DEAR Editor,-
The very popular tidal pool and Tragedy Bay beaches at the lower end of Panorama Parade in Margate have no formal access paths. The path to the tidal pool beach is virtually non-existent and quite hazardous to negotiate, as can be seen in the attached photograph. The cement path is overgrown and the stairway at the base no longer exists. Further down at Tragedy Bay, visitors have to scramble up and down steep embankments. The tidal pool is well and truly tidal and only filling at spring high tides and emptying immediately afterwards.
A while ago, the council appointed a contractor to repair the tidal pool floor damaged in 2007 by abnormally high tides and the instructions were to repair only half the floor. I was present the day the concrete was being pumped from the parking area and actually spoke to the contractor. The specifications for the repair work were probably drawn up without proper investigation, as the rest of the badly-damaged concrete floor was covered with sand. This pool is still empty 24/7.
Furthermore, people swimming in the pool at high tide could suffer severe injuries from the jagged and loose concrete floor, which cannot be seen when the pool is full and there were numerous bathers in the pool on New Year’s Day.
If the council is serious about attracting visitors to Margate, the above ‘challenges’ should be receiving top priority.
FRED SABBAGH
Margate
