What would aliens visiting Eastney, Portsmouth in 3023 make of it - a reader writes

The year is 3023.

The beings discovered the planet by accident – it was drawn to their attention by its iridescent glow as they travelled in space aboard their hypersonic craft.

Landing on the planet, sensors detected disruptive storms, high water content and poisonous gases.

Encased in their protective suits, they exited the craft in light beam globes. The surface of the planet was uneven, strewn with objects that appeared natural. Fossilized remains of creatures were found, grotesque in physical appearance; perhaps they were not symbiotic with the planet?

The visitors wandered further into the abyss of darkness, liquid heaving into the solid mass, blended with darts of immense bright storms in the distance. No organic life was seen.

At their feet, lay immense heaps, seemingly placed on purpose or, by the constant cold swirling winds. Utensils and crafted objects formed these heaps, made perhaps by extinct habitants?

Disappointed, they formed the opinion that this was a planet bereft of intelligent life.

Stepping through the mass of debris, one of the explorers tripped over a flat object half concealed in the acidic soil. Disturbing it, revealed strange signs and marks embossed on the surface

Unable to decipher this ancient text, they trudged back to the security of their transport. Rising off the surface, the turbulence from their craft blew more dust away from the object, revealing more of the text which, translated as: ‘Welcome to Eastney, Portsmouth 2023’.

The present day

A visit to Eastney and Ferry Road car park Sunday, June 18, 2023, mid-afternoon.

As you drive along Ferry Road you become aware of the numerous items of litter, embedded in the hedgerows which have clearly been there for many months, if not years, due to the bio-degraded state of the litter.

Portsmouth City Council has failed to carry out any litter clearance here.

Driving into the gravel car park, ordinary cars are immediately bounced up and down by the multiple potholes. The car park is only fit for 4x4 high-chassis off-road vehicles, the result of the failure over years of any minimum standard maintenance by PCC.

I am shocked to see the copious amounts of litter, discarded by irresponsible citizens with no regard for the natural environment. Gulls regularly pick and tear at discarded food bags/containers, spreading the debris further.

See the accompanying photographs for evidence of litter I collected on the day, just along 30m of shoreline. This represents just a small percentage of the total litter present.

Among the items I collected were: plastic bottles/containers, lids, wrapping plastics, foil, cardboard, cigarette packets, hard plastics, rubber balls, toys, a sponge, splintered wood, toy spade, nylon crab fishing line, confectionary wrappers, metal bottle caps, string, metal objects, fast food packaging, cigarette liters, sanitary products, face masks, drinks cups, clothing and footwear.

There is a wire mesh fence, embedded in shingle, with sharp wire strands exposed.

Overflowing bins, refuse bags torn apart by gulls to get at the food waste inside. Gulls fight over food scraps, dropping degraded food on visitors. Food waste will attract vermin such as rats.

There are two dead sea birds at water’s edge, killed by plastic ingestion?

There are numerous discarded single-use disposable barbecue foil trays and charcoal and evidence of regular open fires being lit on the shingle. Numerous alcoholic bottles and cans are discarded everywhere. Broken jagged glass is strewn across the pier entrance.

All of the above is a safety risk to people’s pets, adults and children visiting the beach.