Destroying beach cafe is ‘vandalism by National Trust’
THE National Trust has come under fire over plans to demolish one of Britain’s oldest beach cafes.
For 114 years it has overlooked Middle Beach in Studland, Dorset, where author Enid Blyton used to go on holiday.
But it is now facing closure as part of the National Trust’s “managed retreat” policy on coastal erosion.
Despite the building standing 60ft back and 20ft above the shoreline, the charity insists it will be vulnerable.
Because the trust’s policy is to “live with” erosion rather than try to defend against it, the cafe is set to be bulldozed, leading to 10 job losses.
Paul Brown, who has run the Middle Beach Cafe with his two sisters since 1989, was told he will lose his business on Jan 2, a decision which has proved unpopular in the community. More than 1,000 people have signed a petition calling for the cafe to be saved. They believe the trust should have spent about £15,000 to bolster the sea defences rather than demolish the cafe.
Andrew Parsons, a local parish councillor and retired civil engineer, claimed what the trust is doing is against its constitution. He said: “This is not what the National Trust should be doing.
“The Trust is meant to conserve buildings of historical value, not to autocratically decide to demolish them for reasons that are far from clear.
“That’s not what people join the National Trust for. I am a civil engineer and it is complete and utter rubbish that the cafe will fall into the sea. It will not do that in a million years. The cafe is between 20 and 30 metres away from the sea and there is a concrete ramp in between.”
He added: “It will be a very foolish act of vandalism when it happens.”
The trust has submitted a planning application to Dorset council to put up a mobile catering unit further back in the car park at Middle Beach as a temporary alternative to the cafe.
A spokesman for the National Trust said: “The coastal erosion at Middle Beach has reached the point whereby the current facilities are now on the cliff edge and will shortly become unsafe, so this move is about ensuring continuity of cafe and toilets facilities for visitors.”
Julie Peters, Studland project manager for the National Trust, said: “At Middle Beach, the issues are not solely due to sea level rise, but also from the changing weather patterns of drought and then torrential rain, which has caused significant cliff erosion.”