A beach warden – who would only identify himself as “Beach 8” – challenged our photographer as she took snaps on the promenade at Branksome Chine yesterday.Yup, it's the return of the 'We'll chance our luck, they may not know the law' council official...
He demanded to see a licence and told her she shouldn’t be taking pictures without one.
After years of taking photos on the beaches unchallenged, our snapper Hattie Miles ploughed on regardless.Nothing there about the clear disregard for the law shown by their employee, or by their failure to identify themselves.
But the Echo wanted to know why we had been stopped in the first place.
Stuart Terry, coastal works manager at Poole council, said the beach was council land and it was “standard industry practice” to seek permission before taking pictures.
I think 'coastal works manager' is a post that could be cut, don't you?
And for anyone not familiar with the case referred to in the comments to that Poole article, here's a statement that should be printed out and stapled to 'Beach 8's' forehead:
No bylaw exists prohibiting the taking of photographs on the beach.Couldn't be clearer, could it? But Mr Terry soldiers gamely on:
But Mr Terry said beach wardens might approach photographers if they have not been given prior warning.What part of 'there is no need for anyone to seek your permission to photograph a public beach' do you not understand, Mr Terry?
And what sort of recruitment procedures does Poole Council have, when they employ (and retain, unless both 'Beach 8' and Mr Terry are out on rtheir ear by the time this post goes up) people who can't understand the law when it's pointed out to them repeatedly?
8 comments:
"I am Assistant Director General of Beaches. I have good reason to suspect your sandcastle pail is not of a size and shape approved by the Council. You are not obliged to say or do anything...."
When did local councils annex beaches?
I blame this tendency for roles to have very police-like uniforms for the staff to play in. Gives the usually small people inside them a bit too much of a "boost" IMHO.
"When did local councils annex beaches?"
Indeed. And who "owns" the councils? Who pays for the councils? If the council do indeed "own" the beach, then we, the taxpayer, paid for it one way or another. So it is "our" beach.
Actually, not only does not bylaw forbid taking pictures on a beach, but even if such a bylaw did exist it would not be valid. That story behind this is one of those heartwarming stories of the little man taking on the might of the councils, and winning.
Our story here starts back in the Victorian age. Bathing in the sea slowly got more popular, and steam railways suddenly opened up the possibility of travel to the masses. Going to the beach became a holiday plan, and ever-vigilant the councils soon stepped in with ream upon ream of mind-numbing bylaw regulations on what a person could and could not do on a beach.
Eventually, in the 1960s someone got fed up with mindless micro-managing, and looked into the matter. It turns out that the foreshore between mean high water and mean low water is Crown land, and does not, in fact, belong to the Council in any way and is not under their juresdiction at all. They can make up all the bylaws they fancy, but as the area involved isn't under their juresdiction the laws are meaningless.
I suspect that these beach wardens are similarly powerless minions of the State; little more than muppets in silly costumes and with no more authority than anyone else. Trying to prevent a lawful activity is therefore illegal on their part; trying to confiscate a camera is nothing more than theft with menaces and ought to be treated as such. After all, who knows ifthe Council has actually empowered these beach wardens at all; could just be a mugger with rather more brains than normal trying it on.
What evidence is there that the council told the beach warden the truth? It was probably a deliberate ploy to exploit most peoples ignorance of the law, and make some money....
“This serves only to ensure that the needs of professional film-makers and photographers are properly managed and do not unduly interfere with the safety and enjoyment of other beach users.”
Presumably if the photographer looked like a tourist, she wouldn't have been stopped?
Some years ago one of my Police Officer colleagues helped out with crime prevention. One of his jobs was to give advice to the trustees of a historical ship, who planned to open it to the public and run a licensed restaurant and function suite on it.
But, said ship was on MOD land and whenever he walked through the gate in uniform he was faced with a million questions from the guards who wanted to know where he was going who he was going to see, sign the book etc etc.
So, he would take off his hat, cover his uniform with a plain coat and walk in with the hundreds of tourists that visit the museum and the other ships on the site.
And he had the satisfaction of getting one over on the jobsworths
"I blame this tendency for roles to have very police-like uniforms for the staff to play in. Gives the usually small people inside them a bit too much of a "boost" IMHO."
Indeed. And it's depressing to realise just how many of these people we have in our communities, too...
"After all, who knows ifthe Council has actually empowered these beach wardens at all; could just be a mugger with rather more brains than normal trying it on."
That's a worrying thought...
"So, he would take off his hat, cover his uniform with a plain coat and walk in with the hundreds of tourists that visit the museum and the other ships on the site.
And he had the satisfaction of getting one over on the jobsworths.."
Just brilliant...! :D
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