Locals in Cornwall are calling for an end to anti-social behavior on beaches

Locals are calling for an end to anti-social behavior on our stunning beaches as some believe it’s acceptable to poo in the sand dunes. Cornwall Live readers have reacted to news that a popular beach in Cornwall has been hit by more than 20 incidents of anti-social behavior in just one month.

This included people defecating on the sand, broken glass left behind and fires at night. The owner of Maenporth Beach Cafe and Falmouth car park tenant Leann Wright raised the issues at a meeting of Cornwall Council on Monday (July 1).

Leann believes that installing a pay and display ANPR system in the beach car park will help solve these problems. However, her planning application faced opposition from local residents, the Cornwall National Landscape Team (formerly known as an Area of ​​Outstanding Natural Beauty / AONB) and local councilor Alan Jewell.

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Falmouth Town Council is opposed as it says the site is currently undeveloped and the resulting fees and signage will change the character of the beach. However, local residents are in favor of the idea, citing “the added burden of dealing with overnight parking, fly-tipping, fires and anti-social behaviour”. Here’s what people had to say about the idea.

Comment Enterthehedgehog says: “Blame the pandemic and the stay. And before that, Eclipse. You can’t turn back the clock though, all you can do is manage it, which is what the council should be doing. I would like to see Beach Wardens with powers to patrol beaches and issue large on-the-spot fines for anti-social behaviour. And BTW, don’t assume it’s all because of the tourists. The dog poo problem, for example, is with us all year round.”

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Colinfromcornwall says: “Who is the poop expert? How do you tell between human and dog poo? The owner has an influence on the upkeep of the beach for her customers, surely it is in her best interest to pick up litter before trading?”

KentuckyRain replies, “Pretty easy to tell the difference between their leaves! I’m sure dogs don’t throw raves, burn pallets, act silly or break glass and leave it behind or set fire to restaurants. Some people just won’t admit how bad their peers are.”

Tideline writes: “It’s pretty simple… Put CCTV on when someone does something wrong eg. Burn stuff, get some cops there, then arrest and charge. The money raised will pay for the police and CCTV. After a while, the troublemakers won’t bother coming down.”

KentuckyRain points out: “I don’t see how ANPR will solve anti-social behaviour. What I predict is that parking charges will go up, winter charges will be introduced, the roads around Maenporth will be clogged and the council will have managed to commercialize yet another beach, ruining it in the process. This is progress, Cornwall style.”

Further Facebook Sandra Tonkin writes: “How will ANPR stop this activity? If there are multiple cars in the parking lot, they *might* give chase to the vehicle owners, but no one will raise their hand and admit it! The only way to catch them is to always have someone on patrol or CCTV cameras across the beach (with DECENT pictures, not the rubbish they normally have). It’s a shame that people are such disgusting creatures to even do that, but unfortunately that’s society.”

Phil Long agrees: “Unfortunately most beaches in Cornwall are the same fires at night, leaving nails etc. behind buried disposable grills, beer cans bottles, etc. and discarded sanitary products (not from the sea) and of course dog mess as a detector that regularly detects beaches I would not risk going barefoot on the beach again.”

Jo Haffenden writes: “And in the summer they ban dogs from all beaches. The dogs are fine. People are the problem!”

Chris Tovey says: “I stayed in Falmouth just a few weeks ago. It’s not rocket science to stop this behavior. Actually the police would be a start instead of complaining. If the car park wants ANPR to make sure they make money from the car park, that’s fine, but it won’t have any effect on anti-social behavior as most people actually walk there. It is 20 minutes from Falmouth town on the coast path.”

How do you feel about this issue? Do you think paid parking will solve the problem? Tell us what you think in our comments section.