Blocked sea view gets the goat of visitors to Bournemouth cliffs
FOR a thorny problem, a simple solution. That was the view of the local council which, concerned by the climate emergency, brought in grazing goats to pare back overgrown foliage rather than using petrol-driven powered strimmers.
Alas, walkers hoping for a beautiful vista atop Bournemouth’s East Cliff have found the view blocked by a 15ft wall of untrimmed bushes and gorse.
It seems the herd of mountain goats employed by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has been unable to fulfil its mandate. So overgrown has the cliff-top foliage become that the mayor of Bournemouth has taken to strimming it himself.
The mayor, David Kelsey, explained that when he moved to the area 12 years ago he could see the Purbecks, the peninsula across Poole Bay.
Now, though, “You can’t see anything from the benches there. It’s ridiculous that you can’t sit there and look at the sea. Something needs to be done for our tourists.”
Simon and Stephanie James, visiting from Cardiff, agreed. Mrs James, 54, said: “It is a real shame. You want to sit down to rest and enjoy the view.”
Mr James, 67, added: “I think the council should trim it back so the view is there for people to see. I suppose we need the foliage for animals but there needs to be a balance between nature and people’s enjoyment of the sea.”
It was three years ago that BCP Council, following its declaration of a climate emergency, brought in a grazier whose herd of 50 goats is spread along the cliffs. The area stretches seven miles and is designated a site of special scientific interest on account of its range of plant species and habitats.
“We are monitoring the vegetation closely,” said Mark Anderson, a councillor responsible for the environment. “If we find additional cutting works are required to maintain the site’s biodiversity, we will carry out additional works.”
Bournemouth is one of the UK’S most popular holiday destinations, and the 100ft-high vantage point offered, at least when it was being strimmed, a vista including Sandbanks and the Isle of Wight. Near the overgrown part of the cliff vegetation are several hotels.
Sval Gemba, 36, operational manager at the Cottonwood Hotel on East Cliff, said: “It really is bad – it looks like the council doesn’t care about it.
“The benches are pointless because all you can see are the bushes in front of you. The council used to trim back the bushes in the summer, but last year they didn’t.
“People complain that they can’t see anything. When we hold functions outside like weddings or birthday parties, guests say it doesn’t look great.”
So what’s on the vista’s horizon? Given that Mr Anderson did not rule out BCP staff stepping in for some manual strimming, it seems that the council is hedging its bets.