{"id":2019,"date":"2026-09-21T20:01:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T20:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidhealy.com\/?p=2019"},"modified":"2026-09-21T20:02:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T20:02:40","slug":"observation-on-draft-beach-bye-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidhealy.com\/?p=2019","title":{"rendered":"Observation on draft Beach Bye-laws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A public consultation<\/a> was open recently in relation to revised Beach Bye-laws for Fingal. I made a submission raising a number of problems with the proposals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have since realised that the correct legal process hasn’t been followed, as the draft bye-laws should not have gone on public display without approval of the full Council exercising a reserved function under the Local Government Act<\/a>. I have drawn the Council Executive’s attention to this legal requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text of my submission is below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The consultation doesn\u2019t explain the changes or the reasons for them. As a Councillor who isn’t a member of the SPC, I have no understanding of these details. It isn’t reasonable to expect the public to respond without the necessary contextual information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In general, the challenges on our beaches are more to do with the allocation and availability of resources than with  the details of the already applicable bye-laws. The changes proposed in the byelaws seem to proceed from a view that different uses or activities are inherently incompatible and must be separated. In fact, they are often already separated by time of day, season, weather conditions. Rules about respectful interaction and priority to swimming etc would be more appropriate. In particular, activities such as kitesurfing and dog walking should be recognised as inherently appropriate beach uses subject to limits rather than banned entirely as proposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The provisions in the bye-laws as regards protection of dunes need to be improved and based in an understanding of beach and dune dynamics. All those involved with the beaches need to behave in a manner which protects and supports natural dune ecosystems which provide vital coastal protection. In particular, the destruction of incipient beach dunes by mechanical raking and beach flattening by the Council needs to end. In addition, the bye-laws need to address obligations to minimise trampling of dunes and vegetation as well as to recognise the presence of invasive species and the value in their removal and control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rules as regards Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas need to be based on the conservation objectives of the site and the Council has a complementary obligation to ensure that it’s activity is in line with those conservation objectives as well as facilitating and encouraging beach users to do likewise. Given the distinctly different conservation objectives applying to SACs and SPAs, the rules should differ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not clear why some bye-laws apply specifically to Blue Flag beaches in addition to the reserved bathing areas within the same beaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bye-laws should include maps of all areas to which they apply, particularly the SACs and SPAs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bye-laws should not repeat or replicate existing legal obligations. It would make more sense to point to them in an addendum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The provisions banning kitesurfing etc. on Burrow Beach seem to be carried over from the 2006 bye-laws. They’re not complied with, providing an opportunity to use experience of the last 20 years to inform a judgement on whether they’re necessary. Is there any analysis behind the proposal to retain them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s not clear to me whether the bye-laws as regards fishing have changed from the previous bye-laws. They have led to public concern and confusion, particularly as to their geographic scope. It would be important to see an analysis of the extent to which there are problems associated with fishing, if any. Any restrictions on fishing or any other activity in an SAC or SPA should be based on the conservation objectives for the site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A public consultation was open recently in relation to revised Beach Bye-laws for Fingal. I made a submission raising a number of problems with the proposals. I have since realised that the correct legal process hasn’t been followed, as the draft bye-laws should not have gone on public display without approval of the full Council […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidhealy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2019"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidhealy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidhealy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidhealy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidhealy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2019"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/davidhealy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2022,"href":"https:\/\/davidhealy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2019\/revisions\/2022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidhealy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidhealy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidhealy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}