Folkestone and Hythe District Council to open watersports centre on Greatstone beach despite do not swim warning
Folkestone and Hythe District Council is pressing ahead with plans to open a £1.5 million water sports center on the British coast, despite official warnings against swimming due to poor water quality.
Changing Tides Coastal Center will open at Greatstone in Romney Marsh later this year.
But the Environment Agency (EA) has advised against swimming at neighboring Littlestone beach from 2023.
Although Greatstone itself is not designed for official bathing water testing, signs on the beach, including one next to the new centre, warn that swimming is not recommended “due to poor water quality”.
Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) said it could “only hope” Littlestone’s current “poor” rating would improve when new test results are published in November.
Members of the nearby Varne Boat Club are questioning how the council expects the Coast Drive hub to operate as long as guidance remains in place.
Zalan Paksy, the club’s commander, said canoes, life jackets and paddles “have been gathering dust in warehouses, largely unused, for the past few years”.
“This is not credible; the council completely misses the link between the aquatics center and swimming water results,” he said.
“What has prevented us from operating for the last three years will be no different for other operators.
“This is a serious challenge for us and probably the most serious challenge the club has faced in decades.”
FHDC said it was in the final stages of signing a contract with a water sports operator said to have “significant experience” in operating similar recreational facilities.
They will be expected to provide “training for various water sports,” the official said.
The project will also include 93 beach huts as well as a café operated by Reynolds Ice Cream.
A spokesman said: “Further water testing will be carried out this summer and we, along with residents and visitors, can only hope for better results when they are published in November.
“The EA’s water rating was challenging but council officers worked to secure both the concession and businesses willing to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the concession. [cafe] and water sports centre.
“We are very pleased with the recent opening of the aquatics centre.
“It definitely needs to happen before the water ratings are released in November.”
But Mr Paksy is unsure how the resort will succeed, saying his club has expanded by hosting 1,100 free water sports events for visitors, most recently in 2019.
He says he has not been able to return to these levels since the Covid outbreak and three consecutive years of poor water quality.
It can no longer offer free sessions and water sports participants must now enter the water “at their own risk”.
“We can’t put someone in a wetsuit and ask them to come into the water with us; we can’t be seen organizing anything,” Mr Paksy said.
The club had previously built a £148,000 ramp towards the sea which is now very little used.
Mr Paksy said the club could face “existential problems” if water quality continued to be classified as “poor”.
Originally expected to open at the end of last year, FHDC’s development plans were approved by the authority in 2024.
Beach huts are painted in a bright array of colors along 175 meters of shoreline.
FHDC said that while contracts for the cottages have been finalized and keys have been handed over, some are still available.
Nearby Dymchurch beach also received a “poor” rating in November, but St Mary’s Bay between Dymchurch and Littlestone is now classed as “adequate”.
On Saturday around 150 protesters gathered at Sunny Sands in Folkestone to take part in the ‘Surfers Paddle Against Sewage’ event.
The beach has had an “adequate” water quality rating since 2023.
