Great Solent Beach Clean: Why Eastney beach still needs urgent attention

A FEW weeks ago, it was discovered that Eastney beach in Portsmouth had become overrun with litter.
A number of beach cleans have already taken place in Eastney. Picture: Keith WoodlandA number of beach cleans have already taken place in Eastney. Picture: Keith Woodland
A number of beach cleans have already taken place in Eastney. Picture: Keith Woodland

Fly-tipping was rife '“ with rubbish piling up on top of abandoned boats, which according to residents had been there for months on end.

Since then, a number of beach cleans have taken place in the area to restore it to its former glory '“ with the site now being added to this weekend's Great Solent Beach Clean initiative.

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The Great Solent Beach Clean is an event taking place this Saturday, organised by Final Straw Solent and The News, in association with the Marine Conservation Society.

Four beach cleans are taking place across the Solent region '“ with events in Stokes Bay, Southsea, Eastney and Hayling Island.

Bianca Carr from Final Straw Solent says that the decision to add Eastney beach to the list of events was a foregone conclusion as soon as she saw the damage there.

She explained: '˜The first time I heard about and saw what had happened to Eastney I was gobsmacked '“ it was awful.

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'˜There have been lots of beach cleans in the area since we found out about it in August, but there is still a lot of work to do.

'˜This is something that a lot of people are passionate about and with enough support we really can make a huge difference to our local environment.'

Bianca is calling on everyone in the region to get involved with the event '“ which is shaping up to be the biggest ever beach clean to be held in the Solent, with hundreds of people cleaning up the seafront all at once.

She said: '˜At 10pm on Saturday we're expecting loads of people at all four sites.

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'˜The response we have had already on social media has been incredible '“ there are so many people signed up for the event and it is genuinely wonderful to see so much interest in taking the fight to single-use plastics.

'˜There is obviously more that we need to do to tackle plastic waste '“ recycling and reusing more stuff, teaching children about what plastic does to our oceans and so on '“ but these beach cleans really do make a huge impact on our area.'

To take part in the Eastney clean, simply turn up to the RNLI station at 10am.