be blown away and the contractor will have left the site." added Mr Weight.
But Mr Brown said "meanigful progress" had been made at the meeting with Drefra's Marine and Fisheries Agency.
"We are working hard to provide the agency with the outstanding information needed and still hope to start construction this winter, subject to favourable weather conditions," he said. "Its is possible that the reef could be completed as early as spring 2008."


I would like to add that none of the bad grammar, typos and complete crap in this article are nothing to do with me - obviously, you knew that anyway .
I copied it exactly from our high quality local newspaper.

[bmth.longboarder]

like bluesnowcone has said, i live there myself and surf both boscombe and bournemouth. the council think that throwing a load of sandbags in the water is going to create consistant perfect waves at the mo its alright as they wrap round the pier nicely on a good day.

[bluesnowcone]

just got some news, aparently the reef is back on again and wil be build, but 6 months behind sceduel.

[Sar]

just got some news, aparently the reef is back on again and wil be build, but 6 months behind sceduel.

Yeah, thats what it says in the paper.

[bluesnowcone]

yup, thats were i got it from lol

[Broosta]

like bluesnowcone has said, i live there myself and surf both boscombe and bournemouth. the council think that throwing a load of sandbags in the water is going to create consistant perfect waves at the mo its alright as they wrap round the pier nicely on a good day.

Not sure where you saw that people were expecting 'consistant perfect waves' dude? All the official info I've read seems realistic - that the reef will improve the current quality and size of waves and make it a better place to surf than it is at the moment.
Even the newspaper quoting 13ft high waves is fair enough if bearing in mind it means a literal 13ft not a surfers 13ft(which would probs be nearer 20ft!), and its not saying its always going to be 13ft but that it will get up to 13ft, maybe once a year. Literal 13ft is probs a 6-8ft 'surfers' size wave.

[wannabesurfer]

just got some news, aparently the reef is back on again and wil be build, but 6 months behind sceduel.

I hope you're right. One of the many reasons my wife and I decided to move to Boscombe from London was the promise of the reef. To hear that it is apparently being delayed by non-existent fishermen complaining to Defra sounds to us like a political ploy. Possibly created by the same old farts that just voted in the Tory dinosaurs that would rather see a marina for their yachts than something beneficial to the common herd?

We hope they lose. For this reason my wife and I would beg all Boscombe surfers to support the reef. Even if you have doubts that it might not do everything the goodly professor promises, it must - by simple physics - make some improvement to the height of what waves there are as well as spreading them out over a longer break (well actually, two of them: right and left). And it should also contribute to the continuing regeneration of Boscombe by bringing in some more good people to the area.

Here's hoping!!

[Unfortunately we have to admit that our only current claim to surf-fame is to have produced two pretty good Durban surfers (well OK, we mainly acted as their taxi drivers). Hopefully my username sums up my intentions - even if I have to clamp a zimmer frame to my surfboard I intend to eventually tick off number 5 on my list of 'fifty things to do before I die' and learn to surf on the new reef at Boscombe. Provided the Reef Police allow me on it of course. ]

[bluesnowcone]

To hear that it is apparently being delayed by non-existent fishermen complaining to Defra

thats what i didnt understand, because the fishermen dont realy fish around there anyway, i dont even think they come that close to the shore

[Broosta]

Here we had a similar-ish project in Gorleston, where I live, where the council proposed a series of 6 stone reef structures just like these but maybe a third of the size.

The vertical posts with the red tops you can see are about 5ft in diameter.



I attended an open meeting at the town hall where several objectors, including myself, said their bit to the council. There were several fishermen and civil engineers saying its not the immediate area that gets fked up, its maybe several miles away that the currents change and possibly radically affect things, all sorts of things. So anyway the project didn't go ahead and the council had to find another way to prevent the sea wall erosion which was the reason for the plan to build the reefs 50 yrds off Gorleston Beach where I live. It probably would have fcked up the waves there - hence my objection.


Ok then this is where I'm a bit confused because now the same council have begun to build an outer harbour for the town which is many times bigger than the reef project and so many times more disruptive to the coastline and yet its deemed fine! Go figure!?!




This photo is before the outer harbour and kind of what it actually looks like now. That is Great Yarmouth to the right of the river and above the river mouth, and to the left of the river and under the river mouth is Gorleston. Combined population about 93,000 for reference for the size - you can see about 3/4 of it all in the photo. The bit of beach right at the bottom is where I surf and the waves come from the north. The photo is facing north.





This is what the outer harbour will look like.



And again. Basically this is a massive project that sh1ts on ANY artifical reef anywhere for its sheer size, and DEFRA are totally cool with it all.

[wannabesurfer]

......I attended an open meeting at the town hall where several objectors, including myself, said their bit to the council. There were several fishermen and civil engineers saying its not the immediate area that gets fked up, its maybe several miles away that the currents change and possibly radically affect things, all sorts of things. So anyway the project didn't go ahead and the council had to find another way to prevent the sea wall erosion which was the reason for the plan to build the reefs 50 yrds off Gorleston Beach where I live. It probably would have fcked up the waves there - hence my objection.

Ok then this is where I'm a bit confused because now the same council have begun to build an outer harbour for the town which is many times bigger than the reef project and so many times more disruptive to the coastline and yet its deemed fine! Go figure!?!

......Basically this is a massive project that sh1ts on ANY artifical reef anywhere for its sheer size, and DEFRA are totally cool with it all.

You bring up a major issue that would likely also be relevant at Boscombe - just watch how DEFRA would hurry through an application from the Tories for a marina that would totally destroy not only the sea for miles around but also the unique nature of the magnificent 7-mile(?) long Southbourne-Boscombe-Bournemouth beachfront. I know one shouldn't be too cynical, but having watched politicians for too long I realise they'll get what they want. And it looks to me like they don't want long-haired drug-pushing surfer layabouts (no matter how many of them are professional people etc) polluting their town?!

[Sar]

.....just thought i'd resurrect an old thread here...not saying the reef is off or anything but have come across this article in my local BBC news. There is something in the cynical side of me that isnt happy about this but I cant put my finger on it...

The cash payment to Bournemouth Borough Council will be triggered once sales of the new seafront apartments reach a certain level.

why is extra funding needed, who are the 'developers' and.....well, what is going on? (backdoor payment possibly previously agreed and now being made public therefore legit?) anyone have any info?

Full (but short) article here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7463279.stm

[essex sucks]

hahaha 13ft there dreaming just a tab there

[wannabesurfer]

.....just thought i'd resurrect an old thread here...not saying the reef is off or anything but have come across this article in my local BBC news. There is something in the cynical side of me that isnt happy about this but I cant put my finger on it...

The cash payment to Bournemouth Borough Council will be triggered once sales of the new seafront apartments reach a certain level.

why is extra funding needed, who are the 'developers' and.....well, what is going on? (backdoor payment possibly previously agreed and now being made public therefore legit?) anyone have any info?

Full (but short) article here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7463279.stm

Thanks for this link Sar - I'd heard something about it on the TV but wasn't concentrating when it was on.

Hopefully its not bad news: with the downturn in the housing market Barratt's are probably battling to sell units in the Honeycombe Beach development that is funding all of the improvements (including the reef) at Boscombe. I imagine this tranche of money was just part of their agreement with the council - doesn't say if they've paid it, but apparently the Kiwis doing the work have ordered the geotextile bags so let's hope all is fine.

Keep your fingers crossed - I want to see Kelly Slater and Mark Occhilupo in competition here before they retire!!

[Sar]

cheers for the info, not sure what got a bee in my bonnet with that last night. Im not too concerned about further delays though

I want to see Kelly Slater and Mark Occhilupo in competition here before they retire!!

....and hasnt Occy already retired?....twice?

[wannabesurfer]

cheers for the info, not sure what got a bee in my bonnet with that last night. Im not too concerned about further delays though

I want to see Kelly Slater and Mark Occhilupo in competition here before they retire!!

....and hasnt Occy already retired?....twice?

As far as the delays are concerned I AM worried - still not convinced this bunch of unreconstructed fascist Tory w*nkers that have taken over Bournemouth want us to have a reef. They would rather have a marina so all their toff mates can come and terrorise the bathers down on Boscombe beach with their powerboats. Not that I'm biased or anything.....

You may be right about Occy retiring again - I was just trying to impress with my deep knowledge of surfers and surfing (not!). And I suppose spelling (thanks Google).
Fingers crossed for the reef anyway.