Request
Could you please provide me with the following
A
A list of the beaches scheduled to be cleaned / groomed by Department for Infrastructure (DFI) in the summer of 2018.
B
The scheduled frequency of the cleaning / grooming of those beaches.
C
Are there any contingency plans in place to clean / groom beaches other than those already planned should the need arise.
Response
A
The Island’s main beaches were categorised as Priority 1, 2 or not prioritised for beach cleaning several years ago by the then Tourism Department. The Department for Infrastructure (and its predecessors) worked with Tourism, and now Visit Jersey, to carry out beach cleaning to an acceptable standard within the available budgets.
Beach cleaning schedule
B
The table referred to in response to question A is the Department for Infrastructure (DFI) 2018 Summer schedule that is effective this year from 21 May to 21 September. This is operated on a six day working week May, June and September, extending to seven days during the peak season months of July and August. However, this is dependent upon tide times and height of tides in relation to access on any particular day.
C
Any other case would be looked at on its own merits, however DFI is only licenced by the Department of Environment to use machinery on the above beaches during the summer season. Any request outside of this requires an exemption that would normally only be issued in the case of a confirmed public health issue.
In all situations the environmental licence conditions dictate that only a minimal quantity of stones can be removed and, in the case of St Aubin’s Bay, the lower beach areas containing protected sea grass beds may not be raked nor driven on by heavy machinery.
