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Hi,
Can you please let me know when something is going to be done about stopping people drinking alcohol on our beaches and in our parks in the evening?
I live near The Dicq and walk on the beach with my dog and my children frequently. Every weekend the beach is being used for evening BBQ's which is fine if people clear up after themselves but it there is an increasing population who are using the beaches simply to meet up and drink alcohol - more often than not they are Polish people I have noticed.
Each morning the beach is littered with beer cans, plastic bags, bottles or BBQ trays and other debris which is very upsetting and very destructive for the environment. Most of this litter gets washed out to sea by high tides so the mess that walkers encounter is only a very small proportion of this but it is bad enough. Some weeks back I found the carcass of a gannet which had died with its feet caught in a plastic beer can holder. It was very distressing.
On a number of occasions I have felt it necessary to pick up litter on my walks however frankly there is far too much and it should not be the responsibility of others to clear up the mess left by selfish and careless individuals. Friends of mine have also commented that they have also picked up rubbish on other beaches that have been left behind by others.
This is not just an issue with the beaches, I was showing a visitor around Howard Davis Park on Saturday evening and after a day of "visitors" using the park there were beer cans and rubbish everywhere for the poor park keeper to clear up, she was horrified that such a lovely park was being used as a dustbin!
I am so sick of this, the people that do this show no respect for their environment, the island, or for other people living here. Not only is this contributing to major issues for our wildlife, on our beaches and in the seas particularly, but we are building up major health care costs for the island now and in the future around alcohol related illnesses.
Additionally this gives a really bad impression of the island to visitors and to our children who are growing up here who now think it is normal for people to be wandering around drunk across the roads at 5 pm on a sunday evening (as happened yesterday) or drinking bottles of vodka on our beaches! I think this is really getting out of hand!
I note that there are not even signs at the beaches telling people to clean up after themselves or face a fine, let alone any enforcement of anti-social or littering laws. I wonder how long we will be able to maintain or clean waters when the local seas are being filled up with plastic and beer cans.
I would appreciate your comments and any actions you can take to enforce the cleanliness of our beaches and public spaces.
Kind regards Kate Hogben