VIVE LA NEWHAVEN!
Article in Daily Mail - 19 August 2013
By Carol Walton
Campaigners fighting for access to a French owned beach in East Sussex have held a protest picnic on the sand. People started gathering at low tide on Saturday afternoon, when the sand appeared at West Beach in Newhaven.
The Court of Appeal has ruled the beach can be listed as a village green, giving residents the right to use it.
The French owners Newhaven Port and Properties urged people not to put themselves at risk of injury by accessing the beach in East Sussex, but 200 protesters held a beach picnic and 100 of them scaled the metal fence
The French owners Newhaven Port and Properties is appealing against the ruling to the Supreme Court, and has said the beach remains closed for safety reasons.
Newhaven town councilor Carla Butler said about 200 people turned up and about 100 people, including the mayor, scaled the fence and gathered on the beach. She said campaigners were being 'very careful' in terms of safety issues. She added: 'I think Newhaven Port needs to start to listen to the public and work with the town council.'
Newhaven Village Green Preservation Society organised the picnic - which included entertainment, banners and bunting. The group said campaigners young and old covered the gates with blankets and used ladders to scale the barriers to retake the beach. Protesters said residents had been 'cruelly barricaded' from the once-popular tourist beach, which was the only sandy stretch for miles.
Collective anger: the French owners of the beach need to 'start to listen to the public and work with the town council', according to Newhaven town councillor Carla Butler
At last: The Court of Appeal has ruled the beach can be listed as a village green, giving residents the right to use it
The French owners Newhaven Port and Properties are appealing against the ruling to the Supreme Court, that the beach can be listed as a village green and used by the public. They said some residents had been using the beach in recent weeks after the gates were repeatedly vandalised at night.
Earlier this month, the port owners issued a statement which said: 'Please note despite local rumours and antics to the contrary, the sandy beach remains closed to the public.'
It said the beach would remain closed while legal action continued and added: 'This is because there are still serious health and safety issues and the access is very dangerous.'
The statement said the fence and signage at the beach clearly indicated there was no access and it said the public should not put themselves at risk of injury.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2396674/Vive-la-newhaven-Protesters-climb-fence-reclaim-East-Sussex-beach-French-owners.html
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10621286.Picnic_held_by_protesters_on_closed_sands_of_Newhaven_West_Beach/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-23712276