Yahoo News Neighbours of 'Britain's best beach' say it is being 'mined for profit' as tonnes of sand is removed and sold
Angry residents near 'Britain's best beach' have launched a petition to stop sand being removed from it and sold on for profit.
People in Hayle in Cornwall say tonnes of sand are being removed "day and night with no thought for the environmental repercussions", accusing authorities of allowing the beach to be "mined for profit".
One angry local has launched a petition calling for the removal to stop immediately - already gathering over 2,000 signatures.
But the local authority says while sand is sold to local firms the beach is only being dredged as part of a legal requirement to keep ''a safe channel for fishing and sailing boats to navigate''.
Sophie Daniels, who launched the petition on change.org, said the beach - which was voted Best Beach in the UK by The Times - "deserves to be protected and nurtured, not exploited".
"Our plea is simple: cease the sand mining immediately," she wrote. "This isn't merely about preserving our beach for recreational purposes, it's about safeguarding our ecosystem, our local community, and our future."
She claimed that while authorities claim the mining is necessary for keeping the channel clear for fishermen, excavation is taking place "far from the central channel they declare to keep clear".
Local authorities say regular dredging is required under The Hayle Harbour Act 1989 and that the amount of sand "removed from the channel is logged and closely monitored".
'Grave concerns'
Hayle harbourmaster Peter Haddock told Cornwall Live: "Dredged sand is sold to local business, Padstow Seasand and Aggregate Ltd. Typically sand is used in the farming industry, but it is also used in construction, for textured paint, arts and crafts supplies, playgrounds and cat litter.
"Proceeds from the sale of sand is reinvested back into harbour to support the costs of maintaining and operating the harbour."
Hayle Town Council said at a meeting earlier this month councillors had "grave concerns about the possible long-term damage to the local environment and ecology", suggesting a "routine sluicing regime" instead.
In a Facebook post, a spokesperson said: “Hayle Town Council resolved to write to several stakeholders including Natural England, RSPB, Environment Agency, Cornwall Council and the local MP, Perran Moon, to advise them of the potential damage of the dredging, to seek their views, to share any information they may have including environmental reports, monitoring assessments, geomorphology reports and to work with us to help find a positive resolution to suit/benefit all parties and St Ives Bay.
"It was further agreed to write to the owners and the harbour master to request that they change from a dredge and remove policy to dredge and dune replenishment, and that they look to find ways to repair and/or automate the gates and equipment in order to reinstate sluicing.”
Are you allowed to remove sand from a beach?
The Coast Protection Act 1949 states that people are not allowed to remove natural materials like sand, shells and pebbles.
While it's unlikely many of us would dredge a beach and take a lorry load of sand away, that means that technically even taking a shell or pebble could be seen as breaching the law.
In May 2024, Cumberland Council warned people that they could be fined up to £1000 for taking away pebbles and shells.
The council said while not all authorities choose to enforce the law, there are important reasons for it as collectively if everyone removed materials from the beach it could “disturb the natural system” and worsen coastal erosion.
